WWI Poster Analysis

1. I think that Propaganda has to do with the use of posters to "advertise" or "support" individuals or ideas.

2. Propaganda, according to dictionary.com, means "information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc." It also says that propaganda can mean, "the particular doctrines or principles propagated by an organization or movement."

3. Link to the Pictures

4. For the first photo: The first thing I notice after looking at the first image is the "emphasized" lady in the middle of the picture. It is strange because the author has chosen to make her "noticeable" but her clothes "blend" into the picture. In bold letters across the bottom, the picture says, "Buy More Liberty Bonds." The author made this text bolded and in a bright red so that it stands out from the rest of the picture. In the top right hand corner of the image, the question, "Must children die and mothers plead in vain?" is stated. This question seems to be a general question from the mothers perspective. The woman in this picture is surrounded by a lot of male kids. She is hugging one of the kids in the middle of the picture pointing towards the back.

This is the first propaganda poster

For the second photo: The first thing I notice after looking at the second image is the big red cross behind the lady in the black and white photo. It is interesting how the author chose to make everything in the picture black and white except for the cross. This poster says, "For you-they are giving their lives over there. For them- you must give every cent you can spare." In other words people in the army are fighting every day so that us, citizens can have freedom and be safe, and in return we need to help them out financially. In this picture the lady's blanket that is wrapped around her "blends" into the ocean. She is point her finger towards the ocean and holding her hand out away from the ocean.

This is the second propaganda poster

For the third photo: The first thing I notice after viewing the third image is the huge Statue of Liberty in the background. The artist chose to make the whole background a light grey color and then all the people on land have lots of color on them. This propaganda poster says, "Remember Your First Thrill of American Liberty." This is stated across the top of the picture in a bright red and on the bottom it says, "Your duty-buy United States Government Bonds 2nd Liberty Loan of 1917." This is in big letters in a dark navy blue across the bottom. Some of the people in this picture appear to be in motion and some are not. 

This is the third propaganda poster

5. For the first photo: I think the artist was hoping that the audience would feel sad and worried about the children and the mother. I think he chose not to show the woman's face so that the audience could image what she would look like. He was probably hoping that they would imagine her with tears in her eyes. 

For the second photo: I think the artist was hoping that the audience would feel "guilty" for the men and women who are protecting the American citizens overseas. I also think that the artist was trying to get the audience to realize that those men and women are overseas so he chose to make the women's blanket into the ocean.

For the third photo: I think the artist was hoping that the audience would feel passionate about their first time seeing the Statue of Liberty. He was hoping that they would recall that very first moment when they laid eyes on "her."

6. For the first photo: I think this photo is "designed towards" mothers. I think this because of the words that are on the picture. The author is trying to get mothers to notice how sad this situation is.

For the second photo: I think this photo is directed at people who never think about the military. To people who always "forget" that there are people who are risking their lives everyday to save the citizens.

For the third photo: I think this photo is geared towards people with a lot of money who can "buy" the bonds. The author is trying to first capture their attention by having them remember the first time they saw Lady Liberty and then wanting them to buy the bonds. 

7. I am comfortable with the government using tax money for propaganda. These posters raise awareness to the public about many different topics. I think it is necessary for everyone to know about all the "bad" stuff that is going around in the world. Therefore, propaganda is an effective way to accomplish just that. I think that if various individuals would fund these posters it would be better for society as a whole.

8. I think the government felt it was necessary to spend money to produce these posters during WWI because they needed a quick and effective way to spread ideas. I also think that propaganda was fine during this time because majority of the posters are raising awareness about topics that people may not know about. 

Overarching Thesis

1. Reformers and public figures promoted changing views/attitudes about health and fitness.

2. People started to have new expectations about the role of government in promoting higher standards for society.

3. People are taking measures to protect themselves from new threats/modern issues.

4. Innovations in transportation allowed people to move around in new ways.

5. All-encompassing wave of reform included a variety of strategies to attack problems of all kinds.

6. Innovations brought improvements and provoked new fears/anxieties, many of which turned out to be unfounded. 

Thesis: During this era, people created new innovations that seemed to create fear amongst society. These innovations ranged from new soft drinks, to new forms of transportation, to new attitudes about staying healthy and fit. All of these "reforms" modernized society and gave the people a new way to live their life. 

Answers to Multiple Choice Questions

1. D
2. C
3. A

Multiple Choice Progressive Questions

All of the following are true about Muckrakers except:
a. were journalists
b. were some of the first people to initiate reform
c. wanted to fix social and economic problems
d. their first "target" was economic issues
e. their first "target" was railroad issues

Progressives believed in all of the following except:
a. growth and progress did not need to occur "recklessly"
b. progress for society
c. there was only one right way to "reform" a society
d. that the nation's "destiny" was to improve
e. that they need to directly intervene in social problems

What is "antimonopoly?"
a. fear of having too much power in one person
b. not having enough power
c. wanting to put all wealth into one area
d. wanting to put all the power into one person
e. putting too much emphasis on various forms of government

Living Essays about Progressivism

I worked with Hunter and Janvi and we had to connect our three topics and make a thesis and conclusion. Our topics were very different but we found a way to connect them in a cohesive manner. Below is our final thesis and conclusion.

Thesis: In the Progressive Era, the Brooklyn Bridge was built, Coca-Cola was invented, and the Prohibition act was passed. All of these innovations had advantages but came along with harmful dangers to society.

Conclusion: The Brooklyn Bridge promised to create a new form of transportation for many people and succeeded to help economically as well. The invention of Coca-Cola created commercial expansion for society and a basis for other soft drink companies to build off of. Lastly, the act of Prohibition was a practice for law enforcement, but didn’t help regulate alcohol consumption as a whole. While these new innovations brought fears, most of them were exaggerated.

Research on Coca-Cola

The Newspaper Archive

1. "Worst Enemy to the Human Family" (Daily Herald from Biloxi, Mississippi on December 18, 1902)

2. "Dr. Kebler...Declares it Has Posion" (State Newspaper from South Carolina, Columbia on March 16, 1911)

3. "Pepsi-Cola Files Suit Against Coca-Cola" (Dallas Morning News from Dallas, Texas on August 9, 1938)

4. "Coca-Cola Says Stop Selling Imitations" (Jonesboro Evening Sun from Jonesboro, Arkansas on June 4, 1909)

5. "Coca-Cola, a Drug Drink" (Jeffersonian from Georgia, Atlanta on August 12, 1909)

6. "New 6-Bottle Carton" (Greensboro Record from Greensboro, North Carolina on April 6, 1933)

The first thing that I did was scroll through the many topics on the archived newspapers page. The first thing that caught my eye was "Coca-Cola." Coca-Cola has always been my preferred soft drink choice, so I wanted to find out more about the "birth" of the popular beverage. After clicking on the topic name I read through the articles found in newspaper that are listed above. After examining all of those newspapers, I have realized that the "invention" of Coca-Cola was a clear example of progressivism.

I found that many people argued that Coca-Cola was extremely bad for you, so much so, that by drinking it you were basically doing drugs. I was fascinated by the fact that people came up with crazy theories to try to stop others from consuming the beverage. I learned that by examining these newspapers I have been able to understand more than if I would have just read in a textbook about the topic. When I was reading these newspaper articles I felt like I was in that time period. I was able to find out how Coca-Cola started, who founded it, and specific details about the company as a whole.

Progressives may have thought that Coca-Cola was a good invention because it brought more money to the economy and it created a "need" for other soft drink companies. But, on the other hand, Coca-Cola created a lot of health problems that would "ruin" the society as a whole. Progressives thought that by drinking Coca-Cola, people would be shorter, not as smart, and not as kind with others. So, for progressives, the invention of Coca-Cola came along with a lot of problems as well as benefits.

I like researching from these kinds of archives. I feel like I really understand the material more and can relate it to other topics in history. For me, learning out of a textbook is hard so this was a nice way for me to connect progressivism to one of my favorite drinks, Coca-Cola. I now can talk about the various problems with Coca-Cola as a company and as a soft drink. I loved finding out about all the types of advertisements that the company used to attract buyers attention. Also, since I did a research project earlier in the year on marketing and advertising, this helped me connect that topic to this specific company. I like how I was able to establish that connection early on in the research and see the "various trends" as I continued researching. Overall, this whole "research project" was very interesting because I can "relate" to the topic.

Early Coca-Cola advertisements/signs

Modern advertisement to celebrate 100 years of Coca-Cola

The Famous Coca-Cola Logo

My Notes on Coca Cola-
The late 1880s was when America really started to love and obsess over carbonated beverages. The Liquid Carbon Company was founded by Jacob Baur in 1888. Jacob was a pharmacist who started selling carbon dioxide in tanks. In 1886, John Pemberton founded a company that sold the Coca-Cola syrup as a remedy for headaches at various pharmacies. In 1889 the company was sold to Asa Candles and they established The Coca-Cola Company in 1892. The first carton of Coca-Cola was introduced to the public in 1923. America was "hooked" on this drink from the moment they took a sip of it. On December 18, 1902, there was a section in the Daily Herald Newspaper called, "Worst Enemy to the Human Family." In this short article, the author talks about how the Georgia Legislature passed a law that "requires dealers in Coca-Cola to pay a license of one thousand (should have been ten thousand) dollars for the privilege of selling the mind destroyer." In other words, Coca-Cola to some people was considered the baddest thing that could have been "invented." People argued that the effects of drinking Coca-Cola was "more lasting and damaging than whisky." This popular soft drink stunted physical growth and damaged brain cells. In another newspaper in South Carolina there was an article titled, "Dr. Kebler...Declares it Has Posion." In this brief passage, Dr, Kebler suggests that Coca-Cola contains poison. Now what does he mean by poison? He means caffeine. He tested 8 ounces of Coca-Cola and found that one and one fourths of the glass was caffeine. To him, "caffeine is a poison." He concluded that the caramel syrup and brown sugar are added to the beverage to hide all the "toxic" stuff that is found in the plain Coca-Cola syrup. An article in the Dallas Morning News in Dallas, Texas claims that Pepsi Cola filed a law suit with Coca-Cola. This article was titled, "Pepsi-Cola Files Suit Against Coca-Cola." In this passage, the author was claiming that Pepsi sued Coca-Cola for using the names "coca" and "cola" exclusively. Pepsi thought that those names/words were public property and that anyone could use them. The official law suit claims that Coca-Cola was trying to monopolize the market of soft drinks by destroying Pepsi-Cola. In the Jonesboro Evening Sun in Arkansas, Jonesboro there is a article titled, "Coca-Cola Says Stop Selling Imitations." This passage talks about how companies in cities were using the name, "Coca-Cola," to attract more business from the public. But, the truth was they were not selling Coca-Cola, they were just luring the public in and selling them products that were not Coca-Cola.

3rd Quarter Reflection

So far, this quarter in US History, I have learned many new skills. I am getting better at multiple choice questions, finding primary sources and using them properly, and being able to analyze the research that I find online. I really liked when we analyzed the political cartoon because we were able to use our own and the authors perspective to describe what we thought the cartoon "meant." My favorite thing we did this quarter was watch the High Line documentary. I was so astonished by how innovated people are! I really would like to visit the High Line sometime. I also really like how we learn about the broad ideas first and then go into specific details about each topic. For example, we talked about innovation and progressivism and then got into specific details about the progressive era. Doing this helps me better understand what we are learning. Next quarter, I would like to be able to really understand all of the material from the reading ahead of time. Usually I read the section and answer the homework questions but I never truly understand what I am reading until the night before the test. This is a weakness of mine that I would like to change.

High Line