Today we are here to talk with a very special guest, she is a worker and a mother in the middle of the industrial revolution.
1- Hello, my name is Marina and I´m going to be your interviewer today. What is your name?
Hello, my name is Alyssa and I am 35 years old.
2- Tell us something about your immediate family and the family atmosphere.
Well, I live in a very small house with my husband, and my three children. We share our home with another family as long as we don´t earn enough money to have an individual one. Our whole neighbourhood is overcrowded, it is located all around a metallurgy factory where we work.
3- What are your work conditions like?
Well, to be honest, they aren´t very good. We work way more hours that what we can put up with, about 12 or 14 every day. We just have half an hour to eat and accidents are not backed up by the factory owner, I don´t have any permission for maternity or illness.
4- How long have you been working here?
Approximately for 20 years, since I was 15. During this period I have seen a lot of things, we feel used and because of the extreme poverty we have been through a lot of epidemics, there is a lot of contamination in rivers, a lot of kids die from malnutrition. Fortunately I had the opportunity to grow up three beautiful boys but not everybody have had the same luck.
5- How much do you earn per month?
I earn less than my husband and my oldest son. The gap between men and women is huge although none of them are good enough for decent living.
6- What about the work atmosphere?
I have been hearing things lately about something called `Luddism´. It is made by workers that feel replaced by machines, they are afraid of being fired so they have decided to destroy machines and they don´t allow other workers to enter into the factory.
7- What do you think that are the main causes for this phenomenon to happen?
I think it is because of the creation of new technological devices as the steam engine, which has supposed an enormous change in the industry, and the knitting machine.
8-What about your oldest son?
My oldest son, Benjamin aged 18, has been revolting lately against bourgeoisie. He has become anarchist and believes in Marx ideologies of worker movements and economy in general. He wants to go to different demonstrations and is tired of the factory owner tyranny, like everybody else, I suppose.
9- How does your youngest son feel like?
Well, he is a little bit scared when we work at night, he feels uncomfortable in the dark. There are days that it seems he is going to fall asleep during work, they sleep much less that what they should. It´s is very sad to see him, and his older brother, they are 9 and 14, in those conditions.
10- What vision do you have of the industrial bourgeoisie?
They have no sensitivity about our situation, they live in houses that seem palaces while we are all together in overcrowded streets, facing eternal working days, earning almost nothing to enrich already wealthy people. I think it is just unfair.
11- What do you expect from the future?
I believe the situation is bound to change, I think I will live all my working useful life in this situation but I hope my children don´t. The industry may develop into a more stable situation but it´ll take time until bourgeoisie realize how cruel they have been. Or may be I am just too optimist.
I hope this all gets better, anyways that´s all, thanks for your time and your sincerity.
jueves, 19 de abril de 2018
domingo, 4 de marzo de 2018
jueves, 1 de marzo de 2018
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
The United States Declaration of the independence is the statement adopted by the Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776. It was signed because Americans didn't feel comfortable being part of England and they wanted to achieve freedom and independency from that government.
According to Zinn thoughts, the solution was to find a language specific enough in its listing of grievances to fill people with anger against the British but vage enough to avoid conflicts between classes, moreover it was stirring enough to create a patriotic feeling all of these shown in the right of rebelion and revolution, popular control over governments...
It´s goal was to create a group feeling to gather every social class against a global enemy but upper classes didn´t have real consideration for those who had a lower level, it was just a game of interests.
Contrary to what Bernard Bailyn said, ``it represents colonists biggests fears´´ I think that upper-classes colonists used them as a source for their interests and this is also proved because black slaves, indians, and women were omitted from those united by the Declaration of Independence.
miércoles, 21 de febrero de 2018
THE MOVIE: AMISTAD
- What is the movie about? Summarize the plot of the film mentioning the main characters.
The movie tells the story about a group of slaves that are taken from Africa to the United Sates illegally and how they are judged because of the murder of two Spaniards. This film shows us the debate that took place between the ongoing on slavery or free them.
2.What was the Triangular Trade? What nations benefited from it?
Triangular trade is a historical term indicating trade among three ports or regions.
The best-known triangular trading system was the Atlantic slave trade, which lasted from the late 16th to early 19th centuries. During this time, European countries such as Britain, Spain and France had colonies in the Americas and Africa. The ships carrying slaves, crops and manufactured goods between West Africa, the Caribbean and American colonies and the colonial powers in Europe.
3.Do some research and explain the conditions in which slaves were captured and transported from Africa to the Americas.
Some of them hadn´t seen the sea in their whole life and didn´t know what was going on as they didn´t understand their captors language.
They were packed just like if they were logs and many of them died because of the pressure. Men were considered as a threat for the traders so they were all tied with iron chains. Women and children were apart, exposed to all the sexual abuse that came from the captors.
Slaves were fed as animals and the ones who refused were forced to do it. People who died during the voyage were thrown to the sea and those who felt sick were killed.
Hygiene was nonexistent and there was an awful smell because they hadn´t a place to relieve themselves and as a result there was a lot of possibilities to die from a disease.
4.What enlightened ideas appear in the movie?
We can see a lot of enlightened ideas in the John Quincy Adams argument. The main things are based on freedom and equality and ``The Natural Law´´, which says that God has given to every human being certain rights and they can do anything to achieve that state. Moreover, following that right of equality he also argues that there is no difference for God between black and white.
5.Who was Joseph Cinqué? Did he really existed?
Joseph Cinqué was originally called Sengbe Pieh and lived in Sierra Leona. He worked as a farmer and was captured and illegally sold to portuguese traders. He was the starter of the revolt in the ship and he also returned back to his homeland after the judgement, there is no much information about his later life.
6.What is the role of John Quincy Adams, former US President, in the movie?
In the movie, former President John Quincy Adams begins to argue the Amistad case in front of the U.S Supreme Court. He was the son of America´s second president, founding father and avowed abolitionist John Adams.
Following the freedom and equality ideas, he defended slaves in a very intense speech knowing it may led in a civil war but arguing that it was worth.
Triangular trade is a historical term indicating trade among three ports or regions.
The best-known triangular trading system was the Atlantic slave trade, which lasted from the late 16th to early 19th centuries. During this time, European countries such as Britain, Spain and France had colonies in the Americas and Africa. The ships carrying slaves, crops and manufactured goods between West Africa, the Caribbean and American colonies and the colonial powers in Europe.
3.Do some research and explain the conditions in which slaves were captured and transported from Africa to the Americas.
Some of them hadn´t seen the sea in their whole life and didn´t know what was going on as they didn´t understand their captors language.
They were packed just like if they were logs and many of them died because of the pressure. Men were considered as a threat for the traders so they were all tied with iron chains. Women and children were apart, exposed to all the sexual abuse that came from the captors.
Slaves were fed as animals and the ones who refused were forced to do it. People who died during the voyage were thrown to the sea and those who felt sick were killed.
Hygiene was nonexistent and there was an awful smell because they hadn´t a place to relieve themselves and as a result there was a lot of possibilities to die from a disease.
4.What enlightened ideas appear in the movie?
We can see a lot of enlightened ideas in the John Quincy Adams argument. The main things are based on freedom and equality and ``The Natural Law´´, which says that God has given to every human being certain rights and they can do anything to achieve that state. Moreover, following that right of equality he also argues that there is no difference for God between black and white.
5.Who was Joseph Cinqué? Did he really existed?
Joseph Cinqué was originally called Sengbe Pieh and lived in Sierra Leona. He worked as a farmer and was captured and illegally sold to portuguese traders. He was the starter of the revolt in the ship and he also returned back to his homeland after the judgement, there is no much information about his later life.
6.What is the role of John Quincy Adams, former US President, in the movie?
In the movie, former President John Quincy Adams begins to argue the Amistad case in front of the U.S Supreme Court. He was the son of America´s second president, founding father and avowed abolitionist John Adams.
Following the freedom and equality ideas, he defended slaves in a very intense speech knowing it may led in a civil war but arguing that it was worth.
viernes, 24 de noviembre de 2017
THE SPANISH ARMADA
1.This is an extract from a letter to the English government which gives details about the progress of the Armada.
-How useful do you think this information would be to the English government?
I believe this information is really useful because it gives what seems to me as crucial information because it tells about the number of soldiers and leaders giving English army the opportunity to prepare for a determined amount of men.
-Why there more soldiers than sailors?
Because they needed more people to fight than just to sail and leave the ship there.
2.This is a report from lord Howard of Effingham, the Admiranl of the Eglish fleet.
-How do you think the news that the Spanish Armada had been sighted was able to reach Lord Howard so quickly when he was at Plymouth, over hundred miles away?
It was important because as soon as they knew how and when attack, the better.
-Why do you think Howard complained to Walsingham about the wind?
I think it was because they consider it as the ``help´´ spanish had to reach the coast faster.
-Howard says that the Spanish fleet was `soe strong´. What made it strong?
Because of the quantity and the quality of the ships.
4.An extract from a Spanish captain´s account of the events. He had survived after being shipwrecked on the Irish coast and was then interrogated by the English, but eventually returned home to Spain.
-The Spanish Armada fought the English fleet for two days without losing any ships What happened next that changed this?
The mast of a ship was broken because of a shot so they lost it.
-Why was it a good thing that the Spanish plans were stopped?
Because they were losing no ships and England attacked, they fouhgt fiercely and Spanish were forced to return home, Spain. However, a great storm surprised them near to Norway, taking with it the lifes of some soldiers. This way, English weren´t invaded.
Because they were losing no ships and England attacked, they fouhgt fiercely and Spanish were forced to return home, Spain. However, a great storm surprised them near to Norway, taking with it the lifes of some soldiers. This way, English weren´t invaded.
-If you could change one thing to give the Spanish a better chance of winning what would it be and why?
In my opinion, I think they should have stayed, or at least hadn´t gone that early in order to evict the storm, by doing this it was more likely for Spanish to conquer England.
-The English celebrated their victory with a medal saying `God blew and they were scattered´- how would the Spanish have explained their defeat?
They probably led the responsability to the poor organization of their superiors but mainly to the horrible climatological conditions.
6.Explain in a short paragraph why many people thought that God had helped the English defeat the Spanish Armada.
As it has something to do with religion changes, people thought that the wind that moved Spanish fleet northwards was God job whose intention was leading English army to victory.
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