WORLD WAR I BREAKS OUT!!!

Here is a great site to check out for an interactive overview of World War I.  It's a really nice intro, especially if you are not overly familiar with what happened in the war, why it started, or the geography of Europe at the time.

IF you have a LOT of time (about 9 hours) and are really interested in the history of World War I, I suggest you use the following links to watch a nice documentary on the subject:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

Okay, okay...so now that you've watched the WHOLE WAR (yeah, right...), let's step back a bit and take a look at some of the underlying events in World War I.  What was going on????

Most people will say that there are four major contributing factors to World War I:  imperialism, nationalism, militarism, and alliances (NOT an -ism).  What roles do these four things play?

First of all, you have to go back to something we discussed last section:  Social Darwinism.  Remember, we said that Social Darwinism (p. 678) is the theory used by Western nations in the late nineteenth century to justify their dominance; based on Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection...otherwise known as "survival of the fittest"...and was applied to modern human society.  We also said that this would be called Imperialism by the time World War I started to roll around.  Your text says that imperialism (p. 686) is the extension of a nation's power over other lands.  Sounds about the same, right?  There were several reasons that imperialism was becoming a major issue at this time:

1. Countries were looking for economic growth potential with new colonies.  New markets for trade could be opened up AND new sources of natural resources could be found to help fuel industrial growth.
2. There were a lot of intense rivalries among various countries and they tried to gain more territories and colonies to try to get an advantage over their enemies.
3. Prestige was a big factor.  The bigger you were (meaning the more colonies) the better you looked to the world.
4. Yet another -ism rears its ugly head at this time:  racism.  To use the text definition, racism (p. 687) is "the belief that race determines traits and capabilities."  This is not to say that racism did not exist prior to the early 1900's, because it obviously did, but racism was now being exercised on a global scale and used as a reason to conquer other countries, races, and cultures.
5. Some Europeans believed that they had a religious and moral responsibility, often nicknamed the "white man's burden" to bring Christianity to what they considered heathenistic countries.  Of course, when you take Western religions into new territories and countries, you likely also take your culture, your politics, and economic beliefs with you, so captialism and Western democracy were being spread through imperialism.

Some other ideas that are going to really contribute to World War I, especially when coupled with imperialsim, are nationalism and militarism (yep...more -isms). 

Nationalism (an old term from p. 602) is, of course, a strong sense of belonging to one's own nation or culture, religion, language, etc.  Well, at this time, there are several ethnic groups and cultures that don't have the benefit of their own country...but they wanted them.  Slavs in the Balkans and the Austria-Hungary empire wanted their own country, as did the Irish in the British Empire and the Polish in the Russian Empire. 

Militarism (p. 632), which is a reliance on military strength, should be an obvious ingredient in the ugly mix of problems that was starting to build up.  Why would militarism be a problem?  Well, if you rely solely on military strength and domination of others for power, those who are dominated or being pushed aside will eventually push back...which is not going to be a good thing...

That leaves us with alliances.  Well, one way to strengthen yourself against imperialist expansion is to form alliances with other countries.  Alliances are a BIG deal when it comes to World War I, which we will explore in just a bit.  In World War I, there were two major alliances:  the Triple Alliance of Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Italy; and the Triple Entente of France, Great Britan, and Russia.  These alliances are going to be like a powder keg that is primed and ready to explode, especially when combined with the "sparks" of imperialism, nationalism, and militarism. 

A TRIP THROUGH THE MIND...(Freud and friends...)

Sigmund Freud (p. 677) was one of the first people to really dig into the mind.  He is known as the "father of psychoanalysis" and was a major proponent of dream analysis.  While not really a figure of the First Industrial Revolution, Freud was definitely a major part of the Second Industrial Revolution, with his major works being released in 1900 in a book called The Interpretation of Dreams.  He also believed that who we are can be traced back to your experiences in childhood.  He was also the first person to define what the "id", "ego" and "superego" are.

What are you thinking?  Why are you thinking it?  What does it MEAN?!  A lot of people think that Freud is as crazy as the people he studied, but he did come up with a lot of interesting concepts, many of which are still being used today in the fields of psychology and sociology.

These tests are NOT Freud's specifically, but they are based on concepts and theories that Freud taught.

Check out these videos for some fun and insight into your mind...ARE YOU A PSYCOPATH?!

Let's start with an easy one...

Are you relieved???  Let's go on...

Want another???

Okay, here's another little, simple one for you ...

Here's the real test now, folks...

What is your personality???

One to finish on...all you geniuses...

Have some fun, folks!!!  Make sure to study and use remember to BRING YOUR STUDY GUIDE TO CLASS TOMORROW so you can get some bonus points!!!

ATTACK OF THE ...ISMS!!!

This week, we have already talked about some of the "isms" that arose during the Industrial Revolution:

• Capitalism (specifically Industrial Capitalism):  (p. 620) An economic system based on industrial production or manufacturing.
• Socialism: (p. 621) A system in which society, usually in the form of the government, owns and controls the means of production.
• Communism:  In its purist form, communism takes socialism to an extreme with the general population controlling the means to production, and there would be no monetary system, no social classes, and there would be pure social order.  (This is also sometimes referred to as Marxism, named after the co-author of the Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx.)

This is not the end of the "isms", however.  During the Industrial Revolution, we had several other "isms" either get their start or really take a strong foothold. 

• Conservatism  (p. 624):  Conservatism is a political philosophy based on tradition and social stability, favoring obedience to politcal authority and organized religion.
• Liberalism (p. 626):  Liberalism is a political movement that is often considered to be the counter to Conservatism.  Liberalism is based largely on Enlightenment principles, stating that people should be as free as possible from government restraint and that civil liberties--the basic rights of all people--should be protected.
• Romanticism  (p. 638):  An intellectual movement that emerged at the end of the eighteenth century in reaction to the ideas of the Enlightenment; it stressed feelings, emotion, and imagination as sources of knowing.

• Feminism (p. 662):  Feminism is the movement for women's rights.
• Modernism  (P. 674):  Modernism is a cultural movement in which artists, poets, writers, etc., between 1874 and 1914 rebelled against the traditional literary and artistic styles that had dominated European cultural life since the Renaissance.

• Realism  (p. 643):  A cultural movement that was the opposite of Romanticism.  Realism sought to represent lower- and middle-class life as it "actually was".

• Social Darwinism (p. 678):  The theory used by Western nations in the late nineteenth century to justify their dominance; based on Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection...otherwise known as "survival of the fittest"...and was applied to modern human society.  (This is going to be a key point in World War I and especially in World War II...)
   

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR STUDY GUIDES!!!  TEST ON FRIDAY...STUDY GUIDES DUE BEFORE THE TEST!!!!

UNIONS, ASSEMBLY LINES...AND A BETTER LIFE???

We have been looking at the terrible working conditions most workers found themselves faced with during the Industrial Revolution.  What were some of the issues they had to deal with?

1. Long hours
2. Low pay
3. Dangerous working conditions
4. No voice in their treatment or their work environment

That last point may be the biggest point of all, simply because if the workers had a voice in what was going on, maybe some of the other things would be changed.  People started to realize that something HAD to change and that they, the workers, were the people that were going to have to be responsible for making those changes.  To that end, many workers began to organize into trade unions (also called labor unions).  So, what is a union?

Simply stated, a union is a group of workers that have banded together to promote or achieve common goals.  In our example, a union would be made up of the factory workers or textile mill workers who were being mistreated during the Industrial Revolution.

One of the strengths of a union is something that is called collective bargaining.  According to your text (p. 657), collective bargaining is when "union representatives negotiate with employers over wages and hours", although collective bargaining could also be over other things such as vacation time, benefits, or other things workers want from their employers.  The idea here is that the representatives are speaking for all of the people of the union (hence the word "collective"), which should let the employers know that EVERYONE is unhappy and wants change.  Sounds logical, right?  But what if the employer doesn't care what the union wants?  What if the employer doesn't even recognize the union as existing?  What options do the unions have then?

To be able to put pressure on employers to change their position on key items (such as reduced working hours and fair pay), unions fought for the right to strike.  A strike is a term used to define a union's call for all of its workers to stop working until its demands are met.  So, if the textile mill you are working in won't cut your work week back to five days of twelve hours each, for example, your union might tell you to refuse to go to work, or to strike.

 

There were a couple of problems with strikes, especially during the Industrial Revolution.  First, there were no established rules governing unions, so not all unions acted the same or got the same results.  Two, there was always the possibility that your employer would simply fire you for going on strike, especially if they refused to recognize the union in the first place.  Finally, and most importantly, in the 1870's, Great Britain had laws on the books that didn't allow unions to legally strike.  It was a long process, but eventually, and without going into too much depth, union workers eventually won the right to strike legally, and things began to change...SLOWLY...for the working class of the Industrial Revolution.

During this same time frame, another new idea was starting to see popularity due to the rapidly expanding markets created by the railroads and steamboats.  This new idea allowed for manufactured goods to be built much more quickly and efficiently.  Based upon the ideas of divisions of labor, which Frederick Taylor came up with, this new manufacturing technique was eventually perfected by Henry Ford.  The new idea?  The assembly line.  In an assembly line, each person on the line has a specific job to do, and that is all they do.  There is no need for a person to be able to do mulitple jobs because each person is responsible only for his or her specific job.  If you are a screw-tightener, then you tighten a specific screw (or set of screws) on whatever item is being produced, and then you pass it down the assembly line to the next person. 

In this example, the person on your right picks up a cylinder and puts it on the conveyor belt.  The second person applies a light coat of paint, or possibly primer.  The third person applies the final coat of paint then stacks the finished cylinder on a separate platform at the end.  Each person has very specific jobs.  Person one never goes from his station to the end station, because then who would start the next item on the assembly line?  The middle person never goes to another job because how would we go from step one to step three?  While not exciting, especially for the people working on the assembly line, there is no denying that the use of the assembly line greatly increased production speed and efficiency, making more products available and driving down the costs of manufactured goods. 

(Ford's assembly line in 1913)



It was because of the assembly line, for example, that Henry Ford was able to achieve his goal of making a car that the average family could afford.  Many people think that the Model T was the first American car, but this is not true; the Model T was actually the first affordable American car, at least for most Americans.  In 1909, a Model T cost $850 (just under $22,000 in today's dollars), while most other cars cost between $2,000 and $3,000 (about $51,000-$77,000 in today's money).  By 1914, the cost of a Model T dropped to around $500.   

So why were Ford's cars so much cheaper?  Using the assembly line method of production, Ford was able to crank out the Model T car  at a MUCH faster rate than before the assembly line was put in place.  How much faster?  Before the assembly line was put into place, it took between 12 and 13 hours to put together a single Model T, so they cost more.  After the assembly line system was installed, a Model T could be built in just 93 minutes, which allowed Ford to build more cars than any other car maker, which allowed them to keep the price lower.  In fact, by 1914, Ford had more cars on the road than all other car makers COMBINED. 

Although these two ideas, trade unions and assembly lines, don't appear to have a lot in common, both made the lives of the people of the Industrial Revolution better.  Trade unions put more money in the pockets of the workers, which allowed them the ability to purchase items to further improve their lives.  The assembly line allowed manufactured goods to be produced much more quickly, which drove down costs, and allowed a worker's pay to stretch even further.  In the late 1800's, there was no way a factory worker could likely dream of owning a car, for example.  However, by 1914, for about four month's wages, an assembly line worker could afford to buy one of the Model T cars he was working on! 

Imagine the other positive changes the lives of the working class saw between the establishment of trade unions and the installation of assembly lines...   

Maybe these two things have something in common after all...

CAPITALISM vs. SOCIALISM vs. COMMUNISM

During the Industrial Revolution, we saw two very distinct schools of thought emerge:  Industrial Capitalism and Socialism.

What are the differences in these two ideologies?  How would you define each?

First, let's look back at what Capitalism means... 

Capital, as we discussed in class, is money that is available for investment or use by a business (p. 614 in your book).  This is usually controlled by private individuals, as, generally speaking, the government doesn't invest in businesses.  So, using that definition, Capitalism could be thought of as an economic system in which the private sector owns the means of production, controls the production of goods, and sells those goods to gain capital (money).

Adding to that definition, your text defines Industrial Capitalism like this:

Industrial Capitalism:  (p. 620)  An economic system based on industrial production or manufacturing.

As we looked at yesterday, the system in place during the Industrial Revolution could be very exploitative, especially when it came to the use of women and children as cheap sources of labor.  There were virtually no controls in place that said how long a person could work, how many days they could work, how old they had to be, or what they had to be paid.  Obviously, a lot of people were unhappy in this scenario, and there began a movement to look for ways to put some restrictions and guidelines in place.  Some people also felt that there should be more of a "sharing of the wealth" going on, since the laborers were getting very little for all of their work and the business owners were getting rich, in come cases, at the expense of the workers.

One school of thought that many people explored was the system known as Socialism.  Your text defines Socialism like this:

Socialism:  (p. 621)  A system in which society, usually in the form of the government, owns and controls the means of production.

Socialists believed that an ideal society could be created where everyone got to share in the wealth of a working situation like those we saw rising up in the Industrial Revolution.  Some socialists thought the government should step in and take control of industrial production, making sure that no one got too rich and that everyone got an equal share.  One branch of socialism, often referred to as utopian socialism, taught that a "perfect world" scenario could be created where the government could control everything and then take care of all of the people and make sure that all of their needs were met.  One such utopian socialist was Robert Owen.  He was a British cotton manufacturer that essentially took over a town called New Lanark (in Scotland) and created his ideal utopian society.  He then tried the same thing in the United States in a place called New Harmony, Indiana in the 1820's.  His American experiment failed because not everyone agreed to the sharing outline that Owen tried to put into place. 

Karl Marx, a well-known socialist, felt that utopian socialisists were impractical, but he did feel that socialism had its place.  However, Marx didn't think socialism necessarily went far enough.  Marx felt that Communism was the ideal situation. Communism takes socialism to an even further extreme where the general population would control the means to production, and there would be no monetary system, no social classes, and there would be pure social order.

QUESTIONS:

Is 100% pure communism even possible?  Can you think of a country that we consider to be "communist"?  Does that country look like the Marxist communism?  Can you think of any flaws in the communist system?

Is human nature the reason Owen's dream utopia of New Harmony failed?  Are people naturally competitive and therefore not well-suited to live in a world where everyone is equal and no one has the opportunity to get ahead by working harder or taking risks or making wise investments?  Would you want to live in a utopian society, or even a fully socialist society, where no matter how hard you worked, or didn't work, you were going to be taken care of?  Is that fair?  Would there be any reason to try?

Can you give examples of countries that have socialist governments, or at least strong socialist elements in their government?  Does the United States have socialist elements?  Can you give examples?

STEAM SHRINKS THE WORLD...CITIES EXPLODE...KIDS SUFFER...

Expansion Across Europe

While there is no denying the birth of the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain, it soon began to expand around the globe.  This was due largely to the growing impact of the steam engine on industries of all sorts.  Consider how rapidly the railway system in Great Britain was expanding.  In 1840, the entire country of Great Britain had less than 2,000 miles of track; by 1850, more than 6,000 miles of track spread throughout the country.  Locomotive technology had come a long way, as well, thanks largely to George Stephenson's flanged-wheel locomotives.  The first steam locomotives, such as those invented by Richard Trevithick in 1804, ran in sunken tracks rather than on rails and had a maximum speed of about 5 miles per hour, but were capable of pulling massive loads of roughly ten tons of materials (and up to 70 people).  By 1850, trains were reaching speeds of 60 miles per hour and pulling loads many times larger.  This expansion of the railroad system helped the Industrial Revolution to move into other European countries such as Belgium, Sweden, France, and Germany (Prussia).

American Steam Power



Not to be outdone, on the other side of the ocean, steam power was also making its mark.  However, rather than simply starting with the steam locomotive, American's first used steam to operate steamboats.  Invented by Robert Fulton in 1807, paddle-wheel steamboats were mocked at first, with Fulton's first ship, The Clermont, was nicknamed "Fulton's Folly", as no one thought there would be a market for such a water-faring vessel.  It is interesting (at least to me), that Fulton originally wasn't setting out to invent the steamship, but a submarine. 

The American rail system blossomed in an equally impressive fashion.  In 1830, there were fewer than 100 miles of track  (there are more than 300 miles of track in Bailey Yards!); by 1860, there were more than 30,000 miles running throughout the country!  This was an obviously huge development as the hauling of raw materials to factories...and finished products to customers...was able to be done much faster and in much greater quantity than ever before.  With the massive rail network now in place, factories could ship to customers anywhere in the country. 

And more customers meant more demand...which more potential for profit...which meant increased production...which meant more factory jobs and a BOOM in the growth of cities.

CITY EXPANSION

Cities in Eurpoe and America began to grow at alarming rates during the Industrial Revolution.  In 1750, European population was approximately 140 million people; by 1850, that number reached 266 million.  In the United States, the estimated population in 1800 was about five million people; by 1860 there were more than 30 million Americans.  50% of these people, both in Europe and America, lived in cities.  And, due to the growth of these cities and the rapidly increasing need for factory workers, two new social classes developed:  the industrial middle class and the industrial working class.

The Industrial Middle Class--largely made up of people the French would refer to as the bourgeois (merchants, officials, lawyers, etc.), but now included those who built factories, purchased machinery for those factories, and those who developed markets for new products.

The Industrial Working Class--made up of those who worked for the Industrial Middle Class.  This group included women and children who worked average 6 day work weeks made up of 12 to 16 hour days.  Working conditions were terrible, regardless of if you were a man working in a mine or a woman or child working in a textile mill.  Wages were brutally low, with children sometimes earning less than $2.00 PER WEEK.  While many people think this was an AMERICAN problem, the exploitation of children and women in the workplace was common everywhere during the Industrial Revolution.

 

Industrial Revolution Kicks Off in Great Britain

Prior to the Industrial Revolution, if you wanted to create fabric goods (textiles), you had to pick the cotton, then spin the thread from the cotton, then weave the fabric from these cotton threads.  This was a long, drawn-out process that was carried out by an individual or handful of individuals in their homes, or cottages, because there were no factories which could do mass production of fabrics.  This home production is what is referred to as a cottage industry because, you guessed it, it was an industry carried out at home.  While it was certainly doable, it was slow, inefficient, and could end up with costly products due to high demand and low supply.

Then, some Brits thought up a few ways to improve upon human industry by creating machines that could do the job of several people at the same time...and the Industrial Revolution was kicked off.  As we briefly touched on in class on Tuesday, the Industrial Revolution really got it's start in Great Britain.   This short clip...yes, I know it's a bit old in appearance...gives a quick rundown of the Industrial Revolution and it's start in Great Britain and eventual spread to America..

   But why was Great Britain the home of the Industrial Revolution?  There are several reasons...

1. Great Britain had MONEY!  As the most powerful country in the world (at the time), Great Britain had money to invest in new machines and inventions and factories...as well as a supply of workers.
2. Great Britain had PLENTY of food...which means lower food prices, so people had more money to spend on other things--like buying things that other people create and invent.
3. Great Britain had plenty of people, many of which moved into towns and cities when the British government passed what were called the enclosure movement laws which fenced off common lands, making it harder for peasants to farm since they couldn't afford lands of their own.
4. Great Britain has a lot of rivers and streams for powering factories, grinding grain, and for transporting goods.
5. Great Britain had a lot of colonies (like us!), which meant they had a ready-made market for goods they produced.  Plus, since the British population was growing at home, more people needed things like clothing and tools and other manufactured items. 

When you think about it like that, Great Britain almost had to be the birthplace of an industrial revolution!  There was just a perfect set-up....even a fool could make money...right? Well, let's see if YOU can make money! Follow this link and play this simple little game to see if you have what it takes to be a COTTON MILLIONAIRE! Who Wants To Be A Cotton Millionaire?! You have to choose the location, what type of labor you are going to use, what you are going to invest in...YOU control your own destiny. It's a simple game, I know, but can you stay out of debtor's prison by making all the right decisions?

THREE MAIN AREAS OF BRITISH ADVANCEMENT

1. Textiles--Inventions such as the Water Frame (Richard Arkwright, 1769), the Spinning Jenny (James Hargreaves, 1764), the Spinning Mule (Samuel Crompton, 1779), and the Water Loom (Edmund Cartwright, 1787) led to a boom in textile production.
2. Steam Power--The steam engine was patented by James Watt in 1775 and used to pump water out of mines.  By 1782, however, the steam engine had been adapted to run other machinery, such as textile equipment, which allowed textile mills to be build all over the country and not just along rivers and streams.
3. Iron Production--The British, thanks largely in part to Henry Cort, who patented a process called puddling, perfect the production of bar iron, which was much higher in quality than the pig iron that had been used previously. 

Other notable British inventors:  Jethro Tull (seed drill), Andrew Meikle (threshing machine), John Smeaton ("rediscovered"concrete in 1756), Richard Trevithick (steam locomotive), George Stephenson (flanged wheel locomotive which ran on top of rails instead of in sunken tracks).

ANOTHER REVOLUTION???

So, we just finished learning about the French Revolution...you know...where everyone was getting their head chopped off...  

...and before that it was the American Revolution where a bunch of guys in Red Coats were getting run out of town by a bunch of farmers and frontiersmen, and a couple of drummers and some dude with a fife...who were bent on building a new country...

...but the revolutions are not over.  Now it's time for (hey, drummer dudes above...drumroll, please....)

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION!!!

Okay, so we need to ask ourselves a couple of things before we go a whole lot farther with this Industrial Revolution thing.  First, what is the Industrial Revolution?  And, second, how does the Industrial Revolution have anything to do with me and my life now?  Valid questions, so let's take a look at the first one...err...first.

Now, to be historically accurate, which we should probably do since this is HISTORY class, the Industrial Revolution was going on at the same time as the other two revolutions we just discussed.  The American Revolution was going on at the end of the 18th Century, and the French Revolution was taking place in the late 18th and early 19th Century, which is roughtly the same time frame as the start of the Industrial Revolution.  Most historians consider the Industrial Revolution to have been a period of time from roughly 1750 to 1850, which fits the timeframes we just covered.  This new revolution was not a political one, but it would lead to many political and socioeconimic implications later in its existance...but we aren't there yet.

 
The Industrial Revolution changed the ways that the the world produced its goods, both in the past and even today.  It also changed the world's societies from being predominantly agricultural societies to societies that are dominated by industry, manufacturing, and even shipping and transportation.
 
The Industrial Revolution first got its start in the 18th century in Great Britian, which at the time was the most powerful empire on the planet.  If you think about it, this makes sense, since it required a good deal of money (or capital...remember that term...) to kickstart things.  After things got rolling in England, other countries jumped in this new Revolution, including Germany and France.  However, many people will argue (and rightfully so, I believe) that it was in the United States that the Industrial Revolution really took flight!  

So...how about that second question above:  How does the Industrial Revolution affect me and my life now?

Corliss Steam Engine circa 1849

During the period that we recognize as the Industrial Revolution, there were so many inventions and improvements that it would be virtually impossible to think of an area that WASN'T affected.  On the technology front, the biggest advancements, at least in my opinion, were in steam power, which we will discuss in depth later.  New fuels such as coal and petroleum, were incorporated into new steam engines, along with advancements in how water power could be used.  As a result, other industries including textiles, manufacturing, and even agriculture, were all able to advance. Also, new communications tools...things like the telegraph, telephone, television...all found their beginnings in this time period, and all helped to shrink the world that we live in.  And if you want to talk about shrinking the world, it is difficult to overlook such innovations as the automobile, the airplane, and the assembly line which made putting these new vehicles together that much easier and more efficient. 

It is worth noting that not everything that came out of this time period was a 100% positive for the world.  A lot of things started to slide downwards as these things I just mentioned were all on the upswing.  Cities began to explode in size, due largely to increased manufacturing jobs.  Many people were driven to the cities to look for work...but the cities weren't ready to house that many people and slums began to spring up.  A lot of people argue that the Age of Greed could be a nickname for the Industrial Revolution period, as with these new advancements came a new materialistic view of the world.  An age of capitalism exploded throughout much of the world, as entire economic systems based on trade became the norm for many countries.  As a result, many factory owners were driven to generate as much money as cheaply as possible which brought about massive problems with child labor (as well as unfair labor practices involving women), unsafe working conditions, poorly lighted and ventilated factories and buildings, and low wages for long work days (read pages 622 and 623 in our text for more information here).  Many of these problems gave rise to socialism and, in extreme situations, communism (they are not the same, by the way), which both come into play on the political spectrum today.  Unions came to power...and in some cases TOO MUCH POWER.  And, of course, any time you start to increase manufacturing and production, things such as pollution and resource exploitation seem to have a way of rearing their ugly heads, don't they? 

So, how does the Industrial Revolution affect you today? 

How DOESN'T it?! 

Welcome to...ME????

TWELVE THINGS ABOUT ME YOU PROBABLY DON'T CARE ABOUT!!!

1. I grew up in Hershey, where I attended school from kindergarten until I graduated in 1988.  Famous people in my class include Mrs. Hoatson, the psychology/sociology/history teacher upstairs, and News 2's very own Kent Winder!  We moved BACK to Hershey last November.
2. I am married and have two little boys.  My wife's name is Marie, and my sons are Jaydon (10) and Jaxon (5).  I also have two dogs, four house cats, and one garage cat.
3. I am probably the biggest Kansas City Royals fan you will ever meet...if you have ever met one other than me!  Both of my kids came home from the hospital in Royals clothing and you will almost never find me without something Royals on.
4. I worked for 8 years on the radio (Y-102 in Kearney) and for 10 years at the Boys and Girls Home here in North Platte.  I have also managed a gym, managed a video game arcade, worked in a CD store, worked on a farm, delivered pizzas, worked in a cemetery, and cut glass for a
   
   living.
5. Sports and the gym are the only reasons I am not a 100% NERD (my wife says I could be on Big Bang Theory...if I was smarter)!  I love computers, Star Wars (I saw the original in 1977...the year it came out...at a drive-in theater), Star Trek, "Magic The Gathering", comic books, reading fantasy and science fiction books, and, of course, history.
6. Speaking of history, I am currently working on my master's degree in history.  My favorite areas of history are World War II, the Civil War, the Revolutionary War, Egyptian History, and the Old West (you know, cowboys and Indians stuff).  I also am a big fan of government and political science.  I also am FASCINATED by the history of professional wrestling (see...nerd...) and baseball.
7. My favorite foods are the chicken and strawberry salad you will see me eating this ALL the time, lasagna, and steak and potatoes.  On the flip-side, I HATE Jell-O!  Hate it, hate it, hate it!  I hate how it wiggles and jiggles, hate the feel of it in my mouth, and even hate the sound it makes when you scoop it out of a bowl!  I also have no use for bananas, watermelon, avacados, asparagus, or super-hot peppers.
8. I was 46 when I flew for the first time...and my kids flew for the first time at 8 and 4!  
9. I used to be a competitive bodybuilder, power lifter, and arm wrestler.  I also wrestled in college.  
10. My favorite sports (which saved me from nerd-dom) are baseball, college football, UFC/MMA, and wrestling (college and professional), but I can watch just about anything, and I love the Olympics.
11. I coach AYSO soccer, t-ball, and wrestling.  I am also a cub scout leader!
12. I can count to five in five different languages!

Okay, so there you go...the dirty dozen...twelve things about me.  Probably more than you wanted to know, but you were the one that kept reading! If there is something I failed to cover, feel free to ask me (as long as it is appropriate), and I will do my best to answer.  I am NOT known for being shy...

My goal is to help you make the most of your time here in TIES and to help get you ready for the rest of your school career.  Let me know if there is something you need from me and I will gladly help...but remember, it is ultimately up to YOU to learn the material in this class; I can't learn it for you.

Mr. Parker