Being confronted with that scenario, seeing the apartments, and learning in our class all about the big wave of immigration coming to America, it really made me think about what kind of living conditions were existing in their native countries. If living in a tiny apartment, sleeping head to toe with your brothers and sisters in the living room, working for thieving bosses who overworked you and underpaid you, if all this was an improvement from their home life, its unimaginable how bad they had it. I learned a lot from this class, and one of the things I learned from this class was a greater appreciation for this country that is my home. These people were living in hard times, but they were able to live without religious persecution, and were able to live freely, capable of anything. I have a new appreciation for the country that has their entire pacific fleet wiped out, yet still prevails and triumphs over the enemy. I have a new appreciation for a man named FDR who was able to pull our nation from the trenches of economic turmoil. I have a new appreciation for a man named Johnson, who worked endlessly to help African-American’s gain civil rights and equality. I have a new appreciation for a man named Reagan, who through the hard work of his predecessors and his own hard work, was able to convince a communist country to end its ways and become a democracy.

The tenement museum enables you to see first hand the way people lived less than a hundred years ago. People who would do anything to live in those one bedroom apartments, and if you go and see them, I think you will have a new found appreciation and even more understanding of what it means to be a free American. The life of unions and fair work standards were born in the lower east side and if you see these apartments and hear the stories, you will know why. You should really try to go, you will remember it for the rest of your life.

In the 1920′s it was depicted as a time characterized that Americans had prosperity and optimism. One of the times in the 1920′s was the Jazz Age. The Jazz age was  a time period were music and dance emerged. The dance were known to be danced by Flapper women. These women were now entering work force at the end of the first war. This depicted the idea of equality and free sexuality. The created new dances for the jazz age time period.

http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/subjects/c/credit_crisis/financial_regulatory_reform/index.html

The regulation is very similar to the Glass-Steagall act of 1933, in that it was enacted in very similar circumstances and had very similar purpose and targets: to limit the risks associated with financial industry. It was also passed during an unprecedented economic recession, to which the financial collapse of 1929 contributed a great deal. While the Glass-Steagall is more radical then the Dodd-Frank, its basic provision to separate commercial banking from Wall Street investing is very similar to the Volcker rule.

At the settlement of the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the principle of nationalism was ignored in favor of preserving the peace. Germany and Italy were left as divided states, but strong nationalist movements and revolutions led to the unification of Italy in 1861 and that of Germany in 1871. Another result of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 was that France was left seething over the loss of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany, and Revanche was a major goal of the French. Nationalism posed a problem for Austria-Hungary and the Balkans, areas comprised of many conflicting national groups. The ardent Panslavism of Serbia and Russia’s willingness to support its Slavic brother conflicted with Austria-Hungary’s Pan-Germanism.

One of the most important things I learned is that the Africans that were enslaved had rights in the beginning. This is one fact that textbooks usually neglect. I’ve always been taught that African Americans were forced into labor, but according to the African Burial Monument, they were enslaved but with rights to own land and other things. Matter of fact, in 1644 11 enslaved Africans won their partial freedom and the right to 100 acres of land. This land became known as the “Land of the Blacks.” It was not until later were slavery codes become more oppressive and all their rights were stripped from them.

In this exhibit, the bodies they found were in coffins covered with symbols. These objects symbolize fortunate things for their afterlife. A symbol that’s common is the Sankofa, which translates to “learn from the past to prepare for the future.” This is to learn that lessons of sacrifice, perseverance, respect and power of the community is needed to a better future.

The sacred burial ground was closed in 1974 in order to be divided and sold. It was in 1991 when the government wanted to build a federal office that led to the finding of this area. They found a total of 419 coffins and bodies under the ground. There is expected to be much more bodies under the ground as the area is much bigger than what the federal building occupied.

I found this museum very interesting because I felt it was very meaningful. It allows us to learn a great deal of early American history. I enjoyed the monument and the burial ground. I think they did a great job redesigning and reburying the place.  I thought it was a great idea for them to continue to preserve a historic national area.

While walking into the museum I realized the horrible conditions that many of these new immigrants had faced while coming to America. They usually came with no money, and were forced to squeeze up to 10 people in rooms, which barely fit 2 people. These immigrants fought hard to stay in this land, something we take for granted. I specifically went to one room owned by a Jewish family, and one owned by an Italian family. We learnt how each family learned to survive. Usually the women had to take care of the house and make money, because the families were too poor to survive any other way. In addition, many children had to work as well, because the extra money was desperately needed.

While walking through the museum it is clear that these immigrants worked really hard. They helped start a new life for their families, and in turn sacrificed their lives to working extremely hard. It is highly recommended that everybody visit this museum. It helps show the roots of many of us, and will help put our lives in perspective. It will show us how lucky we truly are, and just how much we should appreciate the lives that we have.

In February 2011, by a 36-to-12 vote, New York’s City Council passed a law extending the city’s smoking ban to parks, beaches and public plazas where pedestrians congregate like in Times Square and Union Square, it is the most significant expansion of antismoking laws since Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg pushed to prohibit smoking in restaurants and bars in 2002.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_smoking_bans_in_the_United_States

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/27/nyregion/new-york-state-adopts-strict-ban-on-workplace-smoking.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/03/nyregion/03smoking.html