The Destruction of Gotham

"The Destruction of Gotham" by Joaquin Miller is a very cruel and real story. The manner in which the characters are written gives credence to their believability in our reality. The passage we focused on was that of the newspaper reporter, the man who see the things that go on in the city.  In the passage the reporter is a spectator to everything that is occurring between the two young men, the lady, and the officer.  He witnessed as the officer stood by, took the bribe of the young man with no recourse, and watched him leave.  This fits into the plot of the story because it foreshadows things to come for the protagonist. The phrase "Saw a man and moster exchange glances; saw that all was well understood - this young man, this New Yorker, would deman and recieve of the old monster an account of her stewardship." (16) Is what sets up the whole story. It tells you that this young man, who has money, feels he can do anything with it. This includes claiming ownership over the beautiful young girl. This locks into a bigger idea that Miller has in this story, he writes "A course man of this city once remarked, with more force than grammer, 'That in New York a man can live as many lives as he has money.' Matherson now lived many lives, for he had much money"(37).  He is saying that a person who has money can get away with doing what they want, become who they want, and live however  they want. It ties back to the first passage, as he claims the girl and bribes the officer to stave him from trouble. Money is the one thing that lets him do whatever he wants. This comes back to the report, who from the shadows, is once again a witness to all that is happening to the poor girl.

The Great Railroad Riots of 1877: communism

There is an interesting passage in "The Great Railroad Riots of 1877 by Joel T. Headley, in it he brings up communism.  Headley makes a point to tell us what his definition of a communist is and goes into a discussion about it. The reason I found this point interesting was because the points that he made, which sound positive, he paints in a negative light. Certain points in his principle of what he considers a communist, is something that we now strife to achieve for everybody today. Now we believe in equality, we are currently fighting so that no one person has special rights or privileges over another person due to their place in society. We have   These are the very thing that If you would have brought up in the 1800's, would have caused you to be labeled a communist. Do we then let this opportunity go to waste? Should we continue to push for more equality and transparency in today's society? As it stands the rich still have special privileges and rights over the rest of us. It can be seen when a teen arrested for carrying a small amount of marijuana is given more jail time, then that of bankers who committed fraud and never see the inside of a cell. So we still have a long way to go, but  at the very least we are taking steps in the right direction.

Flour Riot

The Flour Riot of 1837 by Joel T. Headley gives us insight at what happens when people are pushed into a corner, and how far they will go for what they believe is right.  The riot that occurred during 1837 was set off by a series of events and its effects, such as the great fire that caused a shortage of crop, which lead to a scarcity of flour, which in turn lead to the cost of a barrel of flour to go up, and finally causing  greed to taking over as owners withheld excess barrels of flour in order to drive prices higher.  The price of flour and cost of living were too much for those below the poverty line to bear, their families were starving and they were finding it hard to care for them properly. Then for them to read in the newspapers as to what those with money were doing to line their pockets further, was what pushed them towards the ledge. At this point it only takes one person to speak words of "encouragement", to rally them behind their agenda, people like Alexander Ming Jr.  Whether their intentions are good or bad is for you to decide, but it doesn't take much to whip a crowd into a frenzy in the heat of the moment.  Morals are thrown away and passion over takes them, as they decide to destroy Hart & Co for their flours and wheat.  Neither side has theor hands clean in this sad display of human behavior. One side has led greed take precedents over remotely caring what happens to those that will likely starve, only caring about themselves and their riches. The other side has let their passion get the better of them as they turn monstrous with every action taken, to even throw the very thing that they are fighting for out the window and have it go to waste on the floor.  It is then that we must ask ourselves, must we become something we are not in order to right a wrong? Or is there a better way of finding the solution to these problems without losing our morals and beliefs?