Marcus Garvey

Marcus Garvey

     For this research project, I was assigned to find out about Marcus Garvey. At first I could not associate the man with the WWI era but when i dug deeper, I found out that he was the founder and the leader of the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIS) which is considered to be the broadest mas movement in African American history. After finding out about that, I became more interested in the topic and my mindset changed from having to write about a boring topic into writing something about someone that means so much to a group of people and wondered what would life be like if it weren't for brave men like Marcus Garvey.

     To understand a man, we need to understand his past. So let's start with who Marcus Garvey really is and where he came from. In the BBC article, I found out about Marcus's early life. He was born on August 17th, 1887. The youngest of 11 kids! he quickly picked up a passion for books in his dads library. Being born in Jamaica, Garvey had to start working by the age of 14 and this is where his leadership skills first kicked in. He was working for a Printer and led the strike for higher wages. The next few years, Garvey traveled all over South America along with England and came across much violence and hatred against the blacks! This is why, after he got back to Jamaica, he started out on his project.

George O. Marke, Kojo Tovalou-Houénou, and Marcus Garvey

     According to this AVL source, when Garvey finally started his UNIS, it got the attention of all blacks around the world and it was an instant success. This association was the indirect voice of mistreated blacks and it was helping the black man to be treated better. In no time, Garvey moved his activities into the United States. He stationed himself in Harlem and continued to work on his project from there. He was defending the men and women who went to WWI hoping to serve their country and also hoping to getting treated better once they came back from the wars assuming people would be nicer to them since they served alongside the whites. When that did not happen, Garvey stepped in and did all he could to find rights for these men and women.

Marcus Garvey as commander in
chief of the Universal African Legion

     After digging around for a good primary source, I came across this letter that Garvey wrote to all black men about the black star line which helped all blacks to safely travel to Africa and back with no problems. Not only that this letter is a primary source, it shows us what kind of a person Garvey was and how he expressed his personal thoughts with everyone. His way of writing defines the man he was and shows me that he truly loved what he was doing.

Marcus in Ceremonial Robes

     Even though what Garvey did was a great thing, all good things must come to an end. in 1925 Garvey received a 5 year prison sentence for mail fraud. The US government was watching Garvey very closely according to this source but to his luck, president Coolidge was in good terms with him and dropped the charges but had to send Garvey back to Jamaica. Without its leader, the UNIS quickly disbanded and the great depression that was around the corner did not help his cause either. He tried to reestablish the organization in 1935 but failed once more and died a forgotten man in 1940. Even though his cause finally failed, his body was moved back to Jamaica and he was declared the country's first national hero.

     In conclusion, What Marcus Garvey did was a remarkable thing and inspired many blacks to pick up where he left off. It proved to me that the will of one man is all that matters if you want to change something for the good. All you have to do is believe in your cause and do what comes naturally and you will get results like Garvey did.

WWI entry

             From the internet source WWI link I found out that not all the hospitals were on dry ground. some of the hospitals were aboard ships. For example the ship H.M hospital ship S.S llandovery castle was a ship where patients were treated. The piece of paper that has been scanned is the menu from the officer dining room. It was for officers only. The officers were allowed to buy bottles of wine among other things in this dining hall. The Submarine was sunk on june 17th 1918 by U-86. Only one life boat of 24 people survived from a crew of 258 men and women.

sources for the postcards

http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87062268/1909-02-07/ed-1/seq-1/;words=LAP+FLEET+CRUISE+LAST+FAMOUS

http://web.ebscohost.com/src/detail?vid=3&hid=127&sid=c0a9ebb0-62ec-445d-adf3-d35b319c4df5%40sessionmgr113&bdata=JnNpdGU9c3JjLWxpdmU%3d#db=khh&AN=19668043

http://www.greatwhitefleet.info/Navy_Series2.html

http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq42-2a.htm

the great white fleet (what i've learned so far) 2

• when the great white fleet set out, there were four senior officers that served in the civil war
• the first use of wireless phones were first estabilished aboard one of these ships
• in 1908 the government spent 1 million dollars on the construction of pearl harbor
• when the fleet set out in 1907, it brought up a question of whether the U.S was goin to war with japan or not
• post offices were set aboard the ships to allow the sailors to send mail to their loved ones back at home
• there was a 14 month separation between the crew members and their loved ones
• with ships that had 650 crew members there were more than one mail clerks

the great white fleet (what i've learned so far) 1

• The fleet set out on December 16th 1907 at Jamestown exposition and finished its journey in February 22nd 1909 at Hampton roads.
• the goal was to show the world the might of America
• the battleships were divided into five classes
• they were; illinois, maine, virginia, conneticcut, and kearsarge
• the weight of the ships ranged from 11,500 to 16,000 poiunds
• there are many postcards from the great white fleet's voyage. most of them are pictures of ships and the crew. others were pictures of ports and such things

My Peer's posts

• In Ali Ferguson's Post I learned about all the haunted houses in New York and how she found about 30 articles on the subject. I learned about the haunted house in cherry hill because the furniture in the house is moved and thrown around. Mostly the reason that the houses were haunted was because someone was killed inside them
• In Noelle Carter's Post I learned about Coney Island and how it all started as Sea-Lion Park. When Coney Island was at its peak, it was considered to be a place of great attraction and it appealed more to the middle class. I also learned about all the rides at the Coney Island.
• In Jamaree's post i learned about basketball and that it was Found by James Naismith. I learned what basketballs were made out of back then and how they used real baskets to shoot the balls at.I also learned that the first games were low-scoring and slow paced rather than today's fast paced basketball game. I also learned about the first basketball gear like the shoes and other apparel

The Progress of my Project

I am doing my project on the car industry in the late 19th century and how it affected the society and the city life. Right now I am mainly focusing on how the machine was invented and where it was invented and after that I will be talking more about American Companies that started to build cars and industrialize themselves pushing the city life into a new level. Also I will be mentioning facts about how the automobile had an impact on the culture of the era.