Research Paper: The Civil War and Nursing

The Civil War and Nursing: A Closer Look into how Nurses Impacted the Civil War

1861-1865

                               

                                        

An Introduction to my Research Topic

Where is a better place to grow up in than in one of the greatest cities in the United States? The city of Boston is known for many great things like the Big Dig, our dedicated sports teams, Dunkin’ Donuts, many ivy league colleges, and most importantly our education in medicine. The greater Boston area is a phenomenal place to grow up especially if you are interested in studying medicine, like myself. Ever since I was little I have wanted to grow up to be a nurse just like my mother. I hope to become an incredible nurse like she is someday and I am very lucky to have grown up in Boston which is full of great experiences for new nurses. My mother is a very hardworking nurse who graduated from Laboure and Northeastern. Her compassion and love for helping people is what makes her such an amazing nurse. Her love for nursing made me realize how great of a profession it is which inspired me to want to study nursing someday. My older brother is also on the road to becoming a nurse as he just finished his first year of nursing school at Regis College. I'm very proud of my family and their love for helping people in need. My whole life I have dreamed of becoming a nurse and that is why I picked a research topic related to nursing, medicine and the Civil War.

Boston is home to an extensive amount of medical schools and hospitals like Boston University, Harvard, Tufts, Boston Children’s Hospital, Mass General Hospital, Brigham Women's Hospital and many more. But Boston has not always been like this. Before the Civil War, the practice or study of medicine was very uncommon and there weren't many hospitals around in any part of the United States. During the civil war many brave men and women stepped up to help wounded soldiers in need. Many of these people had little to no experience in nursing and had to learn from other people. But after the Civil War ended everything changed and now Boston is full of some of the smartest doctors and nurses in the world. I expected to find many great stories about strong nurses that worked in the civil war which made them so special to the history and development of nursing. So I asked: How did nursing and medicine evolve throughout the Civil War? This relates to our unit that we just finished on the Civil War. We learned a lot about the different battles occurring and many beloved people dying but not much about the nurses who helped the soldiers who did survive. I thought it was important to bring recognition to the nurses and doctors who worked very hard until the end of the war in 1865.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BLfotMEyXr8_F4YfpmC0CuoQGxxAjM8ipEt9DQjQoU/edit?usp=sharing

Who Is Abdul Rahman, the Prince Among Slaves?

From a Prince to a Slave

Abdul Rahman was the son of the King of Africa. He had a wife and a child. His life was basically perfect until one day when him and some other people from his tribe were captured. They were put on a ship and brought to America. This ship was very cramped and had little to no water and food. This trip to America was very long and painful for the indignities. They had no idea where they were going or what was in store for them when they arrived. Little did they know they had entered the slave life in America.

Prince Sold to Thomas Foster

Soon after Prince Abdul Rahman arrived in America he was bought by a farmer, and business man named Thomas Foster. Prince and another man was sold for $930. Living in Nachez Mississippi Abdul was put to work. Abduls identity of being a Prince was taken away and forgotten for many many years. Soon Abdul ran away from his owner but returned weeks later. His spiritual beliefs brought him to think that everything happens for a reason so he returned to Mr. Foster.

Leader of the Cotton Fields

Abdul shined in the cotton fields as the leader. As he acted like a father to most of the workers people looked at him as their leader. Abdul married another slave names Isabel and they had 9 children together. So he was the father of most of the slaves working on the fields. A man named John Cox found out that Abdul was a Prince he wanted to buy his freedom but Foster wouldn’t give him up for anything. Foster wouldn’t give him up because he was such a good worker in the cotton fields.

Finding Freedom

A man named Andrew Marchalk  heard about Prince and started to publicize his story. Foster finally agreed to getting Abdul free but his wife and children to stay in America. The American Colonization Society send him back to Africa with his wife Isabel! They had a long journey home and sadly Abdul never got to be reunited with his family because he suddenly died. Unfortunately only some of his children were successfully set free.

Bibliography:  Prince Among Slaves. Dir. Bill Duke & Andrea Kalin. PBS 2008

Twenty Dollar Bills

      Should Andrew Jackson Stay?

         Currently on the twenty dollar bill lies a picture of Andrew Jackson who is supposedly know for being a good leader. But he is not only known for leading wars to victories and starting the democratic party in the U.S.. Andrew Jackson did not fully earn his spot on the twenty dollar bill because he was not kind to all people. He acted very kind to all the whites but no so much for African Americans and Native Americans. If he was really a man of the people it wouldn't matter what race they were he would treat them all with respect and do what is best for them.
         Jackson was elected by the people to be President in 1828. But did all the people have a say in who was elected? No. African Americans and women were not able to vote for presidential elections so this wasn't really the peoples choice. While in presidency Jackson favored the spoils system which is the practice of hiring political supporters for government jobs even if they aren't qualified. This later becomes a problem. When Jackson was elected the people went crazy and were very happy he was their new president. But as it got further into his presidency the people thought Jackson was starting to act more like an Emperor. This made turned some people against him.
         Jackson supported the idea of using the spoils system to hire political supporters or friends to work for the government. Soon Jackson would regret his decision because he hired a man named Swartwout. Jackson hired Swartwout to work for the government even though he had a criminal record! This was a very risky choice for Jackson but he did it anyway. Swartwout ended up stealing 1.2 Million dollars from the U.S government and fled. This doesn't show Jackson caring about the United States because if he really did he would pick a qualified person for the job, not a criminal.
         While Jackson was president miners found a surplus of gold in the Cherokee land in Georgia. Jackson moved the Cherokee Native Americans from their homes to use their land for gold mines. The Cherokees were very upset about this and went to the Supreme Court to fight it. In court they were in favor of the Cherokee people and said what they were doing was unconstitutional. Jackson ignored this and continued to mine for gold in Georgia.
           Was Jackson really a man of the people? Does he really deserve to be on the twenty dollar bill? No. Jackson should be removed from the dollar bill because he is not a man of the people.If he was a man of the people he would have negotiated a plan with the Cherokee tribe to get gold instead of kicking them out of their homes with only their clothes they were wearing. Jackson being the largest slave owner in Tennessee shows that he really doesn't care about Native Americans or African Americans. African and Native Americans are all Americans so they should be treated like all other Americans.

         

French Revolution 1830: This is an image from the French Revolution of 1830 where revolutionaries revolted and stormed the streets. This was a way of revolting and fighting for independence for the citizens of France.
(http://gizliilimler.tr.gg/1830-ve-1848-%26%23304%3Bhtilalleri--k1-Revolutions-of-1830-and-1848-k2-.htm)

            I think the Revolutions of 1830 and 1848 should receive some credit for progress in the long struggle to a greater democracy because these revolutionaries were great fighters and set a great example for future revolutionaries. For example Poland was successful in gaining independence and this encouraged other countries to fight for their independence. During Hungary's fight for independence Koussouth's dedication shines through. Although Hungary's fight for independence was unsuccessful Koussouth set a very good example of how to never give up on something you want. The revolution of France in 1848 was partly successful because the citizens wanted better pay for their jobs. Unfortunately the revolution only helped Frances wealthiest citizens and left the others unhappy. But this was definitely a big step in the right direction for France. All of these countries set good examples for other countries to fight for independence. These countries wouldn't be independent without the help of these past revolutionaries and this was a very positive step in history.

Capitalism, Socialism, and Communism

           Today in class we demonstrated capitalism socialism and communism with an activity with Hershey kisses. To demonstrate capitalism each student was given a different amount of Hershey kisses. Some were given two, or three and some were given up to ten. We played rock paper scissors and ended up gaining and loosing Hershey kisses. This demonstrates capitalism because everyone is given different amounts. Next everyone was given three Hershey kisses. This demonstrated Socialism because the government (Mrs. Gleason) controlled the amount of Hershey kisses everyone was given. So everything is fair. If the class all agreed to keep the same amount of Hershey kisses to keep it fair then this would be an example of Communism.
           Marx's and Smith's ideas were very similar but also very different. Marx's idea of communism would help the poor because if everyone was in agreement then they could all help each other out and everyone would have the same amount of money and everything. Communism is the idea that everything is distributed evenly but the government has no control, this is the peoples choice. Smith's idea is that the invisible hand will help guide the economy and let everything workout. Capitalism is when everyone is given different jobs and wages and they have to compete with each other to gain money. Smith thinks that if the government leaves a capitalist economy alone then if will flow very smoothly.
           I think that Marx's idea is better because if everyone agrees to keep the everything equal then there won't be wealthy or poor people. Everyone should agree to this because then everything wouldn't be such a competition. If everyone is given equal amounts of everything then everyone is happy and nobody is out living out on the streets starving.

Child Labor Socratic Seminar Reflection

Child Labor Socrative Seminar Reflection

              In today's class we all participated in a Socratic Seminar on the topic of Child Labor. We discussed the pro's and the con's of this situation today and we debated if we would buy products made using child labor.
               Throughout the seminar I discussed with my classmates the problems occurring with child labor. One of the examples I brought up was how the kids working on Tobacco Fields get acute nicotine poisoning from working with these substances. One of the next things I said was that i agreed with the fact that the owners should supply the kids with clean working conditions because if they don't their workers will continue getting sick and that doesn't help to get their work done. Later on in the discussion I brought up that the owners don't exactly care about their workers and their health. The owners hired these kids to get their jobs done for cheap pay and they don't care about their health.
                 I thought it was interesting that one of my classmates thought they should label all products in  made with child labor because it would definetly help put a stop to child labor. I know if I was about to buy a product and it was labeled "made with the tears of children" I would definitely put it back on the shelf. It was also interesting to me that people thought the owners of companies shouldn't be responsible of keeping the working spaces clean. Someone thought the kids should supply themselves equipment to keep them safe. I also thought it was interesting that most of my classmates disagreed because if kids are gonna work long hours for them they should keep a safe working environment, which I agree with.
               I think our group did really well on giving everyone a chance to speak and a lot of had examples to backup our ideas and if someone didn't someone else would give an example to support their idea. I think next time we do a Socratic Seminar we should sit in more of a circle because then you can clearly see everyone you are speaking with. Also I think we could debate on more things and state if we agree or disagree with something because I was curious was my classmates thought of my ideas.

Travel Times to London by Railroad 1750-1830

Key:

Red- Birmington

Green- Brighton

Blue- Manchester

Yellow- York

The traveltimes to London by Railroad from different places improved from 1750-1830 by at least 1/4 if not more. For example the time it took to get to London from Brighton in 1750 was 23 hours in 18530 it only took 4 hours. This indicates that there is major improvement in the railroad production. Another thing we noticed is that in 1830 it took 20 hours to get to London from both Manchester and York when in 1750 it took 73 hours from Manchester and 96 from York. This could mean that the railroads are still being improved to be faster in those places.