Nina Ho

Rape is a universal fear for women and sometimes acts as a social control mechanism to put women in their ‘place’ and put them there.[1] The fear of rape controls every aspect of their life, and compels them to behave, dress, speak or travel in certain ways. Alas, even with rigorous self-policing, women continue to suffer at the hands of oppressive systems – making fringe groups easy targets for violence. Although there are many groups, are Indigenous women, girls will be the focal point of this study. In Indigenous history, rape was used to exercise power and control by attacking major pillars of stability. This essay will explore the reasons and effects rape has on society through modernists lens and propose actionable solutions for healing. First, this essay will provide an overview on how dualism connects gender, rape, and colonialism to become an intersectional issue. Then, by using this new perspective, determine how the sexualization of indigenous women makes rape more accessible. Third, how authoritative systems permit ongoing the violence directed against Indigenous women and girls. Finally, this essay will close by looking at avenues for healing.

Modernity, Indigeneity and Womanhood

Duality is the driving axle to many of the problems that Indigenous people face. The dualism found in modernity categorizes people, things and ideas into opposites that are either ‘good’ or ‘bad.’  Our tendency towards categorizations, will always place one concept superior to the another. As a result, dualism creates an interdependent relationship between two opposing concepts whose self-justification relies on their inter-relationality. For example, up and down, left and right, fast and slow, vibrant and dull, and so on and so forth. In the context of Indigenous history, this manifests in the ‘civilized vs uncivilized’ or ‘enlightened vs barbarian.’ The assessment of ‘modern’ must be counterposed with ‘unmodern,’ which must be delegated as ‘other’ and generally inferior. Likewise, for the civilized, pious, clean white-settler to exist; there must be an uncivilized, morally poisoned, dirty Native American to exist.

On the other hand, modernity and gender unify through their interaction with dualism. Just like the bifurcation between the ‘civilized’ and ‘uncivilized’; a similar relationship can be formed through the separation of ‘male and ‘female’ archetypes. The power found in masculinity is a force that acts on femininity. Dualism effectively places ‘masculinity’ on the same side as ‘power,’ ‘colonialism’ and ‘civilization’ where on the contrary, femininity’ is placed on the same side as ‘weakness,’ ‘colonized’ and ‘uncivilization.’  Finally, we see, the gendered codes found in colonialism are part of the dualistic nature found in modernity. In the book Columbus and other Cannibals, Jack D. Forbes equates the colonizers to the wetiko. The wetiko is a term from Algonquin cultures which refers to a monstrous cannibal spirit associated with greed, gluttony and excess.

In his book, Forbes identifies the wetiko disease as a “disease of aggression against other living things” and the “disease of consuming the other.”[2]  Here, consumption plays a key component in his analysis. He continues by assessing interconnectivity in Indigenous culture. Where interconnectivity plays a pivotal role on how communities interact with the world, where they view other creatures, animals and plants as equal to themselves.[3]  However, settlers have brought over with them the wetiko arrogance which compels the wealthy exploiters to ‘eat’ the flesh of the oppressed, servants or non-human.  Since Indigenous culture is not predicated towards exploitation, they end up being susceptible to being ‘eaten’ by the colonizers. For the wetiko to assert their power they must consume and exploit, otherwise they cannot maintain their power over the “other.”

The modernist paradigm is used to ascertain the theoretical rationality that supports asymmetries in power. Duality becomes the anchor point for dehumanizing Indigenous communities, which is not a given destiny but a result of an unjust order that engender violence in the oppressors, which in turn dehumanizes the oppressed. The world then becomes split into two contending forces; (a) the masculine, powerful, civilized, morally and rationally sound, human settlers versus (b) the feminine, powerless, uncivilized, morally and rationally corrupted, animalistic archetypes for the Indigenous communities. So, how can this paradigm be applied to missing and murdered indigenous women and girls?        The answer: the wetiko’s culture and systems of rape.

Wetiko’s Culture of Rape

            Rape is not a natural occurrence, in which it fails to satisfy an intrinsic need. It is not desired in the same manner as food, warmth, and love. Instead, it depends on social scripts created by the dominant class are used to justify and universalize rape.[4] In the topic of Indigenous history, the colonizers have used tactics to create a culture of rape that actively targets Indigenous women. Such culture can be found through racist sexualization of Indigenous women which is predicated on the social economic conditions that force Indigenous women and girls into sex work. First by interpreting Indigenous women through racist sexualization, rape becomes more accessible to potential perpetrators.

The oversexualization of Indigenous women is a key component in creating a culture of rape because it carries the narrative that Native Women are ‘rapeable.’ Such sexualization is coded in many texts written by white settlers in reference to Indigenous women. In many cases, Indigenous female bodily autonomy, when read by the Western settlers, were often perceived as promiscuous.[5] American Perspectives on sexuality contrasted sharply with Indigenous Perspectives on healthy sexuality Many Eurocentric policies penalized Native women for engaging in consensual sexual activity.[6]  For example, a passage from diary to one of Columbus’ aristocratic friends who accompanied him on his second voyage explicitly references this ‘rapeability.’ In this diary, he admits to brutally raping a “Carib woman,” by taking the “rope-end and thrashed her well, following which she produced such screaming and wailing as would cause you not to believe your ears.

Finally, we reached an agreement such that, I can tell you, she seemed to have been raised in a veritable school of harlots.”[7] The brutal rape is justified by the interpretation of Indigenous female body autonomy, where some such as Diron D’Araguiette observed that young Native girls “are the mistresses of their own bodies,” while others were often “baffled and sometimes horrified,” by the sexual and political autonomy exhibited by Indigenous women.[8] There are also contemporary accounts of sexualization through the commercialization of the Native woman’s body.[9] The infamous “Poca-hottie” costume and porn categories of “rez girl” on major pornographic sites are just a few examples of how the bodies of Native women are being sexualized in the current decade.[10] The arrogance written in the aristocrat’s passages indicates that rape was seen as a tool of conquest among the colonizers and a means to showboat their power and domination. Seeded in the duality of colonialism, the female body appears to be a site of conquest for a man.[11] Just like making claim to the land, the masculine colonizer makes claim to the colonized female through rape, which continues to be a pervasive issue into modern Canadian history. Many scholars observed that, in many cases, simply being born Aboriginal and female engenders a very real likelihood of being subjected to the most severe forms of violence.[12] However, the perceive sexual promiscuity of Indigenous women is not the only reason rape is so accessible. Social and economic conditions bestowed upon Indigenous communities, create unstable environments that made rape more accessible and less prosecutable.

Chronic system failures cause instability in the lives of Indigenous women and girls which makes them more susceptible to rape. The Truth and Reconciliation Council published a report in 2015 with 94 calls to action where by 2023, only 13 of these actionable items were considered complete.[13] One of the main issues identified by the council was the chronic underfunding of Indigenous social services. These service shortages trickle down into familial homes, which intensifies social and economic barriers Indigenous peoples face.[14] A report published on March 2011 by  the Standing Committee on the Status of Women recognized that “poverty, racism, Canada’s colonial history and systemic police failures are root causes,” of violence that leads Indigenous women and girls to wander into prostitution.[15] Thirty percent of women arrested for prostitution and arrests in a particular Minneapolis neighborhood. Yet Native people only make up 2-3% of the Twin Cities population in the country.[16] Right here at home, Indigenous women and girls make up 50% of all reported victims of human trafficking.[17] Deceptive tactics such as inebriation have been used to trick Indigenous women and girls into the sex industry. A young white students observed that, “for young [Native] females, drinking seems to help them overcome sexual inhibitions; this is crucial to their popularity with many of the young Whites.”[18] Prohibiting their cognitive functions as a strategy to trick them into sex. Furthermore, the Urban Native Youth Association (UNYA) manual published in 2002 identified several other tactics used to recruit Indigenous women into prostitution. These tactics included: seduction (being charming and representing themselves as a potential partner, presenting gifts and emotional manipulation), isolation from support networks, coercion (intimidation tactics such as treats to the woman and her friends and family); and violence (use of violence to force someone into sexual exploitation and maintain participation.)[19] In a different report, the author Sethi concluded that coercion and deception were key components used by traffickers where majors sites of abduction occurred at airports; schools; bars; boyfriends; girls as recruiters; dancers; the internet; and hitchhiking.[20] Again, we see the tendency to dualism in prostitution and rape. Returning to Forbes analysis in Columbus and other Cannibals, he also identified deception as a symptom of what he called, the ‘wetiko insanity.’[21] He relegates the wetiko’s the unsatiable desire to consume as a key component to their insanity. Over and over again, European writers associate “high civilizations” societies with “large slave populations, rigid social class systems, unethical or ruthless rules, aggressive, imperialistic foreign policies.”[22] Where on the other hand, societies built on the opposite foundations (no slaves, loose social class etc) are considered primitive and uncivilized. Using this mindset, prostitution becomes another platform for the wetiko to exercise their superiority. Not only does prostitution enslaves a foundational sector of Indigenous society, but also offends the decision-making capacities of Indigenous communities through deceptive recruitment strategies. Taken together, these patterns reveal that the sexual violence inflicted upon Indigenous women is neither incidental nor rooted in any “natural” human impulse but is instead the result of a long-standing colonial logic that weaponizes both sexualization and systemic deprivation. The normalization of rape as a tool of conquest, reinforced through racist narratives, social destitution, and structures of coercion, exposes how deeply the wetiko mindset continues to permeate.

Wetiko’s Systems of Rape

            Rape occurs in all societies with ingrained systems of power and control. However, the ways in which Indigenous communities dealt with rape was much different than the wetiko. The disease of the wetiko seeped into tribal law to diminish the decision-making power of women. This was found through written law, moral policing and contemporary systemic neglect. At the very beginning, the state had set out to dimmish the power of the woman.  For example, the change Mvskoke laws experienced overtime:

At first, earlier mentions of the woman, and “what she say it be law,” gives significant decision-making power to the woman on the destiny of the perpetrator. However, by 1875, the explicit usage of the gendered ‘he’ as well as complete omission of women suggests that the decision-making abilities of women appeared to be lost or eclipsed through “forced Americanization” of the Mvskoke people.[26] These intrusions did not only occur in how rape was persecuted, but also extended to include moral the moral policing of Indigenous women. These moral policies placed Indigenous women into a restrictive binary based on European patriarchal values. In Dian Million’s book Therapeutic Nations,  she addresses the European assertion that Indian bodies were “uncontrollable,” in “crisis,” and “whose violence becomes marked for policing” Their identities slowly become “understood to be failures of will, of self-care failure to self manage one's passions, or food, or alcohol, drugs, or sex.”[27] As a result, policies laws developed between he state and tribes began to possess an ever-growing obsession over the policing of a woman’s body. The Juvenile Delinquents Act and Training School Act of the 1950s, for example, were established to train young women away from perceived promiscuity and into domesticity, by forcing European patriarchal roles onto Native women. If Native women did not recognize or obey European patriarchal roles, they were severely punished. [28] In this way, the Native girls were seen as sources of moral corruption by European, and strict laws were placed on their bodily autonomy. These laws, informs contemporary legislation that supports an all-out dismemberment of Indigenous women from their communities. Current day legislation is built upon earlier amendments to silence Indigenous women and ultimately permitting rape on a legal level. Contemporary legal neglect of indigenous women made rape more accessible because it often allowed perpetrators to walk freely. For example, the 1885 Major Crimes Act, 1968 Civil Rights Act and the Oliphant v. Suquamish ruling made Indian sex slavery de facto, as rape cases are no longer being persecuted with the same clarity as white victims.[29] Per capita, the spending on law enforcement roughly 60 percent of national average and in  2012, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that U.S Attorneys declined to prosecute 67 percent of sex crimes.[30] Subsequently, forced relocation through Indian Removal Act (1830), created an ideal environment for perpetrators to rape without consequence. The Indian Removal Act provided legal authority and military funding to move Indians to areas West of the Mississippi which was remembered as the Trail of Tears.[31] Oral accounts of a woman’s firsthand experience show just how traumatic relocation can be. She remembers on her long journey that “sometimes as weeks went by these soldiers would tear the clothing off young girls 12 years of age or young mothers and molest them.”[32] She wasn’t the only one, in fact by 1960, thirty-three thousand Indians had been relocated and the number continued to rise today nearly 60% of Native people reside in urban areas.[33] By moving so far away from the reserves, Indigenous women and girls are removed form support systems pivotal to their well being, which inevitably squeezes them down dark paths out of necessity. Generally, Indigenous women and girls in Canada are at a higher risk of being trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation, the types of acts perpetrated against them are often not viewed as ‘trafficking’ because of misconceptions on Indigenous sexual autonomy. Historical representations of Aboriginal women, poverty, racism and criminalization of Aboriginal girls have worked together to cloak crimes committed against them through invisibility.[34]

What Now?

‘Reconciliation’ is frequently used as a blanket statement for healing. However, it’s been consistently proven that this type of performative allyship is not effective on solving the problem. So, how can we truly help heal the Indigenous community? Self-Determination. The ‘Felt Theory,’ proposed by Dian Million, explores the weaponization of shame to degrade the status of women in Indigenous communities and how settler knowledge systems may not be the best in representing Indigenous problems. The tendency for settler knowledge systems to rely on predetermined power structures poses a problem because scholarship becomes a self-feeding feedback loop, that creates a Eurocentric way in validating ‘true’ or ‘correct’ knowledge from ‘untrue’ and ‘incorrect knowledge.’ For example, researchers are encouraged to use "statistically significant sample," to narrow down their research. However, that means that Indigenous people are simply pooled with data from other groups of people who do not constitute a statistically significant sample and categorized as "other."[35] This is commonly seen in criminology studies that classify Americans as "White, Black, and Other,” where Indigenous communities disappear within the category of “Other.” [36] Another way in which Native people are lost in statistical analysis is homelessness. Forced relocation has often led many Indigenous people homeless, but the National Crime Victimization Survey has not typically included homeless people (or people living in shelters) as part of its population sample-and Native people.[37] Government sponsored inquisitions are often omit intersectionality that often downplays the severity of the issue simply by claiming that Indigenous women are not “statistically significant.” Therefore, placing the responsibility on Indigenous women for their own destitution. However, Indigenous centric research portrays another story. The majority of those polled felt domestic violence (92.8%), sexual assault (92.8%), and teen dating violence (91.2%) were all problems on the Rosebud Reservation. A lower percent (82.0%) thought that stalking is a problem. More than three-quarters (77.5%) of all female respondents who had experienced both domestic/dating violence and sexual abuse or rape had considered or tried hurting themselves.[38] In this way, there are two types of knowledge, colonial knowledge that comes from rigorous years of careful study and knowledge from experiences or what Dian Million describes as ‘felt theory.’ The Felt Theory, comes from the other side of the binary; to value ‘feelings’ above ‘stoicism,’ the ‘minor’ above the ‘majority,’ and the ‘individual experience’ above the ‘collective memory.’ The result may be bias, but bias is exactly what is needed when studying the issues involving people not statistics.

The experience of Indigenous women is part of a greater colonial agenda. The oppression and abuse of women is indistinguishable from fundamental Western concepts of social order.[39] Federal employees and people in positions of power indulge in rape as it perpetrates the binary between the conquered and conquerer.[40] The only way for us to cure Turtle Island from the wetiko disease, is to look into ourselves to see what we do that perpetuates the sexualization of Indigenous women and subsequently the rape of the land and it’s people. Advocate for missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, support grassroots organizations and movements that pressure the government for change and stop complicity with colonial domination. Most importantly, ask questions and critically inquire about the decisions of the state, because in many cases it is linked to the exploitation of the ‘other’ – Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

Bibliography

Brant, Jennifer, and Dawn Memee. Rematriating Justice. Demeter Press, 2024.

Cary, Katie. “‘We Have No Female Companionship’: Tiger Lily’s Transparent Presence in J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan.” ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews 34, no. 4 (January 10, 2020): 322–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/0895769x.2020.1713713.

Deer, Sarah. The Beginning and End of Rape: Confronting Sexual Violence in Native America. Minneapolis, London: University of Minnesota Press, 2015.

Farley, Melissa. “Prostitution of Indigenous Women: Sex Inequality and the Colonization of Canada’s First Nations Women.” Vancouver Rape Relief & Women’s Shelter, February 24, 2021. https://rapereliefshelter.bc.ca/prostitution-of-indigenous-women-sex-inequality-and-the-colonization-of-canadas-first-nations-women/.

Forbes, Jack D. Columbus and Other Cannibals. Seven Stories Press, 2011.

Hanson, Erin. “Marginalization of Aboriginal Women.” Indigenous Foundations, 2009. https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/marginalization_of_aboriginal_women/.

Lavell-Harvard, Dawn M. Forever Loved: Exposing the Hidden Crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada. Demeter Press, 2016.

LeMay, Rose. Ally Is a Verb. Page Two, 2025.

Million, Dian. Therapeutic Nations. University of Arizona Press, 2013.

Roudometkina, Arina, and Kim Wakeford. “Trafficking of Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada Submission to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights,” June 15, 2018. https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/421/JUST/Brief/BR10002955/br-external/NativeWomensAssociationOfCanada-e.pdf.

Rowshan Jahan Chowdhury. “Rape, Bodily Presence, and ‘Still Activism.’” Crossings a Journal of English Studies 12 (September 1, 2021): 34–46. https://doi.org/10.59817/cjes.v12i.3.

Sangster, Joan. Regulating Girls and Women : Sexuality, the Family and the Law in Ontario, 1920-1960. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.

Searles, Patricia, and Ronald Berger. Rape and Society. Godstone Surrey: Westview Press, 1995.

Sethi, Anupriya. “Domestic Sex Trafficking of Aboriginal Girls in Canada: Issues and Implications.” First Peoples Child & Family Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Honouring the Voices, Perspectives, and Knowledges of First Peoples 14, no. 1 (2019): 225. https://doi.org/10.7202/1071298ar.

The Native Woman's Association of Canada. “Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking of Aboriginal Women and Girls: Literature Review and Key Informant Interviews,” 2014. https://gladue.usask.ca/sites/gladue1.usask.ca/files/gladue//resource336-2d37041a.pdf.

U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. “Broken Promises: Continuing Federal Funding Shortfall for Native Americans,” December 2018. https://www.usccr.gov/files/pubs/2018/12-20-Broken-Promises.pdf.

Welter, Barbara. “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860.” American Quarterly 18, no. 2 (1966): 151–74. https://doi.org/10.2307/2711179.

[1] Patricia Searles and Ronald Berger, Rape and Society. (Godstone Surrey: Westview Press, 1995), 21

[2] Jack D Forbes, Columbus and Other Cannibals (Seven Stories Press, 2011), xvi

[3] Forbes, Columbus and other Cannibals, 14

[4] Throughout this essay, the term “accessible” is used through the perspective of rapists. Where social, economic and cultural conditions in Canada make rape accessible for rapists to pursue.

[5] Sarah Deer, The Beginning and End of Rape: Confronting Sexual Violence in Native America (Minneapolis, London: University of Minnesota Press, 2015), 20

[6] Deer, The Beginning and End of Rape, 64

[7] Deer, The Beginning and End of Rape, 33

[8] Deer, The Beginning and End of Rape, 20

[9] Deer, The Beginning and End of Rape, 62

[10] Deer, The Beginning and End of Rape, 67

[11] Deer, The Beginning and End of Rape, 19

[12] Dawn M. Lavell-Harvard, Forever Loved: Exposing the Hidden Crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada (Demeter Press, 2016), 2

[13] Rose LeMay, Ally Is a Verb (Page Two, 2025), 16

[14] The Native Woman's Association of Canada, “Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking of Aboriginal Women and Girls: Literature Review and Key Informant Interviews,” 2014, https://gladue.usask.ca/sites/gladue1.usask.ca/files/gladue//resource336-2d37041a.pdf.  p15

[15] Lavell-Harvard,  ‘Forever Loved’, 20

[16] Deer, The Beginning and End of Rape, 60

[17] Roudometkina and Wakeford, “Trafficking of Indigenous Women,” 4

[18] Deer, The Beginning and End of Rape, 74

[19] Roudometkina and Wakeford, “Trafficking of Indigenous Women,” 15

[20] Anupriya Sethi, “Domestic Sex Trafficking of Aboriginal Girls in Canada: Issues and Implications,” First Peoples Child & Family Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Honouring the Voices, Perspectives, and Knowledges of First Peoples 14, no. 1 (2019): 225, https://doi.org/10.7202/1071298ar. pp.60

[21] Forbes, Columbus and Other Cannibals, 38

[22] Forbes, Columbus and Other Cannibals, 39

[23] Before 1825, Tribal Law was passed down orally. However, tribes were forced to write down their laws by white settlers, ultimately Americanising their legal system.

[24] Deer, The Beginning and End of Rape, 17-18

[25] Ibid, 17-18

[26] Ibid.

[27] Dian Million, Therapeutic Nations (University of Arizona Press, 2013), 151.

[28] Erin Hanson, “Marginalization of Aboriginal Women,” Indigenous Foundations, 2009, https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/marginalization_of_aboriginal_women/.

[29] Deer, The Beginning and End of Rape, 64-73

[30] Deer, The Beginning and End of Rape, 41

[31] Deer, The Beginning and End of Rape, 69

[32] Deer, The Beginning and End of Rape, 69

[33] Deer, The Beginning and End of Rape, 72

[34] The Native Woman's Association of Canada, “Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking of Aboriginal Women and Girls,” 40

[35] Deer, The Beginning and End of Rape, 5

[36] Deer, Beginning and End of Rape, 5

[37] Deer, Beginning and End of Rape, 5

[38] Deer, Beginning and End of Rape, 14

[39] Deer, Beginning and End of Rape, 51

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎Over the Christmas break, I went home to visit my family. While deep cleaning, my father came across this peculiar piece of metal. Logged between (probably) some garbage and souvenirs in our basement, was this tarnished medal:

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎My father shared that it was actually a healthy baby award given to my aunt when she was born. Apparently, they gave them out as an incentive for people to have kids. Sparking my curiosity, I did some more research. Turns out, this medal can give a lot of information into the social and political climate in Taiwan in the 60s.

What's inscribed on the medal?

The front:

In large characters on the front, says 健康 which translates to "Healthy." The ribbon of text on top roughly translates to "Healthy Baby/Health Award." On the top, the curved text is written as 基隆市衛生課 which translates to "Keelung City Health Department."

The back:

On the back starting from the left, shows the date the medal was manufactured, 四十三年度 which translates to "Year 43." This is most likely a reference to the the refers to the Showa 43 or 1968.

On the right side, the inscription 基隆市 translates to "Keelung City," most likely where the medal was awarded.

In the centre-top, it reads 組免状 or "Group Exemption Certificate," which probably is in reference to official exemption or release documents issued by the colonial government.

In the centre bottom, it might say 台ア市 which is likely "Taipei City." The middle character is actually a Japanese character ア (katakana "a"), which was sometimes used in abbreviated inscriptions during the Japanese period in to substitute 臺 (another way to write 'Taiwan').

Historical Context

The Emergence of Nursing

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎Wartime socio-economic difficulties, poor sanitary conditions, and limited access to medical resources jeopardised the health of pregnant women and their babies in the 1940s.[1] After World War II, Taiwan underwent the “Restoration Period,” where rigorous medical advancements were made to help improve pre-natal health. In 1952, Taiwan established their first dedicated prenatal and postpartum education unit called “Taiwan Provincial Maternal and Child Health Commission” (TPMCHC) where they subsequently restructured into the “Taiwan Provincial Maternal and Child Health Research Institute in 1959.[2] These units were imperative to imploring a higher standard of health for Taiwanese mothers. They were responsible for training midwives, and a comprehensive system to promoting maternal and child nutrition. In the 1950’s, children were still being delivered by unqualified midwives or untrained people, which resulted in high maternal and neonatal mortality.[3] The units enlisted under the TPMCHC were imperative in delivering babies safely, as well as training locals in proper procedure and sanitation to prevent infection and infant mortality. To prevent malnutrition, government sanctioned milk stations were established in health centres in Taiwan so that the poor and malnourished could still afford to feed their baby a cup of hot milk everyday for 14 years.[4] These stations also gave milk powder and nutritional products to those who needed it, created a comprehensive government support system for women and children.

Political Landscape of Taiwan

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎Maternal and children’s health policies were also influenced by the population policies in Taiwan. Most acknowledged was a de-facto policy that encouraged population growth based on the Guomindang/Kuomintang’s (GMD/KMT) need for population growth to support a counterattack on mainland China.[5] A popular slogan, “One is never too little, two is just enough,” (“一個不嫌少，兩個恰恰好”) was used to urge families to strive for 2 kids. Unlike Japan, the GMD’s intention towards Taiwan was likened to a giant military base.

‎‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎The “Restoration Period,” or “Retrocession of Taiwan,” broke a fifty-year long colonial rule since the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki that ceded Taiwan to Japan. Prior to this, technological and cultural advancements were made in Taiwan to turn it into a ‘model colony,’ and showcase to the rest of Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.[6] As a result, the technological advancements and improvements to quality of life continues to play an important role in Taiwanese memory – more so than the act colonization. As a result, the singing over of Taiwan back to China posed many problems. Above all, there was mutual disdain between the Taiwanese and the GMD. The leader of the GMD at the time, Chiang Kai-shek, appointed Ch’en Yi as the governor of Taiwan. Yet, Ch’en and many other Chinese Nationalists sent to Taiwan regarded the Taiwanese as traitors tainted by Japan’s colonial rule.[7] Not surprisingly, the Taiwanese who were equipped with the most contemporary Japanese technology, regarded the Chinese as dirty, dishonest and technologically backward.[8] The February 28 incident (or 228 incident) launched Chiang’s reign of terror called the “White Terror,” forever burned into Taiwanese consciousness.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Medicine and technology go hand-in-hand. These pre-natal medical advancements came during a time where the GMD government was under a lot of scrutiny from the Taiwanese natives. I will leave it up to the reader to consider the timing and nature of the program during this 'Restorative' period, and whether it was actually a program meant to improve quality of life.

So, what about the medal?

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎The medal is a great representation of how messy the restoration period between the Japanese rule and Guomindang rule became. Even though by the 1960’s, Taiwan was ruled by the Chinese government, the Japanese katakana found on the medal, as well as the dating methodology shows that Japanese culture remained prevalent in the nation even after thorough attempts to de-Japanify the nation.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎Although I set out to find out why the medal was made, this question remains unanswered. What policies were in place to create the medals? How can we locate them? I hope to find the answers soon.

Thanks for reading.

[1]National Taiwan University, “臺大校友雙月刊,” Ntu.edu.tw, 2024, https://ntualumnibm.ntu.edu.tw/bm.bimonthly.article/detail/sn/2335?.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Han Cheung, “Taiwan in Time: When Taiwan Suffered from Overpopulation - Taipei Times,” www.taipeitimes.com, June 14, 2020, https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2020/06/14/2003738180.

[6] John Copper, “Taiwan - Early Nationalist Rule | Britannica,” in Encyclopædia Britannica, 2019, https://www.britannica.com/place/Taiwan/Early-Nationalist-rule.

[7] Ibid.

Nina (Eugenia) Ho

Nina is a fourth-year History student. Her main interests are in East-Asian Modernity, Taiwan, China and Japan. Outside of academia, she likes to read, run, wrestle and do yoga. 

Summary

This article examines the relevance of Michael David Kwan’s Memoir Things that Must not be Forgotten to the major political events that occurred during Nanjing Decade in China. The literary elements in the book mirror the socio-political climate of China. Michael David Kwan describes wartime China as a fractured nation, with each agent split into two contending forces. Such split can be found within three sectors of China: identity, society and nationhood. Kwan experienced a complete bifurcation of his identity. Kwan’s familial experiences demonstrated a broader split of Chinese society. Finally, Kwan’s experiences with China’s political landscape demonstrated a split between nationhood and politics as a way of rehabilitating Chinese pride.

Tectonic Shifts: Emergence of China's Dual Personality

Modernity was a nuclear bomb that detonated in the heart of China which tore the nation in half. What emerged were mirror images that swore to never be like the other. Yet, both reflections contained neither a whole, nor the part of the whole. For context, China was a nation under constant duress leading up to the Civil War. Internal fragmentation of the government split the nation between the Guomingdang (GMD) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). If that was not enough, China also faced an external enemy. The Japanese growing occupation of China between 1933-35 became an imminent threat. [1] Resulting from this sequence of events was a bifurcation of China. Alongside Western suzerainty, China was a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. From this period, a memoir was written by Michael David Kwan, that documented the tumultuous life in China undergoing reforms. In the book, “Things that Must not be Forgotten,” Michael David Kwan describes wartime China as a fractured nation, with each agent split into two contending forces. These can be found within three sectors of China: identity, society and nationhood. Kwan’s experienced a complete bifurcation of his identity during the Nanjing Decade in China. Kwan’s familial experiences demonstrated a broader split of Chinese society. Finally, Kwan’s experiences with China’s political landscape demonstrates a split between nationhood and politics as a way of rehabilitating his Chinese pride.

Kwan’s Identity

Kwan experienced a complete bifurcation of his identity during the Nanjing Decade in China. Once a nation defined by cultural and ethnic homogeneity, Kwan’s personal experiences through his life reflect a broader split in China’s socio-political landscape. This can be found through Kwan’s perception concerning is inner-self and outer-self and the silencing of Kwan’s critical inquisitions into the status quo. Kwan’s inner-self and outer-self was split when he was violently attacked by his friend Shao. When Kwan returned home, he knew something was different. Kwan said, “[t]here was an ache in my chest that was not there before. Shao had planted it there […] a horrible hollowed-out feeling,” that he simply could not shake off. [2] The ache that Kwan experienced was the pent-up anger that Shao unleashed onto him, transmitting Shao’s anger into Kwan. This changed the way Kwan lived his life, just like how a calamity changed China. Similarly, the Ichigo offensive was originally a conflict between Japan and American occupations. However, the effects of the offensive were devastating. It killed half a million of Jian’s soldiers and “created a military gash slicing the country apart from north to south through Central China.”[3] Finally, Kwan experienced silence symbolically; through an omniscient force he could not understand. When describing the day the Japanese surrendered, Kwan recalled the cicadas who “fell silent”, the flowers that “drooped,” and the birds “seemed to gasp in the trees.” The silence was so oppressive that his “limbs felt leaden, and some mysterious force smothered [his] voice.”[4] Kwan experiences an indirect form of silencing through the symbolic meaning of this scene in the story. Kwan describes something powerful enough to silence both Kwan and the insects, birds and other living creatures around him. Or, when Kwan experienced his silence directly; through the coercive violence imposed by the teachers at his Christian school. Typically, children were beaten at school when they misbehaved. Despite Kwans wavering faith towards Christianity, he was unable to express his skepticism without the threat of violence. As a result, his outer self had to express loyalty to avoid punishment from the teachers. However, Kwan also described his inner fear of Brother Feng as something that should not be discovered. If it was exposed, Kwan proclaimed that “life wouldn’t be worth living. So, [he] just smiled […] and let the secret fester inside.”[5] Kwan experiences his silence literally through direct violence inflicted on him to stop him from inquiring critically on the status-quo. Ultimately forcing his mouth shut. The oppression Kwan faces can be connected broadly to the social climate in China during the Nanjing decade. During the series of campaigns to appease the Japanese, Jiang made several attempts to squelch the voices of those who opposed his appeasement strategy.[6] Such suppression can be observed during the Loss of Rehe Province in Inner Mongolia in February to March 1933. The nationalist provided minimal resistance to Japanese by dispatching a poorly trained regiment with no air support nor ammunition. As a reaction to the disbelief and chagrin from the masses, Jiang simply ignored them applying a “first internal pacification, then external resistance” policy to China.[7] Pacification suggests another measure of Jiang’s White Terror, effectively silencing the masses through threat of violence.

Chinese Society

The political, social and cultural circumstances Nanjing China was facing demonstrated a broader split of Chinese identity. The personal experiences that each member of the family went through reflect the broader context of China during the Nanjing Decade. Kwan’s fathers and mother both represent a decline in morality in China. With Kwan’s father, there was an obvious fissure that split in morality that threatened the stability of China. This can be seen symbolically through Kwan’s father had his values torn between doing what was morally right and what was safe for his family. As a result, Kwan’s father was persecuted heavily by both opposing groups because he was politically moderate. For example, Kwan’s father reassured him when Kwan was feeling upset about being a “half-caste.” When he ran to hide in the treehouse, Kwan’s father went out to see him. During their conversation, Kwan’s father reveals his moral standing. Switching to English, he quoted from Shakespeare, “This above all: to thine own self be true.” He added, “You’ll always be who you are.”[8] Kwan’s father follows through with his values passionately. Often, doing the right thing meant that Kwan’s father would inadvertently side with China’s newly declared ‘enemy.’ As helping the Japanese and the Americans put him in bad waters with the GMD. He was ultimately torn from his family. Yet his will remain resolute. This was not because he felt rebellious. Rather, in a climate dictated by political extremity, Kwan’s father was neither an ally nor foe, which made these contending forces uneasy. Zooming out, Kwan’s father’s experience with doing what was right vs what was safe is comparable to the struggles that China was facing during the Nanjing Decade as well. Jiang’s government was placed in a tough position to expel the Japanese. Reaction to armed resistance during the Northern Expedition simply led to violence against the Chinese. Between the years 1928-31, Japan heightened its anti-Chinese propaganda as a reaction to Chinese aggression.[9] As a result, Chinese-Koreans and Chinese-Japanese people became targets of violence. So, would it be best to dial back? Well as mentioned before, Jiang’s appeasement policies were just an ineffectual as the GMD’s military prowess. So comparatively, Jiang was torn between two choices. Make the ‘right’ decision by defending China from the Japanese by sending troops? Or make the ‘safe’ decision and appease the Japanese? Either way, both brought unfavourable outcomes, just like what Kwan’s father experienced.

Kwan’s mother had a different experience from his father from her religious devotion. In the world that Kwan lived in, there was a noticeable split to the methods in which those religious expressed their devotion. Kwan’s mother was truly religious and benevolent, Father Schmidt was an arbiter of fear and terror demonstrating a split in morality. Where both are resoundingly Christian, yet Kwan’s mother is much gentler, kinder and more forgiving than Father Schmidt. For, even though a wounded American were foreign enemies, his mother still prayed for him, “I pray for everyone,” regardless of their origin; she says.[10] The idea of religion Is incredibly skewed in Kwan’s eyes. Where religion is known to be a harbinger of kindness but also as pain. The brutality of Farther Schmidt’s chastisement is counterposed with the kindness of his mother. This can be connected broadly with the ideas circulating in China at the time. The Xi’an incident when Zhang Xueliang, the former military leader of Manchuria was appalled by Jiang’s commands to head Northwest China to fight other Chinese when the nation was being gobbled up. With premeditation, Zhang kidnapped Jiang and put him on house arrest to force the GMD to ally with the CCP.[11] Jiang was like Father Schmidt, who only focused on violence and coercion. Zhang was like Kwan’s mother. Although Zhang ultimately coerced Jiang to ally with the CCP, his motives were for the greater good of the Nation. Just like how Kwan’s mother viewed the war as well.

Chinese Nationhood

Despite experiencing the dire circumstances of China through the Nanjing Decade and Civil War, the Chinese never gave up on their country. Such devotion can be determined through their push to create nationhood and the separation of nation from politics. Above all, there was a futile attempt to create unity through nationhood during a period of separatism in China. The rhetoric of Chinese resistance against the Japanese was used to manufacture unity among the masses. Marking the Japanese as non-Chinese, the existence of Japan was a unifying feature of China’s political landscape. However, it was futile in its attempt to create long lasting unity. This is because China could only be unified if it was in a state of conflict with the Japanese.[12] Yet, when the war was over the power of factionalism overpowered China’s brief unification. “Kneeling in the candlelit church,” Kwan recounts, “I trembled uncontrollably, desperately needing to believe the defeat of the Japanese made the world a better place […] In spite of candlelight, incense, and music, […] the world did not feel like a better place.”[13] Experiencing a turning point in history, Kwan realised how easy it was for the government to betray his family. He explicitly recognises the victory of China not as a final push for unity, but the last thing holding Chinese unity together. These ideas are substantiated through Schoppa’s analysis. Jiang committed too many if his finest troop during Manchurian airlift in November. Without a supply line, he forced his troops into a siege position with no clear end in sight.[14] From this debacle, Jiang’s loyalty to the Chinese citizens were questioned. In the end, these attempts at unifying China were futile because it did not address the core of China’s problems. Just like how Jiang focused on attacking the CCP rather than fixing the economic circumstances in China.

However, regardless of political turmoil, the Chinese remained patriotic. Their patriotism stemmed from the separation of nation as an ideal that depended on political ideology. In the case of China, the nation is above party and above government. This sentiment grew from the consistent betrayal the Chinese experienced with their government as described in the previous argument. Kwan’s father is a great example of the split between government and nationhood. When Kwan’s father was persecuted by the GMD for being a collaborator, he “remained calm,” in the face of persecution, “his devotion to China never wavered.”[15] For Kwan’s father, ‘New China,’ became a reality.  China became part of him that could not be poisoned by the political climate of the time. When Kwan visits his father for the last time, his father instructed Kwan to take “a bit of China,” with him for “one day, a long time from now […]” Kwan will “do something worthwhile.”[16] In doing so, he passes on his conception of nationhood onto his son.

Conclusion

            Michael David Kwan describes wartime China as a fractured nation. Through the events depicted in the narrative, Kwan paints a fractal portrait of China’s reckoning. Its history poisoned by endless splits in identity, society and nationhood. Experiences of a complete bifurcation of identity reflect a broader split in China’s socio-political landscape. Kwan’s perception concerning is inner-self and outer-self, his complex relationship with the world around him, and the silencing of his critical inquisitions into the status quo. Furthermore, the personal experiences that each member of the family went through demonstrated a Chinese society which was torn into hostile camps that accused each other of being illegitimate or even traitors. Kwan’s father had his values torn between doing what was right and what was safe, and Kwan’s mother who counterposed Father Schmidt demonstrating a split in morality. They both demonstrated a broader splitting of Chinese consciousness. Finally, the Chinese never gave up on their country. Such devotion can be determined through their push to create nationhood and the separation of nation from politics. Kwan went home again to do something worthwhile. Expressed poignantly through the title of the book, the things that happened through his life are Things That Must Not Be Forgotten, because these experiences define what it means to be Chinese.

Bibliography

Michael David Kwan. Things That Must Not Be Forgotten. Waveland Press, 2012.

Schoppa, Keith. Revolution and Its Past : Identities and Change in Modern Chinese History. Routledge, 2019.

[1] R. Keith Schoppa, Revolution and Its Past (Routledge, 2017). pp. 249-253

[2] Michael David Kwan, Things That Must Not Be Forgotten (Waveland Press, 2012). pp. 187, 189

[3] R. Keith Schoppa, Revolution and Its Past (Routledge, 2017). pp. 268

[4] Michael David Kwan, Things That Must Not Be Forgotten (Waveland Press, 2012). pp. 136

[5] Michael David Kwan, Things That Must Not Be Forgotten (Waveland Press, 2012). pp. 128

[6] R. Keith Schoppa, Revolution and Its Past (Routledge, 2017). pp.249

[7] R. Keith Schoppa, Revolution and Its Past (Routledge, 2017). pp. 250

[8] Michael David Kwan, Things That Must Not Be Forgotten (Waveland Press, 2012). pp. 147

[9] R. Keith Schoppa, Revolution and Its Past (Routledge, 2017). pp. 247

[10] Michael David Kwan, Things That Must Not Be Forgotten (Waveland Press, 2012). pp. 133

[11] R. Keith Schoppa, Revolution and Its Past (Routledge, 2017). pp. 255

[12] R. Keith Schoppa, Revolution and Its Past (Routledge, 2017). pp. 243

[13] Michael David Kwan, Things That Must Not Be Forgotten (Waveland Press, 2012). pp. 144

[14] R. Keith Schoppa, Revolution and Its Past (Routledge, 2017). pp. 294

[15] Michael David Kwan, Things That Must Not Be Forgotten (Waveland Press, 2012). pp. 143

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎

‏‏‎ ‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎Japan’s success in annexing and colonising Taiwan acted as a stepping stone into the rest of Asia, which allowed them to consolidate their power without aggravating more powerful states such as China and Korea. However, like any nation, Taiwan would not submit without a fight. What means did Japan implement to quell the oppositional spirit in Taiwan? How did they implement it? The Meiji Restoration in 1868 was a pivotal event in Japanese history and mapped out the course for their immediate endeavours in the eastern sphere. Historiography has considered the Meiji Restoration as a seismic moment in Japanese history. Where imperial endeavours were powered by the frustrated nation. Immediately after the reworking of the Japanese feudal system, Japan was torn between two simple but contending goals: should Japan absorb the West? Or should Japan expel it? The Treaty of Shimonoseki signed after the First Sino-Japanese War ceded Fujian-Taiwan Province to Japan. However, Japan’s commercial depiction of Taiwan demonstrates their frustrated position on the global stage. This context poses as the backdrop for this paper. Therefore, this paper will argue that Japan exaggerated Taiwanese inferiority to overcome Japan’s slave-status on the global stage. Commercial goods such as post cards and the educational system in Taiwan were tools that the Japanese used to flex their superiority.

What is Modernity?

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎A reductive understanding of modernity could be seen as an end for imperialist nations to endorse an expansionist mindset. However, the real concept of modernity is fragile and dependent on several variables. In Takeuchi Yoshimi’s book ‘What is Modernity?’ denoted this complicated definition of ‘modernity.’ In conjunction to Hegel’s parent-child dialectic, Takeuchi argued that tutelage was created from a fissure between the East and the West. Takeuchi ascertains this logically by transforming Hegel’s discussion of the parent-child relationship where, “the parent and child are nothing in and of themselves’ in order to be what they are, they have no choice but to release themselves into relationality with the other.”[1]  Although a Takeuchi does not completely agree with Hegel’s dialectic, he still linked such logic with the imposed deference of the West onto the East.[2] The West created the “Orient” in order to be the West. A parent to a child, is much like how a master is to their slave.[3] Japan as a slave to the West, must enslave another to relinquish itself from its own slave status.[4] For, as Lu Xun writes, “the slave’s overriding desire was to become the master and so arrogate power to himself.”[5] Taiwan became a means to Japan’s quest for masterhood. To do so, Japan had to create a dynamic between Japan and Taiwan that can justify Taiwan’s tutelage. Out came the self justification of the “civilized” over the “uncivilized” with the sole purpose of affirming Japanese superiority over Taiwan.

“Uncivilization” of the Indigenous Population

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎Commercial goods such as post cards were purchased and sent back to Japan. The contents of these postcards demonstrated an obvious attempt by Japan to flex their cultural superiority over Taiwan’s indigenous population. Records of Japanese postcards showcasing the savagery of aboriginals created a reductive caricature of indigenous lives and made false exaggerations of “uncivilization” or “savagery.” A series of postcards called ‘The Imperial Postcard Collection,’ was an archival collection made available by the Lafayette College. From this collection, postcards such as “Taiwan barbarian” (臺灣生蕃/ “Taiwan seiban”) could be found. In the postcard, there were obvious distinctions between “rural” and “urban” settings. (See Figure 1.)

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎This could be seen by elements of modern technology such as the eavestrough and exterior paneling on the home in the background. This background creates a stark contrast with the bare-footed indigenous family. These elements helped reinforce the exotic and uncultured image the Japanese empire aimed to attach to indigenous Taiwanese communities. However, these postcards were not only used by the Japanese to delineate cultural superiority but also used in reference to past historical events to justify their military aggression towards the “uncivilized barbarians.” This could be found in another postcard from The Imperial Postcard Collection, called “Taiwan barbarian” (生蕃人風俗/ “Taiwan barbarian customs”) which was another example of forceful Taiwanese subservience.  In this case, it was to showcase the inferior nature of the barbarians as a means to Japanese aggression. (See Figure 2)

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎The postcard dictates an increasingly substantial image of subordination through its distinction between Japan and the indigenous population. The Japanese flag in the background was framed by the indigenous people posing in front of it. Contextually, the Mundan Incident in 1871[8] instilled long-lasting tensions between the Taiwanese indigenous population and Japanese empire.[9] From this, was clear that Japan’s creation of this postcard was an attempt to reclaim their military superiority, as the indigenous symbolically submit to the Japanese by posing in front of the Japanese flag. Like Figure 1, this postcard also demonstrated need to emphasize the ‘uncivilization’ of the indigenous people with the ‘civilization’ of the Japanese.

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎Robert Eskildsen discusses the exaggeration of savagery in his paper ‘The Mimetic Imperialism of Japan’s 1874 Expedition to Taiwan.’ In the paper, he also explores how commercial sources accentuated the savagery of the Taiwanese indigenous people. Along with visual depictions of Taiwanese savagery, exaggerated reports of cannibalism to stress the savage nature of the indigenous populations were non uncommon.[10] The indigenous population practised headhunting, but not cannibalism. So, Japan clearly misconstrued the native Taiwanese headhunting tradition to assert their cultural domination.[11] To point out another general observation, the transactional nature of a postcard also contributed to the essence of Japan’s superiority complex. Whereas propaganda, is fed to the masses, postcards are purchased and consumed wholly through the volition of Japanese tourists. This would mean that the average Japanese took pleasure (or at lease a certain degree of acceptance) from seeing the extreme reductive caricatures of indigenous Taiwanese folks as a means to stroke their own superiority complex. To distinguish between the ‘savages’ and the ‘civilized’ created an extremist bifurcation between Japan and Taiwan which was a symptom of their superiority complex. By “exaggerating the savagery of the aborigines also had the effect of evacuating the middle ground between civilization and savagery.”[12] Effectually, this bifurcation of identity between who is ‘civilized’ and who is ‘savage’ clearly signals to both Japan and Taiwan who heired the titles ‘master’ and ‘slave.’

Establishing Tutelage: Educational Discrimination

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎The Japanese looked down upon the backwardness and the lack of “modern outlook” among the Han-Taiwanese.[13] The way that Japan looks down on Taiwan is linked back to the master-slave dialectic Takeuchi connects to Japan. Immanual Kant and his paper What is Enlightenment? (1784) was a source of western inspiration taken on by the Japanese that delineate between ‘rational’ and ‘irrational.’ The paper describes the shifting identity the West held towards personhood. Kant conceived that there may be those who are mentally incapable of critical inquiry and thus required “established guardians of the great masses,” who can “disseminate the spirit of the rational […]” and end tutelage.[14] Within the context of modernity, Japan bestowed upon itself the guardianship over Taiwan. Therefore, the guardianship was much like a parent to a child or a master to a slave. In other words, intentional tutelage was placed upon Taiwan through discriminatory educational restrictions to dissuade critical inquiry and therefore expounded the slave status of Taiwan.

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎There were policies implemented by the Japanese to dissuade critical inquiry. This was another symptom of Japan’s superiority complex as they attempt to circumvent their slave status to the West. Systemic oppression of native and Han-Taiwanese were implemented to keep the uneducated and therefore lack the skills necessary to challenge the government. Discriminatory education policies were implemented by the Japanese to deter Taiwanese from getting further education as well as obtuse remarks about Taiwan’s cultural inferiority to Japan. The education system was discriminatory and featured textbooks that underscored Taiwan’s technological inferiority to Japan. To begin, the education system was discriminatory and inhibited Taiwanese from seeking higher education. 80 percent of the education opportunities offered by Taiwan’s higher learning institutions excluding Medical College and Faculty of Medicine, or Taihoku Imperial university, were all taken by Japanese students.[15] Effectually, 60, 000 Taiwanese students left their hometown to pursue higher education in Japan. Furthermore, Taiwanese admittance to literature and politics were the lowest among the other faculties (Literature & Politics, Science & Agriculture, Medicine). Taiwanese comprised only 14 percent, Japan comprised of 86 percent.[16] It was not a coincidence that Taiwanese admittance to political studies were so low. This was an intentional attempt to squelch critical inquiry and encourage tutelage among the masses.[17] Furthermore, the Japanese implemented education system featured textbooks that underscored Taiwan’s technological inferiority to Japan and encouraged tutelage. A textbook series called ‘National Reader for Instructional Use in Taiwan,’ was implemented in by the Governor General of Taiwan on behalf of Japanese government.[18] Featured in Volume 6 Lesson 16, was a lesson on the convenience the Japanese established postal services was in Taiwan. “One day, the mother had an urgent matter with a relative who lives far away. However, she was unable to send a letter because she did not know how to write.”[19] Another example could be found in Volume 4 Lesson 9 called ‘Taking Medicine,’ where children are taught the efficacy of Western medicine. A sick mother tells her worried daughter, “I am well after taking the medicine,” after being asked about her condition.[20] The two readers mentioned above demonstrate an overarching goal of portraying Taiwanese technological inferiority and suggest a broader goal of tutelage. This is further corroborated by Mori Arinori’s theory of education based on the idea of ‘perfect human beings’ whose goal for schooling was to “transform pupils into loyal subjects of the emperor, which ultimately prepared them to die for the state.”[21] Also, to put greater emphasis on the discrimination that occurred in Taiwan, the Medical Industry is also an important sector of the educational sector of Taiwan. Discrimination against the credibility of intellectuals were also implemented to discredit the intellectual capacity of the Taiwanese. The closure of traditional Chinese schooling systems stopped systems of social mobility originally available to the Taiwanese.[22] As a result, the Taiwanese sough out western medical education replaced the social mobility that traditional Chinese schooling systems provided. Graduating from with western medical knowledge also brough prestige to the family within the community.[23] From the uprise of western Medicine, Traditional Chinese herb doctors, who lacked knowledge in Western medicine, were barred from practising.[24] It created a in which completely rejected anything Han-Taiwanese including their educational system that produced ‘phony’ doctors and to replace these traditional doctors with ‘legitimate’ western doctors.

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎To broaden the scope of this argument, Takeuchi could be brought up once again to analyse the essence of the educational reforms in Taiwan. The Japanese focused on the importance of technology and science. The contents of the textbooks venerated the efficacy of Japanese technology. Similarly, the schooling system itself prioritized scientific fields as seen through the lower admission rates for political studies and literature. Takeuchi claims that Japan’s infatuation with scientific advancement and tangible outcomes comes from a concept he calls “decadence of scholarship.”[25] Whereby, wearing the spectacle of ‘progress,’ Japan has failed to see that progress is decadence from Japan’s lack of resistance to the West. Takeuchi stresses that “[r]esistance in the Orient is the historical moment at which Europe becomes Europe” and the Orient becomes the Orient.[26] So by simply accepting the scientific advancement without any internal resistance reduces Japan and her colonies to nothingness. Because by rejecting resistance, they foreclose their relationality with the West. They become nothing.

To relate back to the argument presented in this section, the Japanese forced the Taiwanese into a similar state of nothingness. The schooling system inhibited Taiwan’s capacity for critical inquiry, by preventing admissions to political studies and creating a schooling system that prioritised Westernized science and technology.[27] By doing so, they have placed Taiwan in the same position that the West had to the Orient. Japan thereby reached for the ‘master’ status while still being a ‘slave’ to the West.

Conclusion

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎This paper has uncovered a concerning angle regarding Japan’s relationship with modernity, progress and technology. Through Japan’s relationship with Taiwan, themes of decadence and bifurcation are evident in the micro and macro levels of Taiwanese society. Consumable products such as postcards show the certain degree of pleasure taken from caricaturizing the Taiwanese on the micro level. The educational reforms implored by the Japanese also demonstrated a form of forced decadence upon the Taiwanese to indulge in an impure form of modernity and progress on the macro level.[28] Japan’s frustrated position on the global stage manifested in their colonial policies in Taiwan to purposefully debase the cultural and intellectual legitimacy of Taiwan. In doing so, it propelled Japan into a superior position to distance itself from its own slave status to the West. But is this position of superiority substantiated? other colonies to exist. Japan needed Taiwan and all its Just like how the West created itself through its relationality with Japan. This position of superiority cannot be substantiated simply because its not based on something concrete. Japan was nothing without her relationship with Taiwan.

Bibliography

Primary Sources

Kōgakkō yō kokugo yomihon dai ichi shu kan 9 (Language Reader for Primary School Use First Kind, Volume 6). Taihoku: Governor-General of Taiwan, 1923-1926. Translated by Fang Yu Hu. Primary Sources on Taiwanese History, 2021, http://taiwanprimarysources.com.

Kōgakkō yō kokumin yomihon kan 4 (National Reader for Grade School Use, Volume 4). Taihoku: Governor-General of Taiwan, 1913-1914. Translated by Fang Yu Hu. Primary Sources on Taiwanese History, 2021, http://taiwanprimarysources.com.

Unknown photographer(s), [ip0424] Taiwan Indigenous Peoples: Farmers, The Imperial Postcard Collection: Japan and Its Colonies - Taiwan, ip2013, ip0424, postcard. Special Collections and College Archives, Lafayette College, Easton, PA.

Unknown photographer(s), [ip2026] Customs of Savage Tribe, The Imperial Postcard Collection: Japan and Its Colonies - Taiwan, ip2013, ip0424, postcard. Special Collections and College Archives, Lafayette College, Easton, PA.

Secondary Sources

Eskildsen, Robert. “Of Civilization and Savages: The Mimetic Imperialism of Japan’s 1874 Expedition to Taiwan.” The American Historical Review 107, no. 2 (April 2002): 388–418. https://doi.org/10.1086/532291.

Heine, Steven. Review of Overcome by Modernity? Three Works by and about Takeuchi Yoshimi, by Richard F. Calichman, Takeuchi Yoshimi, Wolfgang Seifert, and Christian Uhl. Journal of Japanese Studies 33, no. 1 (2007): 190–94. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25064690.

Kant, Immanuel . Answer the Question: What Is Enlightenment? Translated by Daniel F. Ferrer, 2013. https://books.google.ca/books/about/Answer_the_question_What_is_Enlightenmen.html?id=WZsyDRO3-8EC&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=established&f=false.

Mau-kuei, Chang. “On the Origins and Transformation of Taiwanese National Identity.” China Perspectives 28, no. 28 (2000): 51–70. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43392897.

Norihito, Mizuno. “An Attempt of Reconciliation over History: The Case of the 1871 Ryukyu Shipwreck Incident.” International Journal of Social Science and Humanity 5, no. 1 (2015): 157–61. https://doi.org/10.7763/ijssh.2015.v5.445.

Tai, E. “Kokugo and Colonial Education in Taiwan.” Positions: East Asia Cultures Critique 7, no. 2 (September 1, 1999): 503–40. https://doi.org/10.1215/10679847-7-2-503.

Tsurumi, E. Patricia. “Education and Assimilation in Taiwan under Japanese Rule, 1895-1945.” Modern Asian Studies 13, no. 4 (1979): 617–41. https://www.jstor.org/stable/312185.

Wu, WenHsing, ShunFen Chen, and ChenTsou Wu. “The Development of Higher Education in Taiwan.” Higher Education 18, no. 1 (1989): 117–36. https://doi.org/10.2307/3447445.

Yoshimi Takeuchi, and Richard F Calichman. What Is Modernity?: Writings of Takeuchi Yoshimi. New York: Columbia University Press, 2005.

[1] Yoshimi Takeuchi and Richard F Calichman, What Is Modernity?: Writings of Takeuchi Yoshimi (New York: Columbia University Press, 2005). pp 18. [hereafter: “Takeuchi”]

[2] Takeuchi, pp 28.

[3] Takeuchi, pp 28.

[4] Similarly, Takeuchi also writes, “What appears in this simple reversal of East and West is a victory of ressentiment, in which the slave triumphs over the master by oppressing his oppressor, and thereby himself becoming the master, or oppressor.” Takeuchi, pp. 34

[5] Takeuchi, pp x.

[6] Unknown photographer(s), [ip0424] Taiwan Indigenous Peoples: Farmers, The Imperial Postcard Collection: Japan and Its Colonies - Taiwan, ip2013, ip0424, postcard. Special Collections and College Archives, Lafayette College, Easton, PA.

[7] Unknown photographer(s), [ip2026] Customs of Savage Tribe, The Imperial Postcard Collection: Japan and Its Colonies - Taiwan, ip2013, ip0424, postcard. Special Collections and College Archives, Lafayette College, Easton, PA.

[8] 54 shipwrecked Ryukyuans died at the hands of the Taiwanese indigenous tribesman when they drifted into the southeastern side of the island. The incident gave Japan a pretext for its first overseas military action of the modern period toward the Taiwanese aboriginal territories in 1874

[9] Mizuno Norihito, “An Attempt of Reconciliation over History: The Case of the 1871 Ryukyu Shipwreck Incident,” International Journal of Social Science and Humanity 5, no. 1 (2015): 157–61, https://doi.org/10.7763/ijssh.2015.v5.445. pp. 158

[10] Robert Eskildsen, “Of Civilization and Savages: The Mimetic Imperialism of Japan’s 1874 Expedition to Taiwan,” The American Historical Review 107, no. 2 (April 2002): 388–418, https://doi.org/10.1086/532291. pp. 400 [hereafter: “Eskildsen”]

[11] Eskildsen, pp. 400

[12] Eskildsen, pp. 399

[13] Chang Mau-kuei, “On the Origins and Transformation of Taiwanese National Identity,” China Perspectives 28, no. 28 (2000): 51–70, https://www.jstor.org/stable/43392897. pp. 54 [hereafter: “Chang”]

[14] Immanuel Kant, Answer the Question: What Is Enlightenment?, trans. Daniel F. Ferrer, 2013, https://books.google.ca/books/about/Answer_the_question_What_is_Enlightenmen.html?id=WZsyDRO3-8EC&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=established&f=false. pp. 3

[15] WenHsing Wu, ShunFen Chen, and ChenTsou Wu, “The Development of Higher Education in Taiwan,” Higher Education 18, no. 1 (1989): 117–36, https://doi.org/10.2307/3447445. pp. 122 [hereafter: “Wu”]

[16] Wu, pp. 121

[17] Wu, pp. 125

[18] Chang, pp. 54

[19] Governor-General of Taiwan, Taiwan kyōka-yō -sho kokumin yomihon kan 6 (National Reader for Instructional Use in Taiwan, Volume 6). Taihoku: 1901-1903. Translated by Fang Yu Hu. Primary Sources on Taiwanese History, 2021, http://taiwanprimarysources.com. pp. 4

[20] Kōgakkō yō kokumin yomihon kan 4 (National Reader for Grade School Use, Volume 4). Taihoku: Governor-General of Taiwan, 1913-1914. Translated by Fang Yu Hu. Primary Sources on Taiwanese History, 2021, http://taiwanprimarysources.com.

[21] E. Tai, “Kokugo and Colonial Education in Taiwan,” Positions: East Asia Cultures Critique 7, no. 2 (September 1, 1999): 503–40, https://doi.org/10.1215/10679847-7-2-503.

[22] E. Patricia Tsurumi, “Education and Assimilation in Taiwan under Japanese Rule, 1895-1945,” Modern Asian Studies 13, no. 4 (1979): 617–41, https://www.jstor.org/stable/312185. pp. 620 [hereafter: “Tsurumi”]

[23] Tsurumi, pp. 621

[24] Wu, pp. 118

[25] Takeuchi, pp. 65

[26] Takeuchi, pp. 63

[27] Takeuchi, pp. 69

East Asian Psyche During the Post-War Period

For many of those who lived through the Sino-Japanese war and World War II, war was never something they pursued, but simply something that fell into their lap. Despite this, it was during the postwar period in which the common folk truly realised how much they suffered. The definition of justice is very different between the victors and the loser of war. With previous week’s discuss, we have discovered that modernity in the East prevents the East from finding justice from war crimes committed on the soldiers. The movie Under the Flag of the Rising Sun, demonstrated a fraudulent justice system that went to serve those in power rather than those who were wronged. Now, considering this information, how can nations atone for their war crimes? What are the circumstances that can make it possible? And why hasn’t Japan admitted their crimes against POW’s and the Chinese? The readings from his week coalesce into a single reason: Japan is a victim as much as it is a victimizer, as a result from their suppression of both the things they’ve done and the things done onto them, they are at an impasse. Do they unearth their unsavoury past and face the darkness casted upon them? Or do they split themselves in half, ignoring their dark past? Let us expand on this more with the reading prescribed for this week.

Modernity in East Asia is a difficult subject to write about. Comprised of multi-dimensional factors, depicting modernity in East Asia through a one-sided narrative would not serve to demonstrate the breadth which East Asia was struck by it. It would be easy to attribute all the blame to United States’ imperialism, but that would omit a large portion of the Eastern sphere. The purpose of this essay is not to determine the reasons to the state of East Asia during modernization, but instead to diagnose the schizophrenia that permeated in the Orient during modernization. Modernity in East Asia is defined by an unreconcilable schism that ruptured their identity irreversibly. This essay will take particular interest on Chinese and Japanese culture and relationship. The evolution of the master slave complex between the two countries and how it manifests differently. This essay will cover some broad technical concepts with modernizing Asia. Each section will expulse a certain theoretical concept which will then be used to discuss films and literature used as cultural timepieces.

The restrictive implementation of sanitary reforms after the Indian Mutiny as means of protecting British imperial interests

Similar to the historiography proposed by Mark Harrison and David Arnold, this paper will explore alternative sectors of British-Indian society as a means of colonial medicine to add to the larger scope of the subject. Mark Harrison and David Arnold agree that the spread of medicine and colonialism coalesce to perpetuate each other. In their studies, they’ve determined that medicine was a powerful tool of the empire and an effective means of exacting control over the native population of a colony. The discussion of their discourse is beyond the scope of the paper. Instead, this paper is inspired by the functions of colonial medicine and examines a small sector of Indian society immediately after the Indian Rebellion (1857-8). The peculiar part of the sanitary reforms in India was that it began with the military complex before it spread to the civilian population. This is concerning as it would be misaligned with the message that Mark Harrison and David Arnold has shared; if medicine was truly a tool of empire, why would they begin sanitary measures with the British rank-and-file in India? Would it not be wiser to start with civilian population? The key to this question is found in the study of the British military, with a focus on the relationship between health morality, and money. The first half of this essay will observe the measures taken by the British government against growing concerns surrounding excessive alcohol consumption as well as the vice of prostitution. The second half will focus vested economic interests of the Crown and how it impacted British-Indian sanitary reforms.

‘Drink’ and Venereal Disease; Lifestyle and Disease

As Erica Wald describes in their book Vice in the Barracks, the desire to reel in the animalistic behaviour of the brutes in the rank-and-file helps understand how the fears about rising levels of drink also affected actions of the Crown that permeated beyond the space of the cantonments.[1]  There was a general assumption by most medical authorities that human health was strongly associated with passions and habits of life.[2]  Thus, started the battle between morality and the Crown’s image of a soldier. The barbaric image of the soldier was constantly in tension with Britian’s desire to civilize the troops to improve their health and obedience.

There was a huge overhaul of the British-Indian troops succeeding the Indian Mutiny. Issues surrounding venereal disease (spread by an overindulgence of prostitution as well as a lack of preventative medical treatments such as using a condom) and ‘drink’ (alcoholism) were brought into the limelight as a cause affecting the health of the British-Indian troops.[3] Both of these issues can be traced back to the poor lifestyle of the British-Indian troops. During the time of army sanitary reforms, the image of the British soldier was minorly rehabilitated. However, in the eyes of the surgeons and medical professionals, shared disparaging remarks on the British soldiers. However, as a result from the losses during the Indian Mutiny, the most major change was the realisation to the impacts that disease had on the efficiency of the British-Indian army.[4] Sweeping sanitary changes for the British army show a new level of dedication to the effectiveness of the military but with little concern for the actual outcome of these reforms. Resulting are a complete lack of consideration for the sanitary conditions of British-Indian hill stations. This was well represented by the discourse surrounding military health immediately after these changes, where Florence Nightingale – a strong advocate for medical accessibility and prevention, came to the forefront to capture the devastating lifestyle that British-Indian troop led. Immediate results from this poor lifestyle were evident, the death rate for enlisted rank-and file were 69 per 1000 between the years 1800 and 1858.[5]

Concerns surrounding ‘drink’ was dire cause of disease with boredom as a propelling force for ‘drink’. The lack of engaging activity among the troops encouraged unhealthy habits. The following is the average schedule for a British troop as noted in Nightingale’s field-study:

bed till daybreak;

drill for an hour;

breakfast, served to him by native servants;

bed;

dinner, served to him by native servants;

bed;

tea, served to him by native servants;

drink;

bed; - and da capo[6]

With their obligations being limited to one hour of drilling, the soldier lived a dull life with unrefreshing day sleeping and habitual drinking resulting from long periods of confinement.

Remarkably, the boredom in the Cantonments were so pervasive, soldiers found it challenging to write about it. Even during the civilization of the British-Indian military had begun, Allen Bayard Johnson remarks about his boredom. He served in the Bengal Carbineers from 1846 to 1872, a typical entry from 1849 read, “Rose at 9:15—read … munshi came from 10:30 to 12 … read ... tiffin … read […]” proclaimed in subsequent entries, India to be the “country of discomforts.”[7] It was clear that constant confinement and idleness had a profound impact on the health of the military.

Further records show that the extent to the excess of drinking the soldiers partook in as a result to their boredom was incredible. The standard ration allowed was two drams of spirits, where two drams is equivalent to 1/20th of a gallon or 230 millilitres of spirit per day or just under 2 litres of malt liquor.[8] Reports from the Royal Commission on the Sanitary State of the Indian Army also comment on the condition of the army as a result from their habitual drinking. They describe it as a “great disease” with officers and men and “their ration is two drams ad day, and eight of these drams make a quart bottle! […] Even at home,” they continue, “this kind of regimen would be farm from conducive to health.”[9] In Miss Nightingale’s studies, she observed that soldiers at Balgalore (one of the largest Madras stations), “not three men out of five go to bed perfectly sober, and when pay is issued not two in five.”[10]

“At some stations, the proportion of causes received into hospital, directly or indirectly the result of intemperance, appears to be about a tenth part of the total admissions from all disease; and there is a remarkable concurrence of testimony in the reports of the different stations as to the injury to health generally caused by the use of spirits."[11] -George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode

In Nightingale’s observation, Cawnpore hill stations, “actually orders the men to be confined to barracks for 10 ½ hours a day in hot weather …” where in other places, men are generally kept indoors between 8AM to 5PM every day.[12] In the article, “The Sanitary State of the British Troops in Northern India,” by a surgeon general enlisted in the military, A. C. C De Renzy, further comments on the conditions of the troops in Calcutta, citing that The Royal Commission has recorded an average deathrate of the fort as an appalling 102.35  per 1000 before 1856. For reference, after intensive sanitary reforms in northern India, the statistic changed to represent a deathrate of 10.60 per 1000 in 1880.[13]  In general, strong link could be drawn between drink and disease in the hill stations- simply from the diseases that arose from habitual alcohol consumption such as hepatitis and heart-apoplexy. In fact, of the one-hundred-eighty-six-thousand troops admitted for treatment in the Madras army between 1829 to 1838, eleven thousand were admitted for hepatic diseases.[14] Where digestive diseases made up 22.07 percent of all admissions, or the second highest cause for admission in the Madras army.[15]  There were also instances of injury from the nature of drunkenness. (people being violent or clumsy and hurting themselves)

The proliferation of venereal disease among the barracks can be another disease linked to boredom in the barracks. It has been noted by Sonia Mondal in Women in Cantonments: Evolution of  Regulated Military Prostitution in Colonial India that female prostitutes served as components of the British army, in which their loyal ‘service’ to the troops and the migration patterns, following troops around the country between cantonments, “often carried on carts, heavily guarded by British soldiers.”[16] Prostitutes were valuable to the British soldiers, and their symbiotic relationship with the soldiers demonstrates the dependence soldiers had on solicitation. This links broadly to the perpetuation of the trends in scientific discussions on relationship between morality and health. Even though modern medicine can suggest that venereal diseases come from viruses or bacteria, germ theory was not discovered then, and thus morality was the pinnacle to their understanding of venereal diseases. In this instance, boredom played an integral role in the deterioration of the British troops and the provocative nature their encounters with prostitutes made prostitution even more enticing for the rank-and-file. Soldiers were incredibly bored, spending 20 of the 24 hours of their day confined to their cantonments with around four to six hundred other men in a small cantonment.[17] It is not difficult to presume that prostitution, would have been included in the soldier’s itinerary and constant confinement to the canton would lead to sexual frustration.

Additionally, sources indicate a strict premonition that venereal disease was spread by the natives, and seduction was a crime committed only by the prostitutes. Thus, men of the rank-and-file were subject to the folly of the prostitutes that plagued their morality and health.

“... is it likely that any system of moral training applicable to the various phases of military life would be effectual? ...When women of loose character are forbidden a residence in military cantonments, it is found that no available police force can keep them from coming in at night ... Moreover, soldiers could not be effectually restricted from meeting these women beyond the cantonments. Assuming, then, that the prophylaxis of non-association... is not attainable, the question next presents itself of mitigating the evil whilst permitting association.”[18]

The British troops were regarded as untamed animals, wild to their sexual desire, which put the Crown in a fickle. This assumption was due to an upper-class British perception that considered the soldiers, who were drawn from the ranks of the poor, had uncontrollable sexual urges and thus were incapable of curbing their animal passions.[19] p386The unattainability of barring prostitutes completely from the rank-and-file was deep seated in their perception of masculinity. The notion to intervene in the soldier’s sexual practises were unheard of and directly threatened the heterosexuality of the army which was equally regarded their strength and ability to conquer.[20] To maintain Britian’s control over India meant to do nothing to curb the satyriasis of the troops to allow the bravado of the Raj’s imperial power to be demonstrated. This conclusion is further supported by their shift from Sepoys to mainly British troops after the 1857 mutiny. Despite the disparaging costs to maintain the Sepoys (irregular) versus the British (regular) troops. The average cost for an irregular troop was 1440 for the duration of six years, compared to 2170 for a British troop.[21]  To pick a British troop over an Indian troop despite the drastic difference in cost would suggest a motive beyond budgeting. Instead, an aim to enhance the presence the Raj had on the Indian colony.

Sanitation and Cultural Idiosyncrasies

The ‘Age of Reform’ in India was inspired by the inacceptable conditions that British-Indian troops endured since the establishment of the cantons. In Florence Nightingales publication, Observations on the Evidence Contained in The Station Reports submitted to the Royal Commission on the Sanitary State of the Army in India, she provides evidence on the link between poor water sanitation and disease, wherein the hygienic habits at the time were so foul that, “the mere verbal description proves to be unsuitable.” [22] Connections can be made between the state of the military cantonments and the sentiments the Crown held towards the British soldiers. As David Arnold suggested in his paper “Cholera and Colonialism in British India,” disease attacked the army just like any other opposing foe, however, the “cultural context in which the epidemics occurred profoundly affected the manner of their reception.”[23] Even though he Crown saw the spread of Cholera as an imminent threat, yet the cultural ramifications of being infected with cholera inhibited their vigor to implement swift sanitary reforms. Those with unsanitary living conditions were particularly susceptible to Cholera; where over-crowding, polluted water supplies were the principal agencies by which the disease decimated the military. [24] The lifestyle associated with Cholera and squalor were most common among the lower classes and lower castes in India. These cultural idiosyncrasies associated with cholera was the driving reason to a particular lack of enthusiasm from the Raj to implement cohesive sanitary strategies in the military. In essence, they saw the miliary as a thorn in their side when it came to tax dollar expenditures, and disease as simply a nuisance that affected their budget. It was clear that the Raj lamented to implement any fruitful changes to the sanitary conditions of the Indian soldier. This can be deduced through the reading of the first, second and third publications of The Sanitary State of the Indian Army.

“…it would be hopeless to dream of placing native’s lines, bazaars, and contiguous town in satisfactory sanitary conditions […] At the best, in fact, the sanitary improvement of existing stations, if it do not include complete reconstruction, must be a costly and inefficient tinkering […] The European soldier in India is a very costly article. Hist estimated annual value is £100 and the expenditure upon him when sick is as great when well,” and, “[New] regulations are applicable only to the removal of easily removed causes of disease. They can affect no improvement as regards drainage, water-supply, the laying out of stations and bazaars, and works generally acquiring a large outlay, such as are executed under the Public Works Department.”[25] – Report of the Royal Commission #3

The Crown values the British soldier’s life insofar it doesn’t affect their status quo.  Their concern with the livelihood of the British soldier ends when it exceeds £100. The language used in the sanitary commission demonstrated a general sense of exasperation concerning the issues surrounding military sanitation. The proposed changes are consistently paired with limitations and specificities that prevent thorough change. Improvements to cantonments are limited to “inefficient tinkering,” and water sanitation was limited to changes that were not, “acquiring a large outlay.” Furthermore, responsibility was shifted from the Raj to the soldier, where cadets of engineers at Brompton were “required to attend a special course of hygiene, which they have a right to do according to the army medical school regulations.”[26] The quoted text in the commission goes further to suggest a lack of initiative from the Raj, where a Sanitary Commission was proposed with the “function of such a commission could of course, be consultative only.” This further separates the duties the Raj held, as it striped the power away from the commission to simply an advisor rather than a lobby group.

The shift of responsibility from the Crown to the troops were further denounced by the second report, where their executable goals were based solely on surface-level improvements that paid no attention to the suggestions that Florence Nightingale proposed.

“The recommendations of the Commission include (1) the diminution of the number of stations in the plains, and the removal of as large a proportion of troops to the hills and tablelands as would be consistent with the security of the country; (2) the organization of an efficient sanitary service; and (3) suggestions for the removal of the particular hygienic evils disclosed by the inquiry.”[27]

The second and third goal was consistent with the lack of involvement by the crown. This proposal did not include new infrastructure or significant changes to the lifestyle of the British troop. The organization of an efficient sanitary service was further elaborated to consist only of “careful selection of the best convalescent stations beyond the sea.”[28]

To say that the arguments proposed by Florence Nightingale to be ill-informed is simply incorrect. From the analysis drawn from the first Report of the Royal Commission on the Sanitary State of India, there was consensus between those for and against a military sanitary overhaul, that the conditions of the cantonments were fantastically atrocious. The reports written on behalf of the Raj by the Sanitary commission implemented by the Raj demonstrate sophisticated knowledge concerning the state of the cantonments. The standard of living of the British soldier was described as, “in several important respects, defective,” and an “almost incredible waste of life.”[29] Furthermore, in the unhealthiest parts of England, only 12 out of 1000 die annually compared to 69 per 1000 that die in British Indian cantonments.

Expense of the Troop

Expense was a defining feature that prevented the Raj from investing in military Sanitation. However, other discourse surrounding the cultural expectation of the British soldier came to the forefront to inhibit their medical accessibility. The Lancet’s reaction to the Indian mutiny published on Saturday October 31,1857 demonstrates a consistent imperialistic ideology. Where, the livelihood of the British-Indian soldiers depended on the livelihood of the empire itself. References to military sanitation were announced in lieu of the necessity of the military as a tool of empire. The medical safety of the troops was important insofar that India would be occupied “righteously, profitably, and safely.”[30] Sickness was not reduced from humanitarian motives, but instead, “by diminishing sickness, there would be an increase of efficiency in the army and saving the army administration.”[31]  In another article published by the Lancet called “The Sanitary Condition of , they claim that “the shorter the duration; the most costly the soldier, the more rapidly he is destroyed.” [32] Additionally in a subsequent article titled “Prostitution: Its Medical Aspects,” prostitution and the solicitation of prostitutes were condemned due to its potency to impair, “a man’s health [which] constitutes him, pro tanto, a bad barbarian to the country, and represents the loss of so much money.”[33] Evidently, cost efficiency was a big imperative to the Crown, and their investment into the health of the British soldier ended when it was deemed to costly to continue their investments. Analysis towards the language they used in their studies opens a window to their general aversion towards intensive sanitary changes, and opting to focus on the efficiency of the army as a measuring point.

Conclusions: Medicine and Imperialism

Discussion surrounding the purpose of Indian sanitary reform is multi-faceted. Although there are clear indications that the main purpose of these reforms was to bolster the strength of British-Indian troops and thus the empire. However, there were other motives that would points to classism in this study. Biswamoy Pati who referenced the term “sanitation syndrome,” in her book Health Medicine and Empire sees sanitation as the attempt to control marginal peoples using instruments of medicine and hygiene.[34] Evidence for this conclusion can be found in the virulence of disease among the rank-and-file. Where, “troops were particularly susceptible to disease that flourished in insanitary and crowded conditions … and they, in turn, were among the principal agencies by which the disease was disseminated throughout India.”[35] To control the sanitary access of the British-Indian troops would ultimately control the size of the army, the incentives to join certain cantonments, and the type of civilian who would sign up for posts abroad. Furthermore, the army was not seen through the eyes of the individual men fighting for the Crown. Instead, it was regarded as a eusocial organism that served their only purpose for the Crown and could be bent and moulded to serve the Crown’s needs- which would have included their want for imperialistic gains. Examples of such could be seen through the application of military metaphors to epidemic disease, ‘attack’, ‘invasions’ and ‘devastation.’ The ‘resistance’ to these diseases and their ‘conquest’ by medical science.[36] There is a remarkable connection between the language used to describe the onslaught of disease and military terminology; and a pervasive link drawn between the soldier and imperialism wherein the value of the troop was deemed by their utility to the Crown. The intertwining interests the Crown had over India could be seen as a balancing at between the Crown’s need for control over her troops and her desire to have her hold over her colony- India.

Bibliography

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Arnold, David . “Cholera and Colonialism in British India.” Past & Present 113, no. 1 (November 1986): 118–51. http://www.jstor.org/stable/650982..

Auerbach, Jeffrey A. Imperial Boredom : Monotony and the British Empire. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2018.

De Renzy, A. C. C. The Sanitary State of the British Troops in Northern India. Whiting & Company, 1883.

Halvorson, Sarah J., and James L. Wescoat Jr. “Guarding the Sons of Empire: Military–State–Society Relations in Water, Sanitation and Health Programs of Mid-19th-Century India.” Water 12, no. 2 (February 5, 2020): 429. https://doi.org/10.3390/w12020429.

Medical (Madras) Board Office. Report on the Medical Topography and Statistics of the Presidency Division of the Madras Army, Including Fort St. George, and Its Dependencies, within the Limits of the Supreme Court. Order of Government, 1842.

“Medical Annotations.” The Lancet 71, no. 1799 (February 1, 1858): 198–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(02)20419-5.

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Nightingale, Florence. Observations on the Evidence Contained in the Stational Reports Submitted to Her by the Royal Commission on the Sanitary State of the Army in India. By F. Nightingale. Reprinted from the Report of the Royal Commission. Report of the Royal Commissions, 1863.

Pati, Biswamoy, and Mark Harrison. Health, Medicine and Empire : Perspectives on Colonial India. New Delhi, India: Orient Longman, 2006.

Peers, Douglas M. “Soldiers, Surgeons and the Campaigns to Combat Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Colonial India, 1805–1860.” Medical History 42, no. 2 (April 1998): 137–60. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0025727300063651.

Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the Sanitary State of the Army in India: with Precis of Evidence, (London: George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode, 1863). 

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———. “Report of the Royal Commission on the Sanitary State of the Indian Army No.III.” The Lancet 82, no. 2082 (August 1863): 138–39. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(02)57217-2.

Report of the Royal Commission . “The Report of the Royal Commission on the Sanitary State of the Indian Army No.II.” The Lancet 82, no. 2082 (July 1863): 107–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(02)57129-4.

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Wald, Erica. Vice in the Barracks : Medicine, the Military and the Making of Colonial India, 1780-1868. 7BC. Reprint, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.

[1] Wald, “Vice in the Barracks,” p3.

[2]  Curtin, Philip D. Death by Migration: Europe's Encounter with the Tropical World In the Nineteenth Century. Cambridge [U.K.]: Cambridge University Press, 1989. https://hdl-handle-net.proxy.lib.uwaterloo.ca/2027/heb05754.0001.001. PDF.

[3] Erica Wald, Vice in the Barracks: Medicine, the Military, and the Making of Colonial India, 1780-1868. (7BC; repr., Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014). p120, 3

[4] Wald, p124.

[5] A. C. C. De Renzy, The Sanitary State of the British Troops in Northern India (Whiting & Company, 1883). p3

[6] Florence Nightingale, Observations on the Evidence Contained in the Stational Reports Submitted to Her by the Royal Commission on the Sanitary State of the Army in India. By F. Nightingale. Reprinted from the Report of the Royal Commission (Report of the Royal Commissions, 1863). p42

[7] Jeffrey A Auerbach, Imperial Boredom : Monotony and the British Empire (Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2018). p116

[8] Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the Sanitary State of the Army in India: with Precis of Evidence, (London: George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode, 1863). p116

[9] Report of the Royal Commission, “Report of the Royal Commission on the Sanitary State of the Indian Army No.I,” The Lancet 82, no. 2081 (July 1863): 77–78, https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(02)57099-9.

[10] Florence Nightingale, Observations on the Evidence Contained in the Stational Reports Submitted to Her by the Royal Commission on the Sanitary State of the Army in India. By F. Nightingale. Reprinted from the Report of the Royal Commission (Report of the Royal Commissions, 1863). p35

[11] Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the Sanitary State of the Army in India: with Precis of Evidence, (London: George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode, 1863). p89

[12] Florence Nightingale, Observations on the Evidence Contained in the Stational Reports Submitted to Her by the Royal Commission on the Sanitary State of the Army in India. By F. Nightingale. Reprinted from the Report of the Royal Commission (Report of the Royal Commissions, 1863). p45

[13] A. C. C. De Renzy, The Sanitary State of the British Troops in Northern India (Whiting & Company, 1883). p39

[14] Medical (Madras)  Board Office, Report on the Medical Topography and Statistics of the Presidency Division of the Madras Army, Including Fort St. George, and Its Dependencies, within the Limits of the Supreme Court (Order of Government, 1842).

[15] Curtin, Philip D. Death by Migration: Europe's Encounter with the Tropical World in the Nineteenth Century. Cambridge [U.K.]: Cambridge University Press, 1989. https://hdl-handle-net.proxy.lib.uwaterloo.ca/2027/heb05754.0001.001. PDF. p36

[16] Sonia Mondal, “Women in Cantonments: Evolution of Regulated Military Prostitution in Colonial India,” Indian Journal of Gender Studies 29, no. 3 (July 22, 2022): 384–93, https://doi.org/10.1177/09715215221111130. p386

[17] Florence Nightingale, Observations on the Evidence Contained in the Stational Reports Submitted to Her by the Royal Commission on the Sanitary State of the Army in India. By F. Nightingale. Reprinted from the Report of the Royal Commission (Report of the Royal Commissions, 1863). p42

[18] Sarah J. Halvorson and James L. Wescoat Jr., “Guarding the Sons of Empire: Military–State–Society Relations in Water, Sanitation and Health Programs of Mid-19th-Century India,” Water 12, no. 2 (February 5, 2020): 429, https://doi.org/10.3390/w12020429.

[19] Sonia Mondal, “Women in Cantonments: Evolution of Regulated Military Prostitution in Colonial India,” Indian Journal of Gender Studies 29, no. 3 (July 22, 2022): 384–93, https://doi.org/10.1177/09715215221111130.

[20] Douglas M Peers, “Soldiers, Surgeons and the Campaigns to Combat Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Colonial India, 1805–1860,” Medical History 42, no. 2 (April 1998): 137–60, https://doi.org/10.1017/s0025727300063651.

[21] Report of the Commissioners, Report of the Commissioners Appointed to Inquire into the Organization of the Indian Army; Together with the Minutes of Evidence and Appendix (George Edward Eyre and William Spottiswoode, 1859). p.49

[22] Florence Nightingale, Observations on the Evidence Contained in the Stational Reports Submitted to Her by the Royal Commission on the Sanitary State of the Army in India. By F. Nightingale. Reprinted from the Report of the Royal Commission (Report of the Royal Commissions, 1863).

[23] David Arnold, “Cholera and Colonialism in British India,” Past & Present 113, no. 1 (November 1986): 118–51, http://www.jstor.org/stable/650982. p119

[24] David Arnold, “Cholera and Colonialism in British India,” Past & Present 113, no. 1 (November 1986): 118–51, http://www.jstor.org/stable/650982. p124

[25] Report of the Royal Commission, “Report of the Royal Commission on the Sanitary State of the Indian Army No.III,” The Lancet 82, no. 2082 (August 1863): 138–39, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(02)57217-2. p138

[26] eport of the Royal Commission, “Report of the Royal Commission on the Sanitary State of the Indian Army No.III,” The Lancet 82, no. 2082 (August 1863): 138–39, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(02)57217-2. p138-9

[27] Report of the Royal Commission, “The Report of the Royal Commission on the Sanitary State of the Indian Army No.II,” The Lancet 82, no. 2082 (July 1863): 107–9, https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(02)57129-4.

[28] Report of the Royal Commission , “The Report of the Royal Commission on the Sanitary State of the Indian Army No.II,” The Lancet 82, no. 2082 (July 1863): 107–9, https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(02)57129-4.

[29] Report of the Royal Commission, “Report of the Royal Commission on the Sanitary State of the Indian Army No.III,” The Lancet 82, no. 2082 (August 1863): 138–39, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(02)57217-2.

[30] The Lancet, “The Government of India a Sanitary Question,” The Lancet 70, no. 1783 (October 1, 1857): 451–53, https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(02)37900-5. p.451

[31] “The Government of India a Sanitary Question,” p.452

[32] The Lancet, “The Sanitary Condition of the British Army,” The Lancet 71, no. 1799 (February 1858): 196–98, https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(02)20418-3.

[33] “Medical Annotations.,” The Lancet 71, no. 1799 (February 1, 1858): 198–99, https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(02)20419-5.

[34] Biswamoy Pati and Mark Harrison, Health, Medicine and Empire : Perspectives on Colonial India (New Delhi, India: Orient Longman, 2006).

[35] David Arnold, “Cholera and Colonialism in British India,” Past & Present 113, no. 1 (November 1986): 118–51, http://www.jstor.org/stable/650982..

Figure 1. Betty Friedan

Figure 2. Gloria Steinem

"Citing specific primary sources, compare Betty Friedan's and Gloria Steinem's views about feminism's tactics and goals. Was the conflict between them primarily one of style or substance?"

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎A lull of events between the 60’s and 80’s highlighted the second women’s rights movement in the 1970’s. During this decade, polarization surmounted the political scene, and strong divisions among social movements characterized this era. Movements during this decade included the Mexican Americans and the Chicano Movement, the Native Americans and the AIM movement, the Gay Liberation Movement, and most importantly to this discussion, Betty Friedan, and the National Organization for Women (NOW). Although women experienced much needed legal changes, the notion that women were submissive and the designated housekeeper continued to prevail during this era. This was most reflected in the lack of female employment and education. In the 1970’s less than ten percent of med school graduates and around five percent of law school graduates were women. Such lack of representation in university graduates reflected disproportionate opportunities given to women compared to men. Women were expected to find fulfillment in marriage and motherhood. However, the women who do not find such fulfillment had a disadvantage when it came to University enrollment as well as job opportunities. Motivated by these realities, women aspired to begin creating changes that would better their lives. However, this movement stood ununited. Best represented by the disparity between Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem’s starkly different approaches and style of undertaking the women’s rights movement. Influenced by their childhood and upbringing, Friedan and Gloria’s experiences shaped what their focuses would be for their versions of the women’s rights movement.

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎To begin, Betty Friedan was the founder of the National Organization for Women (NOW) and the author of The Feminine Mystique published in 1963. Her focus was on women in the workplace and politics. Friedan believed that the private lives of women would gradually improve after primary improvement were made. These ideas were seeded by her upbringing, where she grew up in comfortable yet challenging circumstances. Born to a strong and independent mother who worked as a physician, her family household challenged the traditional concepts of womanhood. In contrast, Gloria Steinem had a very different perspective on women’s rights. For Steinem, she sought for the fundamental restructuring of institutions to do away with the nuclear family and patriarchal society. Her plan was to concentrate on sexual issues and a broad range of relationships between men and women and called for seeping changes from college courses to childcare if favour of women. Steinem’s perspective on the women’s rights movement grew from her childhood experiences. Where her father struggled financially and her mother struggled with mental illness. Gloria Steinem wanted to reconstruct the idea that women relied on men. On the surface, Friedan and Steinem seemed to be two components of a whole and would work symbiotically to triumph women’s issues. However, it was anything but that. The fundamental difference between their approach and values was what fostered such distain between the two. This included their thoughts on homosexuals, and female chauvinism.

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎In Gloria’s Steinem’s publication of “Sisterhood” in 1972, the column was found in the Ms. Magazine where Steinem discusses her feminist awakening. In the column, she outlines her concept regarding women’s issues were those that affected their personal lives. Steinem believed that the hindrances women experience came from divisions that were, “continued for a clear if often unconscious reason: the economic and social profit of males as a group.” (261) Therefore, resulting from this feminist awakening, Gloria stressed the importance of sisterhood. The blames, what she likes to call the ‘system’ for a wide range of issues. This includes the lack of self-esteem women face, misunderstanding between men and women, and societal expectations. Steinem insists that the protection of numbers sisterhood provides is the only way to challenge the system because the “status quo protects itself by punishing all challengers, especially women whose rebellion trikes at the most fundamental social organization: the sex roles that convince half the population that its identity depends on being first in work or in war, and the other half that it must serve as docile, unpaid, or underpaid labour.” (262) In summary, Gloria Steinem believes that restructuring society to no longer see women as docile and unpaid are the goals of the feminist movement. In which, the only way to achieve such restructuring is the unity of a sisterhood.

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎To contrast, Betty Friedan had very different ideas about the feminist movement and focused on more tangible goals. Rather than trying to restructure the whole society, Friedan’s attention was on legal and political changes that would reap quantitative results. Betty Friedan’s Feminine Mystique (1963) outlines her thoughts on the feminist movement. Instead of the ideas proposed by Gloria Steinem to wage war against their male counterparts, Freidan sees the need for change as an upgrade rather than a total war against oppression. In her book, she discovered that “many women’s jobs, especially those contingency jobs, are not brilliant careers, but poll after poll shows women today feeling pretty good about their complex lives of job, profession, and their various choices of marriage and motherhood.” (The Feminine Mystique p.19) Women no longer see themselves as housewives and caretakers but also capable of careers. To Freidan, simply changing (or creating) laws that prevented certain groups from working and encouraging women to participate in politics would be enough to foster changes that reflected their needs. Freidan challenged Steinem’s broad strokes for restructuring as an incredibly abstract ideology that, “paradoxically deny the concrete reality of women’s sexuality, mundane or glorious, burden or pleasure, exaggerated or repressed, as it has been in the past.” (263) Freidan does not deny agreeing with Steinem that women were in a disadvantageous position compared to men. However, where they differ is their concepts of overcoming the oppression. Where on one hand, Freidan believes that legal and political changes are sufficient as first steps but Gloria Steinem believes that a total restructuring of society is necessary.

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎In general, the differences between Gloria Steinem and Betty Freidan were that of approach and ideology. Freidan believed that political and legal changes would lead to social changes. Steinem believed that social restructuring was the solution to creating an equal environment for men and women.

Figure 1. Combat operations at Ia Drang Valley, Vietnam, November 1965. Bruce P. Crandall's UH-1 Huey dispatches infantry while under fire. Photograph Courtesy of the US Army

Picture taken from Kennedy Hickman's publication on ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/vietnam-war-americanization-2361332

"How do you explain the Americanization of the Vietnam War in 1965? Was this step merely the logical culmination of years of US military involvement, or was 1965 such a decisive turning points that responsibility for taking America into this war must be placed, first and foremost, on Lyndon Johnson's shoulders?"

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎The Vietnam war was a thirteen-year long war the spanned between three separate presidencies. Although the significance of the war could not be attributed to military tactics or global impacts like what happened during World War II, the importance of the Vietnam war comes from its encapsulation of the Cold War attitudes in America as well as the brash foreign policies such as containment, domino theory and Americanization that justified American involvement. With our focus on Americanization during Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidency, it is apparent to see that his feats abroad in Vietnam were not motivated by anti-communist sentiments but instead, his fears of losing credibility.

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎The beginnings of the Vietnam War could be found as early as the Paris Conferences in 1919. Where Nguyen Ai Quoc, a representative of Vietnam insisted Paris to recognize Vietnam’s political participation with the empire, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of association and the end of forced labour and taxation. In general, his desires aligned with America’s ideas of democracy and freedom, but when this petition was forwarded to the American delegation, Nguyen was completely ignored. Nguyen was appalled by America’s response which radicalized him. He soon became a founding member in the French communist party. In 1930, he formed the Indo-Chinese communist party tasked with overthrowing French imperialism. After World War II, Nguyen returned as Ho Chi Minh, and began the Vietminh who were not overtly communist but had communist goals of national liberation. The Vietminh were fighting for independence. On September 2, 1945, during his Speech in Hanoi, Ho declared that "all men are created equal” and had the right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" in which the French regime stripped them of these rights. Despite these goals aligning with America’s indistinct definition of rights and freedom, the United States resisted the uprising and provided significant aid to the French during the Franco-Vietnam War – which soon became America’s Vietnam War. The Domino Theory explained that the fall of Vietnam to communism would lead to the fall of Japan. Indochina served as an important source of raw materials and was an active trading zone of Japan. If Japan was denied access to Indochina because of the communists, Japan would be forced to turn away from the west and embrace communist China instead. Additionally, explaining to the public that if one country falls, surrounding countries would, “go over, very quickly.” (11:10) was an incredibly easy rationale to push and was accepted immediately with most of the Americans.

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎When Lyndon B. Johnson took power, he had no desire to further American involvement of the war. As the successor to JFK not originally through election but an assassination, many congressmen believed that he was simply a placeholder until the election. Even after LBJ won, many continued to hold onto this mindset. Shadowed by the success and overall approval of JFK, LBJ struggled with his domestic political credibility. LBJ’s rise of liberalism made him vulnerable to attacks from conservatives for empathising with communist sentiments. Especially with LBJ’s war on poverty, Medicare and Medicaid, funded preschool programs, supported of school libraries, purchase of school textbooks, special education services, CAP program and many other plans to better the lives of the impoverish were inherently socialist in nature and would undergo insidious backlash from congressmen on the opposite side of the political spectrum. As a result, LBJ had to choose between Guns or Butter. He believed that if he chose Guns first and partook in American intervention in Vietnam, he would make his Great Society more credible to the eyes of conservatives. He passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in 1964 which was a blank cheque that surrendered the war making powers from congress to the president. His first steps with the blank cheque were Operation Rolling thunder which was a carpet bombing campaigned. In July of 1964, there was a massive troop increase. By August, LBJ defended these steps by invoking the Domino Theory. Among other brutal war tactics such as Napalm and Agent Orange, LBJ invested in these steps to Gradualism to prove to America and congress that he was devoutly anti-communist. Despite that, it is clear that the sight of the US trying to, “pound a tiny backward nation into submission is not a pretty one.” (29:10) LBJ overcompensated his need to prove his anti-communist goals to America to progress his Great Society without scrutiny.

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎Overall, LBJ’s Americanization of the war (demonstrated through gradualism) was not because it was an inevitable turning point in the war. Instead, his involvement was an overcompensation in trying to prove his credibility as a president.

Figure 1. Roy Wilkins

Figure 2. Fannie Lou Hamer

"By the middle of the 1960s, Hamer and other advocates of Black Power had denounced the moderation and compromises of Wilkins and the NAACP. Years later, however, Wilkins could declare that the NAACP "is still with us." What were the achievements and limitations of Hamer's and Wilkins's methods? Which leader do you think was more effective? Why?"

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎As discovered throughout the lectures and readings in HIST258, the disenfranchisement of black slaves and black Americans were a reoccurring theme in American history. Even though the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 promised black freedom, defacto Jim Crow laws prevented black-Americans from exercising their constitutional rights. By the 1950’s black American grew tired of the blatant racial prejudice cushioned by enabling social and legal structures that allowed many racist white’s to get away with unspeakable brutalities. As a result, the Civil Rights movement in America erected several organizations aimed to fight the social and legal injustices in America and reclaim the dignity of African Americans. Alongside famous Martin Luther King Jr, two notable figures came to dominate the national stage for Civil Rights: Roy Wilkins (Figure 1) and Fannie Lou Hamer (Figure 2). Both black, and both experienced just how apparent the racial divide was in America. Wilkins came to be known as the execute secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) and his top-down approach in fighting for Civil Rights. On the other hand, Hamer was known to be the field secretary of the SNCC and her grassroots or down-up approach. To say that one approach was better than the other would ignore the apparent causal action each approach had on one another. The success of the Civil Rights movement happened because both approaches worked hand-in hand to accomplish what they achieved.

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎To understand why both approaches are necessary, it is important to explore reasons as to why a sole top-down approach or grassroots approach would lead to failure. In simple terms, each of these approaches targeted one sector of the society and struggle to foster acceptance from all sectors of the nation.

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎Wilkins, who focused on mobilizing against Jim Crow through the courthouse and government pressure. His work was incredibly successful in creating massive legal changes to foster the acceptance of African Americans as a functioning member of American society. However, much like the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, the NAACP’s first legal case of Briggs v. Elliot failed to increase funding in segregated black schools. In 1950, taxpayers spent $179 dollars to educate each white student while only $43 dollars went to each Black student. They also argued that segregation of schools caused psychological damage to the psyche of Black children that directly impacted their self-image. Despite the court ruling in favour of the NAACP, school segregation remained unchanged. Additionally, the famous Brown v Board of Education in 1952 represented by Thurgood Marshall, the unanimous 9-0 vote that racial segregation violated the Equal Protection Clause in the 14thamendment only change the du jure laws. In 1968, fourteen years after the Browncase, 80 percent of southern school-age Black folks continued to remain in schools that were 90-100 percent non-white. The ruling was entirely bogus in changing anything in American society and only appear on paper when de facto laws continued to actively resist integration. In reality, “Brown’s significance perhaps lies less in the immediate tangible changes – which were slow, partial and inseparable from a much longer chain of events – than in the idealism it expressed.” The Brown case only expressed what the Civil Rights movement wanted but did nothing to actually make it happen. They needed something to make social changes, not just legal ones.

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎To say that Hamer’s strategy was best would be incorrect. Although her methods of direct action (which typically involved defiance) did see immediate effect, it was always dangerous and required the legal backings to show the immorality of Jim Crow. One of Hamer’s first act of defiance was her attendance in the Civil Rights Workshop in 19963 with 6 other participants. Sunflower County was a"notorious stronghold of white supremacy."(Contending 214) Most blacks toiled on farms bound by the terms for sharecroppers. Illiterate and essentially slaves to landowners. Because of this, many landowners were strongly against the idea of literacy among Blacks as well as black suffrage simply because they would lose a valuable source of cheap labour. As a result, Hamer was arrested in Winona Mississippi for going into whites only section of the bus terminal. She was then sent to jail where she was beaten by 2 other black inmates who were threatened by the white guards. Her actions made no changes to the suffrage of black folks or the integration of public sectors. It was clear by the end of 1963 that the SNCC’s contributions did not make any major changes. Hamer needed a solid legal backing in order for her protests to make any significant changes to America.

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎The top-down approach and grassroots approach was useless unless they worked in unison. Both Hamer and Wilkins needed for each other was best represented in 1964. Brown’s case set the legal stage for Hamer to act. As a representation of what they wanted and a law that declared that segregation was unconstitutional, all they needed to do what show America what they meant. Hamer played a major role in representing the ideas presented by the Brown vs. Board of Education case. During the summer of 1964, the SNCC launched the Mississippi Freedom Summer where 2 out of the 3 civil rights worker murders were white men. The results of the protest showed just how strong anti-black sentiments remained in America and a law stronger than, “all deliberate speed.” (Podcast 13 16:40) was required in order to make changes. In that same year, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was created which outlawed Jim Crow, prohibited racial segregation in public sectors and outlawed racial segregation/discrimination in employment. Without Wilkin’s legal work prior to her protest, Hamer could not have possibly represented just how racially charged Mississippi was. The success of the Civil Rights Act was attributed to both Wilkin’s method of top-down and Hamer’s approach of bottom-up.

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎In summary, the Civil Right’s movement needed both strategies proposed by Wilkin and Hamer to be successful. As seen in their co-operation being the only thing that made monumental changes, it is clear to see that neither strategy by themselves would have been successful.

Figure 1. "Special Session," by Berryman, Clifford Kennedy, 1869-1949, Artist

"How and why did the Cold War begin? Which side, the Americans, or the Soviets, were most to blame?"

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎Much like World War one and World War two, there is no single culprit that caused the outbreak of the war. Similarly, there is no single cause that led to the outbreak of The Cold War. The Cold War was a tragic stalemate between the Americans and the Soviets from a string of misunderstandings by the Americans who misinterpreted the true intentions of the Soviet Union. It is not to say that all of America was willing to wage war against the Soviet Union (SU). Henry Wallace was against all forms of hostility towards the SU simply because he believed that it would lead to mutual destruction. However, the large majority of Americans and American congressmen were eager to pressure the SU into submitting to America as a superpower. The cause of the Cold War was by the Americans and their clear misunderstanding of the Soviet Union’s intentions.

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎American misinterpretation of Soviet intent set the stage for the Cold War. The start of the Cold War begins as early as the peace conferences that began nearing the end of World War II. During the Yalta Conference in February of 1945 the allies were convinced that allied victory in Europe was practically inevitable but was worried about the war that occurred in the Pacific. During the negotiations, two key agreements occurred during the Yalta Conference led to major misunderstandings of Soviet intentions. First, the council was certain that Soviet intervention in the Pacific war would help accelerate the end of the war and allied victory. The Soviets were promised a sphere of influence in Manchuria which included Port Arthur and the operation of the Manchurian railroads. This sudden expansion to their sphere of influence was harmful to the Soviet-American relationship as it bolstered American suspicion that the Soviets planned to perpetuate communism in Europe and Asia. Additionally, the agreement to call for free elections to determine Poland’s future was a dreadful agreement to the Americans as the Soviet army already occupied Poland and therefore further solidified their suspicions of Soviet intent. The Americans believed that the Soviet Union’s eagerness in complying to these negotiations were because it helped bring them one step closer to perpetuating communism. In reality, for a very long time the Soviet Union’s goals in the Yalta and Potsdam conference were to secure a warm water port and a buffer zone which did not align to the American assumption that the Soviet goals were only to expand their sphere of influence. Therefore, during the Yalta Conference, Americans clearly misunderstood the intentions of the Soviet Union that increased animosity that could have been avoided. The misunderstanding was not constricted to the Conferences but occurred within the American Embassy in the Soviet Union. Kennan’s Long Telegram was the most famous example of American misunderstanding and encapsulates the essence of American assumptions about the Soviet Union. Keenan advised the united states to take tough stance against the Soviet Union. Her believed that Soviet leaders were motivated by traditional Russian insecurities and Marxist-Leninist dogma and were willing to expand at any possible opportunity. Kennan believed that the Soviet power though, “impervious to the logic of reason, is highly sensitive to the logic of force.” (Podcast 11 23:23) Kennan believed that the soviet union was aggressive and willing to expand and whatever cost to secure Marxist-Leninism across Europe. However like before, Kennan simply misread Soviet moves to obtain a warm water port and a buffer zone as an act of aggression. The Soviet’s intention to only a warm water port and a buffer zone is further justified by their moves nearing the postwar era. In 1945 to 1946, Stalin encouraged free election in Czech, Hungary, and Berlin. He cut aid to communist revolutions in Greece and did not support Mao and actively recognized Chiang Kai-shek and the GMD as Nationalists in China. Stalin only wanted two things completely unrelated to the expansion of communism and actively avoided intervention in countries experiencing communist uprisings. He wanted no involvement in these countries and it was clear by his actions.

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎In contrast to the American belief that the Soviet Union was aggressive, the U.S. implemented a variety of policies to instigate the Cold War and show American aggression. One main tactical form of aggression was the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall plan. In March 12, 1947, Truman sent 400 million dollars in aid to Greece and Turkey where he built schools and other types of infrastructure to bring Greece back onto their feet. The European Recovery Program (ERP) or the Marshall Plan invested 13 billion dollars into Western Europe from 1948 to 1952. It was designed to rebuild Western Europe, create open markets, and win European support for capitalist democracies. (American Yawp Chapter 25) Although the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall plan was innocently labelled as a fight against hunger, poverty, and chaos, it was clear that it’s true intentions was to act as a “‘Trojan Horse’ designed to lure Germany and other countries into the capitalist web.” ( Yawp Ch25) Additionally, Truman’s policy of containment and thereafter Kennedy’s and LBJ’s commitment to containment lead to unnecessary American interventions that escalated the nature of the Cold War. The policy of containment required American presence on the world stage to prevent the expansion of communism. This policy was practised in the Korean War and the Vietnam war where American intervention displayed a visible act of defiance to the changes occurring in eastern Europe. Although Stalin did publicly endorse Kim Il Sung during the Korean War, Soviet involvement in both the Korean War and the Vietnam War was much more ‘hands-off’ than the Americans. This shows that rather than fearing communism, America was actively preventing communism and perpetuating capitalism throughout Europe. American attempts to contain and prevent communism was and should have been regarded as aggression and animosity directed towards the Soviet Union.

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎Overall it is clear that American initiative in containment and the misunderstanding of the Soviet Union as the leading cause to communism. Therefore it is natural to conclude that America was the cause of the Cold War.

Figure 1. President Franklin D. Roosevelt is shown signing a law that created the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1933.

"What various impulses shaped New Deal programs? What were its greatest achievements and what were its most notable failures?"

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎The Great Depression was a monumental event that accurately encapsulates the fragile nature of the American Economy. There was not only one thing that constituted towards the depression. Instead, a variety of components including mal distribution of purchasing power, increased debt among individuals and corporations, the stock market crash, international economic conditions, and government policies caused and some even intensified the downturn of the economy. Herbert Hoover, who was in office before Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) left just as the depression hit. When Hoover took office, the U.S GDP was 88 billion dollars. By the end of his term, the American GDP plummeted to 40 billion dollars. It did not help that Hoover passed the 1930 Hawley-Smoot Tariff that shredded all hopes in using foreign investors in goods to assist in the relief. It was such a terrible idea that 100 economists around the nation signed a petition begging Hoover to veto the bill. Taking office in 1933, FDR was responsible with the sizeable task of pulling America out of depression and fixing the mistakes Herbert Hoover made. In general, FDR’s haphazard collage of reforms made positive changes in the United States. However, it was not remotely enough to pull America out of the depression.

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎To begin, Roosevelt’s reforms consisted of two spurs of activity in 1933 to 1935. Professor Sbardellati determined two stages to the New Deal, conveniently titled the First and the Second New Deal. Taking inspiration from Hoover, FDR focused on government intervention in the nation’s financial affairs to help provide relief for the depression. Although, these financial changes only really occurred during the Second New Deal. The first New Deal was an incoherent mishmash of unrefined ideas proposed by FDR. The implementation of the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) and the National Recovery Administration in 1933 was to promote planning and cooperation by “organizing competing business to draw up industry wide codes […] governed practises in their own industry.” (Podcast 9) Although its intention was to unite the employer with the employee, the head of the NRA was extremely close with big businesses. As a result, they did not have a stronger grip as FDR would have preferred to ensure proper practises. The implementation of the NIRA certainly increased efficiency but it did not provide relief to Americans. In the same year, the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) was also implemented. It established national crop control and provided farmers subsidies for limiting their production. In doing so, the prices for crops increase immensely. But it did not come without a string of issues. The biggest concern of the AAA was its impact on shared croppers where many tenants were evicted off of the land since landowners could not afford to pay workers to not work. Additionally, it was unsightly for the government to pay farmers subsidies while unemployment rates were at a all time high of twenty five percent. Shortly after, the supreme court ruled that the AAA and the NIRA were unconstitutional and shut it down. The failure of these Acts reflected a broader idea of poor government planning and the disorderly way FDR approached depression relief.

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎The Second New Deal was a lot more successful in making lasting changes in the foundation in which America conducted their financial affairs. The National Labour Relations Act or the Wagner Act in 1935 guaranteed worker unions and outlawed unfair labour practises. It was the, “mechanism for enforcement of regulations.”(Podcast Nine 21:51) By keeping a close eye on the employers, the government could ensure that all workers were treated fairly. The National Labour Relations Board oversaw these changes and witnessed a surge in union membership predominantly with industrial labourers. Extremely progressive for the time, the Congress of Industrial Organization (CIO) welcomed all members regardless of skill, trade race or gender. In changing the unions to be industry based instead of trade was a huge improvement since by the 1935, trades from pre-industrial periods became obsolete and needed to be categorized differently. One of the most successful reforms was the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the same year. It was a relief program that offered temporary employment to men who would be tasked to build highways, bridges, parks, and many other types of city infrastructure. It was especially effect in making work as it was in creating a new landscape for the Americans, making considerable progressions in the city’s infrastructure. It also sponsored cultural programs such as the Federal Theatre Project as well as the Federal Writers Project that help the continual creation of arts throughout the depression. The WPA employed 8 and a half million people which was 1/3 of the unemployed. By itself, the WPA did not make any drastic changes to the economy but paired with the Social Security Act of 1935 and its creation of a federal social welfare system and pensions made a significant improvement to the daily lives of the Americans. By the end of his term, FDR managed to reduce unemployment to 15 percent through continuous government spending.

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎Overall, FDR did an astonishing job in improving the economy considering is impulsivity and lack of organization. It is difficult to dispute the decrease in unemployment he achieved by the end of his term. Along with the introduction long lasting welfare programs to the American economy, Roosevelt set the stage for the resurrection of the American economy.

Figure 1. John T. Scopes

"The trial in a small southern town of a young high school science teacher accused of teaching evolution would not at first glance seem worthy of nationwide attention. How do you explain the great interest surrounding the Scopes Trial in 1925? What do you see as its significance?"

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎During the 1920’s, America experienced a seismic shift in atmosphere that made way for the changes that occurred during the twenties. Just after the Great War that ended in 1917, Americans got a glimpse of the tragedies of war and the immeasurable bloodshed that occurred. When veterans returned home, they hoped to return to normal. Now, with the absence of an enemy, many Southern Americans began to wage war on Darwin’s theory of Evolution. The theory of Evolution was not something new and was quite prevalent during the end of the second Industrial Evolution. Popularized through the term, “survival of the fittest,” it was used to justify the division between the wealthy and the working class and urged ‘hard-work’ as the key to climbing the social ladder. After the war, the divide over the theory of evolution signified the division between the old South and the modern cities. Where the South was dominated by traditional morals and ideas. But, the modern, urban societies had new beliefs, manners, and values. Although the Scopes Trial in 1925 did not lead to any major changes in the curriculum and the teaching of evolution, it was the paramount of tensions between the Old and the New that made it significant in history.

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎To begin, the ideas that evolution offered directly attacked the values of the Old. To say that all organisms derived from the same prokaryotic cell overthrew the “deep cultural divide between middle-class, native-born, mostly rural Protestants and growing numbers of poor Catholic and Jewish immigrants in Cities.” (Contending Voices p.115) The old concept that people could be ranked based on the colour of their skin is only justifiable if it was assumed that each skin tone comes from a different place. But this idea is shattered by the discovery that all living organisms came from the same ancestral being. Additionally, the idea of American purity and the justification for creating several laws between 1870-1920’s drastically inhibiting, limiting, or discontinuing the immigration of several groups. The 1875 Page Act banned the entry for convicted criminals and women “for the purposes of prostitution.” The 1822 Immigration Act denied admissions to people who could not support themselves such as paupers, people with mental illness and convicted criminals. The 1885 Reform to the Immigration Act only permitted foreign workers under labour contracts with American employers. The 1903 Reform to the Immigration Act banned entry for individuals who posed as an ideological threat to American republican democracy- which targeted anarchists and socialists. All of the Acts and reforms spanning between 1870 to 1920 contributed to the exclusion of particular groups based on generalized stereotypes or the desire to keep jobs for native-born Americans and “legitimized racism, class bias, and ethnic prejudice as formal national policy” (Yawp Chap.19) These thoroughly imbedded forms of systemic racism would be difficult to justify in light of the new theory that all humans evolved from the same living organism and could not longer be treated less simply because they are from another country. In general the rapidly changing values of the city were so overwhelming, “Bryan and millions of others mostly rural Americans […] were not prepared for it.”(Contending p.116)

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎The Scopes trial was the visual battle between the old and the new. In the courthouse, the prosecution defends the ideas and values of the old, where the defense offers insight on the new. The event that took place represented a much larger picture of the struggle for some to remain just the same as post-Civil War America while others called for drastic changes in light of new conflicts and problems.

Figure 1. Brown v. Board of Education 1954

"How successful were Jim Crow laws in the disenfranchisement of African Americans?"

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎There is so much to unpack when it comes to Jim Crow laws and its affect on African Americans. Although many say that Jim Crow laws began with Thomas D. Rice's in the 1830's, the general notion that black people were inferior prior to the production of the skit was definitely the driving factor that made 'Jump Jim Crow' so influential Jim Crow laws were extremely successful in disenfranchising the African Americans. They not only created laws that prohibited black peoples from exercising their civil rights, but also gave white folks the confidence to instill terror through various forms of violence targeting African Americans. The oppression that black people in America faced was not only systematic, but a psychologic terror as well.

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎To start, many of the points you brought up are obvious forms of systemic oppression purposed to repress people of colour. Two prominent supreme court cases, US vs Reese 1875 and Plessy vs Ferguson 1896 paved the legal foundation for Jim Crow laws to take effect. The voting rights case took advantage of the narrowly constructed terms of the 15th amendment. As a result, systematic methods to disenfranchise and de facto limitations against black voters sprouted. Arbitrary literacy tests and unaffordable poll taxes made it impossible for eligible black voters to participate in political activism. Although a majority of black voters were affected by the de facto laws, it was defended by the concept that these limitations were not judged on race but intelligence and wealth in which the 15th amendment did not condemn. In the forefront, the Plessy vs Ferguson case in 1896 made the familiar, “separate but equal,” policy that segregated black people in all sectors of America. This included schools, water fountains, bathrooms, and many more. Despite promising equality, it was very clear that institutions created for segregated black people were a considerably lower quality that those for white people. A good example of this would be high school enrollments in the south. In 1910 there were 1 million African Americans who were at the age of high school student, but only 8 thousand of the 1 million African American children were enrolled in high schools. The importance of education remained roughly the same between black and white folks, but the only difference was the quality of their learning experience. The only reason why only 8 thousand of the 1 million African Americans refused to go to school would be that the learning environment was poor. This meant that schools were not funded equally between black and white institutions.

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎Additionally, many de facto laws prevented the persecution of white individuals who partook in the lynching’s of African Americans. The lynchings were simply a method for white southerners to reclaim their authority over the recently freed African Americans. In 1890, the U.S. averaged 187 lynching per year for an entire year. Between 1880-1950, white mobs murdered a total of about 5 thousand African Americans. Victims of lynching were not only hung, but mutilated, burned alive and then shot before they are hung in public locations and were anything but a ritualistic public spectacle aimed to strike terror in African Americans. In 1899 Georgia, a black man by the name of Same Hose was accused of killing his white employer and raping his white wife. Not long was he lynched in public, where special chartered trains carried 4 thousand spectators to the sight of the lynching to watch. Hose was tortured for over 1 hour. His lynchers sliced off pieces of his body as he screamed in agony before they doused him with kerosine and burned him alive. Lynchings were known to be a public event, so it would not be peculiar for children to participate in them as well. White spectators would even take photographs with the white men that tortured the African American and buy keepsakes for the event sold by vendors on site. Such grotesque event attended by so many would show how white people thought of black people at the time. These were not the only lynchings that occurred. In the same city of Georgia between 1880-1930 lynch mobs killed over 4 hundred African Americans who saw a similar fate as Sam Hose. Between 1880-1930 Mississippi, lynches killed over 500 hundred African Americans. Such violent assault to reassert their power showed how serious the South was in maintaining pre-Reconstruction customs. “Perhaps nothing harked so forcefully back to the barbaric southern past than the wave of lynchings- the extralegal murder of individuals by vigilantes- that washed across the South after Reconstruction” (Yawp Chapter 18) With no more de jure laws and regulations to prevent further lynchings, living as an African American in the south was extremely stressful. Saying something wrong, offensive to a white man or by simply being in the wrong place in the wrong time could mean their demise. To anyone, that would be a terrifying state to live in.

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎Overall we can see that these regulations, and even the ignorance to them would show how devastating Jim Crow laws were to African Americans. They caused terror through mass killings that made it very difficult for African Americans to speak up about their mistreatment. Even if they had the courage to speak up, the sheer impossibility to be involved politically meant that they had no power to change their circumstances even if they wanted to.

Works Cited

Holtz, John. 2017. “Contending Voices, Volume II: Since 1865, Fourth Edition.” 27-40. Cengage Learning.

Figure 1. Samuel Gompers‎‎‎‎‎‎‎

Figure 2. Terence Powderly

"How do you account for the fact that the Knights of Labor, unlike the American Federation of Labor, failed to survive? What did Powderly's and Gompers's strategies have to do with the failure of one union and the success of the other? Was one more realistic? How so?"

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎During the Second Industrial Revolution between 1870 and 1914, American discovered new techniques and strategies to drive up production rates and lowering production costs. One of these techniques was the mass implementation of Taylorism. However, the subdivision of skilled work meant that practically anyone could produce a skilled product. Where previously a blacksmith would need years of training, could now be substituted for uneducated and replaceable assembly men. The skilled workers who were shown that their skills no longer mattered began to grow uneasy of the future. It was at that time where civil unrest became prevalent and two group rose to challenge the capitalist economy, The Knights of Labour and the American Federation of Labour. Although they both had a massive following, Samuel Gromper (Figure 1) prevailed in successfully creating change because he had realistic and achievable goals. Terence Powderly had unattainable and unrealistic goals that caused his union to fail so tragically. ‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎To begin, Samuel Grompers had a strong command over his goals and never strayed askew from them. When Grompers was working with Powderly in the Knights, he disliked the diversity that was in the group. Diversity posed a problem to decision making and only stalled progress. He could not see any unified goal between the various workers, and therefore with the help of Adolph Strasser and Karl Ferdinand to implement a ‘business unionism.’ A federation of semi-independent national unions organization by trade was, “pure and simple” with “immediate and practical improvements.” (Contending p55) This worked immensely and welcomed by politicians as it was a non-intrusive and easy change for political powers to accept. Additionally, Gromper had very distinct goals to fight for reforms for better working days and childcare. His plan was to strike to achieve these goals. During his time in the Knights, the 1873 Baltimore strike was successful in creating a domino of other strikes that put unrelenting pressure on big companies. The movement was so powerful that the Governor of Pennsylvania sympathized with the movement during the 1894 Pullman strike and refused to send in Pennsylvania’s militiamen to break the strike. His influence over the Knights was strong, and by the time Grompers left to begin his own union, the Knights’ image and goals became very muddled and confusing under the single command of Powderly. ‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎Terence Powderly was a weak-willed individual who could not create a cohesive plan. He was indecisive with the direction of his union and simply could not pinpoint what he truly wanted to accomplish. When Powderly’s union was founded, he focused his goals on a broad spectrum of unrelated problems. Ranging from temperance and women’s rights to social reforms for a return to the ‘older age’ when companies were run by small businesses. The Knights were spread to thin among the variety of individuals and problems they sought to solve. They welcomed everyone regardless of skill, sex, or race and only excluded, ‘non-producing’ people such as lawyers, bankers are stockbrokers. Although their diversity was very progressive, it made it very difficult for all members to work together. A woman of colour had distinctly different challenges than a white man, and so the Knights never had a truly unified front. Additionally, Powderly was vague on his method of accomplishing his confusing goals, where he favoured a co-operative approach to political economy as he “preferred peaceful negotiation and persuasion to agitation and violence,” (p.51) As honourable as he was, it was very difficult for him to abide to his own values as by the end of the Great Upheaval of 1886 protests had caused the death of nearly 100 Americans and the destruction of $40 million worth of property. Even so, absolutely no significant changes were made and the Knights were seen as violent and aggressive- the last thing that Powderly wanted. ‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎Not only was

Gromper more successful at sticking to a plan, but he was also capable of staying within his values in attaining his goals. It goes to show how much stronger Gromper was compared to Powderly in commanding a union to solve the problems of a working man during the Industrial Revolution.

"One student of Richard Henry Pratt’s life concluded that, given the assumptions of his own time about race and culture, he was a “determined, courageous, selfless worker in behalf of justice to a people suffering from four centuries of oppression by the dominant culture.” Considering the information and sources in this chapter, how would you assess that statement?"

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎The encroachment of the white settlers in the United States threatened the very existence of the Native Americans. Captivated by the romanticized, “Manifest Destiny,” the very essence of America was corrupted by their desire to consume all the land. Therefore, as one of the spokespersons regarding the American expansion into the West, it would be quite impossible for his actions to be humane.

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎To begin, Richard Pratt had an unyielding responsibility to relocate the Native Americans into designated reserves. In 1890, Pratt successfully occupied 9 million acres of land on behalf of the state. His failure two years prior to obtain the consent of the Sioux tribes left him empty handed. He then deemed it necessary to forcefully take the land from the Sioux tribes where it was splintered and given to all the whites. His actions had devastating consequences to the Native population, who were now forced to live in foreign land and away from their traditional practices. When the Native Americans began starving, the federal Indian Agent refused to disperse the rations that the Natives were promised, and Pratt had little to say about it. The relocation of land threatened the Natives with, “confinement and extinction of traditional ways of life.” (Yawp Ch.17) By threatening the existence of the Natives by relocating them to new land without further accommodation does not enforce the idea that Richard Pratt was the just and selfless worker his student claimed he was. Instead, it shows that he was not concerned with the well-being of the Native Americans.

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎In the forefront, Richard Pratt had a devotion to erase all traces of ‘Indian’ from the country by, “replace[ing]…savagery with civilization,” (Contending Voices p.27) and unsurprisingly, he bestowed to the Natives relocation and assimilation as what he thought was best for them. For Pratt, his calling was to, “ensure that every trace of Native American culture and way of life was erased” (Contending Voices p.32) and the only vehicle to do so was to send Native children to Carlisle school to be molded into white society. Pratt saw each Native as a savage, intolerable and a “half-civilized parasite, wanderer, or vagabond. The only alternative left is to fit him by education for civilized life.” (Contending voices p.38) It can be deduced through his manner of speaking that he did not see the Native Americans as equal to the white man, but rather a brittle, uncivilized infant who needs to be saved by the white warrior.

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎By conforming the Natives to the dominating culture and standing idly when Native rights were exploited would make Pratt anything but a maiden in justice. Paired with the insurmountable evidence showing the adverse suffering all his policies had instilled; it would be impossible to claim that Richard Pratt was an honourable saviour to the Native Americans.

Overall Rating: ⚫⚫⚪⚪⚪ Readability: ⚫⚫⚫⚪⚪ Informative: ⚫⚫⚪⚪⚪ Thesis: ⚫⚪⚪⚪

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎A grand, never ceasing debate about the independence of Taiwan has prevailed for decades, which brought an everlasting political tension that continues to loom over East Asia. The author, Taiwanese professor Dr. Wan-yao Chou of National Taiwan University, wrote the book about the history of Taiwan and its possible political implications. The book was first published in October 1997 and was honoured as one of the One Hundred Books of East Asia by the East Asian Publishers’ Conference in 2009. Despite this, the book was extremely disappointing considering the prestigious award it received. It was informative in describing early Taiwanese history, but the shortcomings of the work certainly outweighed any nominal pro to the book. To answer the research question 'To what extent is Wan-yao Chou’s book effective in making contributions to the study of Taiwanese history?', the abundance of limitations - from the origin, purpose and the content of the reading - paired with the recency of Taiwanese history makes it very difficult for readers to source any useful information from the work. The book 'The New Illustrated History of Taiwan' is useless to the study of Taiwanese history because of its cowardice to critically analyse recent events. This paper only focuses on objective qualities of the book to determine its use in historical study. The impacts the work had in East Asia and the reception of the book by the general public and historians, whether positive or negative is beyond the scope of this paper.

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎The English edition of the book was published in March 2014 near the time of the March 18 movement. This movement, as well as any other recent developments in the last 20 years were not mentioned in the book. This was quite troubling, since the purpose of the book was to create a ‘manual’ to help better understand the state of present Taiwan. Dr. Wan-yau Chou had a lot of information on prehistoric Taiwan that would be difficult to find in many other books about Taiwan. Additionally, Chou stressed the importance of the book by explaining: “an understanding of contemporary Taiwan must be solidly founded upon an understanding of Taiwan’s past and it is hoped that this book will provide that understanding,”[1] which goes to show that the objective of her writing is to inform the general public. Of all things, Chou did very well on focusing on the life of a common man in Taiwan. In doing so, she painted a realistic account to the functions of Taiwan that were stripped of political influence. Many authors focused too much on monumental historical events which took away from the general atmosphere of the time, compared to Wan-yao Chou who found a good balance between connecting significant historical events with the lives of the simple man. However, aside from her focus on the common man, her work struggled immensely to purport a cohesive idea. Unfortunately, her writing suffered from an unfulfilled purpose and failure to prove its weak thesis. To begin with, the book was split into two distinct sections that distinguish the stages of Taiwan’s development: democratization (1987-2000), and trials and setbacks (2000-present). The author’s goal was to “help the reader to understand the complexities of Taiwan’s history and thereby make it easier to grasp what is happening now.”[2]Instead of focusing on Taiwan’s recent history to explain modern events, Chou believed that the study of early Taiwanese history is imperative in understanding Taiwan’s modern state of events. To do this, Chou used the example of ethnic turmoil in the United States to justify her point. Resulting from America's ethnic 'melting pot', Chou states that “perceptions of the relations between ethnic groups are changing enormously, and one can no longer write something purporting to be a comprehensive history of America which simply revolves around the white, male descendants of Europeans […] Similarly, is it possible to satisfy every group when writing a new history of Taiwan?”[3] She believed that it was not the people in power that created the divide between Taiwan, China, and the rest of the world but rather the diverse number of settlers that occupied Taiwan that explains the complexities of the political turmoil that Taiwan has experienced and continues to experience in the present day. However, the alarming lack of relevant content within her work poses a grave problem. Even if Chou claimed that the setbacks occurred from 2000 to present, she cannot escape her time as the events that occurred during ‘setbacks’ happened during her lifetime. As a result, the book struggled to adequately inform the reader of events that occurred in the last two decades.[4] However, since it was written to help readers understand the dynamics of modern Taiwanese history, Chou’s inability to write about events that occurred in the last twenty years is a critical shortcoming of the work that renders it almost unusable in the study of modern Taiwanese history - the very purpose of the book.

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎Remaining unbiased is typically good in most forms of writing. Unfortunately, historical studies are based on the use of bias to drive home a point. Therefore, another huge mistake the author makes was her attempt to remain unbiased in her work and claimed to not push a political agenda. However, it seemed to be more of a excuse to hide the fragility of her analysis. Chou did not make any compelling arguments or statements that could further develop the study of Taiwanese history and it was because she refused to adhere to a coherent thesis, and instead used an array of perspectives in order to mask her inability to critically analyse the historically valuable information. Chou fell in a grey area where her attempts to remain biased were over-shadowed by her inevitable anti-Chinese perspectives as a Taiwanese citizen. Her weakness in separating her unavoidable anti-Chinese perspective and her work is highlighted most clearly in her accounts of the February 28 Incident in 1947 - which was also the most informative and detailed section of her work. Chou described the events of the February 28 Incident as, “’a collective nightmare’ for Taiwanese society, sliced so deeply into the lives of the Taiwanese people that, when they wake up from the nightmare, the feeling of terror remains.”[5] This is perhaps the only time when Chou clearly states her stance on a particular topic. Even so, she does not fully expand on this perspective. Despite all the opportunities given to her through the mentions of the publication Voice of the Taiwanese People, Chou offered little insight on why there were such negative effects of the Chinese occupation of Taiwan. She alludes to the idea that the changes made in Taiwan heavily impacted the structure of Taiwanese society as, “[..] the Taiwanese people have longed to be reunited with their ancestral land […] but they do not love the fatherland’s backwardness nor its irregular society.”[6] She only explained that, “this attitude is extremely important,”[7] when referring to Chinas colonisation of Taiwan, however she fails to explain why it is detrimental to the Taiwanese people. All she claims is that it is an important attitude and does not further elaborate. Summarized effectively by Jerome Keating from Taipei Times, her timidness to expand on her claims was detrimental to her credibility since she limited herself through her determination to remain impartial to the politics between China and Taiwan. Her writing purposed to be aimed to the general public, the work “avoids any claim at being a systematic and comprehensive history,” focuses intently on including a variety of perspectives on history. [8] Her analysis was impacted by her timorousness to provide a compelling point. Unfortunately, the need to remain unbiased was not the only thing that injured her work.

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎Chou was a professor in history and should be familiar to the nature of history among intellectuals, which is that once someone is at her level of study, history should no longer be simply the re-telling of past events. To the book’s demise, narration was a common occurrence throughout the entirety of Chou’s work. It omits critical analysis imperative to the study of history. Although Chou does include many illustrations and images to compensate, she focused too much on the images and omitted factual evidence critical to the operations of history which harmed the credibility of her book. On top of that, the narrative nature of the book made it impossible to obtain any useful historiography from it. Frequently did Chou refer to evidence without factual backing. For example, in her exploration into the erection of Monopolies during the retrocessional period in Taiwan, she claims that authorities, “ruled that tobacco, alcohol, camphor, matches […] were subjects to state monopoly.”[9]Information pointing to how they implemented these monopolies and the monetary benefits they gained from it could not be found anywhere in the book. She simply stated an occurrence without justifying with statistical information. Another component of her work that negatively impacted the analysis of her writing would be the use of illustrations. Pictures, diagrams, maps were all very useful to the study of pre-historic China, nonetheless her lack of involvement with the illustrations and inability to expand on the illustrations is what makes her work fall short. The combination of: narration, images, limited historiography and lack of factual evidence makes the reading experience more similar a picture book than a work of historical study. Since this book appears to simply reflect Chou’s fantasy of Taiwan, it has minimal value to the study of history.

‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎It is conclusive that Chou’s work does not reflect her impressive academic résumé in the study of history. Containing little analysis, conflict of interest from the time of her upbringing and failure to fulfill the purpose of the text, the book was an embarrassing attempt to study Taiwanese history. Summarized perfectly by Keating from Taipei times, Chou’s rendering of Taiwanese history “suffers from what may be called a post-modernistic malaise and insecurity found creeping into academia.”[10]

Works Cited

Chou, Wan-yao, Carole Plackitt, and Tim Casey. 2015. A New Illustrated History of Taiwan. Taipei: SMC Publishing Inc.

Keating, Jerome. 2015. Taipei Times. November 19. Accessed October 2021. https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2015/11/19/2003632803.