Oakland Ghost Ship Fire

Brad Layton
December 13, 2016

The Oakland Ghost ship fire was inside a warehouse art collective that killed 36 people on December 2, 2016. It is believed that the fire was started by overloaded electrical lines at the back of the building. The warehouse was ran by Derick Ion Almena, that allowed for it to be at times the home for dozens of artists. At the time of the fire, the upstairs of the warehouse was filled with "partygoers" that had no way of escape due to the stairs being hidden. The people upstairs had to climb down a makeshift wooden staircase that was highly unsafe. Alike the Triangle Fire, the people trapped inside had to climb down an old broken fire escape that was not well-kept and very dangerous. The concertgoers had to navigate the narrow, makeshift staircase that was jumbled with furniture and other objects in their way in order to escape the flames. A women that had lived in the building, Ms. Brito, stated how difficult it would have been for anyone who didn't know the place to find the exit in the best circumstances. Some people living in the Warehouse before the fire that had left said that they left due to the feeling that they were unsafe and the warehouse was not secure. For the Triangle Fire Factory, in New York City, with its tenements had witnessed a growing concern for issues of health and safety in the early years of the 20th century. Both of these establishments were unsafe and people noticed this, but didn't take action to prevent anything from happening.




https://trianglefire.ilr.cornell.edu/story/fire.html

http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2016/12/12/oakland-warehouse-fire-overloaded-electrical-system-seen-as-cause/

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/12/us/oakland-warehouse-ghost-ship-fire.html?_r=0

Crazy Horse- Brad Layton

Brad Layton
November 21, 2016
Crazy Horse

One of the most well known Indian leaders was Crazy Horse. Born with the name Tashunka Witco around 1840 in present-day South Dakota. He was apart of the Lokota Tribe, a division of the Sioux. The Lokota had little to no contact with whites and had reached their peak of power in the 1840's. As white settlers started to come farther west in search for gold, the Lokota and white settlers competed for resources in the area. The tension met it's peak when the Grattan Massacre occurred. This massacre is considered the starting point for the First Sioux War with the United States. This also started Crazy Horse's strong distrust for the white settlers. The next years consisted of many conflicts with the United States, where Crazy Horse was at the center. Crazy Horse had become the leader of the Lakota Sioux and a great battle-tested warrior as well. He was praised for his leadership and also his efforts in preserving Native American Traditions. He experienced his first meeting with a U.S. soldier on the Oregon Trail, July 25, 1865, at Platte bridge. He was acting as a decoy to bring the soldiers out of defenses to ambush them. He fought in the American-Indian Wars with Sitting Bull, best known in the defeat General Custer's army at the battle of Little Bighorn. After the victory, a U.S. Army led by Colonel Nelson Miles followed Crazy Horse and his men. The Army finally forced them to surrender on May 6, 1877 due to extreme cold and starvation. Crazy Horse was then sent to Fort Robinson, where he was stabbed by a white soldier in a scuffle, and died after bleeding in his cell. Since his death, he has become a mythical figure of the Great Plains Indian Wars.


http://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/crazy-horse

• Viewed by his tribe
• Famous battle

Crazy Horse was the leader of the Lakota Sioux and a great battle-tested warrior as well. He was praised for his leadership and also his efforts in preserving Native American Traditions. He fought in the American-Indian Wars with Sitting Bull best known in the defeat General Custer's army at the battle of Little Bighorn. Since his death, he has become a mythical figure of the Great Plains Indian Wars. He experienced his first meeting with a U.S. soldier on the Oregon Trail, July 25, 1865, at Platte bridge. He was acting as a decoy to bring the soldiers out of defenses to ambush them.

http://www.biography.com/people/crazy-horse-9261082#early-years

• Crazy Horse as a child
• View white settlers 
• Conflict with United States

Born with the name Tashunka Witco around 1840 in present-day South Dakota apart of the Lokota Tribe, a division of the Sioux. The Lokota had little to no contact with whites and had reached their peak of power in the 1840's. As white settlers started to come farther west in search for gold, the Lokota and white settler competed for resources in the area. The tension met his peak when the Grattan Massacre occurred. This massacre is considered the starting point for the First Sioux War with the United States. This also started Crazy Horses strong distrust for the white settlers. The next years consisted of many conflicts with the United States, where Crazy Horse was at the center.

http://www.tomrea.net/The%20Death%20of%20Crazy%20Horse.html

• Early Life
• Death
• Images

Native American Classwork November 9, 2016

Brad Layton
 1. The activity in class today is to discuss the traits of Native Americans that were viewed upon by Europeans. This outsider view is strictly based upon appearance and rumors rather than complete truth.
Savage- not domesticated or under human control.
Savagery- a cruel or violent quality--violent actions

2. If I was an American student reading this text, I would view Native Americans as savages that were focused mainly on war and striking fear into those not in their tribes. This texts depicts Native Americans as tall, straight, and well-formed with copper-brown skin that enjoyed war and were very revengeful. They would arm themselves with war-clubs, tomahawks, and bows and arrows. The bravest warrior among their tribes was the one that could rip the most scalps from the heads of his enemies. When an enemy was captured, they would burn him at the stake by a slow fire and torture him every day.

Old West Letter

Brad Layton
October 31, 2016

1.  A letter from a man to his wife and baby about a new house with three rooms and the improvement on 160 acres for $600.00 through a man that will homestead the land. He has selected 160 acres 1/2 south east of the Giles cornering on turkey creek, which 80 acres have been Homesteaded. He has selected another piece of land 2 miles west and south from Giles in case he can't obtain the first. He speaks about what their house will be made of and how the country is as pretty as he has ever seen. He states how a man can come there with $500.00 and can start a whole new life in a few years. He ends his letter with the sadness that he is experiencing without his wife and baby.
     In his second letter, the man states that both pieces of land that he wanted had been taken so he must go back and look again. I has also bought a plot of the town where Giles and Sam will try to find one in the same town. He is upset about having to travel so far to look for land that might be taken. He only has $20 left and his long trip will use much of that but he believes he must make the trip for his family.

2. The fact that the man was willing to pay $600.00 in 1872 for a man to homestead the land truly surprised me because of the expense at this time in history.

3. The act of letter writing was a true skill and was cherished by the ones that could write back to their loved ones. Writing letters allowed for someones loved ones to know what they were doing and how they were doing. Migrating was a long process and was a life changing experience especially for someone to leave their loved ones in order to build them a new life in the West.

http://webpages.uidaho.edu/special-collections/papers/ssr.htm

12 Years a Slave/Glory Essay

Brad Layton
September 27, 2016
B block

    Throughout the films 12 Years a Slave and Glory the truth of slavery and war are depicted through beauty and sorrow, but both give the viewer a pure depiction of each. Many films have attempted to show the hardships of slavery, but don't always stay with the truth and try to focus on entertaining the audience. These two films pull the viewer into the lives of these men and women while holding truth and allowing the audience to learn more than only reading from a book.
     These films have allowed the average person to have a window into the past while creating an emotional attachment between the viewer and the characters. 12 Years a Slave is based off of a collection of writings by Soloman Northup, which allows the filmmaker a large amount of evidence and truth about the lives of slaves in the south to base the film off of. Throughout 12 Years a Slave, the viewer follows the life of Soloman Northup through his life as a free man in New York and his life after being kidnapped into slavery and taken to the south. As his life is turned completely upside down, the viewer experiences the pain that Soloman feels as he is ripped away from his past life and forced to suffer as a slave. This film shows the true everyday lives that slaves have to suffer through, which allows a true window to be looked through into the past during these times in the south. Soloman starts out his new life with a fairly nice master, but ends with an aggressive drunk who treats his slaves like nothing. This change of masters shows the viewer that some slaves were treated with fairness but many others were treated as property, not people. Although some facts in 12 Years a Slave have been changed for the viewers entertainment, the message that Soloman Northup is trying to convey is still truthfully portrayed. The lives of the slaves in the south during this time period are accurately shown in this film and really do allow the viewer to step back in time and experience their lives. These kind of films, when based off of factual evidence, truly inform the viewer more than a book or writing could do by giving a physical image of the past.
       The film Glory also holds truth throughout it by showing the lives of the first African Americans in the military during the civil war. The hardships that these free men and slaves face is truthfully shown throughout this film. The first African Americans in the military faced many hardships and so did their superior officers. Throughout this film, the viewer is taken into the lives of Robert Shaw, the first colonel of a completely African American regiment, as he writes letters home to his mother informing her of the truth that faces both he and his men. The 54th Massachusetts is filled with slaves and also free men that have signed up to fight for the freedom of African American slaves. Among these men is Thomas Searles, who is a free man that grew up along-side Robert Shaw, but must face the harsh reality that he is just another soldier in the military and must fight. These men are not treated like the white soldiers and still feel as if they are slaves in the eyes of the government when not given the proper materials that they need and being told that they are manual laborers that won't even make it to a battlefield. These men only want to fight and have a life that is more than on of being a slave. As the movie concludes with the battle at Fort Wagner, the men watch as their leader is fatally shot and they must continue without the man that gave them so much. This movie allows the viewer to see the personal lives that these men live and the adversity that they face.
       As I watched these two films, I developed a personal attachment with Soloman Northup, Robert Shaw, and Thomas Searles. This allowed me to become consumed by the lives of these men and truly feel as if I were a part of their lives. The ability to imagine yourself in the lives of someone else allows a true understanding of the time that they lived and the world around them during that time. Without these films, I would not be able to fully gain a visual understanding of these people and their experiences. Films allow the viewer to gain knowledge by climbing inside the world of the characters, while texts force the reader to have to imagine it themselves which can lead to misunderstandings of what the text actual conveys. Both of these films held the attention of the audience while giving information about the lives of African Americans in the north and the south around the civil war.



















54th Massachusetts storming Fort Wagner




Soloman Northup as a freeman in New York




















The 54th Massachusetts with Colonel Shaw



Slaves picking cotton on a plantation


                                                                                   Work Cited

Freeman, Elsie, Wynell Burroughs Schamel, and Jean West. "The Fight for Equal Rights: A Recruiting Poster for Black Soldiers in the Civil War." Social Education 56, 2 (February 1992): 118-120. [Revised and updated in 1999 by Budge Weidman.]

Todd Scurci and Denny Boyle, with Comments by Hilary Chadwick and Patrick O'Brien. "Reel American History - Films - List." Reel American History - Films - List. Web. 29 Sept. 2016.

US History Paraphrase Activity

Brad Layton
US History Paraphrase Activity 

Review Summary:
12 Years a Slave has been regarded as the best movie that has ever been made about American 
slavery. This film is so highly regarded because films like this are disappearing and no more are being
created that actually depict pure truth. Although 12 Years a Slave is a gathering of accounts from a free African American from New York, who was kidnapped and sold down in Louisiana, it gives the viewer a true depiction of American slavery. This idea of a slaves survival in the south was also shown in the movie Django, which is aimed in the satisfaction of the viewer rather than being based from more truth. Along with Django is the even more fictional film, The Birth of a Nation, in which the Klu Klux Klan is respected and African Americans are shown incorrectly. These two films do not compare to the realism that 12 Years a Slave possesses in which tells an inspiring story, while keeping the truth. This movie deserves to be regarded as the truth and as a "masterpiece" in the world of film making.

But Griffiths’ film has almost no truth in it — and it is monstrously, numbingly racist. Its black characters are drunks and rapists, played by gurning white actors in blackface, while the Ku Klux Klan are shown to be savior knights of the new republic. Think again of that strange lack of films about American slavery, and wonder how long it will take for cinema to exorcise these demons. In that light, 12 Years a Slave isn’t simply a masterpiece, it’s a milestone. This, at last, really is history written with lightning.


12 Years a Slave has become the epitome of movies that attempt to tell the truth of the past. Compared to the movie The Birth of Nations, that has almost no factual evidence from the past that supports it's ideas, 12 Years a Slave is full of truth and background evidence while telling a strong story. The Birth of Nations displays pure racism and idealizes the Ku Klux Klan, these ideas destroy the truth behind the history of American slavery.