Social, Economic and Political Conditions of a Slovak Immigrant Group Change from the 1880s to the 1930s

At the turn of the 19th century, several Slovak and other East European immigrant groups fled their native homelands in Europe to begin a new life in America. â€Å"Out of this Furnace† by Thomas Bell, set against the backdrop of the thriving steel mills of Pennsylvania, documents the great social upheavals experienced by one such Slovak family – the Dobrejcaks, across three generations.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Social, Economic and Political Conditions of a Slovak Immigrant Group Change from the 1880’s to the 1930’s specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Throughout the book’s narrative, the protagonists undergo extreme hardships in eking out a minimal existence in the newly-evolving industrial society shaping up in Pennsylvania and other North-Eastern states. It was not until the 1930’s and the third generation of Dobrejcaks, that they acquired enough grit and determina tion to fight for justice, and their civil rights. In this thesis, it will be argued that only by organizing successful trade unions against greedy capitalist steel mill owners, did these immigrant groups truly succeed in their efforts to assimilate into the American way of life. The trials and tribulations experienced by the countless workers at those labor unions, and their families has set the stage for successive immigrant assimilation stories over the decades. The plot begins with the narrative of Djuro Kracha, a newly-arrived immigrant from Austria Hungary (corresponding to present day Slovakia) who walks all the way from New York to White Haven (after splurging all his train fare money on buying whiskey for a married woman called Zuska whom he fancies). Like other immigrants, Kracha is looking for good fortune and wealth in his adopted homeland. His dreams are clearly evident as: â€Å"Kracha’s story of his walk from New York was a nine days’ wonder. The first time he told it he had Francka watching him, listening to every  word, and he was shrewd enough to keep it simple. When he came out of Castle Garden his money was in his pocket; when he reached the ferry house and wanted to pay for his  ticket  it was gone. Kracha spread his hands. There it was. He had given the problem a lot of thinking without getting anywhere, his manner implied, and now he was prepared to hear their speculations,† (Part 1, Chapter 3, 11). Kracha soon befriends another Slovak immigrant, Dubik who helps him get over his initial troubles to settle down, and find a job in the burgeoning steel mills of Braddock, Pennyslvania. Dubik finds employment with Andrew Carnegie steel mills. This is where the first generation story about immigrant anguishes commences. â€Å"There are men in that mill who were born here, whose fathers and grandfathers were born here. They know more English than you’ll ever learn. And what good is their vote doing them? They have to work in the mill and eat dirt like any greenhorn. Let me tell you, I’ve been in America enough to know that it’s run just like any other country.Advertising Looking for essay on international relations? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In Europe your emperors and grand dukes own everything and over here it’s your millionaires and your trusts. They run the country to suit themselves, and don’t think they’re going to let you interfere every few years with your miserable vote. Get that into your head. Your vote means nothing. The company man always wins. If he isn’t a company man to start with, he becomes one afterward; the millionaires see to that.† (Part 1, Chapter 4, 3) In contrast to Dubik’s constant struggles, Kracha sees some initial success in his adopted homeland and goes on to operate his own butcher shop which helps him earn over a thousand dollars per year. However, as success goes over his head, he again befriends Zuska and continues to lust after her. The immense success and material wealth makes him ignore his responsibilities towards his only wife, Elena who he brought back from Slovakia, but no longer cared for. â€Å"Her poor health, or America, had changed her; Kracha never could decide. He had left her a lively, healthy girl, cheerful as the day was long; now she seldom smiled and went about her.† (Part 1, Chapter 6, 12). The fact that Elena had developed a goiter-like condition upon arrival in America contributed to the growing alienation between the couple. Rumors of Kracha’s purported affair with Zuska saw several of his customers withdraw their patronage from his shop. Over a period of time, he becomes terribly depressed with the turn-out of events and drinks himself to death. Zuska, who rose into prominence in Kracha’s life, soon disappears from the scene and it is evident that for the first generation of this fictionalized Slovak immigrant group, their life story is steeped in a constant predicament of failure and frustration. For the second generation of this immigrant family, the story focuses on Mike Dobrejcak, who marries Mary, the daughter of Krasa and Elena. Unlike his father-in-law, Mike remains faithful to his wife and is shown much more assimilated into American society. He speaks English fluently, registers as a Republican and fights for political freedom and voting rights on behalf of worker unions who produced the steel that created the Brooklyn bridge, but were usually discouraged from exercising their franchise. In this context, the reader is introduced to the growing discontent experienced by the immigrant class of workers against their employers.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Social, Economic and Political Conditions of a Slovak Immigrant Group Change from the 1880’s to the 1930’s specifically for you for only $16. 05 $11/page Learn More The increasing economic disparity and lack of social progress for immigrants was already boiling into a major issue. When the Spanish Influenza struck in 1918, many people in the immigrant slums including Mary Dobrejcak started succumbing to this illness, got removed to a sanatorium and saw their entire lives being ruined, without the greedy steel mill employers caring one bit for their health and livelihoods. In the last part of the story, George Dobrejcak, the son of Mary, joins an immigrant labor union to agitate for the common rights of all immigrant workers of East European background. Being a third-generation American, George has enough voice to harshly denounce the ill treatment experienced by his fellow workers at the hands of greedy capitalists. He soon recruits several other labor unionists from his background and eventually, becomes the assistant director of his labor union. George’s feelings on the rising labor union sentiment are expressed as under: â€Å"It was the way you thought and felt about certain things. About freedom of speech and the equality of men and the importance of having one law — the same law — for rich and poor, for the people you liked and the people you didn’t like. About the right of every man to live his life as he thought best, his right to defend it if anyone tried to change it and his right to change it himself if he decided he liked some other way of living better. About the uses to which wealth and power could honorably be put, and about honor itself, honor, integrity, self-respect, the whatever-you-wanted-to-call-it that determined for a man which things he couldn’t say or do under any circumstances, not for all the money there was, not even to help his side win.† (Part 4, Chapter 3, 20). In conclusion, it may well be argued that over a period of three generations, the Dobrejcaks managed to successfully assimilate into American society only after they had acquired enough resolve to fight for their social justice, voting and civil rights. The fictionalized account of their success matters a lot because it can serve as an inspirational tale for hundreds of thousands of newly-arrived immigrants, who currently find themselves at the bottom of the barrel in a â€Å"land of opportunity†, while carrying on with aspirations for social progress and upward mobility. Successful assimilation is all about learning to fight for one’s rights.Advertising Looking for essay on international relations? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Works Cited Bell, Thomas. Out of This Furnace: A Novel of Immigrant Labor in America. University of Pittsburgh Press: Pittsburg, PA, 1976. This essay on Social, Economic and Political Conditions of a Slovak Immigrant Group Change from the 1880’s to the 1930’s was written and submitted by user Maddox Chen to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

How a Magnetic Train Works

How a Magnetic Train Works Masayuki Shibata is a highly trained and capable professional in the field of engineering. He holds a doctorate degree in science from Tsukuba University. Immediately after obtaining his Doctor of Science degree, he joined Hitachi Ltd in 1988. Currently, he works at the Hitachi laboratory.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on How a Magnetic Train Works specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More For a long time, he has developed deep interest and practice in railway systems that are magnetically levitated. In other words, he has adequate professional knowledge and background on how magnetic trains work. Due to his reputation, he is a member of both the Japan Physics Society and the Cryogenic Engineering Association. Maki furthered his studies from a bachelor’s level and now holds a Ph.D. degree in science. He once worked as a director of the Superconducting Research Centre. This is part and parcel of the Hitachi Research labo ratory. He has vast knowledge in the development of superconducting generators as well as engineering background on the working principle of trains that are magnetically powered. He is an active member of IEEE, Japan Radiation Institute, and the Cryogenic Engineering Association. Toshio Saito graduated in March 1977 from Hokkaido University with a Master’s degree. He immediately joined Hitachi Ltd. He is also keen participant in the development of railway systems that are magnetically levitated. Takashi Kobayashi holds a Master’s degree in electrical engineering. Apart from a solid academic background, he has acquired vast knowledge in various working stations such as Hitachi Ltd. He is a reputable scientist in magnetic flux studies. For instance, one of his work stations was the Superconducting Research Centre. He has written a lot of study materials on magnetic flux and levitation. Shunsuke Fujiwara has a Ph.D. degree in Engineering. He has gained a long term experie nce when working with Maglev Technology Laboratory. He has lifetime membership to IEEJ. Tsuyoshi is also a member of IEEJ and has worked with Railway Technical Research Institute, Maglev System Division and the Guide way Engineering Department. The peer reviewed journal article by Fujiwara and Fujimoto has been divided into summary, introduction, working principle of magnetic trains, analysis of characteristics, and numerous examples of how magnetic trains work. The article has a list of references from reputable sources. Although I will go over several sections of this article, my main area of focus will be the working principle of magnetic trains. The intended target audiences are the professionals in electrical engineering or students pursuing studies in electrical engineering.Advertising Looking for essay on engineering? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In the second journal article by Shibata et al, the material has been divided into 1) Summary 2) introduction 3) working principle of a levitation coil 4) optimization of a levitation coil and 5) worked out examples and discussions. Although there is no list of references at the end of the article, each of the contributors of the journal is an authority in electrical engineering. Professionals or students of electrical engineering are the key target audience. According to Shibata, Maki, Saito and Kobayashi (1993, p.112), superconducting magnets have become crucial when constructing magnetically levitated trains. Usually, the side walls are used to mount the levitation coils within the maglev rail system that can be used with a magnetic train. The authors are quite categorical that a magnetic flux is generated by the induced current along the levitation coils. Hence, there must be higher order harmonics for adequate magnetic force to be generated. Usually, the eddy currents are generated by harmonics near the surface where the superconducting magnets are positioned (Shibata et al 1993, p. 113). Due to the presence of the static magnetic field and the eddy currents, a powerful force is produced. As a result, the available helium liquid evaporates. The authors observe that the interaction of these forces lead to the generation of amplitude and continuous magnetic flux that eventually lead to movement of a train. In order to create a better understanding of the working principle of a magnetic train, the authors have used several illustrations in form of diagrams and worked out examples. The figure below shows a magnetically levitated train. Source: (Shibata et al 1993, p. 112)Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on How a Magnetic Train Works specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More From the above diagram, it can be seen that the guide way is electronically manned by the thrust coil, levitation coil, superconductor coil and the coil vessel. Guidance and levitation of the magnetic train is made possible by the fundamental flux which is produced by the harmonic flux and ground coils (Shibata et al 1993, p. 115). On the same note, Fujiwara and Fujimoto present a working principle of a magnetic train that makes use of both the guiding scheme and levitation (Fujiwara Fujimoto 1993, p.124). The figure below shows how the ground coils are connected parallel to each other. Source: Fujiwara Fujimoto (1993, p.124) The working principle is the same although there are slight modifications. For example, the EDS maglev vehicle is adjusted in such a way that the magnetic drag force is significantly reduced. There are two rectangular unit coils that make up the levitation coil. These rectangular coils prevent any induction of electric current around the levitation coil. Hence, the guidance and levitation functions are performed by both the left and right coils (Fujiwara Fujimoto 1993, p.128). References Fujiwara, S. Fujimoto, T 1993, â€Å"Characteristics of Combined Levitation and Guidance EDS Maglev System.† Electrical Engineering in Japan, vol. 113 no. 3, pp, 123-134. Shibata, M., Maki, N., Saito, T. Kobayashi, T 1993, â€Å"Levitation Coil length Optimization of a magnetically Levitation Train.† Electrical Engineering in Japan, vol. 113 no. 2, pp. 112-121.Advertising Looking for essay on engineering? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More

Ethnic tourism in Brick lane(east London) Dissertation

Ethnic tourism in Brick lane(east London) - Dissertation Example This is set alongside the fact that many of the inhabitants are still living as a pre-21th century overcrowded village community on the edge of the ultra modern city. Introduction Shoreditch is described as ‘an area of hope and endless resilience’, (Unseen Tours, 2011). Yet it might be truer to say hope of a better future – perhaps somewhere else. Another description appears in the form of a sundial high on the wall of the Jamme Masjid Mosque (undated) in London’s Brick Lane. Clearly to be seen on its surface is the Latin tag ‘Umbra Sumus’ i.e. ... ned by Stebbins in 1996 ( page 948) as :- Cultural tourism is a genre of special interest tourism based on the search for and participation in new and deep cultural experiences, whether aesthetic, intellectual, emotional, or psychological" (948). The question to be answered is whether or not this is ultimately of benefit to the inhabitants - in particular those with origins overseas , now living in crowded conditions at the southern end of Brick Lane and its environs or on the social housing estates nearby. According to a UNESCO report on the effects of tourism ( Preface, 1995) the effects may be economically positive but :- This approach, however, reduces the cultural heritage and the environmental assets to an economic commodity minimizing or sometimes completely ignoring their socio-cultural values. Ask people to mention important sites in London and they will quickly come up with a long list – Big Ben, The Houses of Parliament, the Tower, Buckingham Palace and all the rest . But of course this is a false picture as far as Londoners are concerned. It really consists not of a string of tourists sites, but is made up of millions of ordinary people trying to exist cheek by jowl with the tourists, the icons and amidst the ensuing crush,. Crowded buses, high prices, when all they want to do is cope and perhaps find happiness and even success for themselves, their families and those they care about. What is important for them is not tourist sites, but home, family, security, who they are and where they are going.. Many of these people live in Whitechapel, and many hundreds in Brick Lane and the surrounding streets. In 1986, according to the Labour party Brick Lane at that time was:- a community of working class and industrious people: a multi-ethnic community, a historic