EXAMPLE OF A+ PAPER FOR THE “RED HANDED MURDER” SOURCE Record of a Strike The late 19th century was a historical period in America when civil rights laws were being disputed and racial tensions kept growing. There were many feuds between plantations workers and their employers about fair wages. These disputes escalated and the militia was eventually called in which led to violence. Here, an African-American newspaper writer in Louisiana writes about the historical massacre that took place in Thibodaux, Louisiana in 1887. Penned by an anonymous journalist during the reconstruction period and the Jim Crow laws, the journalist uses the hatred between civilians and the government to make his struggle known. While largely accurate, this newspaper report shows racial biases because it gathers the viewpoints of the African-Americans but not of the government and militia. The titular headline of the newspaper article begins by acknowledging the African- Americans killed in Thibodaux, Louisiana. At the very beginning of his article he shrieks, “Murder, foul murder has been committed and the victims were inoffensive and law-abiding Negroes.” He captivates the attention of his readers by repeating “murder”; many are excited at the horror of death even if it is a cruel fact. Others are alarmed or terrified by it, but are curious to learn about it. The writer purposely chooses to begin in this way so that he can draw attention to his message. This is a primary source document that details the lynching and cruel killings of black men, women and even children to the public. The journalist expresses his anguish by the event by providing visual and psychological cues. Part of the writer’s power is his rhetorical devices, which make the reader feel empathic about the murders at Thibodaux. The anonymous writer personifies the victims of the massacre when he mentions, “… like so many cattle, the Negroes in and around Thibodaux, Lafourthe parish, La” at the beginning of his report. The Negroes were hunted and lynched ignoring human rights and laws against murdering fellow humans. Cattle are usually shot and killed for sport or slaughtered by butchers. In an effect to explain the injustice endured by the Negroes, the author uses this visual imagery to describe to his readers, the cruelty Negroes faced in Louisiana. With this in mind, the journalist also uses the word such as “devilish devices” when describing the planters and their followers. The “devil” of course is considered the most powerful spirit of evil in many religious beliefs. By depicting the planters as this pure evil being, it engraves a vivid picture to the audience of the newspaper. When describing the Negroes, the writer states they are “behaving peacefully” however he describes the militia and planters as characters “resorting to violence and bloodshed.” This further emphasizes the author empathy to the Negroes while also painting them as model citizens who have done nothing wrong. The journalist also gives the impression that the militia was only there to cause a ruckus and not there to solve the conflict. The main focus of the article is to persuade the audience of the senseless killing of Negroes by the white men. While the source does fulfill this coaxing towards the public, he also curves the truth. The tone of the author shifts in many perspectives throughout his work. When he talks about the government and the militia, his tone is dark and gruesome but when he talks about the Negroes, he uses a loving and empathic voice. The author uses descriptive words when describing the individuals being killed; he calls them, “lame men and blind women.” These words give the idea that they are vulnerable and feeble. The journalist projects the blame on the governments for the act of violence by insinuating that the “Citizens of the United States” were lynched by a mob on the orders of a State Judge. By implying that blacks are foremost “citizens”, an attack against them, whatever your personal stance on race, is to attack America. Although he calls the killed victims, “Citizens of the United States,” the author never mentions that some of the sugar plantation workers were white. By not mentioning that the situation was fueled by basic human rights and not race, he shows racial bias. He ignores any wrongdoing or violence that the Negroes might have taken part in and puts all the blame on the white planters and the militia. The journalist instead tries to insinuate war by persuading the readers to “fight for their homes, their homes, and their lawful rights.” It is important to realize although the writer was undoubtedly biased, the event is historical significant. The Homestead strike of 1889 directly reflects both the labor and racial struggles of this time period. The steelworkers of Carnegie Steel Company had won a three-year contract, but his plant manager, Henry Clay Frick locked the workers out of the plant. What followed was a unionized strike for labor laws, which led to several strikers being killed. Although it was a failed attempt and setback worker’s right, it was an inspiration to many workers. The Pullman Palace Car Company strike of 1893 was also another key moment in this period of time. Strikers, who were fighting for wages being drastically lowered, torched several buildings and looted railway cars until thousands of state troops were brought in to stop them. While both of these events showed race wars between whites and blacks, it also displayed the significant power of robber barons and government possessed. These events shine a light on the workers demanding sufficient wages and walking off the job when they were denied this simple right. In our modern society today we should be thankful for the contributions of the labor related strikes in the past. Even in the world we live today we have strikes at the workplace albeit with fewer violent outcomes. This newspaper contribution to the public paved the way to some labor acts and even human rights laws we have today. EXAMPLE OF A+ PAPER FOR THE PULLMAN STRIKE SOURCE A Call to My Brothers In the midst of the industrial boom during the Gilded Age, factory workers became dissatisfied with the treatment they received in the plants they labored in, while being paid barely enough to get by, and began to strike. This source was a speech given during a Chicago convention of the American Railway Union (ARU) in 1894, by a striker from the Pullman factory, making it a primary source. This is a persuasive speech meant to draw sympathy from the members of the union, so while it is not biased, it leans in favor of the strikers, portraying them as oppressed workers who stood up against their oppressor. George Pullman on the other hand, is portrayed as an evil man with an unquenchable desire to make more money, while taking away the minuscule amount of wages paid to his workers. The major point of this speech is to evoke sympathy for the strikers. The speaker starts by saying that the ARU convention is “a glimmer of the heaven-sent message you alone can give us on this earth.” This makes the striker sound desperate to the point of hopelessness, but glorifies the convention and the people listening to him, implying that they were the only ones who could bring him and his fellow strikers out of their misery. The descriptive language of utter despair right away evokes sympathy from the people listening to him as he continues to paint his picture of suffering. Throughout the speech, the speaker weaves this imagery of an evil George Pullman preying on the strikers. One example he uses is the high cost of rent that he has to pay Pullman to live in the company town in comparison to elsewhere in the city that would “make a millionaire a billionaire.” He also implies that no one in the town would dare to challenge Pullman because “even the very streets are his.” This language is powerful because the speaker is setting up a stark comparison of the different standards of living between Pullman and the strikers. The speaker points out that George Pullman made “9 1/2 percent on $30,000,000 of capital,” which is a tremendous amount of money. But even so, he was not satisfied. He continued to reduce wages and his excuse was because he lost money from the contracts that he took, a “petty loss, more than made up by us from money we needed to clothe our wives and little ones.” The speaker implies that George Pullman would continue to leech away the minuscule amount of money he pays his workers in wages through the pure necessities that they needed to feed and clothe their families, even though he made more money in a year than the workers could fathom. He then paints the picture of the goodness of the strikers, saying “we are peaceable; we are orderly.” This is implying that they are unified as one and together have taken a stand against their oppressor. While Pullman hides away, they have risen up against him with the help of generous people and the speaker implores the audience to help him and his fellow strikers once more. The tone of the speech is evocative. The speaker draws strong and effective imagery of a group of workers rising up together to fight for their rights. He reaches out to the audience and speaks to them as if speaking to his own brothers, asking for their sympathy and help in his time of need. He declares, “teach arrogant grinders of the faces of the poor that there is still a God in Israel, and if need be a Jehovah—a God of battles.” He uses religion to conclude his speech, rallying the audience like in a battle.