HIST 103DCE News

Posted below is a good example of a film review and what it should entail.

Gangs of New York takes place in New York City between 1846 and 1862. Irish immigrants arrived daily in New York in an attempt to avoid the famine and troubleof their own country. The film makers want the viewers to understand that the extreme racism going on induring the Civil War era was not limited to the southern states. The "native born" Americans resented these Irish for taking their jobs and dirtying their streets. There was a section of Manhattan known as the Five Points which was controlled by the villain of the movie, Bill "The Butcher". His hatred of the Irish, or anyother ethnic group for that matter was all-consuming. Opposing him at thebeginning of the film was Priest Vallon, leader of one of the Irish gangs. He was killed by the Butcher in front of his son who grew up hating Bill, waiting for a time to get his revenge. The film does a good job depicting actual historical events, showing newspaperheadlines of soldiers killed in battle, ads for volunteers needed to fight for theUnion, and stories about the first federal draft. Toward the end of the film, there is to be one last battle between the Irish gangs, led by Vallon, and the native American gangs, led by Bill to resolve who are the rightful citizens of the Five Points. This battle is interrupted, however, by the Draft Riots which took place in New York in response to the poor being drafted while the rich could buy their way out of the war for $300. The riots lasted 4 days with countless numbers being killed in the process. This is a very bloody, violent film. However, the violence seems accurate and necessary to display the events of the times. The purpose is to show how the "melting pot" of New York, now a great city, came about through exceptionally hardtimes.

Greetings, & welcome, to all of you enrolled in HIST 103 DCE for the spring term of 2006. Your instructor is Miles Lewis, one of my prize PhD students in History here at NDSU. I, on the other hand, am the author of the course and the voice you hear when you listen to the lectures on CD. I'm happy you're here. Let me mention a few points here at the outset of the course, and then I'll get out of your way.

1. If you're looking in Blackboard for things relating to this course, then stop! This course doesn't use Blackboard. It operates off its own website.

2. By now you should be getting mail from both Mr. Lewis, giving you various instructions, and also your e-mail list, where you carry on discussions of the text. If not, then you need to get in touch with Lewis right away, here: lewis@plainsfolk.com

3. Today we mailed CDs, containing the lectures for the course, to everyone on our roster. I hope the addresses we mailed to, obtained from the Registrar or from you, are current. If you don't receive three CDs in the mail by Tuesday, then you need to contact Lewis and give him your correct mailing address. Again: lewis@plainsfolk.com

4. In a few days I'll work with Miles to organize a real-time question and answer session in the Virtual Office Hours. Watch for announcements about this.

Hey, I hope this course works out for you! Really, I love for everyone to finish, do well, and like the product. Feedback is welcome. Good luck!

Once again, the instructor for HIST 103 DCE, Spring 2006, is Miles Lewis. Currently I'm making additions and corrections to the website for the course. As of this writing, 80 people are enrolled.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: Miles needs to have a current e-mail address and a current postal address for every person enrolled. Sometimes the information in the NDSU database is not current. So, if you are enrolled for the course, then please send Miles an e-mail message providing:

Your e-mail address for use in the course
Your postal mailing address

E-mail Miles here: lewis@plainsfolk.com