Children's Songs' Popularity in 1918
A brief review of the historical year of 1918 when people were informed to take precaution against influenza, while their children came up with a catchy tune for the "worst epidemic the United States has ever known"1 and comparing it with the influenza of today.
PHILADELPHIA--
I had a little bird,
Its name was Enza,
I opened the window
In 'flu' Enza.
What is the truth behind the song mentioned above that children sing so often during those days? Ironic how the soldiers who came home from the war not only brought life, for they came back alive, but also brought what will soon become the death of so many. It all started in March of the year 1918 in which at Fort Riley located in the state of Kansas, an Army private reported symptoms such as headache, fever, as well as sore throat. It seemed like mild symptoms but by noon the count of soldiers who were ill of the same symptoms totaled up to one-hundred.2 Doctors everywhere were puzzled about what might be causing this illness.
What soon came to be known as the Spanish influenza came also to be known as the "worst epidemic the United States has ever known." More soldiers from the war died from this influenza than from combat on the field. One of the earliest victims of the flu came from sailors who resided on the Receiving Ship at Commonwealth Pier in Boston (August 1918) in which the situation gave the flu the advantage of eventually spreading throughout the civilian population. But of course, people were first advised that there was nothing to worry about. According to "Dr. William Hassler, Chief of San Francisco's Board of Health had gone so far as to predict that the flu would not even reach the city."3 But within such urban, crowded cities such as Boston and Philadelphia, it was inevitable that this illness would turn into an epidemic. In Philadelphia of September 1918, new cases of influenza were recorded from the civilian population days after a parade. As a result, Philadelphia was forced to admit that the city has fallen under the Spanish influenza epidemic.4 The severity of this epidemic began to become apparent and so precautions were made--any public places in which crowds of people were able to accumulate were considered "off limits.
Many soldiers who come back from the war need to express how they feel. Many do it in the way of writing. Many soldiers die in war, but the ones who come back are just as “dead.” Many cadets come back with shell shock, amputated arms and legs, and sometimes even their friends aren’t there with them. So during World War I, there was a burst of new art and writings come from the soldiers. Many express in the way of books, poems, short stories and art itself. Most soldiers are just trying to escape. A lot of these soldiers are trying to show what war is really like, and people respond. They finally might think war might not be the answer. This is why writers use imagery, irony and structure to protest war.
The Missouri Compromise acted as a balancing act among the anti-slave states and the slave states. Since states generally entered the union in pairs, it stat...
...ritten about Brown. It was entitled, "John Brown's Body". Union soldiers would chant and sing this song as they marched. After the worst defeats they would use it to cheer themselves up.
Additionally, the majority of states had conflicts between slavery in their territory, one of them dealt with missouri. Missouri applied for admission into the Union as a slave state; this became a problem because missouri ruined the balance for free slaves and slave states. The northern states wanted to ban slavery from occurring in missouri because the unbalanced situation it put towards the other states. In response, the southern states declared how congress doesn’t have the power to ban slavery in missouri. However, Henry Clay offers a solution, the missouri compromise of 1820. Missouri admitted as slave state and Maine becomes a free slave state. Slavery is banned in Louisiana creating a 36 30 line in missouri’s southern border; this maintained the balance in the U.S senate.
The union faced its first obstacle when the decision to admit states arose. Maine, Missouri and new territories recently gained, known as the Louisiana Territory, each applied for admission into the Union. At the time the south lead the senate in votes by a slim margin; moreover, Maine was admitted as a free-state, while Missouri was admitted as a slave-state. It was also decided that none of the Louisiana Territory would permit slave labor. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 triggered a negative reaction from both sides: the abolitionists despised the expansion of slavery in Missouri, while supporters of slavery desired more land than Missouri that allow...
The Missouri Compromise went into motion when Missouri had a very well set population and applied for Statehood. When this began it started a battle in congress on the topic of slavery and its legality. The resolution of the Missouri Compromise of 1820 was that it established clear slave states, free states, states that are closed to slavery and also states open to slavery. It brought about restrictions on slavery by limiting future slave states to below the 36°30’ line. Missouri also established the Missouri act of 1820 having no restrictions on slavery and escaped slaves are allowed to be hunted in every state and northern free states. AS to describing it as the final answer to slaver for the US it was not. It was a minor stepping stone
The Missouri Compromise happened on March 3, 1820 in a effort from the U.S Senate and House of Representatives to maintain balance of power between the slaveholding states and the free states. The slaveholding states feared that they would become outnumbered in the Congressional representation to protect their interests in property and trade. As the debates raised on the Missouri admissions, perhaps nobody was more unsettled than the man who had obtained all that modest land west of the Mississippi River. In 1820, Thomas Jefferson wrote to a companion about the battle over slavery in Missouri “like a firebell in the night, awakened me and filled me with terror.” Jefferson would die in 1826, but the fire bells over slavery had just begun to toll
--------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] Essen, G. A., "The Socio-Economic Impact of Influenza". http://www.eswi.org/Bulletin_October_1997.cfm [2] Frayha, Husn. " Influenza Vaccination: A Call for Action" http://www.kfshrc.edu.sa/annals/176/97-248R.html [3] "Influenza". http://www.caw.ca/whatwedo/health&safety/factsheet/hsfssubstanceno37.asp
The Missouri Compromise is said to be one of the key political factors that contributed to the Civil War. This Compromise was passed in 1820 and stated that the land west of the Mississippi was considered a slave state, and the land North was considered a free state, excluding Missouri, which was considered a slave state. It was designed to ensure there were an equal number of slave states and free states represented in the House, which gave both sides an equal vote on a specific issue . Unfortunately with the split of the two regions, tension began to rise and there was talk from the South about seceding from the Union. The South argued that if they had the right to join the Union, it is their right to secede from the Union as well.
From the Chelsea Naval Hospital, overlooking the Boston Bay, I sip on a cup of Joe and browse over the Sports Section of the Los Angeles Times. Earlier this month, three Bostonians dropped dead from influenza. In examining the extent of the epidemic, Surgeon-General Blue commented to the Times , "People are stricken on the streets, while at work in factories, shipyards, offices or elsewhere. First there is a chill, then fever with temperature from 101 to 103, headache, backache, reddening and running of the eyes, pains and aches all over the body, and general prostration." I gaze out my window, the sun seems brighter than usual and the town more radiant. It must be the victory, for the threat of death due to influenza is pervasive. Outside, children jump rope. With every skip of the jump rope they chant. "I had a little bird." Skip. "Its name was Enza." Skip. "I opened up the window." Skip. "And in-flu-enza."
...le from the northern half of the country believed the exact opposite. The northern half of the country did agree with what the Missouri Compromise changed, and they thought that the Congress does have the right to choose which states had slavery and which states didn’t have slavery. The thought of Congress having the power to change various laws on slavery did not bother the north near as much as the south.
Kent, Susan Kingsley. The Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919: A Brief History with Documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013. Print.
The Missouri Compromise of 1820 was a debatable decision for the north and the south. A decision towards whether or not Missouri should come in as a slave state. In congress, those on the side of the north, found out that Missouri was going to be placed as a slave state and were dramatically upset. They were upset due to the fact that it would cause an unbalance. During the 1800’s there were an equivalent of eleven slave states and eleven free states. Naturally, ...
As the country began to grow and expand we continued to see disagreements between the North and South; the Missouri Territory applied for statehood the South wanted them admitted as a slave state and the North as a free state. Henry Clay eventually came up with the Missouri Compromise, making Missouri a slave state and making Maine it’s own state entering the union as a free state. After this compromise any state admitted to the union south of the 36° 30’ latitude would be a slave state and a state north of it would be free. The country was very much sectionalized during this time. Thomas Jefferson felt this was a threat to the Union. In 1821, he wrote, ”All, I fear, do not see the speck on our horizon which is to burst on us as a tornado, sooner or later. The line of division lately marked out between the different portions of our confederacy is such...
The Influenza of 1918. Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1989. Print Use: I will use this as an extra source to supplement The Great Influenza and get more detailed information about Philadelphia, as well as Sans Francisco if I feel it would be useful. Secondary Furman, Bess. A Profile of the United States Public Health Service 1798-1948.