On November 15, 1867, the first stock ticker made its debut in NYC changing the New York Stock Exchange and Wall Street forever. Invented by Edward Calahan and later improved by Thomas Edison, the stock ticker transmitted information in real time.
Now 144 years later, protestors have "occupied Wall Street" to demonstrate their frustrations with economic equalities in the U.S. and the growing difference in wealth between 1% of Americans and the other 99%. However, those opposing Occupy Wall Street believe that the movement was started by youth who lack focus and are acting hypocritically.
In history class, we often use political cartoons as primary source documents to learn about historical events and the feelings of people during that time period. The two political cartoons below show two opposing viewpoints on the movement.
What do you know about Occupy Wall Street? Do you think students in 2211 will be studying about Occupy Wall Street? Do you think the movement deserves a spot in history textbooks? If they were to study the political cartoons above, what do you think they would learn about about Occupy Wall Street and/ or how people feel about it?
No comments:
Post a Comment