Appalachia Class: Reflective Report

The stories in “The Children of the Appalachian Mountains” and “My People” have many similarities and differences. For example, in the book the story seemed much more happier and pleasant were es the video seemed more realistic. The video had gone on and on about how life really was, but in the excerpt wrote only about her college experiences and not the mountains. Yes, both in the text and the interviews they had roofs falling of and a large amount lived in trailers, but the story it made it seem less than it was. The video talked about how their living spaces were horrid, they had barely any food, and even how people could not get a job because of transportation but in “My People”

The subject of this cultural biography is the history of the region of Appalachia. It is an extensive profile on the cultural diversity of mid-to-late 20th century Appalachian people and illustrates how far from mainstream America their lives were. The authors include profiles of specific individuals, their influences on multi-generational traditions and how time had slowed to a minimal progression for these unique and fascinating people. The opening is a descriptive and comprehensive overview of the origins of this eighty-thousand square mile area. The founders of this region date back to settlers prior to the American Revolution who came for the fertile lands, mild climate and the picturesque beauty.

Where there are various regions there are bound to be a variety of people with alternate cultures, beliefs, and ways of life. The cultures found with the Appalachia are unique in their own ways and represent a body of individuals who found their way to such an area. Land that is included within the Southern Appalachia can be best described by Horace Kephart as he does so in his book The Southern Highlander and His Homeland to include: “the four western counties of Maryland; the Blue Ridge Valley, and Allegheny Ridge counties of Virginia; all of West Virginia; eastern Tennessee; eastern Kentucky; western North Carolina; the four northwestern counties of South Carolina; northern Georgia; and northeastern Alabama.” (22-24) With so much

In Uneven Ground, the author Ronald D. Eller narrates the economic, political, and social change of Appalachia after World War II. He writes “persistent unemployment and poverty set Appalachia off as a social and economic problem area long before social critic Michael Harrington drew attention to the region as part of the “other America” in 1962.”(pp.2) Some of the structural problems stated by Eller include problems of land abuse, political corruption, economic shortsightedness, and the loss of community and culture; personally view the economic myopia as being the most daunting.

-Bushwhacker: A bushwhacker was someone who could also be referred to as a guerrilla, which is a person who takes part in violence and fighting within a small group. The term bushwhacker arose during the time of the civil war. You would typically find bushwhackers in Appalachian areas such as Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Arkansas, Virginia, and multiple other areas. Although I was unable to find any information as to why bushwhackers became a group, I did find what the group did. They caused destruction to individuals and/or families in the 1800s. A name that may be familiar to some people is Jesse James, he was actually a bushwhacker himself. I personally believe that there was no point of importance to a bushwhacker, they were

It’s hard to think about living in pre modern times, with all the technology we have today. I have heard stories from my grandmother about when she was a young lady in Hazard. That was while coal mining was the big thing though. So for all my research I had to turn to other sources. When I think of pre modern I think of old television shows such as “Little House on the Para ire”. Simple times before industrialization made its appearance. In this essay, I am going to describe and compare the ways of pre modern Appalachia to nowadays. I am going to include topics such as: economic activities, transportation, housing and standards of living, women’s and family life, church, communities and social gatherings, and

In The United States of Appalachia, by Jeff Biggers, Chapter Six, The great American Industrial Saga. Biggers writes in regards to the Appalachia in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Women and children of the Appalachia worked with cotton, coal, and timber while experiencing a life of deplorable conditions, long hours, and without enough pay to make a living.

The author identified two Appalachian crisis in this article. First, the author mentioned that many people in Appalachia places like eastern Kentucky lost nearly 70% of their coal jobs to mechanization (mountain removal strip mines). Also, the author argued that mountain removal causes the most deaths related to cancer and other diseases in central Appalachia.

Like any community in the World, there are both strengths and barriers in Appalachia in both the region and the people. Appalachia region is defined by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC). The Appalachian region is made up of 12 states on the eastern part of the United States. The 13 states are, New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama (Pollard, 2003). One strength of the region is community resilience. Community resilience is when a community works together to take care of their own members of that community. Typically, but not always, everyone in the community must be on the same economic level, and everyone has similar struggles

Appalachia may be the most misconceived region in the United States. To many Americans, Appalachia has been thought of as a poverty stricken, backwards, violent region, and to some it still is perceived as such. Often it has been labeled with titles such as hillbilly, redneck, moonshiner, and feudists. Appalachia?s residents are seen as lazy, non-trusting, drunk, illiterate, and in need of a savior to pull them out of the darkness into the light. This research paper will seek to challenge the myth of a violent Appalachia by describing documented proof that violence in Appalachia is not, as most thought, a product of its geographical location, or because its people are isolated. Violence in Appalachia was, just as in other areas of America, a result of tensions and frustration that was deep seeded in the fabric of all American society.

New Deal Policies in the Appalachia During, Franklin D. Roosevelts precedency he made out a set of New Deal Policies, that stimulated the Appalachia region by using administrations such as: PWA (the Public Works Administration), AAA (the Agricultural Adjustment Administration), these New Deal Policies unionized coal miners, increased the production of large farms and stimulated wages, but also had harmful effects. The reason why these New Deals were implemented is because in the 1900’s the Appalachia region faced numerous hardships during and after World War 1. This war greatly affected the people and industries such as farming, coal and salt mining in the Appalachia region.

As a society, we expect everybody to follow our norms, rules and regulations. However, Appalachia seems to have its own set of norms. Although they may not consider them to be deviant, the normals and those in power probably would. One of the biggest problems in Appalachia is the leading agents of their society. During the documentary, we follow four different people, and we see their leading agents, which are their parents and families. Shawn’s mother sells pills, Jeremy follows his father-in-law down into the mines to provide for his fledgling family, Courtney’s mom is a high school dropout and Erica’s mom has been in and out of rehab constantly. How can these children break the cycle of poverty and deviance if they are learning and living

Appalachia has been associated with numerous social problems that has cast a negative light onto the region. When most people think about Appalachia’s socioeconomic stature they immediately assume poor and uneducated, with the lack of economy in the region comes a lack of education and many other negative connotations. Without a sound and sturdy socioeconomic background, the citizens of Appalachia are the ones that suffer. The effects of poverty resonate way beyond the surface of Appalachia’s basic social problems and can be seen throughout the entire region. All of Appalachia’s social problems can be tied back to its economic standing, the lack of education and poor healthcare are two major problems that are commonly associated with the Appalachian region.

I learned about the limited viewpoint Americans place on Appalachians. On one hand, Appalachians are viewed as a group of traditional, old-timey people that live close to land. This counters the reality of Appalachia and the individuals who exist independently in the region, but it is much preferred to the other main outlook on this region. The other attitude that is assumed unto Appalachians is that they are uneducated, indolent people. The term “hillbilly” encompasses this negative viewpoint.

Service is “the mind-set of community where we value others with respect and seek to understand them in a spirit of community” (Millard 69). To understand service Millard provides five key concepts: respect, community, concern, responsibility, and action (70-1). When these concepts are integrated into our lives we will desire to put them into action through serving others. Through activity 4.2 “Responding to Differences” I found that rather than desiring to serve others, I place more value in spending time with people similar to me, rather than in everyone (Millard). There were a few things that stuck out to me immediately, because I am very conscious of my bias against those people, but there were others that I didn’t see until we discussed the activity in class.