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Garrett Augustus Morgan

  Garrett Augustus Morgan Garrett Augustus Morgan, Sr. was born to former slaves in Paris, Kentucky, on March 4, 1877. If you have never heard of Garrett Morgan, that is understandable, but not a day goes by that you do not reap the rewards from one of his inventions. Morgan began life working with his brothers and sisters on the family farm in Kentucky. His education, like that of many young African Americans at the time, ended after elementary school. He moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, and found work as a handyman. He earned enough to hire a tutor to continue his education. In 1895, he moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where he worked as a sewing machine repairman. It was there that he developed his passion to make things work better. In 1907, at the age of thirty, he opened his own sewing machine and repair shop. By 1909, his company employed thirty-four employees, expanded into the tailoring business, making coats, dresses, and suits, all sewn with equipment he had made himself. His exper...
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Economic Growth Comparison of Postbellum North and South 1865-1900

  Economic Growth Comparison of Postbellum North and South 1865-1900               Agreeing with the article, Writing Business History: Creating Narratives, a scholarly analysis of economic growth in the North and South from 1865 to 1900 necessitates more than presenting statistical data. Given the significant demographic and economic disparities between the two regions, any comparison of their statistics must be accompanied by thorough contextual explanations. [1] In the instructional video, Common Scholarly Strategies, Dr. Roberts pointed out that at times it is necessary to compare apples to oranges to understand the historical context behind the statistical data. [2] That applies to a great deal of the statistics presented in this paper.             The Davis Industrial Production Index (IPI) tracks real physical output in U.S. manufacturing and mining from...
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History of Mason family and their ancestral home

  Week 7 Blog Entry Roy Mason             When you ask someone from Kentucky where they live, instead of the usual response of the name of a town or city, there is a good chance they will respond with the name of their county. I was raised in Mason County, Kentucky, in a small town of two hundred, named May’s Lick. Mason County was formed in 1788 by the Virginia Legislature and named after George Mason, the “Father of the Bill of Rights.” The county was so large, that nineteen counties would subsequently be formed from its original charter. The same year a small group of pioneers from New Jersey founded the town of May’s Lick, named after William May. It got the “Lick” part of the name from a nearby deer saltlick that provided salt to the settlers. I can tell you that the area, when I was a kid in the 1950s, was beautiful, with rolling hills, pristine forests, lots of game, and soil so rich, my dad used to say it could grow...
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Christianity and the Institution of Slavery in the Antebellum South

Christianity and the Institution of Slavery in the Antebellum South             It would be unfair to categorize the clergy in the South as being pro slavery; that most certainly was not the case. However, the South did need moral assurance that their “peculiar institution” was within the laws of God and nature. There were clergy, who through their own personal convictions, provided that moral certainty. I can not help but think those same men who defended slavery would have been opposed to the institution if they had been raised in the North. James Shannon, in his speech before the Pro-slavery Convention of the State of Missouri in 1855, said that slavery is in our midst. It had been forced on the South by the combined efforts of old England and New England, the very same concerns that then condemned the institution. The greed generated by cotton gives weight to this argument. He went on to say that future generations are not respo...
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