HIST 100: Engineering The Past

First Reflection on World’s Fair Module 11

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The Devil in the White City has proven so far to be both interesting and informative while discussing the history, challenges and triumphs of the construction of the World’s Fair. One problematic theme that I’ve seen throughout this time frame of the late 1800’s is an attitude of nasty competition and overall lack of support that the United States had for each other and their growing size and success. This is demonstrated in the book with the hostility between Chicago and New York over which city is the biggest, and then even more so with the quarrel surrounding the selection of location for the World’s Fair. The Fair itself was envisioned by all of America to be bigger and better than the fair put on in Paris, a classic example of competition and the desire to be on top. All of the visionaries involved give frequent descriptions of what they want the World’s Fair to become. Burnham argues more than once that the World’s Fair would be “unlike any other before it” (pg 80) and stresses the importance of going bigger than Paris, with their buildings, landscape and cultural exhibitions.

Another problem America had during this time was a fear of being seen as inadequate or lacking culture to other nations. Because of the fair in Paris, America gained a reputation of being second place in the realm of iron and steel, and with a huge lack of artistic guidance. Critics have said that American architecture “is a jumble of sad shops, booths, and bazaars often unpleasing in themselves and incongruous when taken together.” (pg 15) These assumptions being made about Americans prompted some to create a fair so full of culture and artistic features that it would attract people from around the world.

I think the author chose to intertwine the two stories of the construction and also of Holmes for a few reasons. One of those reasons is obviously to add something captivating into a book that gives so much history with little interruption. The story of the murderer while gruesome at times, tends to be the best parts of the book to read. Another reason is to show the corruption of the society surrounding the fair at the time and the darkness that can occur at even the greatest and most marvelous of places. That is just a personal insight.

Natives and Water Rights

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After doing the reading for this module, I have come to the conclusion that the Tohono O’oodham have been compensated for their losses in some ways by the United States government, but there are still many actions that have been taken that are unfair and continue to be a struggle for the native nation.

The Tohono O’oodham nation is nestled in Arizona in the desert which experiences less than ten inches of rainfall each year. Their tribe is known for successfully farming despite the improper conditions due to their sophisticated form of floodplain irrigation. For this reason, water resources have always been extremely important to this tribe’s success.

The Gadsen Purchase drew a new border between the US and Mexico that cut the traditional Tohono O’oodham homelands in half. Despite this, the tribe was eventually able to live practically unharmed by the new border until many settlers started coming in and creating competition for the tribe. Apache attacks and raids were a huge threat to the tribe’s various small settlements and their tradition was being messed with and changed by outsiders. With all these negatives side effects of the Gadsden Purchase, the US government did make an honest effort and tried to make it right by reserving over three million acres for the tribe’s reservation. The Winters v. United States case had given a lot of groundwater rights to the tribe in the lands where they lived, and so that caused a lot of torment from Arizona cities like Tucson because they relied on that water and began using unfair tactics to take it. They would dig wells that were deeper than the tribe’s so they could get to the water first. Since then, The Central Arizona Project has been proposed to bring water in from Colorado. But that plan has never been executed, and the Tohono O’oodham nation is left with constant water crises putting stress on their relationship with nearby communities.

Overall, I think many of the laws put in place over water rights are ethical and fair. It seems unfair to me that the Native Americans don’t fall under the common water laws and require their own rules, but those rules are not necessarily too unfair themselves. In my opinion, it’s not so much the laws as it is the actual treatment the tribe is receiving since the Gadsden Purchase that is unfair.

Middle Eastern Water Woes

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Water is one of our world’s most precious resources, and unfortunately one of our most pressing environmental concerns of the time. Humans will always need water so it’s important to know how to utilize it and do so correctly in order to conserve it. By comparing water systems from different times and places, we can gain insight by comparing old systems to see what worked for past communities to help develop future plans. We can also learn what aspects of past water systems failed and why, to know what to avoid. If I could rewind time, I would try giving advice about water resources particularly to Turkey and maybe Syria as well. First, before anything else I would tell them how necessary decent water laws and legislation are to a successful water system. Water laws provide economic stability and security to those who use water, and they also induce efficient water use. Another useful concept I found was the three irrigator principles from Valencia: the concept of proportional distribution, the concept of individual responsibility to the community, and the concept of collective responsibility by self government. Establishing a tradition of cooperation and group work to produce a solid irrigation system would be helpful advice, especially with all of this violence sparked by global warming, climate change and lack of water causing failed farming. I see this practice even today in my father’s neighborhood, where all of the neighbors take turns tending to the irrigation canal that they all water their fields with.

As for different types of water systems to try, “Did ISIL Arise Partly Because of Climate Change?” informed that the sea level in Syria will rise and flood the low-lying Egyptian delta. This seems like a logical place to use a tide mill, which was discussed in “Where Has the Water Come From?”. A tide mill makes a connection to salt water from the sea. It works by impounding water at high tide behind a barrier, so when the tide rises, water enters a tidal millpond through a sluice gate. There are several constraints to this method, but the Syrian people would be able to make use of their natural high tide.

Something I would advise the countries to change would be Turkey not use dams anymore, as they are posing heavy environmental concerns in the region. Perhaps they should try to rely on rain fall as little as possible and instead try for groundwater through the use of a qanat, as an option.

I would hope that the leaders of these regions would listen to this advice and find it worthy of implementing, but I could see how they would easily be stubborn and decide to do nothing. in the article “Did ISIL Arise Partly Because of Climate Change?” it says that Syrian officials are “more interested in lining their pockets than in using state resources to address the water crisis”. That attitude mixed with the general atmosphere of violence recently could prove for little cooperation from officials.

Three additional things I would like to know for a formal report are:

  • How much water is being used on average per person in these regions
  • The irrigation administration set ups in these regions and the current laws and enforcement
  • More about the differing climate and water availability

I would look for answers to these questions in peer reviewed articles and other research of the same validity and reliability.