Nat Hist Day BMark by: Aja Wallace and Jésus Jímenez
PROCESS PAPER
A topic of interest for any further research is looked at at the easiest aspect of any project itself. For my partner and I, this simple task was not as easy as it was set up to be. We were fully aware of the fact that we wanted to have a topic that involved something with Cuba, The Cuban Revolution or The Cuban Missile crisis. Anything that had to do with Cuba in some manner, was the route my partner and I knew we wanted to take. We just randomly decided to research about Cuba because it is a place we wish we could visit but we did not know too much about it. Revolution, was the first word that came to mind trying to think NHD wise, so The Cuban Revolution it was.
Conducting the research was slightly all over the place in the beginning. There was not a set way to look for things. The idea was to just find anything that would be found on the topic, then later narrow the larger group down. So more direct articles could be found. After finding some of the sources that we felt were of quality use, dissecting what was needed became the next step. The idea behind the information was sharing pieces about The Cuban Revolution that any viewer who was not apart putting together the project, would find the information insightful.
PRESENTATION! Is one of the five core values, that Science Leadership Academy has, so choosing a way to display any information found just mean it had to be appealing to an audience. And what better way to do so than a website. To us the idea of a website, was something that would make any viewer want to see more. The first thought when most people are looking at a website for the first time is, wanting to explore to see what will be found. That is the affect my partner and I were going for.
The Cuban Revolution relates to the NHD theme, simply because it is national history. Revolution, reaction and reform, these terms gave there meanings when Fidel Castro transitioned from a Rebel to leader in the time that Cuba went through some of it’s changes. Fidel was the voice of his Cuban people, because his idea was to take over Cuba for the people. Fidel started to cause chaos, he then received the reaction he wanted from Batistia. Which allowed him to eventually take office. With that Cuba was going through a turn. Losing their sugar trade causing getting 80% of their exports taking away. A corrupt economy it was, retaliation was the next step. The first attempt was to furtively assassinate Fidel.
Bringing back the relics of a bygone Cuba was a challenge within itself. Aside from seeing how Cuba related to the NHD theme. My partner an I also wanted people to understand, that a revolution can slowly persistent even at its nadir.
Primary Sources
Latin American Studies. "Rebels Entering Havana (January 1959)." The Cuban Revolution (1952-1958). N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2012. <www.latinamericanstudies.org/cuban-rebels/castro-1956-mexico-city.jpg>.This primary source is a picture of Fidel and the people he associate himself with. This picture was taken in 1956 in Mexico City. This picture supports one of our articles where we talk about Castro’s plans to go back to Cuba. Many things happened in Mexico that this picture represents. First of all, Castro still has supporters when he gets to Mexico, indicating that he still has a strong group of followers, faithful enough to take back Cuba. This picture is one that will be used in the website. It will be located in the 1953 - 1959 page.
. Havana Tank. N.d. Rebels Entering Havana, Havana, Cuba. The Cuban Revolution Web. 15 Feb. 2012.
Fidel an his men were going into Havanna. The streets at which Castro drove down were filled with crowds of people on both sides, watching as he entered. Everybody seemed to be for Fidel and the ways he told people he was going to revolutionize things. Gaining much respect for the way he was, withing being in the public eye he was just trying to do what was in the ‘best interest’ of Cuba. This picture showed the expression on the faces of the people an Fidel as they enter. Which in turn sets the tone of the situation clearly.
Phillips, R. Hart. "Castro Assaults Cuban Army Post." Latin American Studies. Web. 30 Dec. 2011. <http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/cuban-rebels/NYT-7-28-57.htm>.
This was an article out of the New York Times. Castro and a number of armed or armed forces swept down out of Sierra Maestra to attack the former field headquarters of the Cuban Army. Cuban Army headquarters issued a press release stating that the rebels had attacked the Estrada Palma post. This piece in a way explains the mind set of Castro and shows what he is capable of doing and what he will do to get what he wants. Giving ideas how he takes over and his approach to conquer along with the people involved in doing so.
Time. "CUBA: The Vengeful Visionary - TIME." Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Dec. 2011. <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,892091,00.html>.
There was an issue of TIME Magazine, that had a picture of Fidel Castro on the cover. I found an article on TIME’s website from 1959, which is from the same month the Cuban Revolution came to a close. Unfortunately, I need a subscription to TIME to access the article, as I can only read the first paragraph or so. This source was used, because we felt as thought it was a key to writing any of these articles. The information was the missing part to the entire projects. My partner and I really liked using this resource, although the information was very little.
Korda, Alberto . CheyFidel.jpg. N.d. Mueseo de Che Guevara, Havana, Cuba. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CheyFidel.jpg. Web. 27 Dec. 2011.
This is a picture of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, Che was a big help during the revolution and earned the trust of Fidel Castro, which earned him a good spot in Cuba’s new government. Both men were commandantes of their own group of guerrilla fighters which were made of peasants and many other natives. The picture was taken 1961 before the Cuban Missile Crisis, Cubans already won by this point. This picture will be put at the end of the 1959 -1960 page to symbolize the future of Cuba. Since by the reporter’s perspective, it was a bit hard to see what was coming next for Cuba.
“16. Assignment in Cuba." Latin American Studies. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Dec. 2011. <http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/cuban-rebels/chapelle.htm>.
This is a recollection of events by a female reporter in Cuba, reporting the events that happened there during the revolution. It’s written as a memoir sort of, and it is based on her experience on the island, so it’s useful as a primary source. She writes about her memories of being on the battlefield, and other things such as her life while being there. Although some might think she was just a reporter. He thoughts and experience is much valued. My partner and I like primary sources as such because when a reporter reports things it is almost as if it an interview, because the insight they give it awesome.
"U.S. reporters covering the Cuban Revolution." Latin American Studies. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Dec. 2011. <http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/reporters.htm>.
During the Cuban revolution, there were many U.S. reporters hanging around Fidel Castro and his men, even a camera man named Wendell Hoffman from CBS was there as well. Although I get a lot of names from this source, it’s difficult to find any information left from any of these people. Some of the information I do find is in books I have to pay for, but I’m curious to find anything filmed by Wendell, to see if it is up anywhere on the Web. My partner and I decided to use this resource because we though it was similar to the other primary source being like an interview due to all of the reporters.
Castro, Fidel . "The Revolution Begins Now." Marxists Internet Archive. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Dec. 2011. <http://www.marxists.org/history/cuba/archive/castro/1959/01/03.htm>.
This is a speech Fidel Castro gave in Santiago. This was at the end of the Cuban Revolution, after all the fighting was over and Batista left Cuba. In this speech, Castro talks about the changes that he will make in Cuba, along with how grateful he is for the people that supported and aided in the revolution. My partner an I decided to use this source because we felt it would be the finishing touch to the history. When doing history research, there is always a source that is full of information that you can break down in so many ways.
Secondary Sources
Sierra, J.A.. "The Landing of the Granma - The Castros return to Cuba, 1956." Cuban history begins here. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2012. <http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/granma.htm>.
This article was written by J. A Sierra, a news reporter. This is can was a reliable source. The article gave insight to the basic outline of life of Fidel. Giving the main points that really had an affect on the revolution. introducing when Fidel started to take over Havanna, with his men. Also tleling about some of the physical fights he went threw with his men. While they were in Sierra Maestra, Castro felt as thought the fight has just began.This piece in a way explains the mind set of Castro showing what he was capable of doing.
Franqui, Carlos. "Cuban Revolution: Attack on the Moncada Army Barracks." Cuban history begins here. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2012.<http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/moncada.htm>.
Introduction written by Tana De Gamez from a book written by Carlos Franqui The introduction was, about the original attack on the Moncada Barracks. We decided to use this secondary resource because of thorough coverage of the first sign of revolution Castro showed to the Batista regime. It contains information such as the type of people that joined Castro’s forces. And what happened afterwards when the attack failed. Nice little source.
"American Experience | Fidel Castro | Timeline | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2012. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/castro/timeline/index.html>.
From this source, we have a good and reliable timeline for the Cuban Revolution up to the year 1976. Since the beginning of the time line, there are brief descriptions of what happened year by year, through the revolution beyond the reconstruction and into the Cuban Missile Crisis. We used this resource as a way to keep track of the dates to have accurate information in the written aspects of our project. The timeline used in the resources was also good for tying everything together, including other sources we used on our research. The dates of the many events came in handy.
"Cuban Revolution." Xenon.truman.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Dec. 2011. <http://www2.truman.edu/~marc/webpages/revsfall99/cuba/>.
This source leads to another summary of the revolution along with links to speeches and topics about socialism. It is also important to note that this website tells us how much money Batista took with him and where he went once he fled Cuba, $300 million must’ve been a lot back in 1959, and it would be good to go in deeper to find out how he got that money and if it was from corruption. We used this resource as a quick summary overview of how we could present our articles. The quick outline of the Cuban revolution was ideal for developing articles with on a 1200 word limit.
Lotta, Raymond. "U.S. Imperialism, the Cuban Revolution, and Fidel Castro." Revolution #261, February 26, 2012. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2012. <http://rwor.org/a/056/cubahist-en.html>.
Raymond Lotta writes about U.S imperialism in Cuba. Even after the revolution, Cuba still needed to be part of the world market. That part was covered briefly in our project and explained how sugar was the main source of economic profit for Cuba after the revolution and reconstruction. The source also includes statistics about the sugar industry, more specifically about the statistics about Cuba’s involvement in that industry. Another aspect of this written piece is the fact that Castro never said he was communist. This is something important to clear up and acknowledge, he was a Marxist, which does not mean you are communist. It’s a different form of ideology and is implemented sometimes within a government but is not always successful.
Brice, Arthur. "Memories of boyhood in the heat of the Cuban revolution - CNN.com." CNN.com International - Breaking, World, Business, Sports, Entertainment and Video News. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2012. <http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/01/01/cuba.remembrances/index.html#cnnSTCText>.
Arthur had a first hand experience when Batista lost power and gave up the island. He is also a refugee from Cuba and was among those who fled the island. We used this article as a reference to how the public felt about certain events in Cuba. Even though Arthur was at the young age of 5 during the end of the revolution, he speaks from the perspective of his parents also, since the revolution also affected them as residents of the country. Arthur Brice has helped tie in the public’s side of the revolution with this project, seeing as most of the people fighting in the guerillas were farmers and people that wanted change.
Batista&. "Cuban Revolution." ThinkQuest : Library. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Dec. 2011. <http://library.thinkquest.org/20176/crevolution.htm>.
This website has a lot written about the Cuban Revolution and is essential as it has a solid summary about it. The website also has links to other websites regarding the Cuban Revolution. Although the summary of the revolution is brief, it serves as a good source to look at if we need to refresh our minds. The links on page redirect to other speeches that Castro has done over the course of the revolution. This website is an excellent resource, as we can quote Castro through the various speeches provided on the page. Through these speeches we can see the revolution through his eyes and understand what he meant.
Depalma, Anthony. "The New York Times Upfront | The News Magazine for High School." Scholastic | Children's Books and Book Club | Scholastic.com. Web. 30 Dec. 2011. <http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/upfront/features/index.asp?article=f090108_Cuba>.
This piece of information was from the New York Times years, after the Cuban Revolution happened. Many of Cuba’s richest people gather together to welcome the new-year, at which they thought would be better for them after 50 years. Most of the Cubans basic human rights was not good to the economy, it helped sink it. The soviet leaders than agreed to remove the missiles, Kennedy then promised that the U.S would not invade Cuba, again. This site to helped with a more general introduction to the topic and explaining how it began to prolong over the many years.
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