The Effect of Propaganda and Advertising
Ryan Sanford
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has a lot of influence on people. It can drastically change one's opinion on a
subject, or it can reinforce their thoughts. Advertisement and propaganda is a
visual method that can show the public a companies thoughts, arguments, and
ideas. It is used to provoke the public, and also to create a reaction.
Propaganda was used heavily for the Western railroads. Western railroad
companies used propaganda to encourage tourism, jump-start the railroad
business, and also to increase immigrant construction employment.
Before
railroads were beginning to be constructed, the distance between the countries
Northern, Southern, and Western regions made it very difficult to communicate
and travel. The railways connected the regions in more ways than one. They
allowed easier trade, and economic dependency lessened. The easier travel
improved agriculture, mining, and lumber industries. The North did not have to
depend on the southern rivers for transportation of goods. This lead to
solidifying relationship between the North and the West. Even though the
railroads increased the ability to travel and communicate through the far
distance, there was still disconnected from the West to the rest of the
country. Propaganda was used to promote tourism from the North and South to the
West. Posters were used to portray the West as a positive, dreamlike land where
everyone wished to come.
As more
tourism came to the West, more business came with it. The more people that
came, the more use of the railroads were needed, resulting in better business
for the companies. The railroad business took off as people came to the West.
People did not only come to tour the West, but people also came to start new
lives. The railways were a great opportunity for people coming to the West
without jobs. A large group of people that used the railways to their advantage
was immigrants wanting to migrate west. Companies used advertising to promote
immigration because more people that came meant more workers, and business for
the companies.
Companies,
to promote immigration employment, primarily used propaganda. Immigrants came
from all over to migrate west, but two main groups of immigrants that came to
work on the railways were the Chinese and Irish. Companies used the propaganda
to reach out to the immigrants in particular because they were the ideal
workers for the companies. This was because they were easily accessible, hard
workers, and very poor. The large numbers of immigrants made it easy for the
companies to find workers, and because they did not have a lot of money, the
workers appreciated the small amounts of money that they received.
The
promotion of tourism, boost in business, and increase in immigrant employment
are all affects of propaganda in the west. Without propaganda, the western railways would not have had
enough business to survive, or enough builders to construct it. Propaganda was
a vital accessory to the Western railroads.
Annotation : This source was mainly used for a basic overview of the railways. It gave me the information on how the railroads brought the states together, and how they improved the trade and dependency for the north, south, and western states.
Annotation: I used this source to find examples of propaganda and advertising for the western railroads. This gave me an idea of what the posters looked like, and how the companies would try to sway the publics outlook on the railroads.
Annotation: This source was used only for an example of propaganda. This source particularly showed the variety of how the posters would look.
Annotation: This source provided an example of propaganda for the railroads. It also gave information on "The Great Rival." The Great Rival was a debate between Henry Villard, advertising the Northern Pacific Railroad, and Rufus Hatch, advertising Yellowstone Park to American and European investors.
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Annotation: This source gave information on the immigration and it went into deeper detail of the immigrant workers. It explained how Chinese and Irish workers were needed for the construction of the railroad.
Other Sources:
Annotation: This source contained a video that talked about how President Obama was planning on building more railroads. They said how the Chinese would be involved in the building and financing of the railroads again, and I thought this compared the past and present of the railroads well, because it shows how involved the Chinese have stayed.
Annotation: This source had more information on the use of propaganda to help with the increase in immigrant workers.
