Although I am not a historian, per se, I certainly believe it is far better to get things right, that propagate things that are just plain wrong. You have likely heard someone say, "Iowa sent more troops to the Civil War, per capita, than any other state in the north." Certainly Iowa was patriotic and did their part, but the "per capita" business, makes it exceedingly hard to prove the statement! Iowa was on the edge of the frontier and growing like mad throughout the Civil War.In order to get figures to discuss that growth you would start with a population smaller than when the Civil War started, in 1860, when the last Federal Census had been created. Then add five years of consistant growth in population! The concept of "per capita" growth. suddenly becomes meaningless! Not only that, but the state would have difficulty counting soldiers! I have found one ocassion where a man enlisted no fewer than five times during the war, being discharged for wounds or disease, getting healed up and returning to the war in yet another enlistment with yet another company! Was he counted once, or was he counted five times? I even had the State Historical Society look into it, and they agreed with me! Unfortunately, that statement still is used over and over again, it never goes away! And there is no documented proof anyone did any statistics to prove it in the first place! Yet it continues to be used over and over simply by siting someone else who quited the same malarchy and doing the same! I sympathize with your attempt to get it right, but in the end, the AFL/CIO will win out, even if they are wrong!
Hey, facts matter! I very much wanted this 1933 strike to have been the legitimate first sit-down strike in the country... but when the evidence simply wasn't there, well, I had to alter my course and admit what I wanted to find was lacking. Maybe it will still show up but I have my doubts. Thanks for reading and reacting, Steve. Much appreciated. --KM
Although I am not a historian, per se, I certainly believe it is far better to get things right, that propagate things that are just plain wrong. You have likely heard someone say, "Iowa sent more troops to the Civil War, per capita, than any other state in the north." Certainly Iowa was patriotic and did their part, but the "per capita" business, makes it exceedingly hard to prove the statement! Iowa was on the edge of the frontier and growing like mad throughout the Civil War.In order to get figures to discuss that growth you would start with a population smaller than when the Civil War started, in 1860, when the last Federal Census had been created. Then add five years of consistant growth in population! The concept of "per capita" growth. suddenly becomes meaningless! Not only that, but the state would have difficulty counting soldiers! I have found one ocassion where a man enlisted no fewer than five times during the war, being discharged for wounds or disease, getting healed up and returning to the war in yet another enlistment with yet another company! Was he counted once, or was he counted five times? I even had the State Historical Society look into it, and they agreed with me! Unfortunately, that statement still is used over and over again, it never goes away! And there is no documented proof anyone did any statistics to prove it in the first place! Yet it continues to be used over and over simply by siting someone else who quited the same malarchy and doing the same! I sympathize with your attempt to get it right, but in the end, the AFL/CIO will win out, even if they are wrong!
Hey, facts matter! I very much wanted this 1933 strike to have been the legitimate first sit-down strike in the country... but when the evidence simply wasn't there, well, I had to alter my course and admit what I wanted to find was lacking. Maybe it will still show up but I have my doubts. Thanks for reading and reacting, Steve. Much appreciated. --KM