Final Portfolio

Below are hyperlinks to all of my blog posts for the semester:

1. Jack the Ripper’s Canonical Murders
2. 19th Century Enclosure Movement 
3. Congruity in Iron Age Art
4. Queen Boudica’s Sack of Londinium
5. Tudor Enclosure Movement
6. Open-Field System and Nuclear Villages
7. Whitechapel, London
8. Response: George Bernard Shaw
9. Response: Charles Booth
10. Response: Clara Collet
11. Response: Beatrice Webb
12. Response: Exogenous Adaptation of Booth’s Work
13. Response: London County Council
14. Case Study: Old Nichol Clearance
15. Overview: Slum Literature
16. Charles Dickens: Social Reformer?
17. Arthur Morrison: Social Sensationalist?

Of the above posts, my favorite one to research was the “Exogenous Adaption of Booth’s Work.” I felt like I was able to make some original claims, because I analyzed the significance behind Charles Booth’s methodology and conclusions on a broader scale. This led me to realize that a connection existed between Charles Booth and the London County Council (by virtue of the London School Board). It felt neat knowing that my original line of thinking actually had a concrete historical connection.

Aside from my semester project research work, I also enjoyed learning about Roman Britannia. I was enrolled in a Western Civilizations course at UCLA this semester, so it was interesting to learn about the Roman Empire and then study the indigenous resistance in the British Isles.

All in all, I believe that my writing skills strengthened this semester as a result of HIST 105. I became more familiar working with primary sources, and also grew confident in my ability to search academic databases for relevant secondary source material. I am satisfied with my final term paper, and think that it makes interesting claims about the relationship between Jack the Ripper and urban/social reform.