1) It is important to keep in mind when you say, "All these things are happening at once. Why?" Well, of course there is an explanation that it's by design/being directed.
But as a historian, I can tell you that two things are happening that "may" also explain it.
But as a historian, I can tell you that two things are happening that "may" also explain it.
2) At no time in human history have we had the ability to RECORD and SHARE information so instantaneously or comprehensively.
3) For example, in the 1800s trains derailed ALL THE TIME. Worse, they were put on the same tracks, crashed headlong into each other killing 100s.
3) For example, in the 1800s trains derailed ALL THE TIME. Worse, they were put on the same tracks, crashed headlong into each other killing 100s.
4) Who knew about this?
5) No one outside of the very localized region in which it happened. There was no "FEMA," the president never even heard about these things unless there was a state investigation.
5) No one outside of the very localized region in which it happened. There was no "FEMA," the president never even heard about these things unless there was a state investigation.
6) More important, because of the lack of communication, let alone instantaneous communication, people died and disappeared daily. No one knew.
7) Explosions? Fires? Well, if you're in a small town and there is a major fire, guess what burns up? The newspaper.
7) Explosions? Fires? Well, if you're in a small town and there is a major fire, guess what burns up? The newspaper.
8) I can tell you that digging through records 150-200 years ago, it's amazing all the terrible stuff that went on that didn't "make headlines."
9) Their equivalent of a fire at a food processing plant was a grain elevator that burned, or livestock herds killed by ticks.
9) Their equivalent of a fire at a food processing plant was a grain elevator that burned, or livestock herds killed by ticks.
10) You do understand that they didn't have a "homeless" problem, say, in London because regularly all "homeless" AND CHILDREN on the streets were rounded up & shipped to Barbados as "indentured servants." The "Missing Children" #s would have been astonishing if they had records.
11) One estimate in the Br. West Indies said that by the mid-1700s there were 85,000 WHITE slaves there.
12) Bridges collapsing? Daily. Fires? Constantly before electricity.
12) Bridges collapsing? Daily. Fires? Constantly before electricity.
13) How about transportation? Stagecoaches that were not in the flat West overturned AT LEAST ONCE PER 100 miles!
One traveler from Cincinnati to NYC had his coach overturn NINE TIMES. How many do you think were killed in that?
One traveler from Cincinnati to NYC had his coach overturn NINE TIMES. How many do you think were killed in that?
14) By the 1860s, so many bodies were floating in the East/Hudson Rivers that NYC outsourced body collection.
The problem was that they paid per body, so that contractors themselves engaged in body battles, killing each other in the river.
The problem was that they paid per body, so that contractors themselves engaged in body battles, killing each other in the river.
15) Even in "peaceful/normal" transportation, things could get spicy. Cornelius Vanderbilt's steamship ferry across the Hudson was shot at by the rival Fulton line.
16) Did you know the very worst peacetime sea disaster in American history was not the Andrea Doria?
16) Did you know the very worst peacetime sea disaster in American history was not the Andrea Doria?
17) After the Civil War ended, thousands of Union soldiers, many just released from Andersonville prison, were on the paddlewheel steamboat Sultana when it blew up in the Mississippi, killing most.
18) Again, this happened all the time.
18) Again, this happened all the time.
18) So, while all these things bear watching, to me most of it is the modern instant media that we KNOW about it and share it.
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