Automatons for Peace (The Amazi Chronicles Book #1) Abridged
.v.44 7-4-2012
Copyright 2012 Hallett German
Written by Hallett German
Edited by Raquel M. German
Wattpad Edition
Works by Author:
Amazi Chronicles:
Story #1: How I Overcame My Inventor’s Block
Book #1: Automations for Peace
Book #2: Translators for Peace (Future)
Olivia Plymouth, Internal Traveler and Fashion Consultant:
Story #1: Joyous Living with the Wrong Suitcase
Book #1: Brazilian Quest (Soon)
Book #2: Misadventures in Boston (Soon)
Book #3 The Year Fashion Changed (Future)
Available on Smashwords, Amazon, Kobobooks and other e-book seller locations.
More details at https://sites.google.com/site/hallettgermanfiction/
Chapter 1: Arriving in Divided America
Back to Table of Contents
“America’s story has been just as much about her divisions as well as her times of national unity. The 1890s was one such time. A historian would be vexed in deciding what to focus on – the wonder of new inventions such as the automobile, airplanes, and motion pictures, the proliferation of violence within and outside the county, hatred of the ‘dirty’ immigrant, hatred of the ‘savages’ killed mercilessly at Wounded Knee, or the emergence of a mighty political, industrial, and cultural giant.” Thomas Chelsea, America’s Emergence on the World Stage (p. 22).
I read those very words many years later as an old man and thought they were written by someone who perfectly captured the era of my early adulthood. It was a time of high expectations, unrelenting terror, and painful transition. I was soon caught between two strong currents while never at home in either one.
On one side were the rich industrial owners creating the materials that served as part of America’s rising buildings and infrastructure. Unchecked, they consolidated and expanded their power at every opportunity. They loved displaying signs of their endless wealth in their homes, with their purchased paintings and other possessions. They were also merciless when threatened. They had no hesitation in using the law to immediately deal with any perceived threat from workers. Anyone was expendable as long as the money kept flowing in. The owners always needed more money for their next big purchase.
Challenging the owners were the workers – male and female, old, and very young children. They had left their places of birth which had been places of oppression and stagnancy with high expectations. They hoped that America would be different – more relaxed, more open, less fearful. Instead, they encountered a gray world where they worked long hours under substandard conditions earning next to nothing. There was a wide set of reactions to this – weary acceptance, participation in organized strikes and protests at great risk, and anger cumulating in espousing Anarchist ideals and enacting ongoing violent deeds such as bombings and assassinations in large public settings.
One could never forget living in such a time with so few remaining neutral. In many ways it seemed like a dream – I did so many things without really thinking of it. The stakes all seemed so high and everything was so important and urgent back then – as if every action might lead to a New Eden.
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Amazi Chronicles Series
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