**Change to the New York State Constitution

What it is: Would allow 323 acres within the preexisting 1,039 acre Mount Van Hoevenberg Olympic Complex, which is part of the protected Adirondack Forest Preserve, to be used for skiing trails.

Pros:

• The proposal will require the state to add 2,500 acres of new forest land [of equal or greater value] to the protected Adirondack Forest Preserve, resulting in an overall net gain of protected forest land.

• Additionally, the Olympic Regional Development Authority has been building out facilities at Mount Van Hoevenberg. Some of this work, including tree cutting and building construction, has already extended into constitutionally protected Forest Preserve beyond what is allowed by the Forever Wild clause of the New York State Constitution. This proposal would essentially make the existing development constitutional.

Cons:

• There are concerns that changing the state constitution to allow private institutions to encroach into federally protected land can lead to a slippery slope of furthering development into preserves.

However, environmental groups such as Protect the Adirondacks and the Adirondack Council support prop 1 because they recognize that Mount Van Hoevenberg Olympic Complex has already encroached into protected land, and that the requirement of adding 2,500 acres of protected land trumps the development that will take place.

**Since overall, this proposition will result in a net again of federally protected forest land, I am voting YES on prop 1.

Props 2-4 (New York CITY): Housing Measures, or, the Trojan Horse of Affordable Housing…

Prop 2: Fast tracking publicly financed affordable housing

What it is: The creation of two new fast-track processes for affordable housing projects, through bypassing the current Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), which is a seven-month review process.

• The first process would allow the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) to approve affordable housing projects within 30 days, after a 60-day review by the local Community Board. This will bring the review process down from 240 days to 90 days.

• The second process would allow for faster review timeframes within the 12 districts with the lowest affordable housing rates in the city, by allowing the Community Board and the Borough President to review the project at the same time, followed by a 30 to 45 day review by the City Planning Commission (CPC). This process results in the CPC having final say on the project, instead of City Council.

Pros:

• Over the past decade, the 10 most productive City Council districts have built about 540 affordable apartments each year, whereas the 10 least productive districts have built only 11 apartments each year. That’s a 49-to-1 ratio, with some neighborhoods building around 50 times the amount of affordable apartments as others.

  • Productive districts refer to districts that have built the most affordable housing projects, high production districts are “pulling their weight” in addressing the housing crisis, and are bearing the brunt of development, and low productive districts are pulling political power to halt development, likely due to NIMBYism.

  • Lower productive districts tend to be wealthier neighborhoods that have used the ULURP system to block affordable housing, while working-class and low-income neighborhoods have absorbed the majority of the new construction projects.

  • Supporters of Prop 2 highlight this statistic to show a disparity in the disbursement of affordable housing developments, and suggest that overruling the ULURP will result in distributing affordable housing more equitably across the five boroughs, rather than concentrating it within specific areas.

• Will reduce bureaucratic delays

Cons:

• Removes City Council Power, and undermines democracy by taking out the input of elected officials.

• Centralizes decisions to the handpicked mayoral appointees to the BSA, which have 6-year terms, which raises concerns of community input. (also keeping in mind that the BSA is heavily influenced by the former Eric Adams administration).

• The private sector will be heavily involved in affordable housing development, raising valid concerns about the integrity of the stated goal, since we cannot rely on private real estate developers to follow through on the promise of affordable housing when they benefit more from market prices, which has the risk of driving up housing costs– especially in lower income areas where the majority of these projects are being built.

• The current process, the ULURP, was created in direct response to Robert Moses’ era of exclusionary planning that resulted in segregation, redlining, gentrification, and environmental racism, and many housing activists have concerns about rolling back this precedent.

• The mayor-appointed body makes the final decision, without legislative approval, and private developers will have their projects greenlit with less oversight, and subsequently less scrutiny.

• DSA Council Members, Tiffany Caban and Alexa Aviles have said they will not support Prop 2, as they believe it revokes the power of city council to negotiate budgets for housing development projects. The City Council has previously negotiated budgets to support tenant protections, infrastructure regulation, and commitments of budget allocation to affordable housing from the private sector

• In short:

  • Removes City Council from approving affordable housing projects

  • Gives approval power to mayor-appointed Board of Standards and Appeals (93% approval rate)

  • You lose: The leverage from City Council that got $5 billion in public housing funding, union jobs, and tenant protections.

  • Developers win: Faster approvals, less negotiation, weaker affordability requirements.

** Considering the fact that this proposal removes legislative power and forces residents to solely rely on mayoral appointees over elected officials, I am voting NO on Prop 2.

I think it is necessary to be cautious of policies proposed by the current Eric Adams Mayoral Administration.

Prop 3: Simplify Review of Modest Housing and Infrastructure Projects

What it is: Fast tracks small projects

• Allegedly “creates an Expedited Land Use Review Procedure (ELURP) for smaller projects like modest zoning changes (buildings up to 45 feet in low-density areas, 30% capacity increases elsewhere) and infrastructure like solar panels or flood prevention”.

• This proposal is a trojan horse.

Pros:

• Expedites approval for infrastructure such as solar panels, bike lanes, and flood prevention mechanisms that typically take 7 months.

• Community boards and Borough Presidents still have input, but City Council is removed from the equation

• Can increase housing supply

Cons:

• Will allow for taller buildings to be built in previously low-rise zones.

• “30% Capacity Increases” can significantly alter a neighborhood’s character

• Many “small” projects, mainly from the private sector and business developers, result in large changes to a neighborhood.

• Removal of democratic input

• Invites the notion that “small” developments do not require full review from all bodies of leadership, and can cause a slippery slope of development that is not reviewed to the extent it should be.

• Community board recommendations are only considered “advisory”, and will likely be ignored by those only interested in turning a profit.

• Again, reliant on mayoral appointees.

** I will be voting NO on Prop 3.

Prop 4: Establish an Affordable Housing Appeals Board with Council, Borough, and Citywide Representation

What it is: appeals board can override city council

• Creates a three-person Affordable Housing Appeals Board (Mayor + Council Speaker + Borough President) that can overturn City Council votes to reject or modify affordable housing projects with a 2-to-1 vote.

Pros:

• Prevents NIMBYism in wealthy neighborhoods

• Addresses the problem with the ULURP of wealthier neighborhoods rejected affordable housing projects built in those areas

Cons:

• Undermines local democracy, even if a city council member votes “no” on a proposal, the mayor can override them with only one vote. This results in your vote for a city councilperson to be rendered useless on the issue of housing.

• Mayoral dominance overrides checks and balances in city government.

• Weakens community desires through city council, which allows them to negotiate for the development of green spaces, schools, job centers, and better affordability.

• Developers will be given the authority to override city council’s vote, which will reduce their need to negotiate fairly.

• Uses the terminology of “affordable housing” loosely, i.e. 20% of an apartment unit is deemed affordable, while 80% is wealthy residents, contributing to raising rents and gentrification.

• No guarantee that “affordable housing” is proportional to city income inequality, and that it will actually be obtainable for low income residents.

• Overall, results in developers having more power than elected officials.

** I will vote NO on Prop 4.

The grassroots organization, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice state that “These measures centralize more power with the mayor, which could be bad under a bad mayor and potentially good under a good mayor. They would simultaneously prevent conservatives from blocking affordable housing in their districts, but also make it harder for progressives to negotiate for deeper affordability in new projects”.

Prop 5 (New York CITY): the creation of a digital City map

What it is: will consolidate and digitize 8,000 paper maps into one digital map of the city.

• Widely non-controversial, simply modernizing public information, and will largely benefit disabled New Yorkers, as it will provide clearer, up-to-date impairments for visually impaired and physically disabled New Yorkers.

** I will vote YES on prop 5

Prop 6 (New York CITY & STATE): Move Elections to Even Years

What it is: will move elections to coincide with federal elections hoping to result in larger voter turnout. **Will require an amendment to the New York State Constitution.

Pros:

• Cities that have moved elections have noticed larger voter turnouts during federal elections

• Research in California shows that more minority voters and younger voters participate during even year election cycles, since federal elections are more widely known about.

Cons:

• Drowns out NYC-specific issues in contrast to federal issues

• In Presidential election years, local candidates get less media attention.

• Could benefit incumbents or PAC funded, better known names, as people are less likely to do research on local candidates during a presidential election.

• Will extend some elected officials terms by one year.

** I prioritize informed localized decision making over voter turnout so I will be voting NO on prop 6.

Car culture relies on ownership of cars, and oftentimes when more people own cars, it results in traffic congestion or saturation, where the volume of cars are greater than the capacity of streets and roads. ​Thus, resulting in a 'demand' for wider roads, more lanes on freeways, increased traffic, and the removal of traffic “impediments” such as trams, bike lanes, and crosswalks​. Urban design begins to cater towards car drivers by developing parking lots instead of buildings, strip malls instead of open-air shopping streets, drive-through banks and fast-food places instead of walk-in alternatives, and business parks instead of town centers. All these designs become only accessible to drivers. ​

Timeline

In 1895, The first gas-powered car built in America was the Duryea Motor Wagon. Most buyers of the vehicles were doctors, who appreciated the four- cylinder engine, which allowed them to get to patients quickly. ​

The 1910's was shaped by the Ford Model T, which is recognized as the first automobile that was widely accessible to middle-class Americans due to assembly line production. The Ford company, along with the changes in factory development, shifted American culture to center cars.

The Federal Road Aid Act of 1916, enacted by President Woodrow Wilson, provided subsidies to road building, with the goal of improving roads on a national level. This piece of legislature boosted development of paved roads across rural America and even spurred the development of cities throughout the mid-west. ​

American cities began to favor car-dependent infrastructure in the 1920s and began removing trams, favoring highways for gas-powered cars and buses instead. ​

The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, enacted by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, authorized the 41,000 miles to be constructed into the Interstate Highway System. The federal government subsidized 90% of the payments for these new highways, while the states were expected to pay 10%. The federal funding came from the Highway Trust Fund, which is revenue from gas taxes paid for by citizens.​

Suburbanization, Zoning Laws, and Urban “Renewal”

After World War II, the economy and childbirth rates boomed, and the demand for housing was at a historic high. The expansion of roadways facilitated the development of suburban communities, as they provided access to city centers without people needing to live there. The Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) provided loans for newly built suburban homes with low-interest mortgages. ​

The GI Bill provided affordable mortgages as well for returning soldiers and veterans. The VA and the FHA only provided White veterans and families with low-interest mortgages, as Jim Crow laws were still in place. ​Additionally, the FHA provided an underwriting manual for real estate appraisers to prevent the "infiltration of inharmonious racial groups" in suburbs (Gross, 2017).​

The intention for zoning laws was to organize land uses to avoid placing hazards like manufacturing districts adjacent to housing, which was a common problem in early urban areas. Zoning codes also determine what kinds of residential buildings are permitted in certain areas, and how dense such areas can be. While zoning laws do ensure housing is separate from harmful manufacturing practices, suburbs almost exclusively permit single-family detached housing (Bronin, 2021). This phenomenon accelerated the culture of car dependency by hindering the ability to access housing, offices, schools, parks, grocery stores, and shopping centers without a personal vehicle.​ Additionally, many regions have minimum parking requirements for new buildings like high-density apartments and office spaces, furthering the phenomenon of car-centered infrastructure. ​

Urban Renewal is the term associated with the destruction of ‘blighted’ areas, often in inner cities, and replacing them with new developments, particularly highway systems. This phenomenon occurred throughout many major U.S. cities like Pittsburgh, New York City, Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, and more throughout the 1950’s and 60’s. The Federal-Aid Highway Act allowed for more highways to be built, especially in cities, and these highways were typically built through low-income immigrant neighborhoods, either destroying them, segregating them, or completely demolishing them and displacing the residents. ​

The redevelopment of large sections of New York City and New York State by Robert Moses between the 1930s and the 1970s was a notable and prominent example of urban redevelopment. Moses directed the construction of new bridges, highway systems, housing projects, and public parks.

Moses built roadways like the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE), the West Side Highway, Cross Bronx Expressway, and the Belt Parkway. They were built through exclusively low-income immigrant neighborhoods, where the residents either had to leave or stay and face the exposure of vehicle exhaust, noise pollution, roadway degradation through excess use, further segregation, and the reduction of walkable infrastructure.​

​Under the powerful influence of multimillionaire R.K. Mellon, Pittsburgh became the first major city to undertake a modern urban-renewal program in May 1950. Pittsburgh was infamous around the world as one of the dirtiest and most economically depressed cities, and seemed ripe for urban renewal. A large section of downtown at the heart of the city was demolished, converted to parks, office buildings, and a sports arena and renamed the Golden Triangle in what was generally recognized as a major success.Other neighborhoods were also subjected to urban renewal, but with mixed results. Some areas did improve, while other areas, such as East Liberty and the Hill District, declined following ambitious projects that shifted traffic patterns, blocked streets to vehicular traffic, isolated or divided neighborhoods with highways, and removed large numbers of ethnic and minority residents. An entire neighborhood was destroyed (to be replaced by the Civic Arena), displacing 8000 residents (most of whom were poor and black

​ Federal-Aid Highway Act gave state and federal government complete control over new highways, and often they were routed directly through vibrant urban neighborhoods—isolating or destroying many—since the focus of the program was to bring traffic in and out of the central cores of cities as expeditiously as possible and nine out of every ten dollars spent came from the federal government. This resulted in a serious degradation of the tax bases of many cities, isolated entire neighborhoods, and meant that existing commercial districts were bypassed by the majority of commuters. Segregation continued to increase as communities were displaced. Black families that had their homes and neighborhoods destroyed had to find housing options deeper in the inner city as whites could then use those highways to spread further and further into the suburbs but continue to work in the city.

How Walkable is America?

24% of Americans live near high-density highways (Antonczak et al., 2023), in contrast, only 6.8% of Americans live in walkable areas. Furthermore, only 1.2% of American land is considered walkable urban spaces (Rodriguez & Leinberger, 2023). Even fewer Americans live in walkable rural areas. ​​

Additionally, the U.S. has no nationwide public transportation system due to urban sprawl and low-density suburbs, car dependency, and political gridlock surrounding initiative, planning, and cost. ​

Pedestrian fatalities are 3X higher in the US in comparison to the UK, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany (Buehler & Pucher, 2023). Additionally, vehicle fatalities are 17X higher in cars compared to public transport vehicles (Cohen, 2024). ​

Environmental Impacts of Car Dependency

On top of vehicle emissions, the production of cars requires materials like rubber, steel, glass, plastics and paints. Producing these materials exerts tons of greenhouse gases and smog that stay in the atmosphere. Additionally, many materials used in cars like batteries do not degrade and end up in landfills or the ocean.​ Extracting, refining, shipping and burning fuels like gasoline and diesel consume lots of energy as well as produce greenhouse emissions. Vehicle emissions from fuel burning produce 1/3 of all U.S. pollution. There is also the risk of oil spills, due to the economic practices of outsourcing oil and the imports are mainly received through boats. ​

The construction of car-friendly infrastructure such as highways, impacts wildlife by causing disruptions to migration patterns, creating habitat fragmentation, increasing fatalities of animals through vehicle collisions, exposure to pollutants, and reductions in biodiversity. ​The construction of pipelines to fuel cars is also a disastrous impediment to natural environments.

Human Health Impacts of Car Dependency

Car dependency causes a large majority of Americans to spend a fraction of their life seated in a car, limiting the ability to exercise. Daily sedentary travel is linked to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, as well as mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, stress, sleep disturbances, and a lower life satisfaction (Miner et al., 2024).​ The lack of walkability forces people who cannot afford to own a car to walk alongside roads, which is dangerous and increases the number of pollutants inhaled daily. ​ Personal vehicles are linked to 4 million new asthma cases each year. People who live near high-density roadways are at a greater risk of developing health problems from car emissions. ​

Despite the banning of lead-based gasoline from the Clean Air Act, the burning of “regulated” gasoline still emits chemical agents that deteriorate human health, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HCs), sulfur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).​

Carbon monoxide reduces oxygen delivery in blood tissues, and can cause headaches, dizziness, nausea, cardiovascular disease and death in cases of long-term exposure. Nitrogen oxide can react with hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds and form the chemical ozone which harms the respiratory system, and long exposure to hydrocarbons is associated with cancer, specifically leukemia. Nitrogen oxide particularly impacts the respiratory system and can contribute to worsening chronic respiratory illnesses like asthma. Sulfur oxides cause difficulty breathing and other respiratory issues like bronchitis. Volatile organic compounds are the combination of other chemicals and have many impacts on human health, with some volatile organic compounds containing carcinogens. Volatile organic compounds also contribute to air pollution. Carbon dioxide is an asphyxiant, and also a primary greenhouse gas contributing to climate change​.

Unequal Exchange

In addition to an unequal dispersion of environmental hazards from the production and usage of cars, there are other societal inequities perpetuated by car-centric lifestyles, such as, the reinforcement of segregationist policies like redlining, by physically dividing land with roadways, as well as mass displacements of low-income people in the name of "development"​.

Other impacts of car-induced segregation are inflated costs of products due to an increase of the consumption of land, time and resources. The creation and exacerbation of food deserts comes from the assumption that acquiring necessities is dependent on the individual, rather than an obligation of the government to provide it’s constituents with nutrition. Food deserts perpetuate the "demand" for car ownership. The problem is not that people do not own a car, the problem is that food is not readily available where people live. ​

Examples of Recent Measures to combat this issue

National:

The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (P.L. 117-58) provided $590 billion to transportation funding, with $91.1 billion specifically for public transportation. ​

The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (P.L. 117-169) invested $369 billion towards clean energy development, with $12.3 billion for developing electric vehicles specifically for public transportation (Cohen, 2024).​

***These measures have since been repealed by the Trump Administration, with no replacement measures or policies.

Local Improvements Measures:

2040 Plan: Minneapolis, ME banned single family zoning, emphasizing denser housing.​

20-Minute Neighborhoods: Portland, OR expanded their concept, where residents can access parks, schools, grocery stores, within a 20-minute walk or bike ride.​​

Open Streets Program: New York City, NY expanded open streets during the COVID-19 pandemic and many of them remained permanent, invested in public plazas, protected bike lanes, and enacted congestion tax in the borough of Manhattan.​​

Healthy Streets Program: Seattle, WA increased investments in walkable infrastructure.​​

Mobility Plan 2035/ Measure HLA: Los Angeles, CA currently is undergoing a transformation through their mobility plan by expanding their metro system's accommodation and reach. HLA aims to reduce car dependency by developing wider sidewalks and increasing the amount of bus and bike lanes. ​

Conclusion

The history of car culture and car dependency is a multifaceted issue with unfortunate consequences. The development of highways, infrastructure, towns, and urban areas greatly contributes to isolationist, individualist values. We need to reinstate a sense of community, reducing car use and expanding walkable areas is a promising prospect. Sidewalks and public transportation are a necessity, cars are not. Americans deserve outdoor spaces that are healthy, enjoyable, and safe. ​

​

References​

Antonczak, B., Thompson, T. M., DePaola, M. W., & Rowangould, G. (2023). 2020 near-roadway population census, traffic exposure and equity in the United States. Transportation Research Part​ D: Transport and Environment, 125, 103965. ​

Bronin, Sarah (2021). "Zoning by a Thousand Cuts: The Prevalence and Nature of Incremental     

Regulatory Constraints on Housing". Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy.​

Cohen, J. (2024, October 21). Tracking transportation investments in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Inflation Reduction Act. Environmental and Energy Study Institute.  ​

​Gross, T. (2017, May 3). A “forgotten history” of how the U.S. government segregated America. NPR. ​

Miner, P., Smith, B. M., Jani, A., McNeill, G., & Gathorne-Hardy, A. (2024). Car harm: A global review of automobility’s harm to people and the environment. Journal of Transport Geography, 115, 103817. ​

Rodriguez, M. A., & Leinberger, C. B. (2023, January 30). Foot traffic ahead 2023. Smart Growth America.​

Introduction

Partido Socialista de Chile (PSCh), Chile’s first officially recognized Socialist Party, was founded in Santiago in 1933 where they held their headquarters. The PSCh has been a part of various Chilean leftist political coalitions since its foundation, most notably the Popular Front, the Popular Action Front, and the Popular Unity. Conversely to the European experience, socialism in Chile emerged after communist parties were already established, with smaller socialist splinter parties forming around 1922. The PSCh emerged from the growing dissatisfaction of the existing communist party, The Partido Comunista de Chile (PCCh), which had become increasingly affiliated with Moscow, turning other leftists away from the party. Some of the other early socialist parties included Nueva Acción Pública (New Public Action), Orden Socialista (Socialist Order) and Partido Socialista Marxista (Marxist Socialist Party).

The party established strongholds in major cities like Santiago, Valparaíso, and Concepción, as well as mining regions in Antofagasta, and the Atacama Desert, especially during the Pinochet years (Pollack 1978, p. 124). Diverse socialist thinkers collaborated to form the PSCh. Since 1933, the PSCh has gone through many social, political, and foundational changes, and a core group of members has remained consistent throughout. The party produced two presidents: Salvador Allende (1970) and Michelle Bachelet (2006, 2014) and has consistently held seats in the national congress. Today there are senators, deputies, regional governors, regional councilors, and mayors who are members of the PSCh.

This paper examines the PSCh’s formation, its political coalitions throughout the 20^th century, the challenges it faced, the 1973 coup d’état against President Salvador Allende, the subsequent Pinochet dictatorship, and its contemporary role in the 21^st century.

Motivations and Political Objectives

One of the earliest catalysts for the PSCh’s formation was the twelve-day Socialist Republic, exemplifying Chile’s history of political insurrection. The party emerged in response to a weak and ineffective Presidential Republic of Juan Esteban Montero, culminating in a coup d’etat by a small group of militants and civilians who were against the recently elected president in 1932. The dissidents sought to overthrow “a government of oligarch reaction which served only the interests of foreign capital” (Corkill, 1976, p. 262). Economic distress, particularly in the country's Northern region following the 1929 market crash, as well as the aftermath of Carlos Ibáñez del Campo's dictatorship, fueled the uprising. After Montero's resignation, a military junta ruled for 12 days, but failed to implement their promised social welfare programs, lacking support from any formal political party. This experience prompted socialist thinkers to unite and establish a legitimate party, with the primary goal of replacing capitalism with collective ownership of property and the industrial sector of the economy.

Chile’s geography — a narrow 2,700-mile (4,300 km) stretch, situated between the Pacific Ocean on one side and the Andes Mountain range on the other, with a maximum width of 217 miles (350 km) — significantly shaped its economic development. The nation’s wealth depends primarily on mineral exports from the mountains. Following World War I and the 1929 global market crash, Chile faced a reduction of nitrate exports, bringing high unemployment rates and a decline in living conditions for the working class. Between 1929 and 1933, the GDP of Chile fell by more than 50 percent. Amid this economic destabilization, the political system paradoxically strengthened its democratic elements, increasing electoral representation for socialists and communists.

A significant counterpoint to the PSCh was the National Socialist Movement of Chile, the MNSCH, more commonly refered to as “El Nacismo”, or Nazism. This party was heavily influenced by the German Nazi Party, which was also formed under the guise of socialism (Etchepare and Stewart, 1995). In both Germany and Chile, the strategy of affiliating Nazism with socialism was done to draw in both right and left leaning voters, by appealing to both nationalism and socialism. El Nacismo leveraged Chilean nationalism, economic uncertainty, and colonial-era racist ideologies to promote fascism in the political sphere. Inspired by Western European Leftist Popular Fronts opposing Nazism and Fascism, Chilean progressive parties began exploring the concept of their own Popular Front. This coalition aimed to distinguish Chilean Marxist ideology from fascism, Nazism, and later, Soviet influence.

The goal of the leftist coalitions such as the Popular Front was to align differing splinters of socialist parties and stand as one based on the fundamental principle of antifascism. The PSCh recognized the class struggle and aimed to replace the capitalist system with a socialist economic system that would collectivize private property with a dictatorship of the proletariat.

The Wider Context of the PSCh – Interwar Period

In the early years of the PSCh, the party spread mostly in urban industrial areas and among working-class communities and gained prominence in the central regions of the nation, particularly in Santiago. The northern region is where most of the copper and nitrate miners were. Many of the laborers from the mines became involved in advocacy for better wages and working conditions, which would have led them to the party, extending the PSCh’s reach in industrial and mining regions. The party also had a significant following in academia and intellectual circles, especially within the University of Chile in Santiago, where socialist theory had been spreading amongst faculty and students.

The PSCh’s founders sought to balance income redistribution by reducing foreign economic dependence, thus creating more wealth for domestic redistribution (Drake, 1973). Despite having similar goals, the party faced criticism from the Communist Party (PCCh), who pointed out the PSCh’s leaders coming from the middle-class as fundamentally bourgeois despite their working-class advocacy.

The party’s jefe (boss), Marmaduke Grove, or Don Marma, “was a mercurial character with no clearly defined ideas of what he meant by Socialism” (Corkill 1976, p. 263). Though Grove admitted to never having read Marx’s works, his nationalism, social democratic principles, and focus on public welfare resonated with citizens. His lack of formal Marxist education may have enhanced his appeal to proletarian voters as it made him more relatable to the average constituent. In 1934, Grove joined the Bloc de Izquierdas (Block of the Left) “a parliamentary group comprising democrats, radical-socialists and the Trotskyist communists (Izquierda Comunista) in opposition to the government of the once reformist Arturo Alessandri” (Corkill 1976, p. 263). Despite ideological differences, Block members united in their recognition and opposition to the class struggle.

In 1934, the Radical Party's departure from the Block prompted communists to yet again propose creating a Popular Front, which socialists initially rejected, citing concerns about excessive centralism and bureaucracy. However, the 1936 railroad worker strikes led the PSCh to consider strengthening the Block of the Left, and the radicals again proposed a Popular Front. Now, “the Central Committee of the Radical Party formally called on the Block of the Left, the communists, labor unions, employees, farmworkers, artisans, students, professionals, intellectuals, and independents to close ranks and support the Popular Front” (Corkill 1976, p. 264). Despite the PSCh’s unwillingness to cooperate, the formation of the Popular Front marked a pivotal moment in Chilean leftist unity, though socialists remained wary of aligning with the increasingly right-wing, anti-Marxist Radical Party, which sought to appease the petty bourgeoisie, who were mostly factory owners.

The PSCh demonstrated remarkable growth in the 1937 Congressional election, just four years after its founding, securing 11.2% of total votes, compared to the PCChs’ 4.2%. With 19 deputies and four senators in Congress, they began preparing for the 1938 Presidential election. They confidently nominated Don Marmaduke one year before the Popular Front Convention. The Front struggled to develop a unified program while attempting to appeal to both moderate and left-wing ideals. The socialists initially maintained their independence, skeptical of the Front's reluctance to support nationalization and agrarian reform. However, political reality forced a strategic pivot — Grove withdrew his presidential candidacy, concluding that leading the Popular Front offered better prospects for enacting real change than an independent presidential bid. The PSCh’ decision to join the Popular Front, while controversial, represented a strategic move to advance socialism nationally. It also helped distinguish socialist ideology from the concurrent rise of Nazism. However, this alliance drew criticism from social thinkers who questioned the partnership with “middle class radicals whose close links with the provincial upper class made them a rather unlikely revolutionary force” (Corkill 1976, pp. 266). Additionally, the Inconformistas — young military officers with reformist ideals who opposed traditional conservative leadership — accused the PSCh of compromising socialist principles through their compliance with bureaucracy. The influence of the Inconformistas on younger party members worried the PSCh’s leadership.

In 1939 three socialist ministers were elected— Salvador Allende, Oscar Schnake, and Ronaldo Merino — where they marked a new phase for the party. Allende, as defending counsel of the PSCh, argued that the beliefs from dissidents were misplaced and that bureaucratic conformity stemmed from Radical Party influence rather than socialist compromise. The new ministers viewed the Popular Front as an opportunity to expand political influence and address working-class needs. They proposed the ambitious “Plan for National Economic Action,” which included: redistributing uncultivated land cooperatives, creating state farms in rural areas, unionizing peasants, revising contracts with imperialist powers, curbing monopoly power, improving wages and working conditions, controlling food prices, reforming education and taxation, creating a State Bank, and strengthening protective laws for marginalized groups, and enforcing women’s equality (Corkill, 1976).

However, Front leaders deemed the plan too radical for Chile’s socioeconomic conditions and claimed it would be too difficult to implement. By 1940, new tensions emerged. Oscar Schnake and other socialists criticized the PCCh’s ties with the Soviet Union after the Soviet alignment with Nazi Germany. The PSCh withdrew from the National Front on January 6^th, 1941, arguing that alliance with the PCCh contradicted the Front’s foundational antifascist principles.

Cold War Era

From 1938 to 1952, the Radical Party held majority power and became increasingly right-wing during the peak of the Cold War, outlawing the PCCh in 1948. The Radical Era caused the PSCh to split into two divisions, one remaining the PSCh and the Popular Socialist Party (PSP). The 1952 election, after the Soviet defeat of the Nazis, highlighted this divide. The PSCh faction rejoined with the PCCh to form the Frente del Pueblo (People’s Front), which “sponsored the first presidential candidacy of Salvador Allende” (Vidal Molina, 2013, p. 85). Simultaneously and paradoxically, the PSP supported Carlos Ibáñez del Campo’s second presidential campaign, who had “engaged in not one but several anti-constitutional attempts from the 1920s on... He also had clear pro-nazi sympathies” (Pollack, 1978, p. 140). This ideological contradiction strengthened the leftist resolve for an anti-fascist, pro-worker government.

In 1956, following Ibañez’s ineffective and corrupt presidency, Allende led the formation of the Popular Action Front (FRAP), uniting socialist and communist parties to create “an anti-imperialist, anti-oligarchical, and anti-feudal program” (Vidal Molina, 2013, p. 85). However, familiar ideological tensions emerged — socialists felt that a left-wing coalition should only include working-class representation, while communists emphasized the necessity of middle-class support and collaboration with the Radicals and other centrist or right-wing parties in order to achieve meaningful political power (Pollack, 1978).

The 1960s brought notoriously right-wing leadership under Jorge Alessandri (1958–1964) and Eduardo Nicanor Frei Montalva (1964–1970). During this period, the FRAP coalition’s influence and electoral reach grew as opposition to Alessandri, but internal strategic disputes persisted. The coalition faced increasing pressure as authorities outlawed leftist activities in trade unions, universities, and high schools. The Military Pact with the United States particularly alarmed Marxists, who sought independence from foreign influence (Pollack, 1978). Unknown to Frei at the time, the United States, through the CIA, had financed his campaign to protect American copper interests in Chile. American politicians and corporations feared that Allende's proposed nationalization of Chile’s copper industry and labor reforms would increase production costs by eliminating exploitative practices.

Salvador Allende’s Presidency

On September 4^th, 1970, Salvador Allende was the first Marxist to be elected president in a democratic nation. To strengthen the Left’s influence after the election, Allende headed the Popular Unity – yet another coalition of leftist forces. The main objectives for economic reform of the Popular Unity were the nationalization of the major mineral resources, expansion of state control of the largest industrial enterprises, agrarian reform, state control of the banking system as well as all the main wholesale firms and distributors. The goal of these economic reforms was to allow the state to “control the means of production, which would enable it to promote economic policies to satisfy the social demands of the population” (Vidal Molina, 2013, p. 86).

In addition to this, Allende implemented social reform legislations to close the gender gap and support women as well as women who were mothers. While serving as Minister of Health in the Popular Front government from 1939-42, Salvador Allende published La Realidad Médico-Social Chilena (The Chilean Socio-Medical Reality) focusing specifically on the health issues that were impacting working-class constituents, and acknowledged that within class disparities, gender-based disparities exists simultaneously. Utilizing his knowledge as a physician and as a policy maker, he implemented distributions of services for historically marginalized communities.

Once elected president, he emboldened healthcare providers who worked alongside social workers to increase access to healthcare amongst workers. His decentralization policy of healthcare increased the number of clinics for low-income women, reducing the rate of maternal mortality. In 1970, the government provided half a liter of milk per day for pregnant and nursing mothers. The milk program provided 3.4 million Chilean babies and children with nutrition, drastically reducing the rate of infant mortality.

Some of the other social policies Allende implemented in his three years as president were, granting 3,000 scholarships for indigenous Mapuche children, the creation of a government administration for the healthcare and educational systems, started the construction of 120,000 residential buildings, restored relations with Cuba, granted amnesty to political prisoners, fixed the prices of bread and other foods, sent volunteers to the southern region of the nation to teach reading and writing skills (Compagnon, 2004), established a national minimum wage (for all ages), rescheduled and expanded the Santiago subway system to serve working-class regions, establishment of peasant councils, nationalization of the copper mines so as to lessen dependency on the U.S. and reallocate profits back to the workers and citizens, weekly inexpensive publications of literature to spread culture, and used government subsidies to make university tuition free as well provide free textbooks, increasing university enrollment by 89%, and secondary enrollment by 13%, and reducing the illiteracy rate by 1.2% in two years – just to name a few.

The 1973 Coup D’état, and the Pinochet Dictatorship

The United States government found Allende’s program, “The Chilean Path to Socialism” to be a threat to their economic foothold in the country, as Allende understood that imperialism and capitalist were interlinked, and to be a socialist, one must be anti-imperialist. Despite the US funneling money into Eduardo Frei’s campaign, Allende won the presidency. They had to figure out a different way to get rid of Allende, so, Henry Kissinger, Richard Nixon and their dependable allies in the CIA did what they knew how to do best – enact a coup d’etat on a Latin American nation and destabilize its democracy and economy. In a declassified October 16, 1970, cable, CIA deputy, Thomas Karamessines, relays Kissinger's orders to CIA station chief in Santiago, Henry Hecksher:

It is a firm and continuing policy that Allende be overthrown by a coup. It would be much preferable to have this transpire prior to 24 October, but efforts in this regard will continue vigorously beyond this date. We are to continue to generate maximum pressure toward this end, utilizing every appropriate resource. It is imperative that these actions be implemented clandestinely and securely so that the USG and American hand be well hidden. (The National Security Archive)

On September 11th, 1973, Chilean Armed Forces, backed by right-wing parties and the U.S. government as well as the CIA [as a part of Operation Condor], launched a coup d’état against Salvador Allende and the Popular Unity government. Army troops and the Air Force attacked La Moneda Palace in Santiago. Allende delivered his final radio address before dying by suicide as troops breached the building (Mendoza, 2023). The subsequent seventeen-year, brutal Pinochet dictatorship reversed socialist progress, particularly harming miners and the rest of the working-class. Pinochet’s regime immediately outlawed the Partido Socialista, Popular Unity, and all Marxist affiliations, forcing members to face torture, murder, or exile.

Seventeen days before the 50^th anniversary of the coup, the Biden administration declassified the brief that President Nixon received from the CIA on September 11, 1973. This decision came after years of Chilean officials petitioning for the release of this information. The last paragraph of the brief states, “Socialists, leftist extremists, and Communists are equally determined not to compromise. They are gambling that the military and political opposition cannot carry out moves to oust the government or even to impose restraints on it. President Allende, for his part, still hopes that temporizing will fend off a showdown” (Office of the Spokesperson, 2023). The sheer amount of direct involvement of the US government in the destruction of democracy as well as the crimes against humanity, is now officially confirmed.

The immediate impact of the coup caused the suicide of Salvador Allende and journalist Augusto Olivares. In addition, fifteen bodyguards and aids of the presidential palace and two friends of Allendes were kidnapped and never heard from again. Augusto Pinochet’s rule under a junta militant government began at 2:30 PM of that day. Following his ruling, many members of the military who remained loyal to democracy were killed.

In September of 1973, sixteen pro-Allende protestors were killed. The National Stadium in Santiago was transformed into a detention camp. Over 12,000 civilians were held in the stadium in the first month of the dictatorship. Locker rooms and hallways were used to interrogate people suspected of being sympathizers of the Popular Unity. Over 40,000 people were subjected to physical torture, mental and emotional abuse, and death. An estimated 17,000 civilians were killed or “disappeared”. According to the Chilean Ministry of Justice, there are an estimated 2,500 people who are still considered missing.

Geographical Diffusion of the PSCh

During the Pinochet dictatorship, PSCh members in exiles dispersed globally, with many findings refuge in nations like Sweden, Germany, France, and Spain, while others fled to other Latin American nations including Argentina and Mexico, or to the United States and Canada. Pinochet’s attempt to suppress the PSCh and the Popular Unity backfired and inadvertently internationalized its membership, as exiled members actively protested the regime and promoted anti-imperialism and anti-fascism from abroad.

The Fate and Prospects of the PSCh

While party members built international networks, domestic opposition grew among Chileans unwilling to abandon their multiparty democratic system. By the 1980s, the people had had enough. Common misconceptions portray the Pinochet era’s end as a peaceful, US-sponsored transition to democracy. However, this narrative obscures the crucial role of labor strikes, massive protests, and citizen uprisings in forcing systemic change. Many thinkers and scholars argue that conservatives deliberately downplay armed resistance by citizens to maintain a narrative favorable to imperial and capitalist interests (Figueroa Clark, 2015). In the 1980s, Communists spearheaded the left’s political resurgence, openly challenging the Pinochet regime despite severe risks. Their militant tactics, including an assassination attempt on Pinochet, caused panic for both the regime and the Reagan Presidency in the US, especially given recent political uprisings like Nicaragua’s 1979 revolution. Fearing another “communist uprising” and costly civil war, these armed resistance movements “led the Reagan administration to support a transition to civilian rule” (Figueroa Clark 2015, p. 520).

Michelle Bachelet’s elections in 2006 and 2018 marked the PSCh’s return to the presidency since Allende, making history as Chile’s first female president. Her administration implemented social policies aimed at addressing inequalities established under Pinochet (Luna, 2016, p. 131). However, Chilean politics continues to grapple with widespread political apathy, a lasting effect of Pinochet-era repression that instilled fear of political engagement among many citizens, leaving an elite minority as the most politically active demographic.

Nevertheless, socialist thought and policy implementation have resurged in twenty-first century Chile, advancing toward Allende’s original vision. The current president, Gabriel Boric, is a left-wing president who maintains strong PSCh ties through the Wide Front, demonstrating the party’s enduring influence despite bourgeois elite and imperialist opposition. Allende’s final words before his death remain powerfully relevant to Chile’s unique and ongoing socialist evolution:

Workers of my country, I have faith in Chile and its destiny. Other men will overcome this dark and bitter moment when treason seeks to prevail. Go forward knowing that, sooner rather than later, the great avenues will open again where free men will walk to build a better society.

Long live Chile! Long live the people! Long live the workers!

These are my last words, and I am certain that my sacrifice will not be in vain, I am certain that, at the very least, it will be a moral lesson that will punish felony, cowardice, and treason. (Allende, 1973)

Cited References

Allende, S. (1973, September 11). Last Words to the Nation. Salvador Allende: Last Speech. https://www.marxists.org/archive/allende/1973/september/11.htm

Compagnon, O. (2004). Popular Unity: Chile, 1970-1973.

Corkill, D. R. (1976). “The Chilean Socialist Party and The Popular Front 1933-41.” Journal of Contemporary History, vol. 11, no. 2/3, 1976, pp. 261–73.

Drake, P. W. (1973). The Chilean Socialist Party and Coalition Politics, 1932-1946. Hispanic American Historical Review, vol. 53, no. 4, 619–643.

Etchepare, J. A., & Stewart, H. I. (1995). Nazism in Chile: A particular type of fascism in South America. Journal of Contemporary History, vol. 30, no. 4, 577–605.

Figueroa Clark, V. (2015). The forgotten history of the Chilean transition: Armed resistance against Pinochet and US policy towards Chile in the 1980s. Journal of Latin American Studies, vol. 47, no. 3, 491–520.

Luna, J. P. (2016). Chile’s Crisis of Representation. Journal of Democracy, vol. 27, 129–38.

Kornbluh, P. (Ed.). Chile and the United States: Declassified Documents Relating to the Military Coup, September 11, 1973: National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 8. The National Security Archive. https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB8/nsaebb8.htm

Mendoza, O. (2023). Chile 1973 - The Original 9/11. Against the Current, vol. 38, no. 3, 4–6.

Office of the Spokesperson. (2023, August 25). U.S. Government Declassifies the President’s Daily Briefs Related to Chile from September 8, 1973 and September 11, 1973. Press Release. https://www.state.gov/u-s-government-declassifies-the-presidents-daily-briefs-related-to-chile-from-september-8-1973-and-september-11-1973/

Pollack, B. (1978). The Chilean Socialist Party: Prolegomena to Its Ideology and Organization. Journal of Latin American Studies, vol. 10, no. 1, 117–152.

Vidal Molina, P. (2013). The Notion of Equality in Chile’s Communist and Socialist Left, 1960–1973. Socialism and Democracy, vol. 27, no. 2, 82–95.

The instrumentalist viewpoint is also referred to as business dominance, as it specifically refers to states that operate within a capitalist system, where businesses and corporations hold a significant (and in ways, unchecked) domination of the state’s power, structure and spatial governance. In chapter 5 of “Political Sociology”, Davita Silfen Glasberg and Deric Shannon present that the instrumentalist theory of the state suggests that the economic influence of wealthy elites control and shape the state. Theorists of instrumentalism modeled the viewpoint based on a “capture” theory, where capitalists take over key positions within the state, without being politicians. In instrumentalism/business dominance, power of the state is given to the ruling class, the bourgeoisie, to maintain dominance over the working-class. It is an incentive of the bourgeoisie to limit the chances of economic upward mobility, because keeping people poor ensures that the elite will have workers to provide the labor required for gaining profit. The ruling class maintains power through legal frameworks like policy and law making, which protect capital accumulation. These laws are enforced through auxiliary forces such as militaries and police forces. In instrumentalist states, laws are intentionally designed to suppress changes of the status quo by targeting and punishing behaviors associated with poverty. Capitalists tend to control the state through extra-political organizations and most do not enter bureaucratic structures or governance positions, as this would expose their disproportionate economic influence over the majority of the population. The elite benefit from the lack of class-consciousness among workers so they tend to avoid partaking in “obvious power grabs” (Glasberg & Shannon, pp. 131) and influence the functions of the state through more privatized measures.

The structure of an instrumentalist state is created and upheld on the basis of serving the economic elite through policies and laws that protect and enhance capital accumulation. Under the business dominance/ instrumentalist model, democratic processes, institutions, and legal systems are less effective than the power of the ruling class in implementing structural features of the state. While there is evidence of affluent families entering the political space, like the Kennedys and the Roosevelts, the bourgeoisie tend to stray away from running for elected positions, as politicians are held to a higher standard of ethics as well as the commitment of upholding federal laws that many wealthy individuals do not want to adhere to. Rather than overtly entering the political realm, the bourgeoisie secure power and hold control through sitting on advisory boards, regulatory agencies of industries (that they are likely affiliated with), political action committees, lobbying for corporate interests, and by funding private political organizations that inevitably tout candidates and endorse campaigns that promise to uphold capitalist economic control (Glasberg & Shannon, pp. 132). Within a capitalist system, specifically the United States, the elections and legislative processes are heavily influenced based on the development of industries which contribute to an increase of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, while simultaneously ignoring and underfunding the needs of the working citizens. The measure of GDP refers to how much a nation's production of commodities increases, and is often inaccurately conflated with economic and social progress. The U.S. has the highest GDP in the world, meaning that companies in the U.S. produce and create more wealth than anywhere else in the world, but has a high level of income inequality, thus proving how GDP is not an accurate reflection of how affluent the citizens of a nation are. If the United States were to redistribute revenue from taxes and industrial profit and use it to improve underfunded social programs like the education system or the healthcare industry, or even raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25/hour to a livable wage, the GDP would significantly decline as there is less profit accumulating, but the living conditions of working citizens would vastly improve. However, this is wishful thinking on the part of a worker, and the economic and political elite have chosen to keep the system as is in order to maintain their wealth. The structure of an instrumentalist state is also codified through laws that target poverty, such as regulations on behavior in public spaces like the criminalization of peddling, loitering, and sleeping in public or in cars; these laws directly target homeless people. Laws that punish unpaid fines can also result in jail time or further fines for those who can’t afford them, and cash bail systems are exclusively accessible to the affluent. Laws that criminalize poverty are enforced through further monetary punishment or the threat of brute force, culminating in a blatant representation of how the state exerts control over workers and the poor to maintain order.

Spatial organization and governance plays a key role in an instrumentalist/ business dominant state. This is represented through zoning laws, infrastructure development, and urban planning. Zoning laws divide land into zones and districts with distinct and specific regulations over how the land can be used. While zoning laws can implement certain benefits such as maintaining mixed land use, the separation of land coupled with an unequal distribution of public transportation services invite the issues of inaccessibility, privatizing or monetizing green and blue spaces, and reinforce physical manifestations of class divisions through redlining – the disproportionate distribution of resources and reinforcement of spatial segregation patterns. Zoning laws can also result in higher housing costs by limiting the amount of homes available for purchase and increasing land value which restricts the ability of low-income people to own homes. Additionally, zoning laws create industrial and business regions that typically have less stringent regulations and more funding from governing bodies than communities where people live, as these sectors provide capital and profit gain, industrialization, and wealth accumulation. Industrialization of land upholds and contributes to historical spatial segregation through redlining and the development of environmentally hazardous industrial infrastructure close to or within low-income communities. Since industrial development appeases elite interests, governing bodies are almost always in favor of capitalists and allow the exploitation of land which negatively impacts the health of working-class and marginalized communities.

The theory of instrumentalism/business dominance implies that a state regulates upon the principles of deregulation, austerity, privatization and the preferential treatment of the economic elite, due to politicians, as actors of the state benefit from maintaining class divisions. Instrumentalists argue that within a capitalist society, the state is used and abused by the economic minority to develop and maintain their own financial gain, at the expense of the rest of the population. The ways in which the state operates – through the distribution of power, the structure of the state, and spatial governance are catered to upholding the subjugation of working citizens, implying that even within democratic republics, money is more influential than a vote.

Works Cited

Glasberg, D. S., & Shannon, D. (2011). Chapter 5: Who’s in Charge Here? The State and Society. In Political sociology : Oppression, Resistance, and the State. essay.

Visual Analysis of Robbing the Eagle’s Nest

Robbing the Eagle’s Nest, Robert S. Duncanson’s 1856 American Romantic painting, set in the Ohio River Valley, shows two men attempting to take eggs out of an eagle nest at the top of a rocky cliffside. The painting’s composition demonstrates Duncanson’s masterful control of visual elements. There is a dark, rocky foreground where the dramatic scene is taking place, a middle ground of turbulent sky where the eagles are defending their nest, and a background of mountains bathed in golden light. The sky features dramatic contrasts between darkness and brilliant light, creating a sense of divine intervention. This layering creates both physical and symbolic depth.

The practice of collecting wild bird eggs was common in the nineteenth century1. Eggs from birds of prey, particularly eagles, commanded high prices and were sought after for private collections and scientific study. The practice often meant the destruction of nests and decline in bird populations, making Duncanson’s choice of subject matter particularly poignant as a commentary on human intervention and impact on nature.

The painting depicts the men’s unsuccessful attempt, as they face attacks from the eagles protecting their nests. The inspiration from the Hudson River School of artistic style is quite apparent in the painting. Through Duncanson’s dramatic depiction of nature as something sublime, he reflects the themes of Romanticism that were conveyed through the Hudson River School pieces. The focal point of the painting is the “untamed” landscape, with the people being somewhat difficult to see due to the intentional scale of the subjects — a stylistic choice that resonates with pieces like Kaaterskill Falls (1826) by Thomas Cole. The figures’ small size not only emphasizes nature’s grandeur but also suggests human vulnerability and mere smallness in the face of natural and divine law.

Historical Context and Artistic Background

Robert Seldon Duncanson was the first African American artist to produce artwork that was recognized in the mainstream art world of nineteenth-century America. Before exploring his specific contributions, it’s crucial to understand the artistic movement that helped shape his work. The Hudson River School, the United States' first coherent artistic movement, emerged in the 1820s under Thomas Cole’s leadership. The movement championed dramatic landscapes that represented both beauty and the promise of opportunity, with artists creating sweeping vistas that emphasized the sublime in nature and established techniques for representing the American landscape that would influence generations.

During the decades prior to the outbreak of the Civil War, Duncanson’s career began to thrive. His success was particularly remarkable given the period’s racial barriers. His landscape paintings, which were produced during a period of cultural, political, artistic, and scientific changes reflect an insight into one the most significant points in American history.

Duncanson is widely considered to be one of the earliest representations of African American artists within American culture2. He worked alongside T. Worthington Whittredge and William Louis Sonntag, traveling across the United States, sketching landscapes. These artistic relationships were crucial to Duncanson’s development, as they provided both practical support and artistic inspiration. Their collaborative sketching trips helped establish Duncanson within the artistic community, despite the racial prejudices of the time. The artists were heavily influenced and intrigued by the Hudson River School style of artwork3, which they drew inspiration from while painting the landscapes of the Ohio River Valley.

Duncanson's rise to prominence was facilitated by a network of abolitionist patrons who recognized both his artistic talent and the importance of supporting African American artists. Nicholas Longworth, a prominent Cincinnati philanthropist, became one of his earliest and most important patrons, commissioning multiple works and providing crucial introductions to other potential buyers. While enabling Duncanson's success, this patronage system also highlighted the complex social dynamics of the period, as White patronage remained essential for African American artists to gain recognition in the mainstream art world.

Symbolic Interpretation and Social Commentary

Duncanson’s choice to represent humans stealing from eagles serves as both a literal and metaphorical representation of the period’s tension between the desire for preservation of the natural world and the incentive for human development. This tension was particularly acute in the Ohio River Valley region, where rapid industrialization was transforming the landscape. The eagle nest, at the very precipice between civilization and wilderness, becomes a powerful symbol of this moment in American history. The men climbing the mountain represent technological ambition as well as the moral compromises that accompanied progress.

Furthermore, the image also reinforces the Manifest Destiny movement of the time by depicting the conquest of nature for greed. Humans literally climbing upward mirrors the nation’s ambitious expansion westward and upward on the socioeconomic ladder. The eagles’ defense can be read as nature’s resistance as well as indigenous people’s resistance to territorial expansion. The themes of Manifest Destiny in this piece are subtle but significant, as the painting reflects the widespread belief that White settlers had a right to take over and alter the wilderness of America.

The themes of nationalism and American exceptionalism emerge prominently in this piece, particularly through the depiction of the eagles, the genus that contains the national bird of America. The irony of Americans attacking their own national symbol would not have been lost on viewers of the time, particularly given the increased tensions that would lead to the Civil War. While the symbolism that eagles carry is uniquely American, highlighting the sense of exceptionalism, the act of “robbing” from the symbol of liberty and freedom, underscores the sense of moral ambiguity and the desire to overturn nature for profit that was present amongst capitalists. This further emphasizes the nationalist and exceptionalist culture present in America. Given Duncanson’s personal experience with injustice, this commentary appears likely to be an intentional choice..

Historical Context and Personal Perspective

Duncanson’s perspective as a free Black man in nineteenth century America provided a very unique viewpoint that was not previously represented in the sphere of 19th-century American artists. His position was particularly complex. As an artist of mixed-race heritage, who could “pass” in many situations, he navigated multiple social worlds. Contemporary critics often avoided discussing his race at all, focusing entirely on his technical skill — a telling omission that speaks to the period’s politics around race.

The painting’s creation coincided with significant political upheaval, as not too long before this painting was completed, the United States was undergoing the period of Westward Expansion, or “Manifest Destiny.” The timing is crucial to understanding the work’s full context. The year 1856 saw increasing violence, heightened tensions and growing conflict that would eventually lead to Civil War. The Ohio River Valley was literally a borderland between free and slave territories, making it an appropriate place for Duncanson’s artistic production.

Specifically, in 1854, the Missouri Compromise, which was created with the intention to balance states where slavery was legal with free states, was repealed due to the Kansas Nebraska Act. This meant that White male settlers would now make the decision as to whether or not slavery should be implemented in the new Western territories4. The implications of this policy shift were profound, effectively placing the fate of African Americans in the hands of the people most likely to benefit from their continued oppression. Humans attempting to rob eagles of their offspring could suggest a deeper criticism of power relations in American society.

Intellectual Influences and Artistic Philosophy

Duncanson’s experience as a pioneer in the realm of art and intellectualism as a Black man in pre-Civil War America was represented throughout his work. In Robbing the Eagle’s Nest, specifically, the idea of robbing liberty parallels Duncanson’s experiences. Scholars have argued that Duncanson was heavily influenced by Auguste Comte’s theory of Positivism, as demonstrated by his emphasis on the intersection of science and reason with Black intellectualism within his artwork. This philosophical framework helped him bridge the gap between objective natural observation and social commentary, allowing him to create works that functioned on multiple levels of meaning. Although Duncanson was considered to be an elite due to his significance in the art world, he rejected the “middle-class ideology,” which did not contain a seat at the table for people of color, instead focusing more on abolitionist theory and practice5.

Artistic Influence and Style

Duncanson’s prominence in the art world of nineteenth century American artists stemmed from his incorporation of the broader intellectual movements of his time period, particularly the integration of science, philosophy, and nature. These themes were present throughout other works that fell under the romanticism landscape stylistic umbrella. For example, Duncanson’s painting Land of the Lotus Eaters (1861) demonstrates his influence from Hudson River School painters while incorporating his political commentary through artwork. The piece bears notable similarities to Frederic Edwin Church’s paintings of the Amazon rainforest, particularly Heart of the Andes (1859). Like his contemporaries, Duncanson followed the stylistic guidelines of the Hudson River School landscapes with scientifically accurate depictions of flora. His inspiration for Land of the Lotus Eaters came from Alfred Tennyson’s poem “Land of the Lotos Eaters,” further demonstrating Duncanson’s affinity for literature6.

Comparative Analysis

When comparing Robbing the Eagle’s Nest to Duncanson’s pieces Blue Hole, Flood Waters, Little Miami River (1851), both works depict humans interacting with nature at a similar scale, though this piece shows a far more tranquil scene. The contrast between these works reveals Duncanson’s range as an artist — while Blue Hole celebrates human harmony with nature, Robbin the Eagle’s Nest warns of its disruption. Blue Hole portrays three people fishing and evokes a feeling of relaxation7.

Similarly, Albert Bierstadt’s The Rocky Mountains, Landers Peak (1863) represents humans at the same dramatic scale as Robbing the Eagle’s Nest, emphasizing nature’s grandeur. Bierstadt’s work, however, presents Western expansion more triumphantly, lacking the moral ambiguity that characterizes Duncanson’s approach. While both pieces represent the interaction between humans and the American landscape, only Duncanson’s piece evokes a sense of urgency, alongside feelings of ambition and acquisition.

A final comparison can be drawn to Asher Brown Durand’s painting Kindred Spirits (1849), a tribute to Thomas Cole. Durand’s piece idealizes the artist’s relationship with nature, while Duncanson’s work questions this relationship directly. This piece depicts a similar landscape to Duncanson’s, featuring two men on a rocky cliffside with a large scale of foliage and mountains behind them. However, unlike Duncanson’s piece, these men are not frantic, but rather appear to be taking a stroll and taking in the beauty of the nature around them instead of trying to conquer it.

Conclusion

What might initially appear as Robert S. Duncanson’s unnecessary dramatic scene reveals itself as a beautiful tribute to the struggles of Black Americans in the Pre-Civil War era of the United States, as well as to the Hudson River School’s style of depicting nature in an appreciative form. Through his masterful blend of artistic technique and social commentary, Duncason created not just a landscape painting, but a powerful statement about freedom, justice, and the complex relationship between humanity and nature in nineteenth-century America. The painting’s relevance extends beyond its historical context, speaking to contemporary concerns about environmental preservation, racial justice and the moral dilemmas of progress.

Bibliography

Duncanson, Robert S. “Blue Hole, Flood Waters, Little Miami River.” Cincinnati Art Museum, n.d. https://www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/art/explore-the-collection?id=20842570.

Katz, Wendy J. “Robert S. Duncanson, Race, and Auguste Comte’s Positivism in Cincinnati.” American Studies 53, no. 1 (2014): 79–115, 225.

Ketner, Joseph D. “Robert S. Duncanson (1821-1872): The Late Literary Landscape Paintings.” The American Art Journal, 1, 15 (1983): 35–37.

Ketner, Joseph D. The Emergence of the African-American Artist: Robert S. Duncanson 1821-1872. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1993.

“Robbing the Eagle’s Nest | National Museum of African American History and Culture.” Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled on the landmark Roe V. Wade case in favor of Jane Roe(alias for Norma McCorvey) and established the precedent that restrictive state regulation of abortion was unconstitutional as such regulations infringed upon the 4th amendment right to privacy. Almost 50 years later, on June 24, 2022, The U.S. Supreme Court overruled Roe V. Wade, in the Dobbs V. Jackson case, making the decision of abortion rights up to each individual state. This decision eradicated 5 decades of precedent that protected bodily autonomy.

Fourteen states have completely banned abortion at any point of pregnancy including in cases of rape or incest, while eleven states have banned abortion based on gestational periods. With the removal of protection of access to abortion, many women and girls across the United States are facing no option of reproductive health care, which leaves them forced to carry a pregnancy that can have significant impacts on their physical and mental health. Additionally, this overruling will result in significant racial and economic disparities regarding the safety and health of women of color in the United States.

State Legislation Post Dobbs V. Jackson:

Impacts to Women's Healthcare Services

Legislation that largely limits or bans access to abortion has immediate and significant impacts on women’s healthcare. For starters, such legislation can affect the entire state’s healthcare system. The decrease of reproductive healthcare raises the concern that medical institutions in states who impose restrictions and bans will have a difficult time hiring and keeping doctors.

Generally, the majority of healthcare professionals oppose restrictions and bans on abortion care services, leading many to decline employment in states with healthcare restrictions. A shortage of doctors across an entire state means that medical institutions will face serious setbacks in the care that they are providing, resulting in fewer residents having the ability to seek medical treatment in a timely manner. This is extremely concerning because predictably, the pregnancy rate in these states will heavily increase leaving thousands, if not millions of pregnant women and girls unable to receive prenatal care when needed. It can be extremely dangerous for people to go without having regular prenatal visits because they are detrimental to making sure that both the mother and the fetus are healthy. People who go without prenatal visits are seven times more likely to have a premature birth, and five times more likely to have an infant die. In some instances, if the baby is born with a serious health condition that could have been prevented in utero, the mother can be faced with criminal charges for not receiving prenatal care.

A shortage of doctors in areas with an increased rate of pregnancies and live births is likely to trigger “additional demands on maternal and obstetric services in areas where abortion is heavily regulated or completely banned. This projection comes amid half of all rural hospitals currently closing down their obstetrics units, further limiting care for pregnant individuals” (Byron, J. J. et al, 2022, pp. 3). Many hospitals in states with abortion bans are already beginning to experience shortages in staff and services causing a severe reduction in statewide resources for hospitals and individual patients.

How Abortion Legislation Impacts Women’s Physical Health

On average, states with stricter abortion laws have a 7% higher total maternal mortality (TMM) rate than states that do not have restrictions. There is a tremendous amount of data that proves that countries with less restrictive abortion laws have lower TMM rates than countries that do impose restrictive laws. In fact, pushing legislation that widened access to abortion in the first place was done so with one of the main goals being reducing maternal mortality. Limiting access to abortions doesn't decrease the overall number of abortions, but it does contribute to an increase in fatalities due to illegal, and subsequently, dangerous attempts to terminate pregnancies. Women in areas where abortion is criminalized are often inclined to participate in “abortion tourism”, seeking procedures in other countries with less stringent laws.

The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate of any high-income nation, conversely, “with a mortality rate of 0.4 deaths per 100,000 abortions, abortions conducted by trained specialists are far safer than pregnancy. Limiting access to abortion will increase the proportion of women continuing unwanted pregnancies and seeking ‘back alley’ abortions by untrained individuals in suboptimal settings, increasing both pregnancy and abortion related morbidity and mortality and exacerbating existing inequities in outcomes” (Londoño, 2023, pp. 3). Furthermore, experiencing the struggle of being denied an abortion and forcibly carrying an unwanted pregnancy will obviously cause a large amount of stress. High stress levels can result in high blood pressure and during pregnancy, high blood pressure can lead to serious health risks. Women who carry an unwanted pregnancy are at a higher risk of experiencing preeclampsia or postpartum hemorrhaging. Preeclampsia can result in liver or kidney damage, blood clotting, fluid in the lungs, seizures and in extreme cases, death. Banning and restricting abortion puts women at an extremely high risk of death due to unsafe abortions and health effects as a result of unwanted pregnancies.

How Abortion Legislation Impacts Women’s Mental Health

The diminution and bans of access to abortion healthcare poses serious threats on the mental health of women in the United States. Obstetric health and mental health are incredibly intertwined. Unwanted pregnancies cause a severe amount of stress, anxiety and depression. Undergoing abortion procedures can be physically and emotionally taxing, but the procedures themselves do not result in long-term mental illnesses. Conversely, being denied an abortion when necessary may indeed have such consequences.

The Turnaway Study is a landmark comprehensive longitudinal study that examines the effect on women’s lives from unwanted pregnancies. The study compared women who were denied abortions due to state restrictions versus women who had the procedure, and then evaluated their lives 5 years after either receiving or being denied an abortion. The turnaway study revealed that “the women who were denied abortions were initially more likely to experience higher levels of anxiety, lower life satisfaction and lower self-esteem compared with those who could obtain abortions” (Caron, 2022). Being denied the right to an abortion immediately impacts the mental health of women, which can then further impact their physical health due to pregnancy being so impacted by one’s headspace.

Unplanned pregnancies can cause financial instability due to there being no nationwide law that requires employers to give workers paid pregnancy or maternity leave. There is sufficient data that proves that debt and financial instability can cause a decline in mental health. This can also be further exacerbated if the mother ends up keeping the child. A significantly common reason why as many as 22% of women seek out abortion is due to intimate partner violence (IPV). Many pregnant women who experience IPV are able to rely on abortions to be their way out of an abusive relationship. Restricting abortions only traps women, and eventually children in violent situations. IPV is also a critical factor in maternal mortality, “currently, homicide is the leading cause of death of pregnant women in the U.S.. Forcing people to carry unwanted pregnancies conceived with abusive partners will prolong their exposure to IPV and endanger them and their families” (Londoño, 2023, pp. 3). By banning and restricting women from receiving a life saving procedure, the law is putting them at risk of being murdered by their partners. It is more likely for women to be murdered during pregnancy than to die from the three leading obstetric disorders, or frankly, from an abortion.

How Geography Impacts Who is Affected by Dobbs V. Jackson

State laws vary in regards to abortion bans, restrictions, or protection. Some states have policies implemented before Dobbs V . Jackson that protects the women in such states to the right to choose. Geography significantly influences who will be able to receive reproductive health services, and in turn, who will be affected by the court’s undemocratic ruling. Many of the states that have banned abortion, or have implemented heavy restrictions are southern states which have large populations of Black and Hispanic women, as well as states in the Great Plains region which have the largest population of Indigenous people. Women of color make 43% of women of childbearing age living in states where abortion has become criminalized.

These geographical demographics will result in a racial and economic disparity when it comes to abortion access due to the systemic barriers that are already in place for lower income women and women of color. For starters, more than half of all abortions are received by women of color. According to the CDC’s federal Abortion Surveillance system “almost four in ten of abortions were among Black women (38%), one-third were among White women (33%), one in five among Hispanic women (21%), and 7% among women of other racial and ethnic groups” (Artiga et al). The majority of abortions are also performed in the first trimester, which is before the pregnancy is considered viable. A viable fetus is one that will be able to survive in the uterus for the remaining two trimesters.

One of the reasons why women of color are more likely to receive abortions than white women is because white women have historically had more access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare. The United States healthcare system is no stranger to racist practices, specifically in regards to sexual and reproductive health. People of color in this country have been the targets of racist practices “including forced sterilization, medical experimentation, the systematic reduction of midwifery, just to name a few” (Artiga et al). Furthermore, the history and legacy of Jim Crow laws and segregation has left millions of people of color in areas where the access to healthcare is extremely limited, and reproductive healthcare being even more sparse.

Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers [TRAP] laws are designed to restrict the amount of abortion care providers. Clinics that perform abortions, such as Planned Parenthood, provide hundreds of other reproductive health services such as cancer screenings, antiretroviral therapy (HIV treatment) as well as other treatments or therapy for STIs, provide birth control, STD/STI testing, pregnancy testing, prenatal care, clinical breast examinations, and other routine medical and preventative care services that millions of Americans depend on. Using Planned Parenthood as an example, abortions are only 3% of the services the clinic provides, yet dozens of these clinics are shutting down due to TRAP laws, leaving millions of people without affordable and accessible healthcare. TRAP laws have been implemented in states long before the 2022 overruling of Roe V. Wade, but now, there are more and more of these laws being passed in states with heavy abortion restrictions.

The citizens in such states are experiencing “a decrease in provider availability, with one reporting a loss of 46% of all Texas providers in the year following the enforcement. The relationship between policies and providers was particularly central to one analysis that was principally concerned with the behaviour of the abortion market in response to regulations. This study reported that TRAP laws decreased market entry rates for clinics and increased the cost of procedures by approximately 10%” (Austin & Harper, 2018, pp. 5). Enforcing bans and restrictions on healthcare services and their prices significantly affects communities that are already grappling with limitations in their access to healthcare. It is also worth mentioning that working class and low income Americans utilize clinics as their primary source of healthcare services, whereas middle and upper class Americans tend to visit in-network physicians. With clinics being the prime target of these laws, TRAP laws are inherently designed to remove and restrict healthcare for low income women.

Additionally, women of color systematically have less financial stability than their white counterparts and are twice as likely to be living below the poverty line than white women as well as being far less likely to have savings available to cover the expense of an abortion. These financial setbacks create further barriers in regards to abortion access if the only option to receive the procedure is by traveling out of state, especially considering the fact that vehicle access is more limited for women of color. Racial financial disparities also result in women of color on average being less likely to have health insurance, or even no coverage at all. It is apparent that abortion restrictions result in severe racial and subsequently financial disparities.

All of these systematic disparities put women of color, and low income women at a further risk than affluent white women of experiencing pregnancy related deaths as well as higher rates of infant mortality.

Criminalizing Abortion

Abortion restrictions and bans pose serious threats on womens’ lives due to abortion being designated as a felony in many states. The states that have deemed abortion a felony have sentences varying from up to 5 years to up to 15 years of prison time. In Texas, the state that has the most extreme abortion laws, someone who terminated their pregnancy can receive life in prison. Because abortion is illegal, it is hard for judicial systems to prove that someone actually had the procedure done, or if the pregnancy ended for other reasons. Most prosecution investigations have used cell phone data to provide enough circumstantial evidence for a conviction.

This means that hypothetically, if someone living in a state with an abortion ban in place were researching abortion options on their cell phone, and then had a natural miscarriage, they could still be facing prison time for the pregnancy being terminated, regardless of how it happened, because the defense cannot prove that no abortion took place. The criminalization of a medical procedure will “ immediately endanger anyone who has a health-or life-threatening pregnancy complication, such as miscarriage, premature labor, or ectopic pregnancy. Deaths reported in Ireland, Poland, and other nations that have banned abortion painfully illustrate the risks to women’s lives from such laws’ chilling effect on physicians who fear that even managing a miscarriage could expose them to legal or criminal liability” (Lazzarini, 2022). The fact that doctors assisting a patient in medical decisions can be convicted puts patient privacy at risk. This will enlarge a distrust of medical professionals in large communities of women, which will undoubtedly put their health at risk.

Limiting abortion access puts women at risk for being criminalized for receiving an abortion. Some states have already implemented felony charges for abortion, and due to women of color being the highest recipients of the procedure as well as the lack of access to alternative reproductive healthcare, women of color are far more likely to be criminalized for receiving an abortion. This prospect will only further the unequal proportion of criminalization and incarceration of people of color in America.

Conclusion

The decision of the Supreme Court to allow states to decide whether or not their citizens are allowed to access a medical procedure directly infringes upon one's “God given” rights. Medical decisions should not be decided by nine unelected judges with unchecked power. Letting a woman’s geographical location determine whether or not she has the ability to make decisions for her own body directly reflects just how little politicians know and care about women’s healthcare. Let me make one thing clear: NOBODY is receiving an abortion unless they need to. An abortion is one of the most taxing and distressing procedures a person can possibly go through, and allowing personal opinions to get in the way of healthcare services only furthers the shame and emotional trauma of the procedure. It is not up to a minority of people with too much power to decide any person’s individual freedom and liberty.

Whatever beliefs people hold about terminating pregnancies are not enough to encompass and support the diverse experiences of women during their pregnancies. Furthermore, if state governments decide to ban abortion without implementing government supported childcare, healthcare services and support for new mothers, then the decision is inherently not “pro-life”. Banning abortion causes a reduction in access to prenatal health care services in regions that will have more pregnant women, which exacerbates the health risks to the fetus and mother. This will increase the state's infant and maternal mortality rate, further debunking the “pro-life” claim. If these lawmakers actually cared about babies and women, they would be implementing measures to protect the health and safety of them. But they are obviously not.

Furthermore, abortion legislation specifically targets and criminalizes low income women, the leading demographic of which are women of color. The healthcare system has targeted women of color all throughout history. However, this situation is not history, it is the present, and people are going to die as a result of restrictive legislation. The war on abortion is a war on the physical health, mental health, safety, and freedom of American women.

Works Cited

“Abortion Policy Tracker.” KFF, 3 Nov. 2023,

Artiga, S., et al. (2022, July 15). What Are the Implications of the Overturning of Roe v. Wade for Racial Disparities?, Kaiser Family Foundation.

Austin, N., & Harper, S. (2018). Assessing the Impact of TRAP Laws on Abortion and Women’s Health in the USA: A Systematic Review.

Byron, J. J., et al (2022, December 1). Health Equity in a Post ‘Roe Versus Wade’ America.

Caron, C. (2022, May 24). Does Being Denied an Abortion Harm Mental Health? The New York Times, The New York Times.

Keating, D., et al. (2019, July 10). “Abortion Access Is More Difficult for Women in Poverty.” The Washington Post.

Lazzarini, Z. (2022, August 4). “The End of Roe v. Wade— States’ Power Over Health and Well-Being.” New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 387, no. 5, vol. 4, pp. 390–393.

Londoño T., et al. (2023, May 5.) “The end of Roe v. Wade: Implications for Women’s Mental Health and Care.” Frontiers in Psychiatry, vol. 14, no. 5.