One HUGE Elephant

          As we know, slavery was a huge debate between the north and the south. It was considered the "elephant in the room" for the north and south and ultimately lead to the Civil War. The real reason that slavery was considered the "elephant in the room" is because the government was not willing to take part in the debate over slavery. They left it open to the people of the US to tackle and debate slavery. When the government refused to partake in the extensive dispute, the people handled it poorly, resulting in a great deal of violence.
         One prominent example of the negligence of the government is the Dred Scott case. When Dred Scott filed a law suit against his owner in 1857, saying he and his wife should be free because they had lived in free states where slavery was illegal. Instead of taking a real interest in the case, the supreme court ruled 7 to 2 against Scott because slaves weren't allowed to sue. The government unfairly pushed the Scott trial to the side because they didn't to deal with slavery and rebelling slaves. "Bleeding Kansas" was the governments version of quickly dealing with the problem then pushing it aside. In 1856, they broke Kansas into 3 sections, Free Soilers, Pro Slavery and Anti Slavery. Eventually, the "quick fix" that the separation was supposed to be, plummeted downwards resulting in a rebellion, giving the decision its name, "Bleeding Kansas".
         When the government ignores the slavery debate, the people take protests into their own hands.
 In 1856, Charles Sumner wrote a speech called "The Crime Against Kansas" highlighting that the southern states were forcing slavery onto the west. Upon hearing the speech, Preston Brooks stormed to Sumner's office and beat him with a cane, to defend the honor of the south. Another instance of people taking the dispute into their own hands is John Brown's Raid. In 1859, John Brown assisted by 21 men raided Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Before they could complete the raid, almost half of Browns men were killed, forcing the others to surrender. Brown was captured and hanged for treason, but he was still considered a martyr by northers.
          The governments ignorance towards slavery made the topic an "elephant in the room". When they ignore the injustice that slaves like Dred Scott face, the are forced to deal with much more pressing consequences of the debate. They have to deal with beatings, rebellions and raids. I the government had paid more attention to slavery in the beginning, they could have made much bigger steps towards resolving it, maybe even avoiding the Civil War.

Unfair Morals of Slavery

          Recently in class, we have been learning about slavery. We looked at interactive maps, to determine why slavery is entrenched. We also read, about Futa Jallon, Africa and Natchez, Mississippi and the slavery that occurs in these two places. In class we also watched the movie, "A Prince Among Slaves." about a prince who was captured and forced to be a slave.  As a class we discussed the questions: How did slavery become economically entrenched  in American society by the early 19th century? How does a system of slavery based on race affect  human dignity? What human characteristics does such a system tend  to ignore?
          Slavery became entrenched for many reasons. The production of slavery increased by a large amount from 1790-1860. When the amount of cotton production increases the amount of workers to harvest the cotton increased. In 1790, only 1.5 million pounds of cotton was produced, most of which came from semi-tropical, long-staple cotton plants. However, by 1860, the south produced 2.28 billion pounds of cotton. In correlation, the slave population in 1790 was approximately 690,000. By 1860, with the growth of the cotton industry, the slave population was approximately 3,954,000. Slavery was entrenched because without the work of slaves the cotton industry would not have prospered as much as it did in 1860.
           A system of slavery based on race affects human dignity greatly. The prince of Futa Jallon, Abdul Rahman, obviously had a great amount of status in Africa. However, in Mississippi he had no status, he was a slave. In Africa a symbol of status and of your importance was your hair. When he became a slave, his owner cut off all his hair which wrecked his dignity. The salve system has no tolerance for the slaves personal feelings and beliefs which ultimately destroy their dignity.
           This system tends to ignore many important human characteristics. One of these characteristics is status. Abdul Rahman, the prince of Futa Jallon, got captured and was forced into slavery. Rahman tried to tell his owner of his position and life in Africa but instead of respect and empathy, his owner made fun of him by calling him "Prince". Another characteristic the system ignores is family. When Abdul Rahman is freed from slavery by his owner, he is the only one freed not his wife and several kids. The owner has no regard for family and Rahman has to fight extremely hard to free his family and one or two kids from the slave system.

Like a Girl

          Recently in class, we learned about the Women's reform. We looked at pictures, articles and watched videos that showed examples of the women's reform. We learned about the way women were treated and the initiatives they took to change it. We had to answer the question "How did mid­19th century American society react to women's demands for equality? Does 21st century society still react  differently to men and women?"
          In the mid- 19th century, women were treated very unfairly. The Sphere of Women picture illustrates the tight standard women had to fit into. They should be able to manage house where everyone gets along, relaxing and clam environment. They are expected to be in charge of children's education. They make and maintain children's clothing. They are in charge of entertainment. Their work is supposed to be hidden, she is supposed to make it look easy. The women hated the way they were perceived and set out to change it. They wrote the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions in Seneca Falls in 1848. Many news papers wrote in response to these resolutions. Many of them were not in favor of the Seneca Falls convention. They wrote " Women are out of their latitude", National reformer August 31,1848. They also stated that the attempt to gain rights for women was " a paradox on the Declaration of American rights." Mechanics Advocate. However there were a few news papers that agreed with the change in women's rights. The national reformer regarded the convention as " one [a convention] whose influence shall not cease until woman are granted the rights now enjoyed by the other half of creation." National Reformer August 3, 1848. Although there were many conflicting views, it ended up working out well for women.
          Now, in the 21st century, women have the same rights as men and are considered an equal to men, from a law point of view. Sadly, in society, women are still viewed as less than a man. In a Pantene commercial we watched in class, showed women and men in the same scenarios but the different ways people view them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K2kfgW7708&feature=youtu.be Also, this past weekend, there was a commercial during the Superbowl that also shows the way women are perceived in our society. The way people think " like a girl" means isn't the true meaning. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjJQBjWYDTs . People should be smart enough bib now to realize women and men can both achieve great things, and there is no need to put one gender higher than another. The term "like a girl" shouldn't be used in a rude or demeaning way again. Women and men should be perceived the same because we can all do the same things. When society begins to think this way, the world will be a better place.

FiInding the" source" of the Temperance Movement

This depiction of drunkenness was printed as a call for temperance in the 1870s, a period when the crusade for prohibition of alcoholic drinks gained momentum.
Temperance movement political cartoon.. In American History. Retrieved January 12, 2015, from http://americanhistory.abc-clio.com/

The illustrator of this picture, is anonymous, however it is clear they had a good understanding of the temperance movement  by their interesting cartoon. This source is trustworthy because it was found through one of the many safe databases found in the School's library and media  folder on Edline. I used this database while working on a research project last year, so I know that the information is believable and correct. When this document was produced, America was going through many struggles. People in our country were drinking excessively leading to very dangerous behavior. Men would beat their wives and children when they were drunk. This cartoon shows two drunk men, it shows the affect of these men on their families. It shows that these men were so horrible ton their families that it was obvious that they would be drawn to God for help The illustration gives an accurate representation of drunk men in the 19th century, however it doesn't show how horrible these men were. The author sides with the families of these drunk men. The illustrator is in favor of the Temperance movement because the men who are drunk are useless, as you can see in the picture. The illustrator of this cartoon would be satisfied with the U.S. now, compared to the mid 19th century.

Some People's President

          This week, while Mrs. Gallagher was away, we worked in groups to learn about Andrew Jackson. As a class, we watched two videos about Jackson, then we broke up into six groups. There were two groups per topic, the Bank War, Spoil System and Indian Removal Act. In our groups we created presentations to answer the question, "Is Andrew Jackson's long-standing reputation as "the people's president" deserved? Why? Why not?"
           After sharing our projects as a class, the majority of the class decided that Andrew Jackson didn't deserve to be called the people's president. My group, and the other Indian Removal group concluded he didn't deserve that title. We said this because Jackson had no consideration for the Indian tribes that he forced to move west. He didn't care that they made a life there and that their fathers built their community. Jackson threatened them saying if they didn't agree to move, he would force them out. The two groups who researched the Spoil System, also agreed that Jackson doesn't deserve to be called the people's president. They said this because, Jackson was only nice to the people who supported him. He instated people in the government as a reward for being loyal to him. He even allowed criminals to work for the government. This system that Jackson created, cost the government over $1,000,000,000 when Samuel Swartwout, a man loyal to Jackson,  stole from the American government.
          Both groups who had the Bank War, agree that Jackson did deserve the title that he was given. They say that Jackson noticed the unfair power that the bank possessed and knew he had to stop it. Jackson had the idea to create many small banks, rationing the power, rather than one large bank. By distributing the power from rich to poor thus forth restoring power to all social classes. Andrew Jackson slightly deserves the title of the people's president. As shown through the Bank War, Andrew Jackson did great things for America, however he is not deserving of the title, the people's president.

Indian Removal Lauren, Natalie and Regan:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ydnSUSbjJiIVPG1wlvO96OpIu0InDkpV1TpZsMkMudA/edit?usp=sharing                                    

Early 1800's Democracy

         This week we learned about democracy in the 1800's. We analyzed a painting, two voting charts and a document about the Dorr War to answer the question. How should we define democracy? And How Democratic was the US in the early 1800's. In a group we made a poster with each source on it, under each source was a brief summary about how it demonstrates democracy. Overall, in the early 1800's, the United States was pretty democratic, although their ways vary from ours slightly.

"Race"ing to Indpendence

        In class this week, we learned about the Latin American revolutions We broke up in groups and each group studied a different revolution. There were  three revolutions, The revolution in Mexico, the revolution of Gran Colombia, and the revolution of Brazil. After creating a timeline of events for each revolution, we had a jigsaw conversation, where one person from each group comes together. After gathering all of our information, we answered the essential question. For this lesson the essential question was, Why is it essential to acknowledge human value regardless of race?
 How are the events in the Latin American Revolutions evidence of this social  imperative?
          My group created a timeline of the revolution of Gran Colombia. After reading and analyzing the evidence we narrowed the information down to a few important dates. (see timeline below) Next, we found similarities and differences between the revolutions. One commonality is that they all wanted to become independent of the ruler that wasn't there a race. Another commonality was that all of the revolutions ended in the same time period of 1823 to 1831. This could happen as a result of one country starting a revolution, other countries catching wind of it, liking the ideas, and starting their own revolutions in their own countries. One difference between the revolutions was The different people they fought against. The people from Brazil we're trying to gain independence from Portugal. The people from Gran Colombia, which is now known as Venezuela, we're trying to free themselves from Spanish rule. Lastly, the people of Mexico were fighting against Mexican Royalists, who are loyal to the Spanish. Another difference is that all of the revolutions were fought in a different place. One was in Brazil, one was in Mexico, and one was in Gran Columbia. In all of the revolutions, race was an issue because people were fearful of having a leader of a different race, that's why they revolted.
          Today, race is a huge issue. Just recently, the case and Ferguson Missouri, where in unarmed black man was killed by a white police officer raised huge protests and riots. The further conclusion did not send the officer to trial brought up A huge controversy in the US are people believe that Michael Brown was only shot because he was black. Even though we are far from Larry used to be with raise issues, there are many cases were race problems are still relevant. I believe that it is still very helpful to be aware and watch out for race problems in our world.

Time line

April 19,1810 - a junta expels the Spanish governor of the province of Venezuela and takes control

July 1811- National Assembly in Caracas formally declares Venezuelas independence

July 1812- Spanish authorities rally, recover military initiative, regain control of the entire province

1813- as head of army of liberation , he returns to Venezuela ans wins 6 successive engagements against Spanish forces

August 6, 1813- enters Caracas, takes political control with dictatorial powers.

July 1814- bolivar lost Caracas again, recaptures bogota from Spain

1817- back in venzuela building a new army in in inaccessible region of the Orinoco river

1819- use cowhide boats to cross tributaries of the Orinoco 

August 7, 1819- Spanish army surrenders 

Dec 17, 1819- republica de Colombia is proclaimed 

June  24, 1821- Bolívar wins a battle at carabobo 

May 24, 1822- Antonio josé de sucre wins victory at pitchina 

May 1830- Bolívar resigns as ruler 

September 1830- Ecuador and Venezula secede from gran Colombia