Friday, May 29, 2015

Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation I-Search Paper


January 1st, 1863 is the day that the 200 year empire of slavery had fallen. Slavery in America was terminated by the Emancipation Proclamation, making the Emancipation one of the most famous documents in American history. The man behind the proclamation was President Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln was born at the right time, being the President during a time where enough was enough for slavery in the United States. Abraham Lincoln was the right man for the job, making his way through the confederates army, he ended slavery and the Civil War with the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. Abraham Lincoln did a lot of magical things as president, but the thing that he was most  recognized for was his signing of the Emancipation Proclamation which freed nearly 3 million slaves. The Emancipation Proclamation freed blacks from slavery, my brother is half black so even though not a big connection, that is the connection I have to Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. Me, as a high school student, knew that Abraham Lincoln ended slavery in America and was a American hero, but doing this paper opened me up to the biggest transition in American History, the ending of slavery. In History 10 we learned about the Emancipation Proclamation and Abraham Lincoln, this topic stood out to me and made me want to learn more. With all of Abraham Lincoln's accomplishments, how did the Emancipation Proclamation affect his legacy as president?

Monday, February 2, 2015

Prince Among Slaves

http://princeamongslaves.org/about/film

The African Prince 
Abdul Rahman's started out his life as an African prince. Was well educated by knowing 5 languages and having experience with growing and cultivating cotton. His tribe in Africa had a unified government and a Constitution. Abdul Rahman was not just a idiot worker, he was a educated leader.
 
Past Princes Decline
Prince Abdul Rahman was taken on a slave ship to America to become a slave. The Prince from Futa Jallon was taken and no longer a Prince, but a piece of property. Abdul lost his long hair that gave him dignity, which makes him a normal slave instead of a Prince.
 
Long Lost Friend
Prince Abdul Rahman saved a man who was stranded at sea and took care of him at the tribe. This man is named John Cox, a surgeon who serves on a slave vessel. Cox and Abdul meet in American. For Abduls kind gesture in the past John Cox tries to buy Rahman's freedom but is not successful.
 
Real Freedom?
Abdul Rahman is granted freedom from Mr. Foster but is not granted freedom in the United States. But the American Colonization Society, who helps spread Christianity and help free blacks back to Africa, got Abdul back to Africa with his wife, but the freedom of his children aren't sealed. Only 2 children get their freedom by the time of Abdul Rahman's death.

Monday, December 15, 2014

King of Democracy or King Andrew I?

Andrew Jackson, a hero or a villain? Andrew Jackson is one of the most controversial presidents in United States history! He was one of the great presidents for one and one of the worst for others. He acted and was called the “King of Democracy” for some and “King Andrew I” for others.
    Andrew Jefferson was the 7th president of the United States. He was born in Waxhaws North Carolina and grew up his entire life in the South. In his life as a Southerner he owned over 100 of slaves so his appeal in the North is not very high. Jackson says he runs a democracy of the people as he owns hundreds of living humans. So the whites who have their rights think his is the king of democracy and others think he is the a king, as in African Americans.
    Andrew Jackson was a hero for people, especially his supporters and friends. When the word patronage is said one of the automatic thoughts is Andrew Jackson. Andrew Jackson gave his democratic followers jobs in the government after he won his election. Instead of letting the job be open for everyone he gave them to his friends and supporters. A good example for Andrew Jacksons patronage system is when he gave a government job to an ex-convict, but a good friend of Jackson, and was accepted for a job in government. Of course the ex-convict stole millions of dollars and everyone knew he only got the job because he was Jacksons friend.
    Another defect in Jackson's presidential reign is the role he played in Indian Removal. The Cherokees owned the land around Georgia and the American people want it. Even though the Supreme Court said the Indians legally own the land, Jackson would not take “no” for an answer. Ignoring the highest court in the land, Jackson went into the Cherokee land and kicked them out, sending them on the “Trail of Tears” to today Oklahoma. So he is not viewed as a king for the Indians but more as a devil.
    So who is Andrew Jackson, “King of Democracy” of “King Andrew I”? He gave no rights to women or African Americans, gave jobs to supporters before others, and kicked the Indians out of their rightful land. The only thing supporting Jackson is the fact he gave every right to the white males, which made up most of America at the time. So most of America saw him as a “King of Democracy but mostly he acted as “King Andrew I”.


Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Revolutions of 1830 and 1848, failures or not?

           Their were revolutions everywhere in Europe for 1830 through 1848, such as in France, Poland, and Hungary. To represent these revolutions the class had to make a video presentation of the revolution that was assigned, me and my group had to do Hungary. The Hungarian Revolution was in 1848 and showed how even though that revolution failed, it lead to greater democracy for the country.
           The revolution of Poland in 1830 was a good example of a revolution that failed but lead to a greater democracy later. The Polish fought for freedom from Russia in 1830 and to riot the Poles used violence to threaten and kill the Russians. In the end the Russian army was to strong and stopped all attacks from the Poles. But this riot showed how that the Polish will go as far as murder to get their independence, inspiring future Polish to get freedom.
           The revolution of France in 1830 was a little different, the French successfully revolted against Charles X who restricted right to vote. This revolution was lead by Louis Philippe and was successful by having Charles X fleeing to England leaving Louis Philippe in power and wrote constitution for a new France.
            Louis Philippe wasn't the ruler the people in France were looking for. In 1848 Louis Philippe was starting to become like Charles X with decreased voting rights, but on top of that the economy of France was doing bad and everyone blamed Louis Philippe. After revolts Louis Philippe stepped down as leader and a democracy was almost formed with Louis Napoleon being voted in as president. But he started to rule like emperor making the revolution of 1848 a failure. But the French saw a future in the democracy and will fight till it happens!


The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. "Revolutions of 1848 (European History)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica. Web. 25 Nov. 2014. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/181144/Revolutions-of-1848>.

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Marx or Smith

In class on Friday we used some tasty Hershey kisses to play a game of rock, paper, scissor, shoot to either get or lose a Hershey kiss. But the catch was that some people started out with 10 Hershey kisses while everyone else started out with 3. This activity was fun in the fact that we got to play a beloved game while having chocolate at the same time. But the frustrating part was when you lost all your candy so fast compared to the people with 10 who never lost all their candy, very annoying! But the point of this activity was to represent how the theory of Capitalism, Socialism, Communism affected peoples wealth.

Karl Marx is the creature of the idea of Capitalism, Socialism, and Communism. These ideas make it so the poor are helped in a society. In Capitalism the government gives the economy a right of competition so in this case if your business does good your rich or if your business does bad if your poor. So this idea either makes the poor rich or makes the poor ever poorer. In Socialism the government gets involved and distributes all the candy among everyone in the economy, so everybody is equal in wealth. That idea helps the poor but not so much the rich. After the idea of socialism is achieved then it is time for communism. This is when the government leaves the economy in the equal state that it is and lets the people run the economy until it becomes not equal. Adam Smith had the opposite idea that Karl Marx had, he had the invisible hand idea in which the government would let the business' run the economy. Freedom of competition, freedom of ownership and wealthiness. When this is achieved Smith believes that the people would work it out. So the poor get to try and make a living plus the business' in competition will keep lowering prices so people buy their product, cheaper for the poor.

The theory that is the best in my opinion is the Invisible Hand. Not just because communism was practically a dictatorship in the Soviet Union and China. But because if the government runs the economy their will definitely be someone who does not agree with the government and start a riot. But in the invisible hand the people get to run the economy so everyone will be happy if the economy runs smoothly. That is why I agree with Adam Smith.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

The New Slavery?

In class today we discussed child labor today around the world. The assignment was to read about 7 articles and then ask yourself "Would you or would you not buy a product made by child labor?" Then as a class we discussed our ideas for child labor. One point that I had was that the children don't care about their health when they see the paycheck that they will get. Another point that I made was why did the adults have to be so tough to kids that do wrong in the workplace, like when a girl got her hair cut off in the 1800's and now how there is child prostitution. Also a point I made was that there is child labor in America still on the farms because the farmers don't see it as a bad thing, that's how the farmers grew up and they did just fine.

I wasn't the only one who brought up great points, so did all my classmates. One good point made was how maybe child labor was a good thing in the eyes of their parents, teaches the kids how to deal with money plus it gives the kids maturity to do things on there own. Another great point made was the fact that if my family really needed money then they would go into child labor. Even though it is living hell it would be worth it to help the family. Lastly the point that stuck in my head the most was the point that our wants for the products made will make us Americans look away from the fact a child laborer made this product.

Our group did well in the fact that the conversations kept rolling and never really had a point of silence. Even though we got some help by Ms. Gleason by always asking new questions we did a pretty good job in the conversation. Also the group was good in answering every part of a question, every opinion and view of the question. That is how this weeks Socratic seminar went.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Male and Female Textile Workers in Lowell, MA



Lowell was one of the first places to have a Textile mill and here are stats about the type of people that worked there. The amount of girls in the textile mills blows the amount of guys who work there by a huge amount! The difference in 10 years is a way higher amount for women than men, the amount of females working at the mill grew by 1400 females in just 10 years an for men the amount only grows by 900. I see the people running the mills didn't see a decrease of production with women working so they kept the idea of mostly women working in the textiles throughout this 24 year period. Every statistical year there is about 4000 more women then men working in the textiles. This means that women were not doing a bad job in the textiles and that it could make for plenty of jobs for women. That is the ideas that I got from looking at the data in this graph.