LAST BLOG POST!

Our last lesson of the year we studied Buffalo Soldiers and Native Americans and how their lives were impacted by the government. The class came up with an essential question, “Were federal policies towards Native Americans and Buffalo Soldiers intentionally discriminatory or well intentioned?” To come up with this essential question my class watched various videos and read numerous documents trying to understand the topics. We were split into small groups and each assigned a different topic, my topic was Key Terms. While watching the videos and reading the documents we took notes on our topic that we would then help  use the information to answer the essential question.

Buffalo Soldiers were African American Cavalry Soldiers. We watched ABC Clio videos to learn the background of the topic. The Buffalo Soldiers served in the Spanish and Indian wars. African Americans were put into Cavalry troops in the late 19th century. The Buffalo Soldiers experienced many challenges. The Buffalo Soldiers were discriminated against, and many fights broke out  between the soldiers and citizens. Although the government established a few laws and acts that helped the Buffalo Soldiers they also created some that were intentionally discriminatory. For instance the government gave Buffalo Soldiers the jobs that all white soldiers would not want to do. On the other hand the government typically treated the Native Americans nicely.

Picture of Buffalo Soldiers

The Native Americans lived out in the West peacefully, with little to no white interference. We read an article about the Native Americans and Buffalo Soldiers. The article helped give us a better understanding of the topics. In 1830 the Indian Removal Act was passed by Andrew Jackson. The Indian Removal act relocated many Native tribes  to the west of the Mississippi River. It was claimed that the act passed was to benefit the Native Americans as well as the whites. However, once the government discovered there was a gold on Native territory the government no longer was nice to the native but instead became very violent. Fights broke out that resulted in casualties. The government used war techniques to wipe out the tribes. The government removed the buffalo in the surrounding areas, which limited the food and clothing supply. The Native Americans were then forced to move to new territory. The government's acts show that it was intentional discrimination. The government also forced Native American child into schools. The government thought that this was beneficially to the Native Americans for educating their children but in a way it took away their children's teaching of the culture.

Picture of Native Americans

I enjoyed learning about this unit however some of the things we learned were quite brutal. Although the government's intentions started off being well they turned into being discriminatory toward the buffalo soldiers and Native Americans. This is still seen in life today, where the government tries make sure everyone is equal but yet there are still many cases where they are discriminatory against certain races and religions.

 

Double Duo

This lesson was one of three lessons that we will be studying over the next few weeks. We split up into groups and divided the documents, and analyzed them to create forty multiple choice questions that we will use in our finals. This lesson mainly focused on Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, and their effects on industrial growth, and common workers after the Civil War.  The class gathered in a large circle and discussed the essential question for this lesson. The essential question that we came up with is, “how did the actions of monopolistic leaders, such as Rockefeller and Carnegie, affect the common worker?” A monopolistic leader is one who has control over a corporation. Once we created the essential question we split up into four groups, each group was assigned a different topic. My topic was key people. We then gathered again as a class  and watched videos on ABC Clio and took notes. After completing the notes we could answer the essential question.

Andrew Carnegie affected the common workers in both positive and negative way. To learn about Carnegie and who he is we read the Andrew Carnegie Bio. Carnegie use to be poor and worked his way up to  become a very wealthy man. Carnegie was in the U.S steel industry.  Carnegie used vertical integration which is a supply chain that was controlled by the company. He was able to control raw materials, transportation, and distribution within the steel industry. Carnegie donated millions of dollars to education, science, and medicine. He shared his wealth by donating to libraries and charities he believed in as well. Although Carnegie had a positive impact on the common worker he also had a negative one. In 1892 there was a homestead strike, which revealed Carnegie's plan to destroy the steel and iron working union. The workers were outraged and many articles were written about him. The articles bashed Carnegie and his reputation, saying he was a coward and pitiful. The homestead strike showed Carnegie's negative impact on the common worker. In ways John D. Rockefeller was much like Carnegie.

Picture of Andrew Carnegie

John D. Rockefeller was the cofounder of the Standard Oil Company. Rockefeller was an entrepreneur, and bought out his rival oil companies. Rockefeller would raise and lower the pricing in his company forcing the surrounding companies to not be able to compete, and then Rockafeller would buy the fallen company out. Although this was a good business move for Rockefeller he was be criticized by the common workers. During this time Rockefeller was being accused as greedy and lost respect from the common workers. He negatively impacted the common workers that worked at surrounding oil companies because he put them out of business however Rockefeller also had a positive impact. We in learned in the document, John D. Rockefeller Biography, that Rockefeller donated millions of dollars to education, science, and medicine much like Carnegie.

Picture of John D. Rockefeller

Both Carnegie and Rockefeller affected the common worker in a positive way. The sources that we received in class helped us learn this lesson in the most efficient way, allowing us the ability to create the final questions. I enjoyed learning about Rockefeller and Carnegie in this lesson and how they had a big impact on the common worker.

Above Or Below

The lesson this week was called, “Freedom from Above and Below. The essential question for the lesson is, “Who gave freedom to enslaved Americans? Did freedom come from above or below? To what extent were Abraham Lincoln actions influenced by the actions of the enslaved Americans?” To start this lesson off we did an activity in class where we had to screenshot a picture titled, “Freedom to Slaves.” We then used an app, Skitch, to insert text boxes and tried to interpret what the each person was saying in the picture. Afterwards we talked about the social pyramid during the beginning of the Civil War.The class came up with the ‘freedom from above’ is freedom that has been given to enslaved people in a high social standing, whereas ‘freedom from below’ is the same social ranking helped each other gain freedom. Our teacher then split us in small group as we discussed one of the four Lincoln Documents and looking for specific information. To finish the lesson we took notes on the thirteenth amendment and the formal announcement of abolishing slavery.

Freedom from above, meant the enslaved people gained their freedom from higher ranking officials. This image is showing Lincoln freeing a family of slaves, and them thanking him looking up at him as if he was better than them. This freedom would be from above because Lincoln has a higher rank. In the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln states that he considers all men to be free including slaves. The Emancipation Proclamation is an example of the freedom from above, because Lincoln declared all slaves to be free. Another example of freedom from above is an excerpt from President Abraham Lincoln’s Reply to an Open Letter from Horace Greeley, New York Tribune, 1862. Lincoln stated, “ I intend no modification of my oft- expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free.” Lincoln wanted all men to be free, if that was going to save the Union. The thirteenth amendment was passed after the civil and approved by Lincoln. This amendment made the Emancipation proclamation permanent. Lincoln gave freedom from above to the enslaved people.

Freedom from below, meant people in the same social ranking helped each other gain freedom. During class we watched a video of fugitive slaves and how they had an influence on the government. Fugitive slaves kept bothering the generals and their armies, forcing them to take action. The generals wrote letters to the government asking what they should do about the slaves. In Lincoln's Second inaugural Address, he says, “ these slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. all knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war.”  The picture below depicts a man rising his had and gaining freedom. This is an example of freedom from below because the man raising his hand is showing his freedom and we can infer that the man on the ground is helping him gain that freedom. Slaves gained their freedom from within and taking control.

Freedom from above and below are noticed in slavery, and the concepts  are still seen in society today. In Maryland there has been an outbreak, about the police force that has caused Baltimore to break out in riots. The citizens are angry with the police force and are displaying freedom from below, they are helping eachother to get what they believe in. The freedom from below is working because they have got the attention from the government. This makes the Government investigate the problem and think about what they can do to change it.

One Battle out of Twenty

This week our class learned about the twenty different battles during the Civil War through an interactive scavenger hunt. The two essential questions for this lesson were ,who was the ultimate victor in each of the theaters of war: East, West, Naval? and, what are some commonalities you can identify in the reasons for the results of the battles? We started the lesson by each getting assigned one battle out of the twenty. The battle I was assigned was Battle of Vicksburg.

 

 

An Image of my battle, Battle of Vicksburg

 

 

After being assigned our battle we had to research them and find reliable sources that would help give the battle name, location and date of battle, the victor of the battle, west,east or naval theater, and two bullets that helped explain the reason for the battle. We put all our information onto a google doc and then created a shareable link and bitly to make a QR code reader for the rest of the class to to scan into. We then collaborated with other students and placed each battle in a different spot of the school. We then ran around the school scanning in and learning about each different battle. After finishing the scavenger hunt, our class created a padlet page. Each student had to write two posts on the padlet trying to explain who was the “ultimate” victor in each theater and if the ultimate victor was winning the whole time.

After learning about each battle it was clear that the Union army dominated the western and naval theater where as the Confederacy dominated the eastern theater mostly. The Union surrounded the Confederacy and had ships ready which helped them win many battles. For example some of the battle the Union won were Battle of Fort Henry and Battle of Shiloh and Battle of Vicksburg. In some of these battles the Unions bombarded the Confederacy until they surrendered because of casualties. The Confederacy dominated in the east theater and had victories such as Battle of Fort Sumter, and battle of Chancellorsville.  

I really enjoyed this lesson. I thought the Scavenger hunt was a creative and fun way to learn the lesson. It was fun searching about the different battles and creating the QR reader. Sometimes it was hard to connect to the wifi while running around the school, but once it connected it was no problem.

Viewing History

In class we learned about the Election of 1860. The essential question for this lesson was, “How were the results of the Election of 1860 representative of the deep division over slavery?” To start of the lesson we watched a Crash Course video by John Green. The video helped the class understand the overall topic. After we watched the video we viewed a map that showed the states and the candidates they voted for. The map showed Lincoln having more votes in the North votes and Breckenridge having the majority votes in the South. This was no surprise because Lincoln was a republican wanted to abolish slavery whereas down south where they valued slavery, and voted for Breckenridge who is democratic and pro slavery. The South relied on slavery to keep their economy going, and wanted someone in office that would guarantee that slavery would stay. The in between states voted for candidates like Bell who was for the Union but did not want to abolish slavery. This map helped display the division of states. The northern states mostly voted for anti slavery candidates and the southern states mostly voted for pro slavery candidates. Afterwards, we read an article called, The Civil War in Art. The article explained the events of the Civil war depicted through pictures. Our class split up into little groups and captioned each photo. We then later went on and found three more pictures and captioned those as well. Each group created a video in Educreations of how the pictures helped tell the story of the Civil War.

https://www.educreations.com/lesson/view/events-leading-up-to-the-civil-war/30080253/?ref=app

The Statistics that created the Civil War

In class we took notes about the statistics and strategies used by the North and South during the Civil War. The essential question for this lesson was, “How did the differences between the North and South affect each regions strategy and success in the Civil War?” Our teacher had us all make our own infographics on the information we found on various sources. I used a website called infogram to create my infographic. The point of the assignment was to display the disadvantages and advantages the North and South had on each other during the Civil War. In my infographic i included data about population, railroad mileage, slave population, factories, industrial workers, cotton production and war strategies. I included population and railroads in my infographic because I think it best represents the advantage the North had over the South. The north had more than two times as much population than the South, this gave North an advantage because they had more people to fight during the war and help manufacture products that could be used in war. I chose to include the railroads because it represented an advantage of the North as well. The North had more railroads than the South allowing the North to be able to transport troops, food, and supplies faster than the South. I included the slave population in my infogram because it shows how much the South valued slaves compared to the North. I also included the cotton production because the South relied on it to help their economy. I then added information on the war strategies between the North and the South. I enjoyed using an infographic to represent the data from both North and South. It was a fun easy way to display the data and it made it much easier to understand the topic that we were learning.

The fight between north and south | Create infographics

Avoiding the Subject

“The Elephant in the Room,” it is a metaphorical phrase that people use when they are trying to avoid a problem everyone is aware, instead they discuss little problems. The name of this lesson was called, “the elephant in the room,” and the essential question was, “How we know the debate over slavery was the “elephant in the room” for American politics in the early 19th century?” In class we worked in groups of three to create a timeline that discussed many events. We first took notes on the Missouri Compromise. The missouri compromise took place in 1820, and it stated that there would be an even split of 11 slaves states and 11 free states.  After the Missouri Compromise, we learned about the Gold Rush in California in 1849. California wanted to be declared a free state, but weren't allowed because it would mess up the even split.

These are images of my groups timeline.

Afterwards we read an article named, “The Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act.” This article helped establish the five parts of the Compromise. The first part of the Compromise was, Texas would be given 10 million dollars to pay their debt to Mexico. Secondly, the territories of nevada, new Mexico, Arizona, and Utah would be organized without mention of slavery. These territories apply for statehood and they get to decide if they are a free state or not. Third, in Washington D.C the slave trade was abolished in District of Columbia, but slavery could still be permitted. Fourth,  California would become a free state. Fifth, the fugitive slave act was passed which required  citizens to notify the officials if  they knew a fugitive slaves.

Next we learned about the Gadsden Purchase in 1853, the US paid 15 million dollars for all of Nevada, California, Utah and more of Arizona and New Mexico in the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

We then learned about the Kansas- Nebraska Act of 1854. During the Kansas Nebraska Act people were voting for either a free state or a slave state. The Kansas-Nebraska Act led to Bleeding Kansas in 1856. Kansas was being determined by the people to become a slave state or free state. The word of this news got out and people from both anti and pro slavery swarmed Kansas trying to vote. This resulted in a riot between both anti and pro slavery. Many died fighting for what they believed in during this act. The Dred Scott Decision in 1857 came after the Bleeding Kansas Act. Dred Scott was an enslaved man living in Missouri. He fired a lawsuit against his master, he fought that he was a free man because he was once a former resident with his master in a free state. We read an article that helped explain the outcome of the Dred Scott decision. It resulted in slaves not being able to have a fair trial, all territories were permitted slavery and slaves could not win freedom.

Afterwards we learned about the Lincoln-Douglas debate. Douglas and Lincoln did not agree, Douglas was pro slavery and wanted all white to have the opportunity to choose their government. Lincoln wanted to abolish slavery, and believed that everyone had equal rights. Lincoln tried to address the issue however douglas ended up winning the election.

Lastly we learned about John Brown's raid which took place in 1859. To learn more about what John Brown did we took out our textbooks and read that he led a group of men to attack the federal arsenal in Harpersferry, Virginia. He wanted to seize gunpowder and weapons and give them to slaves. He was later captured and killed. John Browns act didn't go unnoticed, there are many papers and songs written about him. We added all these events to our timeline. Slavery was considered the “Elephant in the Room,” no one wanted to address how slavery was a big issue but all the acts on the timeline was issued from slavery.

Slaverys Impact

This is an image of Frederick Douglas

Slavery has always been a controversial topic. In class we studied slavery in the late nineteenth century, and discussed how slavery has become entrenched in American society, economically and politically. The essential question for the lesson was, “How did slavery become entrenched in American society, both economically and politically, by the early 19th century?” To start the lesson my class read the Founders Constitution. The founders Constitution described the bans and restrictions on slavery. For example, “Article 4, Section 2, Clause 3: No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due.” This quote explains that if one slave were to escape, the consequence would be discharged to the owner of whom the slave belongs too. After we read the articles we watched a video about cotton gin, The video showed a man operating a cotton gin, the cotton gin was a machine that extracted seeds from cotton. The invention of the cotton gin made slavery more crucial. After the movie, we read an article called, “Cotton is King: Slavery is Entrenched in American Society.” People believed slavery was abolished in the 18th century because many slaves escaped during the revolutions. Slavery was on a decline but the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney made the importance of slaves incline drastically. The cotton gin required a demand for slaves, because the cotton gin can work faster so more slaves were needed to pick the cotton. Our teacher had our class complete an online activity called, The Spread of Cotton and Slavery. This activity helped show us the astounding facts about how the population of slavery and slaves grew over time. In 1790, the total slave population in the U.S was 690,000 slaves, most of the slaves were located in the Chesapeake and Carolina areas.  By 1810, the population of slaves boomed and was  now 1,191,000. Slavery became economically entrenched because the cotton gin required more slaves to pick and help the production of cotton. Slavery was entrenched politically because in the 19th century slaves worked long days on the plantations.

The next lesson we discussed in class was the mortality of slavery. the essential question for this lesson was, “How does a system of slavery based on race affect human dignity? What human characteristics does such a system tend to ignore?” The first activity we did in class was split up into groups and read an article you were assigned. There were three articles on, Frederick Douglas, George Fitzhugh, and John Brown. My group was assigned Frederick Douglas. Frederick Douglas escaped slavery and became an abolitionist. He made a speech on July 5, 1852 stating that people should not be celebrating the country’s freedom if not everyone is free. We then read an article called “Futa Jallon to Antebellum Mississppi”  Slavery in Futa Jallon was much different than slavery in Mississippi. In Africa slavery was based off of religion, if you weren't a muslim you would become a slave, whereas in Mississippi slavery was based off of race. In Futa Jallon, slaves could own property and slaves were considered free if one of your parents was. In Mississippi it was a much different story. Slaves could not own property, they had to work on plantations and had many restrictions. We watched a very fascinating video in class called “ Prince Among Slaves.” The movie was about a young prince in Futa Jallon named, Abdul Rahman. He was returning from battle when he was captured by African slave traders and was sold. The movie talks about how Abduls life changed drastically and how he fought for his freedom. People looked over slaves as if they weren't human too, slaves fought for their freedom and earned the respect of many.

Gender Equality

In mid-nineteenth century America, women did not have equality. Women were taken for granted and viewed as inferior to the man. Women were stereotyped by society to be stay at home mothers, that were in the shadows of their husband. In class, we viewed an image called “The Sphere of Women.” The image depicts a woman holding her baby whil

Sphere of Women

e she looks on her other children who are reading a book. The baby and the book are put in the image to represent it was the woman's job to take care of the children and to educate them. Also in the image there is a broken kite, the kite is there to depict that the women is there to help mend the broken things. This image demonstrates all the responsibilities the women were expected to do in the mid-nineteenth century. The Rights of Women: Law and Practices it states the laws and conditions that restricted women during this time period. Many laws state the difficulties women had to overcome. For instance one law states, “Until 1839, women were not allowed to own property in any state in the United States.” Women were not allowed to own their own property, which demonstrates the male dominance during this time period. A practice that was stated was, “it was considered improper for women to speak in public.” Women became tired of being treated this way and became involved in the Seneca Falls Convention, which resulted in the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions. The declaration stated all the laws men had placed upon women and how they were resolved. The responses were both positive and negative. One article, the Oneida Whig article had a negative response. It states, “If our ladies will insist on voting and legislating, where, gentlemen, will be our dinners and elbows?” Men thought they were superior to women and this quote shows how women were not as equal to them. Not all responses were negative, the National Reform had many positive comments. The National Reform said that “their standard is now unfurled by their own hands. the convention of Seneca Falls has appealed to the country.” The mid-nineteenth century society reacted to the woman's demands for equality in many different ways. Some acknowledged that the women wanted gender equality while others still viewed women as less than them.

In the twenty-first century, I believe the society still reacts differently men and women. It has improved greatly since the nineteenth century, but society still reacts differently. Men are seen as more dominant than females. The men are known to be stronger, and paid more than females. In the Philippines Pantene Commercial, it shows how society views men and women differently. OUr society has made significant improvement in gender equality and their are still much more progress to be made.

Get Up and Fix It

“Dorothea Dix pleads for a state mental hospital.” Learn North Carolina. Org. http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-newnation/4748. 1/12/15.

If County Jails must be resorted to for security against the dangerous propensities of madmen, let such use of prison-rooms and dungeons be but temporary. It is not long since I noticed in a Newspaper, published near the borders or this State, the following paragraph: “It is our fate,” writes the Editor, “to be located opposite the County Jail, in which are now confined four miserable creatures bereft of the God-like attribute of reason: two of them females; and our feelings are daily excited by sounds of woe, that would harrow up the hardest soul. It is horrible that for the sake of a few thousand dollars the wailings of the wretched should be suffered to issue from the gloomy walls of our jails without pity and without relief. Were our law-makers doomed to listen for a single hour each day to the clanking of chains, and the piercing shrieks of these forlorn wretches, relief would surely follow, and the character of our State would be rescued from the foul blot that now dishonors it.” In nearly every jail in North Carolina, have the insane at different times, and in periods varying in duration, been grievous sufferers. In Halifax County, several years since, a maniac was confined in the jail; shut in the dungeon, and chained there. The jail was set on fire by other prisoners: the keeper, as he told me, heard frantic shrieks and cries of the madman, and “might have saved him as well as not, but his noise was a common thing he was used to it, and thought nothing out of the way was the case.” The alarm of fire was finally spread; the jailer hastened to the prison: it was now too late; every effort, (and no exertions were spared,) to save the agonized creature, was unavailing. He perished in agony, and amidst tortures no pen can describe.…

The author of this primary source is Dorothea Dix. Dorothea was born in 1802 and died in 1887. Dix was a social reformer who was devoted to the well being of the mentally ill which led to the widespread of prison reform. Dix is a sunday school teacher, that visited a prison and discovered the horrendous living conditions, especially for the mentally ill. Dix wrote this letter to the General Assembly of North Carolina to ask for a state mental Hospital for the protection and cure of the insane. She wanted to help the mentally ill, and believed that they will not be healed caged in prisons. Dorothea Dix is definitely believable and trustworthy source.

Dorothea Dix began traveling around the state to research the conditions in poor houses and prisons, and began documenting what she saw. This document was created when mentally ill patients were being put in prisons alongside criminals. The mentally ill were put into cages with no heat, and sometimes they were even chained to one another. Dorothea Dix wanted to do something about these conditions and she started the prison reform. The prison reform helped improve the conditions in prisons and in poorhouses, to make more livable conditions for patients. This document helps give a complete image of the event. In the document Dix explains how the guards didn't know the jail was set on fire even with the inmates clanking their chains and shrieking to let them out. The guards thought the noises were normal and by the time they knew the prison was on fire it was too late.

Dorothea Dix believed that the mentally ill could not receive the treatment they needed in prisons and they needed to be put into homes or hospitals where they would be helped. Dorothea Dix was trying to prove the point to the assembly, and reader, that all states should have a mental hospital for the mentally ill. You can learn a life lesson from Dorothea Dix, if you have a concern or problem for something get up and fix it.