Hello Mr.President

In honors history 10 class this week we studied Andrew Jackson. Andrew Jackson was known for being " the people's president". In order to learn about him we divided into six groups and their were three topics Indian removal, Bank war and the Spoils system. Every two groups got one topic and analyzed the documents to go with it. We then made presentations and shared them with the class. The essential question this week was is Andrew Jackson's long-standing reputation as "the people's president" deserved? why?why not? For certain topics his title was deserved but in others it was not.

My group had the Indian removal. What happened during the Indian removal was Jackson wanted the  Indian's to leave the land they were living on because white farm owners wanted to take over. Jackson wanted to keep the people safe so he set aside land in the west of Mississippi for them. Although this was nice of him the people did not like this because they wanted to continue to live on the land of their ancestors. This shows that Jackson should not deserve the title of "the people's president" because he had no consideration for the Indians and forced them to leave their land. 

The Bank war was when Jackson wanted to demolish the bank and all of their power. He thought the bank of the United States had too much power and wanted to change that. He wanted to change that by making the dollar have no value. The bank war shows that Jackson was "the people's president" because tried to even out the power between the rich and poor and wanted to just have one large bank. 

The last topic was the spoils system. The spoils system is when a political party gives government jobs to voters or supporters after an election victory also called rotation of office. Some negative effects were that jobs were given out based on loyalty and the ineffectiveness of the federal government. The letter of congress states that change is good and that sometimes just because someone is good at a job doesn't mean you can't change things up every once and awhile. This shows that Jackson should not get the title as "the people's president" because he only acted like "the people's president" to the people who liked him. 

It's All About Government

In honors history 10 class this week we started learning about democracy. To do this we got into groups and read through five documents. After we read them we took notes on them and and answered the essential question. The essential question this week was how should we define democracy? And how democratic was the United States in the early 1800s? To answer the essential question we put together a poster using the documents.

(These are multiple pictures of my groups poster)

We Are All Different

The essential question this week in honors history 10 class was why is it essential to acknowledge human value regardless of race and how are the events in the Latin American revolutions evidence of this social imperatives? These two questions are important to think about because people were  sometimes only known for their race not for what they actually had to offer. In order to study the impact of race on the Latin American revolutions for independence in class we formed three groups. In these groups we created a pie chart to show the percentages of each race in Latin America. After each group had either Mexico, Gran Colombia or Brazil and we created a timeline of events and then shared the information with each other.

My group had Gran Colombia.All of the three places had commonalities and differences. Two commonalities the groups all shared was they all took place during the same time period.Another commonality they all shared was they all declared independence in 1822. Although these countries had many commonalities they also had differences.Two differences they all had were that Brazil was the only peaceful country the other two were violent. Another difference is all of these revolutions took place in different countries.Race was an issue in all three of these countries although their revolutions took three different routes to independence. Race was a big issue in Gran Colombia because Simon Bolivar the ruler did not like discrimination happening in his country. In Mexico Miguel Hidalgo the priest had goal of racial equality in his country. He also launched the Mexican war of independence and issued the “Cry of Dolores”.In Brazil’s revolution Pedro, Brazil’s first emperor didn't do anything about race until later. Once Pedro was included in the rights of the constitution his goals for race were to have equality and freedom throughout all races.

(My groups timeline of Gran Colombia) 

I still think race is a big issue today but not as big as it used to be. Judgments are made in society all the time by people’s skin color. One example of race is when Martin Luther King Jr gave his I have a dream speech. People didn't respect him and what he had to say just because he was black. White people judged him before they even heard what he had to say. I think it is very important to consider race today because it still happens.

It Just Takes One Leader

It takes a certain type of person to be driven to point themselves and others in the right direction. This type of person is called a leader. Leaders are people who want to achieve success and command and organize groups to do so.  One person that was a great leader was George Washington. George Washington is remembered for being an amazing leader and  military commander for America. He was a good leader and military commander because he was the reason for America's success in the revolutionary war. He was also the first president to be elected in 1789 by the public and politicians.Despite the fact that George Washington owned slaves he was still a very a good leader. Just like George Washington, Toussaint Louverture is also remembered as a great leader.  Remembered means to think about something that happened in the past. Toussaint Louverture’s most important quality that he is remembered for is being a liberator of slaves but he also remembered for being a military commander and ruler of Saint Domingue.

Toussaint Louverture had many different qualities he is remembered for but the most important quality he has is being a liberator of slaves. Toussaint Louverture saw all men as equal and did not like how people owned slaves. When Toussaint became the ruler of saint Domingue he make sure to put slavery to stop on his land.”There cannot exist slaves in this territory, servitude is there in forever abolished. all men are born, live and die free and French (Doc C).” Toussaint Louverture wants the slaves to live a good life like everyone else. Toussaint  abolished forever in Saint Domingue.He writes his opinion in a letter to the French directory saying “Could men who have once enjoyed the benefits of liberty look on calmly while it is taken from them! (Doc B). ” What Toussaint is saying is that people could never become slaves calmly again. This evidence shows that Toussaint Louverture is remembered as a liberator of slaves because he was always protecting the slaves and had their best interest in mind.

The second most important quality Toussaint Louverture is remembered for is being a military commander.Toussaint Louverture is remembered for being a military commander because he was willing to fight. He took on the position to order people around in the revolt the broke out in the northern plain in 1801.”Toussaint ordered Moyse’s arrest and had him confined in the fort of Port de Paix(Doc E).” Although it was harsh of Toussaint to kill his nephew it showed everyone that Toussaint was a strong military commander and put all relationships aside. Many soldiers respected Toussaint for his characteristics. Some of his characteristics include “His race,his humanity, generosity, and courage (Doc F).” These traits show that Toussaint is remembered as a military commander because he treated his soldiers with respect and they did the same to him. Another reason why Toussaint is remembered for being a military commander for is for being smart and protecting his army during times of danger. “ Toussaint and his generals at once abandoned the towns, and betook themselves to the mountains (Doc F).” Revolutions are always known to be taken place in cities but Toussaint wanted his army to be safe so he took them to the mountains. He knew that if he did this the revolution would not destroy their city.This evidence shows that Toussaint Louverture is remembered as a military commander because he was always doing what was best for his army and protecting them.

The third most important quality Toussaint Louverture is remembered for is being a ruler of Saint Domingue. Toussaint Louverture is remembered for being a ruler of Saint Domingue because he set laws and was a leader of Saint Domingue. In Article 28 it states “ The constitution nominate citizen Toussaint- Louverture, Chief general of the army of Saint Domingue and...he is entrusted the direction thereof for the remainder of his glorious life (Doc C).” That means that he was well liked and had a lot of power in Saint Domingue. Another reason why Toussaint Louverture is remembered  for being a ruler of Saint Domingue is because he established punishments for being who did not follow the laws. One example of a situation of a crime would be “ Any manager or driver of a plantation upon which a foreign cultivator [field worker from another plantation] shall have taken refuge shall denounce him to the captain or commander of the section within 24 hours under penalty of one week in prison ( Doc D).” This shows that Toussaint Louverture was a very serious man when it came to punishments for slave owners. This evidence shows that Toussaint Louverture is remembered as a ruler of Saint Domingue because he had a lot of power of people and took his job seriously.

Although Toussaint Louverture is mainly known for being a liberator of slaves he is also a military commander and a ruler of Saint Domingue. He succeeded in abolishing slavery in Saint Domingue forever. He was also always willing to fight and had a strong army. Lastly he established punishments for slave owners and made laws. Toussaint Louverture accomplished a lot during his lifetime in Saint Domingue.

Bibliography:

(A) Document A, Timeline of Abolition in Saint Domingue, Created from various sources

(B) Document B, Toussaint Louverture, “Letter to the French Directory, November 1797.”

(C) Document C, The Saint Domingue Constitution of 1801. Signed by Toussaint Louverture in July 1801

(D) Document D, Toussaint Louverture, “Proclamation, 25 November 1801.”

(E) Document E, Madison Smartt Bell, Toussaint Louverture: A Biography, 2007

(F) Document F, William Wells Brown, “A Description of Toussaint Louverture,” from The Black Man, His Antecedents, His Genius, and His Achievements, 2nd edition. Engraving of Toussaint Louverture, 1802.

Not Everything in Life is a Success

The essential question this week in honors history 10 class was were the revolutions of 1830 and 1848 really failures as many historians have concluded?In order to answer this question we got into groups and  every group had a different revolution. Every group read about their revolution and created a survey monkey for  the class.

My group’s revolution was 1848 France. The revolution of 1848 France’s goals were to create a republic, find jobs for the unemployed, political reform, and social and economic change that will help the hungry workers and expand suffrage.France’s opponent was Louis philippe's government. Louis Philippe’s government was France’s opponent because he abdicated which meant he resigned the throne. During the revolution source two an excerpt from Les Miserables by Victor Hugo in 1862 tells us how violent things got and what people used as weapons. Victor says "The barricade of Saint Antoine made a weapon of everything; all that civil war can throw at the head of society came from it". This quote is saying that everything that was handy to people became a weapon during this war.  As an outcome Napoleon III was crowned emperor says source four  The Rise and Fall of the Second Empire, 1852-1871 by Alain Plessis.

Although many people think all of the revolutions that happened between 1830 and 1848 were complete failures they were not.One of the revolutions that was a success was the French revolution of 1848. This revolution was a success because the people received some of the things they had been hoping for. Also the middle class known as the bourgeoisie wins too because they got the national assembly they had be hoping for. They people got expanded suffrage and Louis Napoleon was their new leader.  Another revolution that was not a complete failure was the 1848 Hungarian Revolution. This revolution was a success for the most part because it was a very violent scene. It was violent because people including leaders fled and many were jailed and hurt or killed. The Hungarian Revolution Document tells us that this led to dissolve the diet "We dissolve the Diet by this our Decree; so that after the publication of our present Sovereign Rescript, the Diet has immediately to close its Session”. This was not a complete success but it was more of a success than the 1825 Decembrist Revolt was not. The Decembrist revolt was a complete failure because Tsar Alexander I had died and the  Tsar Nicholas took the throne and had complete power over Russia. He made it so no one could come in or Russia. This revolt lead to many people hurt,killed and in jail. Overall the Decembrist revolt was the biggest failure. I would have to disagree with the essential question because most of the revolutions were somewhat successes.

This is a picture of my groups survey monkey results. 

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/T9SGP5X

It's all About Balance

In honors history 10 class this week we learned about the congress of Vienna. We read documents, took notes, watched videos and talked with our peers about the congress of Vienna. When people’s power is threatened  they should try to make peace and form alliances. They should do this so people can see their good side and see that they aren’t an enemy for having a lot of power.

Nobody likes to have less power than anyone else. The balance of power made sure that countries have equal power. The balance of power reversed the changes Napoleon made during his conquest. Metternich was a very powerful ruler but he used his power to eliminate these threats. Metternich did this by becoming allies with Russia, Austria, Prussia,Britain and France.He strengthened all of these countries by dividing equal amounts of power to each of them. This made a huge impact on the congress of Vienna because it later attempts the  expansion of France.

(Metternich looking as if he has a lot of power)

Metternich. 2007. Images of German Statesmen: Bismarck & Metternich, n.p. Comp. Jeremy Lewis.

I think that the powerful people of congress made the right choice by giving each of those countries power. I think this because it shows that they aren't greedy. I don’t think their was another way to react. I think  when someone or a group of people have too much power they should give away some of it. I feel as if it is the right thing to do is share some of your power with others.

The Basis of Economics

In the 19th century there were three main ideologies. These three ideologies were liberalism,conservatism and Nationalism. They influenced social and political action by tradition, natural rights and bringing together nations with culture, language and history. In class we got into groups and every two groups had the same ideology. We all read a document that went with our ideology and then answered the essential question by making a one minute video. In end we all voted which videos were the best for each ideology.

My groups ideology was Nationalism. Nationalism is the coming together of a nation through culture,language and history. Our video was of two high school students talking to each other and one of them was teaching the other about nationalism. Nationalism influenced social and political action in the 19th century by uniting the Germans. The Germans were being forced to unite because they wanted to fulfill their historical role in bringing about the great progress of humanity.

(Screenshot of our video on nationalism)

Liberalism is when government promotes the people’s individual rights. Liberalism influenced social and political action in the 19th century by having a government that’s goal was the people’s natural rights and to also promote and protect those rights. Conservatism is when People go by tradition. Conservatism influenced social and political action in the 19th century by supporting monarchy and that traditions were organic solutions to social and political actions. The three ideologies are liberalism,conservatism and nationalism.

Change is Good

In honors history 10 class we are learning about Napoleon. Our activity last week was to watch a video about him. While watching this video we took note of all of the places he conquered. We also read a document about him, Madame de Stael and Marshal Michel Ney. We highlighted adjectives about each. Lastly we were given 12 facts about Napoleon and we had to say whether they effected France or the world. 

Napoleon made an impact on the social, economic and political systems of Europe. He did this by gaining lots of power worldwide, and 90% of Europe was under French control. Napoleon defeated many if not all countries. People would call him a hero but others would call him a tyrant. Napoleon Made an Impact on the social system in Europe because he made everyone equal. He got rid of nobility's powerfully and let people in France live a better life. Napoleon gave the people the rights to property and education which they didn't have before. Madam de Stael says "His system was to encroach daily upon France's liberty and Europe's Independence." Madam does not like Napoleon because he is making everyone equal and she likes having more power. Napoleon also impacted the economic system in Europe. He did this by expanding trade and building many roads and canals. This is what made his ruling so successful. Lastly Napoleon impacted political systems by making a new system of government called meritocracy. This meant that social class did not matter when it came to running in office. In The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1903: Phineas Camp says "Napoleon was great -- intellectually towering above the princes and monarchs of many generations....He had no rival in the tactics of war....His imagination was under the guidance of reason, whose intuitions were clear as morning light, and as rapid in their comprehensive action." This quote shows that Napoleon had a lot of power when it came to politics in Europe.

Overall without Napoleon the world would not be like it is today. Many people liked him and many did not. Napoleon made a difference in not only Europe but the world its self. He made an impact on the social, economic and political systems in Europe.

(This is Napoleon. From the picture you can tell he is very powerful and probably wealthy.)

Polansky, Iva. THE FIRST EMPIRE 1804-1814. no date. Blog, Paris. Victorian Paris. Web. 15 Oct. 2014.

If I was a Rich Girl

In class the other day we did an activity that taught us about Marx and Smith's theories. The activity was each student received chocolate, some more than others. With this chocolate we played rock,paper, scissors. If you lost you had to give the winner one of your chocolates and when all of your chocolates were gone you had to sit down. This showed capitalism. After she redistributed the chocolate , everyone got an equal amount. That is called communism. With these chocolates we decided what we were going to do with our chocolates.This is called socialism. The purpose of this lesson was to show that some people are richer than others. I thought this activity was fun and helped me better understand Marx and Smith's theories. I did not find the game frustrating because I ended up with lots of chocolates.

Both Marx and Smith had different theories for helping the poor. Marx's theory was to help the poor with capitalism, socialism and communism. capitalism means countries trade is controlled privately. Socialism means having a classless society due to the economic equality. Communism means their is no government needed. Marx made it possible for the poor to take money from the rich because they could not make their own money. Smith on the other hand still cared about the poor but his theory was a little different. His theory was called "the invisible hand". The invisible hand allowed people to buy what they wanted and gave the government no control of this. You could buy and sell with benefits and control the prices of items.

In my opinion Smith's theory is better. I like Smith's better because the poor cannot take money from the rich. If you wanted to buy something you could and sometimes it and benefits unlike Marx's theory.I think both theories are good solutions but Smith's is better because the rich people do not have to give their earnings to the poor.

                                                     (Adam Smith's "Invisible Hand")

         Ruccio F David. Invisible Hand . Picture. Occasional links & Commentary Blog. 21 March 2011. Web. 8 Oct 2014.

https://socialsciences.arts.unsw.edu.au/tsw/Marx.html

We all Want Something in Life

When you are a teenager it seems as if you have no freedom to do what you want. You are living under your parents roof so whatever they say goes. But sometimes if you really want something you can persuade them to say yes. This was the case of many young girls living when the mills first opened.

Girls were getting too old to just sit at home and do nothing,they must start working.Women, like Lucy the main character in the "Daughters of Free Men" video worked to help provide money for her family. That was not the only reason why Lucy went to the city to work. She went to the city to work to explore and see the world and to be independent.Everything has benefits and costs just like working on the mills did. In the "Mill Girls"video some benefits to working on the mills were getting paid, being independent, having more opportunities and living in the city. Some Costs of working on the mills were getting treated poorly,low pay,health risks, and you could not talk to men.  Women soon realized that they were working too hard to be treated like this. In the 1800's  Lucy and all of the other girls that worked on the mills boycotted and protested down the streets. As a result these companies hired new girls.

The girls that worked on the mills pictured their lives to be a whole lot different. Although they did gain independence and get to travel to the city their were many down sides to this.  The girls realized they had been working too hard to be treated like this and had enough.

(This is a drawing of a girl working on the mills making cloth)

Winslow Homer, illustration for William Cullen Bryant, “Song of the Sower”

We Don"t Just Learn From Textbooks

In Honors History 10 class the other day we did the MOSI Google chat. The MOSI Google chat allowed us to video chat with an expert on the mills, named Jamie. To prepare for this chat we read through the MOSI website and took notes on interesting things we noticed. In groups we then defined words that would help us better understand the chat.Lastly we came up with questions to ask Jamie.

Before the chat with Jamie I thought I knew a lot about the mills.Once hearing what Jamie had to say I learned so much more. These jobs were very dangerous therefore you wouldn't want one of your family members doing it. Factories bought orphans to do the work families wouldn't allow. One of the most dangerous jobs was given to children. Children would clean the machines. They would clean the machines while they were on and running. Many kids lost arms,hands and fingers while doing this job. There was  high amount of  dust and fiber in the factories which made people not be able to see. Even though a lot did change in this industry from the 1700s to the 1900s factories were not safe nor healthy. The living conditions were just as bad. Many people caught diseases from having to share a toilet with 100 or more people.

(This picture is of thread the workers would use in the factories to produce cloth)

Overall this chat taught me that the owners of the mills did not value their workers. I enjoyed this experience a lot but one thing I did not like was the poor internet connection. I know there's not much anyone can do about that but I think if we had a clearer connection we would have gotten more out of the chat.  I would definitely do this again because I felt as if they knew a lot of information that I couldn't have found on my own.

An advanced way of making a living

Behind every museum exhibit is the curator that made it. Every exhibit goes through the analysis process. This is an important part of curating a museum because we want the people looking at our exhibit to understand spinning wheels and power looms and how they became more industrialized. It shows that we, the curators know what we are talking about. Our exhibit contains several photos and written pieces. On the left side of our exhibit are pictures of the almond loom from 1771 and the spinning wheel from 1814. These two pieces show what spinning was like before wheels and looms were industrialized. We then have arrows pointing to the right side of the exhibit. These arrows are pointing to the industrialized spinning wheels and  looms. The spinning Jenny from 1835 and the power loom at the textile mill. We also incorporated a chart showing London's growth and quotes from a reading. My group and I came up with our exhibit title because we wanted to our visitors to see how spinning wheels and power looms have changed how people live their lives. To visitors visiting the exhibit I would want them to learn the the industrial revolution changed the way people lived. Before families would spin cotton in their homes and now they work in factories. 

Living in filth:

I learned how although producing products in factories was good for their industries they also harmed our earth. These factories resulted in a widespread of pollution in many cities. This lead to dirty waterways and overpopulated poor areas of living.

Broken Children:

I learned that Britain limited the amount of hours per day and per week people under the age of 18 could work.I also learned that children did a lot of the heavy work including having leather belts tied around them with a metal chain so that they could carry heavy loads 

More Cotton, More Slaves, Less Freedom:

I learned that the more demand their is for cotton the more slaves their will be.I also learned that cotton was traded in England to other places in 1850.

Thomas Takes Great Britain:

I learned that canals were used to bring goods to other communities. I also learned that transportation evolved in 1804 to 1853.

Making Life Easier

In Honors History 10 class the other day we used our devices to find out what was 'revolutionary' about the industrialization. To do this  we got into groups and read an article about the industrial revolution. Each group had a topic and they had to find information on some key facts.

The industrial revolution changed many if not all things. One thing that made the industrial revolution 'revolutionary' was technology. Technology was just starting to become more advanced. Iron was a big part of this improvement. Abraham Darby was able to produce a better quality iron for cheaper. He did this by using coal to smelt iron. With this new technology he was able to build railroads.The steam engine was also another new technology. The steam engine had two uses one was to use coal to pump water out of mines, the other was to power boats and locomotives by the stream. These new ways of technology let people have other jobs besides just farmers.

Another thing that made the industrial revolution 'revolutionary' was transportation. Their were two different types of transportation the steam locomotive, and the steam boat. The steam locomotive was a train powered by steam. It was very popular to the landlocked countries that could not get goods by sea.The steam boat was a boat powered by steam. Steam boats could carry 10 to 20 times the amount of goods on a wooden ship. Also steam boats travel above faster pace which enabled faster shipping.These two ways of transportation opened up more jobs and allowed more access to goods.

Kings of the River

Thomas, Margaret S. Kings of the River. Digital image. Briscoe Center for American History. Web. 8 Sept. 2014

 

Google Has The Answer to Everything

In Honors History 10 class the other day we put our Google search skills to the test. We had to dig through websites to find whether they were reliable or not. This class activity taught me how  to find reliable information and how to really Google  search.

One of the fun activities we did in class was A Google a Day. A Google a day is a website that asked questions and in order to find the answer we had to use Google.Google provided hints if you were having a hard time finding the answer. It even gave searchers tips and tricks on how to have a successful search. I found this activity to be very fun because I enjoy activities that give me determination to find the answer. One thing I learned from this experience that I didn't know before was if you type site: it will bring you to a specific website.

When looking at a website it must have three things accuracy, authenticity, and reliability. Accuracy is when information is correct and precise. Authenticity is when the information is legit. Reliability is when you can trust the information. One website that didn't contain these three things was The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus. This source is not reliable because the pictures and videos look fake. Also their are no other sources about the "tree octopus" and if it was real their would be more information about this animal. Also when I looked up the authors name it said he was an internet hoax, which means he is a joke and we shouldn't trust what he says on this website. Although some of the stuff he writes may seem true you can tell that this website should never be trusted. The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus could not be used in school as a source because the information is not accurate, authentic and reliable.

 (Google Offers Many App Options)

 Edelstine, Sam. Google Offers Many App Options. Digital image. School of Information Studies Syracuse University. Syracuse University, 3 Oct. 2013. Web. 7 Sept. 2014.

Do What You Love and Love What You Do

Hi, My name is Kathryn and i'm in 10th grade Honors History. I have been through many teachers in the past. Some have been great and others not so much. Teachers impact students lives greatly whether it's for better or for worse. Me being a student I look up to my teachers as role models.

Students are told throughout grade school to spend their lives doing something they love. If you have a passion for something you should do it, but if you don't then why are you wasting your time? Many kids struggle with getting the education they need and deserve because teachers have simply given up and don't care.  When someone, like a teacher loves kids and is passionate about their job it makes me the student want to come to school and continue learning. Good teachers are people who are willing to go out of their way to help their students because they love their job.They value their students and treat them with respect. One of my favorite middle school teachers was exactly this way. She got me to really love school by just having a smile on her face everyday. She bent over backwards to get students what they needed in order to succeed. She gave us freedom to be students and explore our learning styles.This year in Honors History my teacher can support me by always lending me a helping hand.

(Author unknown, Course Registration)

Photographer unknown. Course Registration. No date. Photograph. Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem North Carolina. 

 http://parents.wfu.edu/information-for-first-year-parents/course-registration/

A good education is a valuable thing that many kids in the world do not get to experience. In the video " An Open Letter to Students Returning to School" John Green talks about our duties as students. I agree with John Green that it's our duty as students to use the education we receive to do great things. We are handed this amazing opportunity to learn that others do not get. We should apply our knowledge the best we can in order to do great things. Everyone has goals in order to improve whether they are school related or not. Some of my goals for this year are to maintain no lower than C in any class, Participate more, and to be able to run three miles without stopping. To reach my school related goals I am going to not only work hard but study information every night and make sure I am on top of all of my assignments. For my athletic goal I will train and run everyday in order to reach my goal. With encouragement from others I am determined to reach my goals