Buffalo Soldiers

This week in honors history 10 class we learned about buffalo soldiers. The essential question was did the government have good intentions when enacting policies for westward expansion? In what ways did these policies impact the natives and buffalo soldiers? In order to answer the essential question we watched videos in class. After we watched the videos we read and analyzed documents. As a class we came up with the essential question.

Buffalo soldiers are defined as African American soldiers who were in union army cavalry, and stayed in the military as career soldiers; interacted with native Americans. The government took part when enacting policies for westward expansion.Although the government provided food, clothing, shelter, uniform, steady job not as a sharecropper I did not think that their intentions were good.I did not think that the government’s intentions were good because they didn’t care about the soldiers. In the Helen Hunt Jackson document on edline states "receiving nothing from the Government except interest on their own moneys, or annuities granted them in consideration of the cession of their lands to the United States." This quote shows that the government did not have good intentions when enacting policies for westward expansion because the government doesn’t care about anything but money. Out of the many tribes and the buffalo soldiers all of them have suffered cruelly from these policies. The Helen Hunt Jackson document also states “The poorer, the more insignificant, the more helpless the band, the more certain the cruelty and outrage to which they have been subjected.” This quote shows that not only did the government have bad intentions but how the policies affected the natives and the buffalo soldiers.

(This is a video we watched in class 

about buffalo soldiers)

The natives and buffalo soldiers were affected greatly to the new policies that took part. I think that the government’s intentions were wrong when enacting these policies. I thought this because the government did not care about the soldiers and what they were doing they only cared about the money. Although the soldiers got food,shelter, uniform, and a steady job other than a sharecropper they got treated very cruelly.  

Two Great Men

In honors History 10 class this week we learned about Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller. To learn about these two men we watched videos as a class and in groups we read and analyzed documents. Each group had one topic to focus on, the topics were main ideas,key people, important events, and essential terms. With all of this information about Carnegie and Rockefeller as a class we came up with an essential question. The essential question is, Should Andrew Carnegie and John D Rockefeller be classified as a robber barons or captains of industry?

(Andrew Carnegie)

A robber baron is defined as someone who exploited workers and forced horrible working conditions and unfair labor practices upon the laborer. Captain's of industry were defined as leaders that were praised for all the great things they did and were skilled workers. I think the Andrew Carnegie and John D Rockefeller should be classified as captains of industry. Carnegie should be classified as a captain of industry because he cared about the people. He showed he wanted to do something good for the people by spending an excess amount of money on public needs and education. He also believed in rewarding workers for what they do and recognized them for their hard work and talent. I'm the document it states "He believed in rewarding talent and frequently promoted exceptional workers into the ranks of management." John D. Rockefeller is also considered a captain of industry. He is defined as a captain of industry because he gave all of his earnings back to the community. In the document we analyized about him in class it states "He gave money to Spelman College in Georgia to educate African-American women and founded the University of Chicago (ultimately giving it $80 million)." This shows that Rockefeller was not greedy and wanted to really help the community when needed. 

(John D Rockefeller) 

These two men have their flaws, but for the most part they were captains of industry. Someone in our world today that would be considered a captain of industry would be whoever came up with the company "Toms". The guy who came up with the idea of "Toms" would be considered a captain of industry because he produces shoes but every pair of shoes purchased proceeds go towards less fortunate kids in Africa. Rockefeller and Carnegie are two amazing men that should be considered captains of industry because they helped the community the best they could. 

 

 "John D. Rockefeller | Biography - American Industrialist." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. 1884. Accessed June 5, 2015. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/506239/John-D-Rockefeller.

  "Carnegie Library of Davidson College." Carnegie Library of Davidson College. Accessed June 5, 2015.