Carnegie and Rockefeller

     The economy in America was starting to change beginning in the early 20th century. Large corporations began to take control of the economy, and the leaders of these corporations acted in ways that would not be tolerated in todays business world. In class, we learned about specific situations and people that took part in this drastic economic change. In multiple groups we researched either Carnegie or Rockefeller, we took notes on both these very successful business men. With this information we decided whether they were considered to be Captains of Industry or Robber barons.
     Both these men became extremely rich during this time since the steel and oil industry was booming like never before. Since Carnegie and Rockefeller were seen as powerful leaders in the business world, they were labeled either Captains of industry or robber barons. A Captain of industry is someone who is liked in the business world, and archives their success fairly. A Robber baron is someone who scams society instead of helping it like a Captain of industry. They carried out certain business practices that would result only in their own success.
     I believe that Andre Carnegie should be considered a Captain of industry. He became extremely rich from his great success in the steel industry. He showed his appreciation to society by spending part of his wealth on public needs. He also donated millions of dollars towards the advancement of education. With he own success, he wanted to grant success to his workers as well. He would regains specific talents his works had which would result in hi promoting them in ranks of management.

     John D Rockefeller was very different than Carnegie, and would be described as a Rubber baron. He would continue to keep production costs of oil down, which would result in rival companies going out of business. Like Carnegie, he did see the importance of advancing education and also donated millions towards this cause, but his love for wealth was very visible. He was considered to be "made for oil" and even bribed politicians in order to achieve more success towards himself and his company.

Freedom from Above or Below

     To begin this lesson, the whole class was divided into groups in order to analyze a specific document. After we reviewed the document assigned to us we had to find a cutie that represents the following categories; Goal of war, Position on freeing slaves, and Evidence of personal feelings towards slavery. My group had The Open Letter to Horace Greeley 1862, for the goal of war ur group chose the quote, "My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union and is not either to save or to destroy slavery." For position on free slaves we chose, "If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that." And lastly, for evidence of personal feelings towards slavery we chose, "What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union...I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free." After discussing our document with the class the other groups presented their documents and the quotes they chose to represent the three topics.

      After discussing our documents we watched a video on the effects of the Emancipation Proclamation. It is clear that the confederates had no European support through out the war because they themselves have already abolished slavery, so by supporting the Confederate army they would be supporting a policy  that they have already band in their own country. The Sothern’s responded to this document by coming to the conclusion that this war was officially about slavery, even though not one slave was freed after this proclamation. They also realize now that they won't be getting any European support through out the entire war. They responded by not freeing slaves, but instead knowing that they are now on their own. Overall, this proclamation gave the Civil War a more meaningful purpose.

      Lastly our group was given a new document to help us understand and answer the essential questions; "Who 'gave' freedom to enslaved Americans? Did freedom come from above or below? To what extent were Abraham Lincoln's actions influenced by the actions of enslaved Americans?" Our document was called, “Slaves from the plantation of Confederate President Jefferson Davis arrive at Chickasaw Bayou, Mississippi,” 1863. In this primary source, it shows slaves leaving the plantation and walking to the Chickasaw Bayou, but soldiers are there when they arrive. Since the former slaves are now considered to be free men, they are not sure what to do so they take action by bothering the Union army to the point were the Union needs to address the problem. I believe that this image is giving freedom from below because the slaves are making a nuisance of themselves so that the people above are forced to address the problem. They do this since they have absolutely noting to do, the North can't send them back into slavery.

      Along with this image and the after effects of the Civil War in general I do believe that freedom came from below. Even though the Union army fought a bloody war in order for the African Americans to obtain freedom, they were later forced to deal with the aftermath of these freed slaves, which shows how the freedom came from below.

Battle Scavenger Hunt

     During the Civil War battle scavenger hunt, each student picked a battle that they would later research. We chose our battle based on a short summary of what occurred during it instead of the name of the actual battle, we would then proceed to figure out what battle we had based on the brief description. After this was discovered, we were assigned to make an online poster displaying the following information about the battle; location, date, theater, and reason of how the battle ended. In order for our classmates to access this poster we made it on a sharable google doc, then created a QR code that would link back to that document. We printed out the QR codes and hung them around the school. We also included the location of where the following battle's information is within our poster. Once everyone made their poster each person hung theirs around the school, and the hunt to find information of the battles of the Civil War began!
     The battle I chose was The Battle of the Wilderness that occurred through the 5-7 of May in 1864. The battle was fought in the east, and their was no clear winner but many argue that this battle was a Union victory. The reason for this battle's results were the ferrous brutal fighting that took place in dark thick woods that both the Union and Confederate forces had to maneuver through. Another reason that some say the battle was inconclusive was the fact that generals from both armies were killed. General James S. Wadsworth and Alexander Hays of the Union army, and Confederate generals John M. Jones, Micah Jenkins, and Leroy A. Stafford were killed. After we completed the scavenger hunt activity, our class created a Padlet which combined all of our thoughts on the answer to the first essential question, this way we were able to collaborate our ideas in order to help us understand which army dominated each theater.

Below is a map of 

The Battle of the Wilderness that I included on my poster 

 

     Depending on whether a battle took place in the Eastern, Wester, or Naval theater related directly with water the battle was a Union or Confederate victory. In the Eastern theater it was clear that the Confederates dominated. In both cases of The Battle of Fort Sumter and The Battle of Fredsrickburg, the Confederates had both more men and supplies which gave them a clear advantage while fighting. The Western theater was dominated by The Union, the won multiple battles, for example The Battles of Shiloh, Chattanooga, and Vicksburg. The Union armies greatly outnumbered the Confederates in all three of these wars which lead them to success. Lastly, The Naval theater seemed to be dominated by The Union. For example in The battle of Fort Henry, The Union outnumbered the confederates, and also had more advanced supplies than them. Due to this the Confederates eventually surrendered.
 

Election of 1860

     The results of the Election of 1860 were representative to the deep divisions over slavery. Before the Civil War the U.S. was strictly divided by those who apposed and those who supported the issue of slavery. Below is a map that that displays the results of the Election of 1860. Those in the red supported Lincoln and his views that slavery should be contained. He knew that to abolish slavery completely would cause extreme reactions all over the U.S. so he wanted to contain it in the states where slavery already existed. Douglas which is shown by the dark blue color is a northern democrats and he believed in the expansion of slavery. Bell which is shown by the color pink, wanted to preserve the constitution and the union as it is. This means he supported slavery, since slavery was apart of the constitution. Lastly, Breckinridge who is shown on the map as light blue, is a southern democrat who believed there should be absolutely no limits of slavery.

     In class we created a video in small groups describing the events that lead up to the Election of 1860. We got all of the images and information about these events on a website called, Civil War in Art

Educreations Video

Elephant in the Room

     During the 19th century slavery was considered to be "the elephant in the room' meaning that everyone knew it was their, but nobody addressed the problem. There were two sides in this slavery debate, proslavery which was normally located in the south and antislavery which was normally located in the north. To learn more about this huge debate that separated the country in two, our class looked at many events that occurred during this time and constructed a timeline showing antislavery and proslavery events. After seeing the information displayed in the timeline, we saw how slavery truly was the elephant in the room since the U.S. addressed which states slavery is legal in and not the issue of slavery itself.

     The first event shown on the timeline that showed how slavery was "the elephant in the room" was the Compromise of 1850. California requests to join the Union as a free state, this request would put an end to the balance of free states and slaves so Henry Clay proposed a 5-part compromise. This compromise allowed California to be admitted as a free state, but also allowed the territories of New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah to be organized with out the mention of slavery. This means that the decision of whether or not these states would be free would be decided later by the inhabitants when that territory applies for statehood. The population will be allowed to vote inferior of slavery or against it.

     After the Gadsden Purchase was made in 1853, a southern transcontinental railroad was made. This make it easier to transport proslavery people from the south to these territories which slavery will later be decided when the territory applies for statehood. These people will populate these terrorizes and when it came time to vote for a free or lave state, the proslavery side would have an advantage. The reasoning for this purchase was that the land was extremely flat and easy to lay railroad track on.

     It is clear in both these events that the issue of slavery is extremely political. Antislavery activists are focusing more on getting states to be free states instead of working on abolishing the issue all together. These events help us see that the issue was never truly dressed which eventually lead to extreme violence between the Union and Confederacy.

   

Antebellum Slavery

Slavery became economically entrenched in American society by the early 19th century. Both proslavery and antislavery activists had strong arguments supporting their sides which made this controversy even more difficult. Slavery was a huge part of the south's economy, especially since the demand for cotton was increasing during this time. The higher the demand for cotton, the more slaves were needed to grow and harvest the cotton. Not only was the south dependent on slavery, but the north also benefited from slave labor because of their booming textile industry that needed cotton in order to make their products. Slavery continued to grow in the U.S. to the extent that almost 4 million slaves lived and worked in the U.S. during the Civil War.

A system of slavery based on race directly affects human dignity based on the simple assumption that one race is superior to another race. A system of slavery hides individual characteristics of a single human and combines all individuals of one race into a single stereotype. This system hides all talents and strengths certain people of a specific race have just because of the color of their skin. This system also ignores the pride and freedom of these individuals that are being enslaved. The second these people of a certain race are forced into slavery, they are no longer treated like the equal humans they are but instead not like humans at all.

Woman Reform

     Although there were many supporters for woman's demand for equality, the majority of society in the 19th century did not respond well to this demand. Woman were beginning to fight for the rights they knew they deserved in order to feel equal to their husbands. In the 19th century the job of a woman was to cook, clean, and take care of the children. Other than these tasks woman did not do much in their lives. When woman began to change this stereotype, reactions were not very supportive. The first known woman's rights convention took place in July 1848. Here not only men, but woman gathered in Seneca Falls, New York to discuss the moment they were beginning. The life of a woman during this time was truly unfair and needed to be changed. Society was telling woman they should get married, but if they did all their property and belongings would later be considered their  husbands. In both cases this was a lose lose situation that needed to be addressed and acted upon and that is exactly what woman's right activists were trying to do.

     Woman today are treated much more equally then they ever have been treated all throughout history. Woman and men have equal rights, but woman are still not always considered to be equals to men. In class we were shown a Pantene commercial that explains some different perspectives society has when woman and men carry out the same role. The part of the video that spoke the most to me was the scene where a man was up late working while his child was sleeping. In the background of the man, the word dedicated was displayed. The same scene appeared, but instead of a man it was a woman who was up late working. The word in the background of this scene was selfish. I though it was crazy how mothers who also work are considered to be selfish, the whole reason those woman are working is to support their families and provide a better life for them.
Pantene Commercial

Picture:
illustration from Godey's  Lady's Book, March  1850 Found at: http:// www.assumption.edu/ whw/workshop/ untitled1.html http://www.edline.net/files/_AIGmX_/90f5674f15c6c9f63745a49013852ec4/Activity_8_-_Lesson_Notes.pdf  acsessed, Febuary 2, 2015