Was Andrew Jackson Really That Great?

     In class we produced projects in groups in order to learn about president Andrew Jackson. Jackson was the 7th president of the US and served for 8 years from 1829 to 1837. He was known for being strongly against the Second National Bank and vetoed its charter. He thought that only rich people had a say in the bank since they, the stock holders were the ones who chose the directors of the bank. Since the the Second National Bank was the only bank in the US it controlled all international trading, he believed that this concentration of power wasn't good for the economy. He wanted to create a balance of power between the rich and the poor by creating smaller banks to avoid economic collapse and by doing this he is living up to his long standing reputation as "the people's president."
     This reputation isn't lived up to when it comes to the spoil system. Jackson elected voters who supported him to fill government positions. If people knew they had a chance of getting a position it would encourage them to vote a certain way. He wanted to shorten time in office; instead of having fewer people work for a long time who were good at their jobs he would rather a lot of people work for shorter amounts of time. It is clear the corruption can and will occur since people are being elected through loyalty and not by skill. He was also selfish and didn't listen to anyone who didn't support him.
     Lastly, this reputation is complelty destoyed when it comes to indian removal. Five tribes were forced off their home lands and were sent on a fatal march to their new, more concentrated land west of the Mississippi. More than 100,000 indians were moved from their homelands and had to adapt to a new environment and people they were complelty foreign to. This removal was to make room for more white settlements, since Jackson didn't think the indians and whites could live together. Over 10,00 indians died during this journey to their new land and death rituals were not allowed which made this journey even worse. They felt betrayed since indians have fought, and helped whites in the past. To the indians, Jackson is known as the white devil.

Our group's project was on the Bank War Prezi

Rise of Democracy

In class we examined documents that helped us answer the essential question; how should we define democracy, and also shows us how democratic the US was in the early 1800s. One of the sources was a painting that depicts men voting and discussing politics. These men are drunk and this shows how they aren't able to make clear decisions while voting. We also looked at two charts, one of those charts shows that over time more people were able to vote and not just white men who owned land. The other chart shows that over time the nation became more democratic since the president was voted for by the people rather than the legislature. With these documents our group made a video explaining them to further our knowledge.

Independence and Racial Equality

     During the early 1800s, many Latin American Revolutions occurred. The reason for these revolutions was independence and racial equality. In Latin America, your race would determine how high or low you ranked on the social class ladder. These ranks determined who you could marry, what clothes you could wear, and other ridiculous regulations. In class we discussed these irrational laws and how human value shouldn't matter by a person's ethnic background, but instead the type of person they are and what they are able to accomplish. To learn more about these revolutions, our class broke up into groups and read articles explaining the key events that happened during the revolutions in Mexico, Brazil, and Gran Colombia. Then our groups collaborated with other groups of different topics to further expand and share our information.

Time Line of Mexican Key Revoltutions:

• In the early 19th century- Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla "father of Mexican indepence" launched a rebellion where him and his army came close to capturing the Mexican capital. He was later captured and executed. His followers were against royalists. 
• In 1820- liberals took power in Spain, and the new government promised change in the government. Mexican conservatives called for independence 
• In early 1821- the leader of the royalists forces, Agustín de Iturbide negotiated the plan of Iguala which states that Mexico would be established as an independent constitutional monarchy, postition of the Catholic Church would be maintained, and Mexicans of Spanish decent descent would be regarded as equal to Spaniards. 
• On August 24, 1821- Spanish Viceroy Juan de O'Donojú signed the Treaty of Córdoba , this approves a plan to make Mexico an independent constitutional monarchy 
• In 1822- Iturbide was proclaimed the emperor of Mexico bc no Bourbon monarch to rule had been found. Empire was short lived 
• In 1823- republican leaders Santa Anna and Guadalaupe Victoria deposed Iturbide and set up a republic, with Guadalupe Victoria as it's first president 

     In the jigsaw, we discovered two commonalities between the three routes to independence. One of those being the fact that all of the "enemies" of the Latin American countries were European. Another commonality is that all of these revolutions occurred during the early 1800s. A difference we discovered is that all of these revolutions happened in different places. These revolutions were all different from one another, but all faced a similar challenge, race. In Mexico, Miguel Hidalgo y Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla had to face the racist royalists who took land away from the Indians and mestizos. In Brazil, mine workers revolted because they had to do tireless jobs just because of their ethnic background. And finally, in Gran Colombia, a new political pamphlet addressed to citizens suggests a united effort to expel the Spaniards.

     Even in our world today, racist stereotypes and judgments are constantly being thought and disccused in society. In the past few months I've heard of many news stories that has race as an issue. One of those being when Food Network's Paula Deen discriminated against African American people. This caused controversy which lead with her getting kicked off the Food Network. Personally, I do think it is still important to consider the issue of race in our lives today, since it still is a problem that needs to be abolished. 

"The Haitian Revolution." The Haitian Revolution. Web. 26 Nov. 2014. <http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/haitian-revolution.htm>.

Toussaint Louverture DBQ

To be a great leader, one must be able to rise above the rest in order to pave the way to sucess. Toussaint Louverture is considered to be a great leader, but not all leaders are good ones. King Louis XVI, ruler of France from 1774-1792 is someone who shows qualities of a bad leader many times during his rain of power. He was known for his taking of international loans and the decision to raise tax prices to pay for his own personal financial needs. Instead of thinking about his people, he was only thinking about himself. This lead to poverty and starvation throughout the lower classes in France. It also lead to King Louis XVI execution in 1793 because of the upset civilians. Toussaint Louverture, a free slave had a huge role in Hatian independence that occurred in 1804. Louverture's legacy not only consisted of him being the ruler of Saint Domingue, but he was also a military commander who became the most powerful person on the island of Haiti. These traits all contributed to the abolition of slavery in Haiti, but being a liberator of slaves had the most impact on Haiti's independence and is what he should be most remembered for.

Louverture was a very influential and confident leader which are traits a successful liberator has. This is why his legacy is a successful one. Throughout the abolition of slavery in Saint Domingue, Louverture was on and off France's side. During 1792 the revolutionary government and France abolishes slavery in France and all its colonies including Haiti, because of this he and his troops stop the revolts and start to support France. This goes to show that the only intentions Louverture has are to end slavery in Haiti and potentially around the world. He doesn't care who's side he is on, even if it is France's, as long as slavery is no more. He also will go to extreme risks in order to maintain freedom. When the new conservative French government wants to reinstate slavery in French colonies, he writes a threat in the form of a letter warning France to preserve the abolition of slavery in Haiti. In the letter he explains how freemen can't go back to being a slave, and how these men would rather die than return to the hell-like slave life. Out of all the roles Louverture had, being a liberator of slaves is most likely what he would consider himself and think was the most important part of his legacy. If there was a way to abolish slavery he was the one to find that opening and make it happen.

Another important role Louverture had in addition to being a liberator of slaves was his position of power in Saint Domingue. In 1798 he not only defeats the British, but becomes ruler of Saint Domingue. As part of his role as ruler, he assembled and headed the commission that created a Constitution in 1801 for Saimt Domingue. It promised all inhabitants that slavery could not exist on the island and that slaves are entitled to share in the revenues. Citizens would still be doing work on plantations since the island is essentially agricultural and depends on these plantations as a part of the islands economy. Inhabitants would still be working on the same plantation as they were before but instead they were supposed to be treated better and each worker had a right to share in the plantations profits. This caused controversy since workers did not want to go back to work but instead would rather have no job than return to a similar life as I had before. In the Proclamation on 25 November in 1801, Louverture establishes more laws in regards to who and where workers are supposed to work, with this he's trying to control the population that is refusing to work. It states that if you refuse to work your plantation police will arrest you and bring you back to your plantation, also all accused of sedition would go before a court-martial. His people feel as though that he is being hypocritical since he was a huge part of the abolition of slavery, but the workers are feeling like they're being enslaved even though these are not his intentions. His role as a ruler of Saint Dominguegives a more balanced view on his legacy.

Louverture's actions Michelle have you as a military leader since he had to make difficult decisions in order to maintain order in Haiti. Workers were objecting to work since they were going back in the same conditions as they were before under the same landowner so they didn't think much would change even though the abolition of slavery was in action. A lot of former slaves and Moyse, Louverture's nephew thought he was "too close" with the white planter class and felt as though it was unfair to force free slaves to work on plantations again. Freemen got fed up with these laws making them work, that a rebellion occurred led by his nephew which resulted in many white plantation owners dead and also many of the rebels deaths as well. This also included the execution of his nephew. These deaths could've been avoided if Louverture would have listened to the unhealthy free slaves before it got out of hand. Even though it must have been difficult to kill his own nephew he did what he thought he had to do in order to be a successful military leader. Although he made some bad decisions as a military leader he also had many character traits that helped him gain his soldiers' confidence and respect. When Napoleon send troops to reinstate slavery in Haiti, Louverture burned down their own city so that the French army couldn't take it over and would have a more difficult time surviving. They arent able to take over city, if there's no city to take over. Before the French army got to Haiti, troops fled to the mountains. This way, by the time French troops got to them they would be worn out from their travel and Haiti would have the advantage. Louverture posses good war tactics and inspires his troops which leads them to success as a military commander.

Although Toussaint Louverture is remembered for many things. Most importantly he should be remembered for being an influential and courageous liberator of slaves who will go to all extremes to maintain freedom. Being the ruler of Saint Domingue definitely contributed to the abolition of slavery, since he was the most powerful man on the island and was able to fight for the rights and independence of the citizens in Haiti and have a large say in the way the island was run. Also by being a military commander he was able to defeat and threaten major powers like France who wanted to bring back slavery in its colonies. But being a liberator of slaves had the most impact on the abolition of slavery in which is why it is the most important part of his legacy.

Curator

     In class we are learning about the industrial revolution. In order to expand our knowledge on the topic we were split into groups and created posters about different topics during the time. After creating the posters and sharif the information we collected, I came to the realization that the Industrial revolution wasn't all good. There were many aspects that were extremely negative.
     Our group's poster taught about the importance of coal in England during the Industrial Revolution. We included many pictures within our poster that showed were coal was being used the most through out England. We also included how living conditions for the poor were terrible. Since England was over populated, there wasn't enough food as there were mouths to feed. Because of this there were many orphans that were bought and sold to work in the mills. One image we used showed the average full time nominal earning compared to the real earnings in Great Britain. It is very clear that people are barley making enough to support the cost of living, which is an obvious indication of poverty. To add to the bad living conditions, factories are using rivers and streams as fuming grounds which makes the cities and even worse then they are to survive in.
     Group A's exhibit explains how many new innovations and inventions occurred during this time period. Families were able to stay home and work while one person is sent to the mills that will bring home money for the family. Therefore the family at home may also be working and earning more to support themselves. To me, its very surprising that so many new inventions can come out of just a short time period.  Because of these inventions, cotton production was booming.
     Group B's exhibit shows the importance of steam engines during the Industrial Revolution. Although they use an extensive about of coal, railroads supply easy access for trading which in return strengthens the economy and is quicker than water transportation.
      Group D's exhibit shows the harsh treatment towards children during this time. They were forced to work in order to support their families. Even after the factory act of 1833 children were still dangerously working in mines. It surprises me how people thought it was morally just to send small children into mine caves that could potentially cripple them for the rest of their lives. Its sickening how children were forced against their will to do such terrible work.
     Group E's exhibit shows how the increase of cotton goes along with the increase of slavery People during this time were much more focused on rising cotton production being quicker and cheaper than they were with abolishing slavery. Since there were more factories and more machines to be worked, there were more slaves to do these jobs.

"Child Labor in the Cotton Mill." The Industrial Revolution and Colonization. Web. 5 Nov. 2014. <http://tirac.weebly.com/child-labor-in-the-cotton-mill.html>.

Napoleon

     Napoleon had a large influence on the social, political, and economic systems in France. He also largely influenced the other European countries during that time. Once Napoleon would conquer a country they were under french control. Because of this more citizens had rights to property and access to education than before his rule. He also reorganized the institute of Egypt, and began the study of ancient Egypt.
     Napoleon favored the rights of the common citizens. Taking away the directory and giving common people more rights were only a few things he did in their favor. Not everyone favored Napoleon, especially not nobility. Since France was ruled by monarchy before the revolution, nobles would always have high positions in government. Napoleon disagreed with this method and elected people jobs by how qualified they are, not from their wealth or social connection. Madame de Stael was an example of someone who opposed this way of government.  Since she was apart of nobility, all of her power was taken away as soon as Napoleon came into rule.

(picture from class notes)

Congress of Vienna

     In class we discussed the Congress of Vienna and what people in power should do when their power is threatened. We also talked about Klemens Von Metternich and his conservative mind set when dealing with Napoleon as well as France. He feels as though Europe should go back the the original boarders before the French Revolution, therefore less conflict irrupts.

     A reaction of European powers when they defeated the threat of Napoleon was balance of powers. This reversed the changes of Napoleon's conquest and maintained a balance of power between Russia, Prussia, Austria, Britain, and France. Since The other countries didn't want to be taken over by French rule again, they gave France back their initial land. Instead of viewing France the country as the enemy, solely Napoleon was. The balance of power was initiated by Czar Alexander of Russia and supported monarch rule. If anyone was to go against this, it was not only against the law but against god, since they believed the monarchs in power were divine.

     Yes, I do believe that the powerful people at the Congress of Vienna made the right choice. Since there is a balance, or split of power, the countries are able to equally rule, and comotion over Napoleon will settle. The representatives were able to focus on the problems caused by the French revolution and attempt to resolve them without holding a grudge. This is shown because the other countries didn't punish France itself, but only forced them to give stolen artwork back to their allies.

(picture taken from class notes)

Social and Political Action

An ideology is a system of ideas and ideals that influence political theory and policy. The major political ideologies of the 19^th century were conservative, liberal, and nationalism. In class we discovered what these were by researching them and creating presentations to show to the class. We learned that a conservative is interested in protecting the people they care about, and support the ability to have free speech and choice. They also value tradition and believe it is the only trust worthy guide to social and political action. A liberal is very open-minded. They are willing to work for the greater good, they also question tradition and campaigned for reform. Lastly nationalism was an ideology that sees the nation as a whole. People were thought to be bound together by language, customs, and history.

Here is our groups project on conservatism:

(will get link from classmate tomorrow)

Our presentation helps define our ideology by giving a clear understanding of what a conservatives thoughts and beliefs were. It’s very clear that a conservative supports the church, monarchy, and tradition and think that those things will lead society on a successful path. Conservatism influenced social and political action by sticking to tradition. Since there is no major change there is less conflict and less fighting between people in general.

Liberalism influenced social and political action by making people speak their own opinion. Since liberals were against tradition and supported reform, they were always eager for change and new ideas. This allowed people to speak their mind therefore new thoughts were born. Nationalism influenced social and political action by creating a sense of unity within a nation. Since people felt they were apart of a whole there was less fighting that broke out, but instead more peace and working together between people.

More Than Just Inventions

     In class we experienced an activity that was similar to Karl Marx's Theory of Communism. Mrs. Gallagher gave most people three chocolates, but two people in the class got ten. The people that had three represented the proletariat and the people with ten represented the bourgeoise. The class then played rock, paper, scissors in order to win more candy. This caused conflict in the class and some of the proletariat were talking about stealing chocolate from the bourgeoise. She then collected the chocolates and reditributed them to everyone again, but this time everyone in the class got three. This represented socialism, and Marx's goal for a classless society. I had a lot of fun doing this activity, and thought it was a helpful way of explaining Marx's theory.
     Marx and Smith both wanted to help the poor, but had very different approaches. Marx's theory, The Theory of Communism  includes capitalism, which allows private ownership of an industry, and  freedom of trade and competition. Also socialism, which aims for an economic equality and a classless society. And lastly communism, once the classless society is achieved there is no need for government. This would benefit the poor because everyone would be equal so there would be no more struggle to survive. Smith's theory, The Invisible Hand  businesses to control themselves in order for the economy to naturally flourish as if a hand was guiding it. Smith believes that his system of free trade would eventually allow the poor to have more chooses on how to spend and make their money.
     In my opinion I think that Smith's is better compared to Marx's. The invisible hand still allows government which I think is an important part of society, it gives people a sense of safety and stability. Personally, I don't think either theories are a good solution, and both will eventually deteriorate. A good alternative may be similar to the Invisible Hand, but could have some restrictions and regulations on industrial trade and production so that it doesn't get out of hand.

"Multiculturalism." O Canada. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Oct. 2014. <http://o0135s.wordpress.com/2013/05/25/multiculturalism/>.

Mill girls

     During the Industrial Revolution, girls thought working in the mills would be a dream job. Little did they know that this great opportunity also came with many complications. Lowell mill owners made the mills seem much more enjoyable than they actually were. They told the girls and their familes all about the wonderful living conditions of the boarding houses, and how the girls would be brought up as mature, proper young woman. This is all true but the conditions of the mills were far from safe and pay was not always fair. The rules were also very strict and girls could get kicked out very easily which means they could no longer stay in the boarding houses. This was very scary to some girls since some of them had no where else to go.  Additudes towards woman in the 1800s seemed to be very negative. Since working in the mills was the only opportunity for young woman during this time, they weren't treated with much respect.

 

"BACKGROUND." Background of the Mill Girls. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Oct. 2014. <http://berwickacademy.org/millgirls/backgrnd.htm>.

MOSI Live Google Handout

In class we got the opportunity to live video chat with Jamie, an expert from The Musem of Science and Industry in Manchester, England. Before we began our chat, we took time in class to prepare so we would be able to get the most of this experience. We prepared by watching an intro video of Jamie briefly explaining the cloth making process. We wrote down key terms in our evernotes to have a better understanding of how all of the machines worked and what they were called. After we found the meanings of the key terms using our Google search skills, we began drafting questions for Jamie. Even before we had the live chat the class had a solid understanding of the functions of the machines.

After having the live video chat with Jamie, I have an even better understanding of the functions of machinery. I learned the different roles that family members had in the cloth making production. Men would the weave cloth while the woman weave thread on the spinning wheel. The was a very tiring, physical job for the woman because they needed to make sure the men had enough thread to weave. The children would brush fibers into straight lines with wire brushes so that it can be turned into thread by the woman. The more cloth the family produced, the more money they would make. As the demand for cloth was increasing, so weren't mills. Less and less cloth was being produced in homes, but instead in factories since production was easier and faster. Children were replaced by carding engines since they were able to quickly make all the fibers go in one direction. Overall, mills were putting families out of business. We also Learned from the live chat that mills were an extremely dangerous place especially for children. Since there were so many orphanes because of the high population and high poverty, they were bought and forced to work in mills by their owners. They had to clean machines while they were running which lead to many fatal injuries. This was a large problem until the factory act of 1833, when things started to change for the better.

I thought that overall the live chat was a great experience. I found it interesting to get information straight from the place that we are learning about. I also learned so much more about what the machines looked like and how they functioned since we were examining them for ourselves, instead of looking at pictures of them from a textbook. The only thing I didn't like about the chat was that the audio was  missing at times. Obviously, that is out of our control but for the most part I think it went very smoothly and I would find it benefital to do it again throughout this school year on other topics.

Industrial Revolution

     The industrial revolution was a time filled with advancements and new inventions. These lead to a lot of positive changes in society. In class we learned about multiple aspects that made industrialization revolutionary. One of those aspects being the effects of the people. Farming was improved by a new invention called "dikes." These were earthen walls to reclaim back land from sea. This way their was more land to grow produce. Since their was more food being produced, starvation wasn't as much of a problem and death rates declined. Woman were also much stronger from the increase in food so they produced healthier children and populations grew.  Lastly, land owners began to fence off  their land therefore peasant farmers could no longer use it to support their families. This is known as enclosure. Peasant farmers were forced to work in cites which made the economy grow. Some people may say this is a negative aspect because they had to do work they didn't particularly want to do, but overall it was very beneficial to society as a whole.

     Another aspect that made industrialization revolutionary was advancements in technology. One being improvements in the purifying of iron. Coal was used to smelt iron, which separates the iron from its ore. This made iron higher quality and also made iron less expensive. Since iron was more accessible, railroads could be built quicker and cheaper. Coal was a huge part of everyday life during the industrial revolution. It was used to pump water out of mines, and also power trains, boats, and locomotives.

N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2014.

What makes a Good Site?

     Knowing how to properly find information is a very important skill to have. You may think a website is supplying you with correct information for your research, but in reality, it could be completely false. The activities we did in class help further our knowledge on how to find sites that are accurate, authentic, and reliable. 

     In class we visited the website, A Google a Day. Here, we had to answer three questions only using the A Google a Day search engine. At first our group found it difficult, since we couldn't directly type in the question to the search engine. But after pulling key words from the question and searching them, we found the answers we were looking for. Overall, I thought the activity was very beneficial because we leaned how to properly search for information. 

     A good site to collect research from should have the following three qualities: accuracy, authenticity, and reliability. In order for a site to be accurate the information must be correct and precise. The site is no help if the information is false. The site must also be authentic which means it has to do what it says it does. If the site is supposed to be about a certain topic then that is what the site must be about. Lastly, the site has to be reliable. It should be written by an expert in the topic in which the site is about. During class we visited a website called Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus. The site looks extremely realistic and might even fool some gullible people. It explains how the species, the pacific northwest tree octopus is endangered and the many steps there are to help the species prosper. Clearly the website is not accurate since the information it gives is completely incorrect. It is also not reliable because the author of the website is a writer and not an expert on endangered species. However the site is authentic because it does exactly what its supposed to do. You would not want to use this source in school since it is lacking two out of the three qualities that a site should have. 

Alana's First Blog Post

Hi, my name is Alana DiSspena. In the past I have had many great teachers. They not only taught me what we were required to learn, but also great life skills that I will always carry with me. To me a great teacher is someone who does more then just reading from a textbook. They try to relate to their students on more of a personal level, but still keeping an appropriate student-teacher relationship. A great teacher also plans fun and exciting  lessons for their students to learn from. This way the students are not only having fun but learning as well. Also many of my favorite teachers shared personal stories which we as students can learn from. I have realized through the years that students respect their teachers more when they can relate to their personal interests and hobbies.

Overall I completely agree with John Green about how it's our duty to use our education to achieve great things for our society. Since us as humans are evolving and advancing so should our education systems. We as the next generation need to use our knowledge to make the world a better and more efficient place. This school year, I have very high expectations for myself and hope to achieve all of the goals that I have set. I am joining winter track and hope to succeed in that and I also would like to expand our school's international club, since I am the treasurer.  Grade wise, I would like to improve in math since I struggled tremendously last year. By spending extra time at home studying, and going after school for help when needed I hope to achieve all of my goals that I have set for myself.