Cultural Destruction

Our second to last lesson of the year is studying Native Americans and Buffalo soldiers and how the federal government impacted their lives.  The essential question for this lesson is, “Were federal policies towards Native Americans and buffalo soldiers intentionally discriminatory or well intentioned?”  Buffalo Soldiers were African American Cavalry soldiers.  They served in the Indian Wars and the Spanish American War. We were split into small groups and each group was assigned a topic that they would keep track of throughout the lesson.  My group’s topic was the main ideas of this lesson.  Then, to obtain a general overview of the topic, we watched several videos on ABC Clio and took notes.  After these videos, we then watched a video specifically on the Buffalo Soldiers in New Mexico that explained the challenges Buffalo soldiers experienced.  Each group then read through documents and took notes, where necessary, to support their topic.  After we finished completing the research for this lesson, we then created forty multiple choice questions that will appear on our final exam.  The government established some laws and acts that helped the Native Americans and Buffalo soldiers, but they also acted discriminately towards Native Americans and Buffalo soldiers.  There were some federal policies towards Native Americans and buffalo soldiers that were well intentioned, but there were also many policies that were intentionally discriminatory.  

The Native Americans lived in the West and lived peaceful, safe lives without the interference of whites.  To learn more about Native Americans and buffalo soldiers each group read "American Indians, Buffalo Soldiers, and Westward-bound Whites: Mounting Tensions on the American Frontier" and took notes. The United States had also allowed blacks to become soldiers, with the creation of United States Colored troops and the six regiments of African American troops, which included four infantry, two cavalry, and approximately one thousand men who became to be known as buffalo soldiers.  The Federal Government originally treated Native Americans nicely, but when the westward expansions and gold rush occurred, the government started acting very violently towards the Native Americans.  In Helen Hunt Jackson: A Century of Dishonor, 1881, the following is stated, “These Indians found themselves of a sudden surround by and caught up in the great influx of gold-seeking settlers, as helpless creatures on a shore are caught up in a tidal wave.”  The technique of total war was used to wipe out tribes.. The government removed buffalo, which was the major source of food, clothing, and tools for the Native Americans.  This resulted in devastation for the Native Americans.  Native americans were forced to move to a smaller territory during the westward expansion so that the Americans could have more land.  They were also forced to farm in difficult land, which made matters even worse since they weren’t very comfortable with farming techniques in the first place.   The Native Americans tried to negotiate with the government, coming up with ideas that would benefit both sides, but the government persisted with their own benefits in mind. Whites did not want to be told what to do by blacks. These greedy actions, made by the government, show that the federal policies were turning into being intentionally discriminatory.  In wars, white men always made the first aggression on blacks, such as Buffalo soldiers, which demonstrates extreme discrimination.  In 1830, Andrew Jackson initiates the system of Indian Removal, which causes hundreds of deaths of Indians.  This action, made by the controversial president, demonstrates how violent and greedy the government was acting.  Although these actions were beyond discriminatory, there were some federal policies that were well intentioned.  The government implemented schools for Native Americans.  Although this idea was well intentioned at first, it then turned into an institution for whites to “americanize” natives, which shows that some of the federal policies were discriminatory.  More well intentioned acts followed, starting with the signing of the Second Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868.  This treaty states that Indians will have the Dakota territory.  This was a well intentioned policy.  The government also worked hard to make African Americans citizens so that they could be protected by the government, but these rights “must protect them till then in every night and particular in which our laws protect other “persons” who are not citizens.  The government is trying to establish laws for African American, but they were not considering them citizens at the same time.  Another well intentioned policy made by the federal government was the Dawes Act of 1887, which we read about in excerpt from the Dawes Act, 1887.  This act granted the right to Indians to have land and citizenship if, they were willing to become farmers or sharecroppers and change to American culture.  This Act was regarded as the most significant piece of federal legislation related to the land rights of Native Americans.  This act started off well intentioned, but because it states that the Indians must convert to American culture, it translates into an act of discrimination.

This is an image of Buffalo soldiers from the following source.  This image was also seen in the video on Buffalo Soldiers that we watched in class.

Although learning about this lesson was intriguing, it was also painful to see how harsh Americans were towards Native Americans and Buffalo Soldiers.  Federal policies that were implemented on Native Americans and Buffalo Soldiers were sometimes well intentioned at first, but then evolved into being discriminatory.  I think that this is still seen today.  The government, as well as many white people, try to ensure equality among all races, but our society will always be tainted with discrimination and racism.  

The Game of Monopoly

This lesson is the first of three lessons where as a class we will divide into groups, analyze documents, and then come up with a total of forty multiple choice questions that will appear on our final exam.   This lesson focused on John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie, along with their effects on the common worker in America after the Civil War.  After discussing as a class, we decided on the following essential question, “How did the actions of monopolistic leaders, such as Rockefeller and Carnegie, affect the common worker?”  A monopolistic leader is a leader who has control over an industry, according to this definition.  This definition is similar to that of a monopoly, which is when a single corporation controls all of a product of industry.We divided ourselves into five groups, assigning each group a topic to research, my group’s start was the main ideas of the lesson.  To familiarize ourselves with our topics, we watched several videos on ABC Clio as a class while taking notes.  After we finished watching these videos, we then split into groups and took notes on each of our topics.  After everyone had finished analyzing the documents and watching the videos, we then came up with eight multiple choice questions that went on with each of our topics.  After we completed this part of the lesson we felt that we could answer the essential question.  The actions of monopolistic leaders, such as Rockefeller and Carnegie affected the common worker in both positive and negative ways.

Rockefeller affected the common worker in mostly positive ways, but in a few negative ways, too.  Rockefeller was an entrepreneur.  An entrepreneur is a person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so.  To learn more about Rockefeller each group read the “John D. Rockefeller Biography.”  He helped create the American petroleum industry and donated millions of dollars towards the advancement of education, medicine, and science, thus characterizing him as a philanthropist.  In the 1870s Rockefeller formed the Standard Oil Company of Ohio, which wiped out almost all rival oil businesses due to his smart business tactics, reduction in prices, and negotiating with people. In 1880, the Standard Oil company managed to secure a monopoly over oil refining and transportation and thus became one of the largest corporations in the United States.  Although this was a good business move, he cost the jobs of many people in other oil businesses, thus affecting the common worker negatively.  During this time, Rockefeller was being criticized by the public, who thought his actions were based off of greed. To counter this, Rockefeller donated money to charities and schools.  He even established a medical research center and the Rockefeller Foundation, which went towards helping eliminate yellow fever.  Although Rockefeller donated all of this money, he was considered the wealthiest man in American history.  He had more money than the financial government had at the time.  In an interview William Hoster, which is quoted God’s Gold (1932) by John T. Flynn, Rockefeller says, “I believe the power to make money is a gift of God...to be developed and used to the best of our ability for the good of mankind.  Having been endowed with the gift I possess, I believe it is my duty to make money and still more money and to use the money I make for the good of my fellow man according to the dictates of my conscience.” Rockefeller positively affected the common worker by donating money to help medicine, education, and science, but he also negatively affected the common worker by taking away people’s jobs who worked at other oil companies than his own.

This is a picture of Rockefeller from the “John D. Rockefeller Biography.”

Andrew Carnegie was similar to Rockefeller in that he affected the common workers positively and negatively.  To learn more about Carnegie, we read the“Andrew Carnegie Bio.”  Carnegie was once poor, but then he become one of the wealthiest men in the world, demonstrating a “rags to riches” type of story.  He became wealthy by gaining power in the U.S. steel industry.  He also used vertical integration, which was a system in which a company’s supply chain is controlled by that company.  This allowed him to control raw materials, transportation, and distribution within in the steel industry, managing every stage of the production process from beginning to end.  Similar to Rockefeller, Carnegie was also a philanthropist and he to donated millions of dollars to medicine, education, and science.  He also donated money to create libraries and promote world peace.  Carnegie also demonstrated the idea of gospel of wealth which is defined as the moral obligation to use wealth for public good.  However, although this quality of him was beneficial to the common worker, in the year of 1892 there was homestead strike of Carnegie's homestead mill.  The strike, which we learned about by watching the Homestead Strike Video, revealed Carnegie’s plan to destroy the iron and steel worker’s union, which resulted in a public outcry.  His reputation was ruined by this outcry as seen in the Editorial in the St. Louis Post Dispatch, early August, 1892.  This editorial declares the following about Carnegie, “Three months ago Andrew Carnegie was a man to be envied.  Today he is an object of mingled pity and contempt.  In the estimation of nine-tenths of the thinking people on both sides of the ocean he has not only given the lie to all his ascendants, but confessed a moral coward…”  The Homestead Strike showed how Carnegie negatively affected the common worker.  When the depression hit the United States in 1893, Carnegie used the depression to his advantage and acquired land to connect the steel producing center to the northwest water routes.  This also demonstrates how Carnegie negatively impacted the common worker.

This is a picture of Carnegie in the “Andrew Carnegie Bio.”

I think that Rockefeller and Carnegie both positively and negatively affected the common worker.  We see this pro and con relationship in political and business figures all the time.  For example, some would say President Obama has helped everyone by establishing Obama Care, while others would argue that the economic crisis that our country suffered through during his leadership negatively overshadowed any improvements to our healthcare system .  I enjoyed reading the documents for this lesson in my groups and taking notes in a Google Doc with my entire class.  I felt this was an effective way of learning.  Both Rockefeller and Carnegie were leaders of the industrial growth and for the most part liked by the public.

The Push from Above and Below

This lesson was titled, "Freedom from Above or Below."  The essential question for this lesson is, “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?”  The first activity we completed in class was screenshotting the picture titled, “Freedom to the Slaves.”  We then used the app, Skitch, to insert speech bubbles for each person in the picture to accurately display the role of each person.  We then discussed the social pyramid of American society at the start of the Civil War.  We defined “freedom from above” as when freedom is given to enslaved people high in the social pyramid.  My class then defined “freedom from below” as when people from the same lower ranking level in the social pyramid helped each other to try and gain freedom.  We were then split into small groups and each assigned one of the four Lincoln Documents.  For our document, we had to find a quote that explained the author’s goal of the war, position on freeing slaves, and evidence of their personal feelings on slavery.  After each group completing this assignment, we shared our findings with the class.  We also watched two videos that went along with the first two documents.  Each group was then given either document X or Y and answered the questions, “What is going on in your primary source?”, “Who is taking action?  Why?”, and “Does the document prove freedom from above or freedom from below?”  We then ended the lesson by taking notes on the thirteenth amendment and how this amendment formally abolished slavery.  Freedom came from both above and below.  Abraham Lincoln’s actions were highly influenced by the actions of enslaved Americans.

Freedom was given to enslaved people from above in some situations.  In this picture, “Freedom to the Slaves”, we see that Abraham Lincoln is depicted as having freed this man and his family from slaves.  Since Lincoln came from a high social class, this is freedom came from above.  In an excerpt from President Abraham Lincoln’s Reply to an Open Letter from Horace Greeley, New York Tribune, 1862, the President states the following, “I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free.”   Lincoln’s goal is to save the Union, and if that means he needs to abolish slavery he will do so.  By stating this, Lincoln is helping give freedom to slaves from above.  We then watched a video on the Emancipation Proclamation.  At the beginning of the war in 1863, the Confederates were winning.  Lincoln’s plan was to wait until the Union won several battles, and then he would announce the Emancipation Proclamation.  This way it would look like the Union, the winning side, had a strong reason for winning the war, instead of the losing side’s last desperate action.  In the Emancipation Proclamation given on January 1, 1863, Lincoln declares, “all persons held as slaves within any state or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.”  The Emancipation Proclamation is a strong example of Freedom from above, as Lincoln is declaring freedom to slaves in all states.   After the Civil War, the thirteenth amendment was passed. Lincoln approved this document and the amendment became part of the constitution. The thirteenth amendment made the Emancipation Proclamation permanent. The thirteenth amendment is another example of freedom from above. In the Gettysburg Address, given on November 19, 1863, Lincoln says the following, “Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”  This famous quote states that Lincoln strove to give freedom to all slaves.  President Abraham Lincoln gave freedom to enslaved people from above.

This is a picture of Lincoln freeing a man and his family.

Freedom was often given to enslaved people from below.  this image is of a statue.  This statue seems to depict a man rising and claiming freedom.  This is one example of freedom from below because no one from above helped this man, except the person he is putting his hand on.  We can assume that this person is another slave or from a low social class.  We also watched a video on fugitive slaves and how they influenced the government and Lincoln’s actions on slavery.  Every fugitive slave that made a nuisance of himself eventually made a nuisance of himself at the Congress of the United States.  This is because fugitive slaves bothered the officers of northern armies.  The generals wrote to the War Department asking what to do with the slaves.  The War Department eventually writes to Congress who eventually wrote to the President.  This is another example of freedom from below.  In President Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, given on March 4, 1865, he states the following, “These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest.  All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war.  To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union even by war, while the Government claimed no right to do more than restrict the territorial enlargement of it.”  Lincoln explains in this quote that slaves are also trying to gain freedom by themselves.  In a Letter from General Ambrose E. Burnside to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton on March 21, 1862, he asks Stanton what to do about the slaves that are looting the town.  Theses slaves are making a nuisance out of themselves, and they’re are eventually going to be making a nuisance of themselves to the Congress.  By doing so, the slaves are gaining freedom from below.  In the engraving titled, “Slaves from the plantation of Confederate President Jefferson Davis arrive at Chickasaw Bayou, Mississippi” in 1863, we see that the soldiers are busy preparing for battle and then a mass of slaves show up at the camp.  We can assume that these slaves have arrived to try to get freedom for themselves.  Slaves gain freedom from below by taking control themselves.  By taking control of the situation, the actions of the slaves influenced Lincoln to take certain actions himself as explained in the paragraph above.

This is an example of freedom from below.

This is a picture of soldiers and a mass of slaves.

During the Civil War, the concept of freedom from above and below is seen in slavery.  These concepts are still seen today.  For example, Bruce Jenner recently announced that he will have surgery to change from a man to a woman.  In an interview, he made it clear that he is having this surgery to raise awareness for gender identity, not for the fame.  This is a largely broadcasted event that will change society.  I think that this change is initiated from above, by Bruce Jenner because he is from a high ranking social class.  However, I also think that the only way for this social change to be upheld, is for ordinary people to take action, as well, and continue this change from below.  

 

Battles Won and Lost

In this lesson we learned about twenty different battles during the Civil War.  The  essential question for this lesson was, “Who was the ultimate victor in each of the theaters of war: East, West, Naval?  What are some commonalities you can identify in the reasons for the results of the battles?”  We started this lesson by being each assigned a battle.  I chose the battle of Shiloh.  We then had to research our battle name, location, date, victor, theater (East, West, or Naval), creating two bullets explaining the reasons for the results, and at least one image.  We put all of this information into a Google Doc and then created a shareable link to make a QR code so that students could scan in to the document when we completed our scavenger hunt.  We then helped create the scavenger hunt with our class and then we went around the school and scanned into every code to learn about each battle.  After everyone had completed the scavenger hunt, each student wrote two posts on our class padlet page, answering the questions, “Who was the ultimate ‘victor’ in each of the theaters (naval, west, and east)?  Was the ultimate victor winning all along?” and “What are some commonalities you can identify in the reasons for the results of the battles?”  We collaborated on our padlet page to help each other answer the essential question.

After learning about these battles, there were clear victors in each theater.  The Union succeeded by using the Anaconda plan, while the South faced some troubles during many of the battles.  The Union was the victor in the West and Naval theater.  For example, in the battle of Shiloh and Fort Donelson, the Union soldiers were able to surround the confederates until they were forced to surrender.  In the Battle of Shiloh, the the Union’s technique of the “Hornet’s Nest” lead to victory.  In both battles of Vicksburg and Henry Fort, the technique that was utilized was bombarding the Confederate soldiers until they had to surrender because of casualties.  The Confederacy was the victor in the East theater.  For example, in both the battles of Fort Sumter and Second Manassas, the strategy of using the Union’s depletion in ammunition and reinforcements as a weakness lead to the Confederacy winning the battle.

This is an image depicting soldiers fighting for the Union and Confederacy during the Battle of Shiloh.

I really enjoyed this lesson.  I thought that the scavenger hunt was a creative and fun way to learn about the many civil war battles.  Although it was sometimes frustrating connecting to the internet in order to access the notes on each battle, I thought the scavenger hunt made the lesson more interesting and made me feel like I was almost in a war zone!

Pictography:

“American Civil War: Battle of Shiloh.”  Picture image.  http://www.ducksters.com/history/civil_war/battle_of_shiloh.php.  3/31/15.

Created with Padlet

The Election that Changed Everything

We continued our unit on the Civil War this week and focused on the Election of 1860.  The essential question for this lesson was, “How were the results of the Election of 1860 representative of the deep divisions over slavery.”  To learn about the Election of 1860, we first watched a Crash Course Video.  This video gave us an overview of the topic and discussed the following; the Fugitive slave law, railroads, Republicans, Bleeding Kansas, Dred Scott v. Sanford,  and John Brown.  Next, we analyzed a map that depicted which states voted for each candidate in the Election of 1860.  This map showed that people living in the North voted for Lincoln, who was a republican and was against slavery, and that people living in the South voted for Breckenridge, who was a Southern Democrat and was pro slavery.  This map really helped us see that the results of the Election of 1860 were representative of the deep divisions over slavery because the Northerners, who were anti slavery, voted for the candidate that was anti slavery, and the Southerners, who were pro slavery, voted for the candidate who was pro slavery.  We then read an article titled, The Civil War in Art, which explained the events of the Civil War through various pieces of art.  After captioning each of these five pictures in our groups, we then found three more pictures about the Civil War.  Each group then created an Educreations Video with all their pictures.  

This is a picture that shows which states voted for each candidate.

Click on this picture to watch my group's Educreations video.

Sources:

Dred-Scott:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dred_Scott_v._Sandord.  

The Confederacy:
Mataconis, Doug.  Lee-Jackson Day and The South’s Continuing Confederate Fetish.  Outside the Beltway.  Friday, January 14, 2011. http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/lee-jackson-day-and-the-souths-continuing-confederate-fetish/.  3/12/15.

The Election of 1860:
http://www.edline.net/files/_CJKPB_/ee553a2c7835765f45a49013852ec4/Election_of_t1860_Lesson_Notes.pdf

The rest of the pictures:

http://www.civilwawrinart.org/exhibits/show/causes/introduction/the-election-of-1860-and-seces.

What it Takes to Win a War

This Lesson was about the statistics and strategies used by the North and South during the civil war.  The essential question was, “How did the differences between the North and South affect each region’s strategy and success in the Civil War?”  After taking notes from various resources, each student created their own infographic.  I decided to make my infographic on piktochart.  We could only include limited information in our infographic.  I included data that shows that the North had more railroad mileage, and thus more railroads than the South, because I thought this was the most important resource that the North had to their advantage.  This is because the railroads allowed the North to be able to transport supplies to their soldiers.  Adjacent to this pie chart, I included another pie chart that shows there was a one to zero ratio of cotton production between the South to the North.  This was the most important resource for the South because cotton production helped boost their economy, and they could thus purchase necessary supplies to help them in the war.  The next information I display in my infographic are population statistics.  The North had a much greater population than the South, which meant there were more available soldiers to fight in the war.  However, the South had a much greater slave population, but this played to their disadvantage because owners of slaves would not want to be associated with the war in fear of losing their slaves and thus losing money.  The resources and population statistics shows the differences between the North and the South and how these statistics affected their success in the war.  I then included information about the war strategies between the North and the South.  Lincoln created the Anaconda Plan which formed a blockade around the South’s ports near the Atlantic Coast and the Gulf of Mexico.  By doing so, the South would not be able to export cotton to Europe which caused the South’s economy to weaken.  Lincoln hoped the South wouldn't be able to import any supplies, as well.  The South used the strategy war by attrition.  The South would wear out their enemy, which they hoped would help them win the Civil War.  However this plan backfired because the South forgot how many resources the North had to their advantage.  I organized my information by using blue to represent the Union and red to represent the Confederacy.  I also used different icons to symbolize when a statistic or strategy was positive or negative for each side.  This process and assignment helped me understand what the Union and the Confederacy faced at the start of the war because I am a visual learner and the infographic really helped me better understand the information I was given at the start of the lesson.

This is a picture of my infographic.

Sources:

Image 1:

Edline.  Picture Image.  http://www.edline.net/files/_CCBMU_/97e2738bcebc05d83745a49013852ec4/Unit_6_Activity_1_Class_Notes.pdf.  3/7/15.

Image 2:“War of Attrition.”  Picture image.  http://apushchristian.blogspot.com/.  3/7/15.

In Everyone's Head, but Never Said

This lesson was titled, “The Elephant in the Room.”  We defined “elephant in the room” as the bigger problem that everyone is aware of, but ignores, and focuses instead on the little problems.  The essential question for this lesson was, “How we know the debate over slavery was the “elephant in the room” for American politics in the early 19th century?”  In groups of two or three we created timelines on the Timeline app that documented the events we learned in class.  The first event that we learned about was the Missouri Compromise.  We took general notes on the Missouri Compromise which took place in 1820 and established that there would be eleven slave states and eleven free states.  To accomplish this Missouri became a slave state.  This Compromise also stated that any area north of the thirty-six degree and thirty minute lines could become a free state in the future.  We also took notes on the Gold Rush in California.  Because of the Gold Rush, California wanted to be identified as a free state, but this would mess up the even split.  We then read an article titled, “The Compromise of 1950 and the Fugitive Slave Act.”  We used this article to identify the five parts of the Compromise.  In the first part,Texas would give up their land and will be given ten million dollars for debt.  Second, the territories of New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah would be organized without mention of slavery; in other words when these territories apply for statehood the people living there would decide if the state would be a free state or a slave state.  Third, in Washington D.C., slave trade was abolished, but one could still own slaves.  The fourth part was that California would become a free state. The fifth part was that the Fugitive Slave act was passed which stated that even if someone is anti-slavery, they would still required to notify the authority if they knew of fugitive slaves and, in addition, slaves were denied a fair trial in court.  The first, second and fifth parts of the Compromise were pro-slavery and the third and fourth parts were anti-slavery.  Next, we took notes on the Gadsden Purchase.  The United States paid fifteen million dollars for all of Nevada, California, Utah, and much of Arizona, and New Mexico in the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.  The Gadsden Purchase helped pro-slavery.  We then answered questions about this event using pages in our textbook.

This is a picture of my group's timeline.

This is a picture of the descriptions for each event on my group's timeline.

Each group then added all of these events to their timelines and we then learned about the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854.  People in Kansas and Nebraska could decide if they wanted their state to be a free state or a slave state, even though it was against the Missouri Compromise.  The Kansas-Nebraska Act helped pro-slavery.  The next event that we took notes on was Bleeding Kansas, which occurred in 1856.  Bleeding Kansas resulted from the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Whether Kansas would be a free or slave state was determined by the people.  Because of this, both anti and pro slavery people came to Kansas, which resulted in violent fighting.  We then looked up definitions of some words in our textbook, such as Topeka which was the anti-slavery capital and Lecompton which was the pro-slavery capital.  This event in history is called Bleeding Kansas because they were several violent breakouts between pro and anti-slavery. Each group then added these events to their timelines.  We then learned about the Dred Scott Decision of 1857.  Dred Scott was an enslaved man living in Missouri who filed a lawsuit against his owner.  He argued that him and his wife, Harriet, were free because they had once lived with their owners in a free state.  We also read an article called, “Dred Scott Case: The Supreme Court Decision.”  This article helped us identify the three effects that resulted from the Dred Scott decision which were that slaves were denied the right to sue in court because they were not citizens, enslaved people could not win freedom by just living in a free territory or state, and the Missouri Compromise was ruled unconstitutional and all territories were, therefore, open to slavery.  The next topic that we discussed was the Lincoln-Douglas Debates.  Senator Douglas believed in the absolute right of white citizens to choose the kind of society and government they wanted.  Lincoln believed that the majority did not have the right to deny the minority their rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  Douglas and Lincoln met in a series of seven debates on the issue of slavery.  Douglas won the election.  We then learned about John Brown’s Raid which took place on October 16, 1859.  We read pages in the textbook to learn more about this event.  Brown and his men attacked the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia.  He, along with twenty-one men, hoped to seize weapons and give the weapons to enslaved people.  The United States troops surrounded Brown and his men and killed half the men while the rest surrendered.  Brown was captured and eventually hung.  This raid caused the northerners to see Brown as a martyr and the southerners to see him as a criminal, which is written into the lyrics of the song, John Brown’s Body.  We then added these three events to our timeline.

All of these events clearly shows us that the debate over slavery was the “elephant in the room” for American politics in the early 19th century.  This is because each event, or those involved, mostly focused on the conditions of states, laws, or compromises.  American politicians should have focused on solving the bigger problem which was slavery itself and face it head on instead of busying themselves with debates and violent fights that did not benefit the slaves.  The majority of politicians were focused on the rights of free whites, instead of the slaves. However, John Brown and Abraham Lincoln truly went to extremes to try to discuss the elephant in the room.

The Affect of Slavery on the Human Race

We began our topic on slavery by discussing how in the late nineteenth century, slavery had become entrenched in American society, both economically and politically.  The essential question for this lesson was, “How did slavery become entrenched in American society, both economically and politically, by the early 19th century?”  We started the lesson by reading clauses from the Founder’s Constitution.  These clauses described the bands on slavery on the societal effects.  For example in Article 1, Section 9, Clause 1, it states the following, “The migration of Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.”  This clause explains that minimally, for the next twenty-five years, people can import slaves, but after these twenty-five years, the congress can prohibit the importation of slaves.  However, the Congress can tax the importation of slaves for at least the next twenty-five years, but the tax cannot exceed ten dollars.  We then watched a video, Learning about the Cotton Gin, which depicted a man operating an original cotton gin.  The cotton gin was a machine that extracted seeds from cotton.  This revolutionary invention changed slavery.  Next, we read an article titled, “Cotton is King: Slavery is Entrenched in American Society.”  In the eighteenth century, people believed slavery was decreasing and going to be abolished because slaves escaped during the French and American revolutions and a slave master freed 10,000 slaves.  These facts made it seem likely that slavery was disappearing, but the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney caused slavery to increase dramatically instead.  Between the time Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1792 and 1794, the price of slaves doubled.  The prices of slaves was not the only factor growing, the number of slaves was, too.  We then completed an activity called, The Spread of Cotton and Slavery, which gave us some astonishing statistics.  In 1800, the total slave population in the United States was 893,000.  Most slaves were located east of the Appalachian Mountains.  But, by the year of 1860, the population of slaves had risen to 3,954,000 and slaves were now widespread throughout the southern states.  As more pounds of cotton were being produced throughout these decades, due to the cotton gin, the dollar value of exports also increased.  This caused the revenue in American to be dominated by the production of cotton. Slavery became entrenched economically because the cotton gin required that more slaves work on plantations, increasing the production and exportation of cotton.  Slavery also became entrenched politically in America by the nineteenth century because slaves were working on plantations all throughout the southern states.  Slavery was an awful time in history, that plagued America.

This image shows where cotton was produced in the year of 1800.

This image shows where slaves were located in the year of 1800.

This image shows the correlation between the spread of cotton and slavery by the year of 1860.

This graph shows the statistics of how much money was made in exports due to the amount of pounds of cotton made in that year.

The next topic we discussed in class was the morality of slavery.  The essential question was, “How does a system of slavery based on race affect human dignity?  What human characteristics does such a system tend to ignore?”  We defined human dignity as the value of human individuals.  The first activity we completed in class was reading three documents on Frederick Douglass, George Fitzhugh, and John brown.  Each group was assigned an individual, completed research on the figure, and found a picture of him, and decorated the portrait with descriptive phrases and words.  My group was assigned John Brown.  He brought eighteen men of mixed race to Harpers Ferry, Virginia.  He wanted to start a slave revolt, but instead his men were killed or captured and he was tried for treason.  He was eventually hung.  His idea sparked mixed reactions in the north and fear and revolts in the south.  John Brown was willing to kill for the sake of slavery; he believed a passive, peaceful technique would not abolish slavery.  John Brown is an example of someone who ignored their human dignity and ignored innocent people.  Frederick Douglas escaped slavery and became an abolitionist.  This document in his speech he gave on July 5, 1852, stated that people should not celebrating their freedom because not everyone is free; the slaves are still bonded to their masters.  George Fitzhugh was pro-slavery and wrote articles claiming that slaves lead better lives than free men because they were treated better than workers in the north who were free and getting paid. He believed that slaves were the happiest.  Of course, we recognize that Fitzhugh was completely oblivious to the reality of society, demonstrating a different effect of human dignity.  Slavery allowed some to live oblivious to the harsh circumstances they lived in.   We then read an articled titled, “Comparing 18th-Century Futa Jallon to Antebellum Mississippi.”   We learned that slavery in Futa Jallon, Africa was much different than slavery in Antebellum, Mississippi.  In Futa Jallon slavery was based on religion rather than race.  Slaves were non Muslims.  Slaves worked to obtain their own food and they could own property.  Also, if one of your parents were free you were also free and could reach the highest ranking in society.  Slavery in Mississippi was much different.  Slaves worked on cotton plantations and households.  Slaves in Antebellum were fed by their owners.  We then watched the movie, Prince Among Slaves.  This movie followed the life of Abdul Rahman, who was a twenty-six year old prince in Futa Jallon.  He was returning from a battle when he was captured by African slave traders and eventually brought to Natchez, Mississippi.  The movies follows his life in Mississippi and his fight for freedom.  The system of slavery tended to remove human dignity from people, not allowing them to value every individual.  This system tended to ignore human characteristics such as humanity, respect, kindness, and guilt.  If only more people could have used the system to fuel themselves to fight for the end of slavery in a dignified manner.

Level The Playing Field

In mid-nineteenth century America, women were oppressed.  Society created an image for all women; they were to stay at home in the shadows.  In the Sphere of Women, shown below, a woman is holding a child while looking on to make sure that her other children are learning.  In this image, the house is depicted as thoroughly clean without any objects or rooms that reflect the actual work the mother has to put into caring for her family.  This image demonstrates how women were expected to do all of the housework, without recognition.  The Rights of Women: Laws and Practices lists all of the laws and practices that restricted  women during this time period.  Many laws state the difficulties women had to overcome with when trying to divorce their husbands.  One law states, “Most courts grant custody of the children to men.  Alimony is sometimes awarded to women, but they are not allowed to sue in court to make him pay up.”  Even though women cared for the children, men gained custody which demonstrates extreme hypocrisy.  Another law that is mentioned that shows how society belittles women is, “In most states, it is legal for a man to beat his wife.”  Another practice that was stated was that, “It is considered improper for women to speak in public.”  In response to this oppression, women became involved in the Seneca Falls Convention, which resulted in the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions.  This declaration stated all of the oppressive laws men had placed on women and how they should be resolved.  The responses to this Declaration were both negative and positive.  In the Oneida Whig article, August 1, 1848, it is stated, “If our ladies will insist on voting and legislating, where, gentlemen, will be our dinners and our elbows?”  This negative comment demonstrates how men saw women as less than them and therefore less equal to them.  Although some harbored negative responses to this declaration, others praised it.  For example, in the North Reformer article, August 3, 1848, it is declared that the Seneca Falls convention and declaration was “the first convention of any kind ever held, and one whose influence shall not ease until woman is guarantied all the rights now enjoyed by the other half of creation.”  Mid-nineteenth century society reacted in different ways to women’s demands for equality.  Some took a selfish standpoint and only thought of what would happen if women gained more rights; still viewing themselves as having a lesser social standing.  While others recognized the logic in women outcry for equality and acknowledged that women will not stop until they achieve their goal of gender equality.

This is an image of the Sphere of Women.

Presently, in the twenty-first century, I believe that society still reacts differently to men and women.  It has improved infinitely since the mid-nineteenth century, but I think there is still room for considerable improvement.  Men are still seen as the smarter and prominent leaders.  Boys dominate higher level math and science classes in school and there has yet to be a woman president.  Men are also paid more money than women, even when they have the exact same occupations and experience levels.  Men are given more opportunities than women.  There is no equivalent term for “slut” for a man; it seems that society only wants this hateful word to be used against women.  In the Philippines Pantene commercial, one can see how society views men and women as they take on the exact same position, but are labeled as completely different people.  Our society has made significant strides in reaching gender equality in the past centuries and should continue making improvements until men and women are seen as equals and real gender equality is achieved.

Changes Must Be Made

“Memorial to the Legislature of Massachusetts on the conditions of the prisons.”  Teach Us America. Org.  http://www.teachushistory.org/second-great-awakening-age-reform/resources/memorial-legislature-massachusetts.  1/11/15.

Lincoln. A woman in a cage. Medford. One idiotic subject chained, and one in a close stall for seventeen years. Pepperell. One often doubly chained, hand and foot; another violent; several peaceable now. Brookfield. One man caged, comfortable. Granville. One often closely confined; now losing the use of his limbs from want of exercise. Charlemont. One man caged. Savoy. One man caged. Lenox. Two in the jail, against whose unfit condition there the jailer protests.  

Besides the above, I have seen many who, part of the year, are chained or caged. The use of cages all but universal. Hardly a town but can refer to some not distant period of using them; chains are less common; negligences frequent; willful abuse less frequent than sufferings proceeding from ignorance, or want of consideration. I encountered during the last three months many poor creatures wandering reckless and unprotected through the country. Innumerable accounts have been sent me of persons who had roved away unwatched and unsearched after; and I have heard that responsible persons, controlling the almshouses, have not thought themselves culpable in sending away from their shelter, to cast upon the chances of remote relief, insane men and women. These, left on the highways, unfriended and incompetent to control or direct their own movements, sometimes have found refuge in the hospital, and others have not been traced. But I cannot particularize. In traversing the State, I have found hundreds of insane persons in every variety of circumstance and condition, many whose situation could not and need not be improved; a less number, but that very large, whose lives are the saddest pictures of human suffering and degradation. I give a few illustrations; but description fades before reality.

The author of this primary source, is Dorothea Dix (1802-1887).  She traveled to different prisons in Massachusetts that were keeping mental patients unjustly and recorded her findings.  She wrote this letter to the Legislature to try to get them to create appropriate mental institutions for the mentally ill.  She wanted to help the patients heal in a just way and felt that they will not get better in these torturous prisons, but rather in hospitals and homes.  Dorothea Dix is definitely believable and trustworthy, as she is a Sunday school teacher and is documented to have visited prisons in several towns. 

                When this document was produced, mentally ill patients were being put into prisons with criminals.  They were put into cages and chained and extremely ill-treated.  Dorothea Dix visited many of these prisons and witnessed this abuse.  She started the prison reform which worked to move patients to better suited locations.  Reading this document helped me understand how awfully people were tortured during this time period.  I can’t even fathom a woman being kept in a “closed stall” for seventeen years.  The way the mentally ill were treated in the 19^th century was so violent and scary.  Some of the limits of the document are the views of the patients; it only talks about what Dorothea saw.  However, I feel that this document gives me a complete overview of the prison reform.

                Dix claims that the mentally ill should not be kept in these conditions.  They need to be put into hospitals where they will be medically treated and helped.  The evidence that Dix uses to support this claim is that the patients never got better or improved in the prisons, but after being placed in better suited conditions they greatly improved.  Dorothea is trying to convince the reader, and the legislature, the necessity to help the patients be relocated out of these prisons and eliminate the injustice.  She is also strongly urging that if you see something that is severely wrong, you should try your best to change it.

Hero or Enemy of the People?

To continue our unit on Protecting Nations and Growing Democracy, we started a lesson on the seventh president of the United States, Andrew Jackson.  The essential question for this lesson is, “Is Andrew Jackson’s long-standing reputation as “the people’s president” deserved?  Why?  Why not?  This essential question is important because we, citizens of America, should observe the leaders of our country and ask ourselves if they are making decisions that benefit the people. As a class, we watched a Ted-Ed video and a Crash Course video describing Andrew Jackson’s life and reputation.  Then, we split up into groups of four and were each assigned a topic; the Bank War, Indian Removal, or Spoils System.  

My group was assigned the Indian Removal.  Each group then went through their documents, took notes, and created a project.  My group decided to make a PowerPoint. In our presentation we explained that Andrew Jackson did not deserve his reputation as “the people's president”.  This is because he was only concerned about the well being of the whites, but he completely disregarded the Indians and lead them to their death on the Trail of Tears.  After watching the presentation for the Bank War, it seems that Andrew Jackson was looking out for the poor and accommodating for them, thus being a people’s president, but at the same time he caused a class war between the poor and and rich and in the long run, a complete financial collapse.  Therefore, Andrew Jackson did not deserve his long standing reputation as “the people's president” since he was not looking out for the greater good for everyone.  The Spoils System clearly showed that Andrew Jackson did not deserve his reputation as a people’s president because he rewarded only his supporters with government positions, while ending jobs for hundreds of people at the same time.  Overall, after learning about the Indian, Bank War, and Spoils System, its apparent that Andrew Jackson did not deserve his long-standing reputation as “the people’s president.”

This is my group’s project on the Indian Removal.