King Andrew or The people's President?

Andrew Jackson was known as The People's President. He won the popular vote in three elections, one of which was against John Quincy Adams, who was appointed president by the congress. Jackson beat Quincy Adams in 1828 and Henry Clay 1832. He also served as a military leader in two wars. He was the first president who grew up in a log cabin and was not one of the leaders of the American revolution from Massachusetts or Virginia. He was a soldier in the American Revolution, meaning he was one of the people, not one of the elite. he continued that path into the White House. When Jackson was first elected president, he invited people to come to the White House and celebrate with him and his supporters. He fought the creation of the National Bank because he thought that it would benefit the wealthy and powerful over the ordinary Americans.

Andrew Jackson was also known as King Andrew. Jackson appointed his friends to powerful positions, showing that he did what he wanted to do. He would only allow people who agreed with him to work in the government and disposed of those who didn't agree with him. He was vicious while going after Indians. The court ruled in favor of the Native Americans and Jackson refused to let this happen, so he moved the Indians anyways despite the ruling of the court. As far as the bank of the United States, he believed he was acting for the people over the powerful, but over ruled the will of congress. He took acts that undermined the bank because they wouldn't go along with what he wanted.

I think Andrew Jackson ultimately was The People's President. At times he acted like a dictator, but the actions he took seemed to be in favor of the majority of Americans not the rich and powerful. The one action of his that makes me uncomfortable as a an observer of today, is his brutality in forcing Native Americans out of their home land. He was the first President who grew up among the common people and not among the elite of the American Revolution. His methods were questionable, but he generally acted in the best interest of the majority of the Americans.

Monroe Doctrine and Connections to Today

The failed rescue of American hostage, Luke Somers, who was held captive by al Qaeda in Yemen is an example when the U.S needed to intervene in a foreign country under the principles of the Monroe Doctrine.  The terrorists threatened the U.S directly by kidnapping Somers, an American photo journalist, and South African teacher Pierre Korkie and threatening to kill them. Under the Monroe Doctrine, this is clearly an unfriendly act against the U.S and Western civilization, which caused us to fight back against the terrorists and try to rescue the hostages.

In a CNN article, Lawmakers Defend Failed Hostage Rescue Mission in Yemen, by Sara Fischer, both Republicans and Democrats agreed that President Obama had to order the mission and it was the right thing to do, even though the kidnappers ended up killing the hostages. Defense Secretary, Chuck Hagel said: "Is it imperfect? Yes. Is there risk? Yes. But we start with the fact that we have an American that's being held hostage, and that American's life is in danger." House Intelligence Committee Chairman, Mike Rodgers said: "When you pay ransom, you get more kidnappings. If we're going to be extorted into paying ransom to al Qaeda so that they can rape women and blow up buildings and kill civilians, men, women and children, that's a pretty bad plan to start with. I agreed with the President's decision."

Under the Monroe Doctrine, the U.S doesn't intervene in every conflict. However, when terrorists attack Americans or the U.S directly, the U.S must act upon this and the intervention is within the principles of the Monroe Doctrine. The U.S should fight back against terrorists, even though it may cost lives, just like Luke Somers. Sadly, they were probably going to kill him anyway, but we can't let them take away our will to fight.

Race and Identity in Latin American Revolutions and Today

The Mexican Revolution had many Key Events. The first one was The Grito de Delores, which was when Hidalgo and Costilla launched the Mexican War of Independence. Others were the Treaty of Cordoba, Plan of Iguala, Mexican conservatives called for independence and Iturbide declared emperor of Mexico. The Mexican War of independence started because peasants didn't have equal rights. The peninsulares were the peasants and were Indian and mestizo.

Race Continues to affect national unity in America. One recent example has been dominating the news for the last week. That is the decision of the grand jury in Missouri not to charge officer Darren Wilson of the Ferguson Police Department with a crime for shooting African American teenager Michael Brown to death after a confrontation. The grand jury believed that the evidence showed that Officer Wilson was telling the truth when he testified that Brown had attacked him in his car, tried to take his gun, and was coming after him when he shot the teenager.

However, even with these facts, there has been ongoing national debate about relations between white police officers and black young men. In today's New York Times, a front page article described a meeting that President Obama hosted at the White House. He said: "There is a simmering mistrust that exists between too many police departments and too many communities of color." The President proposed: "he would tighten standards on the provision of military-style equipment to local police departments and provide funds for police officers to wear cameras," according to the article Obama Offers New Standards on Police Gear by Mark Lander.

I believe that race does affect identity and politics. Many people assume that the officer shot the young man because he was black and I have those suspicions too, although I don't know. Because many people are suspicious of police, I think it is a good idea for police to wear body cameras to see what happened, instead of debating over the facts.

The Congress of Vienna

What should people do when their power is threatened? In class we had to solve three problems. As Prince Metternich, We had to decide on the most logical answer that would solve the problem asked about Europe. In groups, we all put our heads together and picked and answer and shared why we picked it. After everyone shared, we were told what actually happened in Europe while this problem was occurring.

The Congress of Vienna started in 1815 by the four European powers which had defeated Napoleon. The first goal was to establish a new balance of power in Europe which would prevent imperialism within Europe, such as the Napoleonic empire,  and maintain the peace between the great powers. Metternich and other powerful people of the congress used balance of power so there wouldn't be another domination like Napoleon had done. All countries had equal power.

I think the congress of Vienna made some good choices and some bad. Putting King Louis XVI on the throne was a good idea because it would re establish the line of legitimacy. Also deciding to act in more kindness and consideration towards their people, caused revolutionary ideas to simmer down. People now had freedom of speech and more religious toleration. I think that making more countries and independence from others would have been a better idea. The countries would have brought a greater stability to Europe with different nationalities. The powerful leaders should be able to sacrifice their power for the better sake of others. Doing so can lead to no more revolutions.

 

Napoleon's Impact on the Systems of Europe

Napoleon was a hero to people in France, but a tyrant to others. His drive for military expansion changed the world. He is one of the most celebrated leaders in history. Napoleon had a huge impact on the social, economic, and political systems of Europe.

Napoleon became the ruler of France and was later the ruler of an empire. Napoleon Bonaparte had a positive impact on France and Europe due to the military, political and economic stability he restored to France, the laws he put in place, the reforms he introduced to the European countries he conquered and his improvement of the education system.

According to Madame de Stael, Napoleon's government was made of virtue, religion,  enthusiasm, and dignity. He planned for a universal monarchy when he became head of government. His system was to intrude upon France's liberty and Europe's independence.

Napoleon adopted the legitimate dynasty for France, according to Marshal, Michel Ney, who was one of Napoleon's soldiers. The legitimate dynasty would remount the throne. He didn't want the government suppressing people's rights and instead was leading soldiers to immortal legion.

In the Lost Voices of Napoleonic Historians, Napoleon was a military genius. He was eager to promote advancement of race. His power in domination was indispensable. The strategy of Napoleon was to be original unique and unexcelled.He led the French army to many victories from the time he became a commander, and later a general, in the army.


































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































 

Capitalism, Socialism, Communism, and Some Starbursts

Last week in class, we preformed capitalism, socialism, and communism without knowing it yet. We did a starburst activity. Everyone was handed a certain amount of starbursts at the door and started class with that number. Everyone was comparing how many they had to others and many had 3. The game had soon begun of rock, paper, scissors. I had begun the game in a lot of confidence,  until all of my starburst were gone in the first 30 seconds. I was frustrated because I had no way of getting back in the game and I had to sit there watching others win their games. After the games had ended, Mrs. Bailey had collected all the starbursts and redistributed them out evenly 3 to each person. We then were told that if you still wanted to play the game you certainly could. This time only 5 people got up ready to play. Everyone else wanted to hold on to what they got. I was happy that I could have 3 because it's better than the 0 I had ended up with before.

Marx and Smith had theories on the different forms of society. Marx's theory was capitalism, socialism, and communism. Capitalism is private ownership of industry, freedom of competition, and results in un equal economic classes. Socialism is government ownership of industry, goal is to bring economic equality, and aims for a classless society. Communism is goal of classless society achieved, and no government needed. Smith's Theory was the invisible hand. It was that the government leaves people alone, business people offer lower prices, which lead to better goods to attract people, and the competition regulates the market. This would help the poor more than Marx's theory. The poor would be able to afford goods better.

I think that Smith's theory of the invisible hand is best. This theory helps the poor and Marx's theory doesn't appeal best to them. This helping the poor creates a better society to live in and less people staying in poverty. This could lead to a better life for most American's.

Luddites: Taking Sides

The luddites were people of the Industrial revolution that were skilled weavers and mechanics. They were followers of the mythical figure 'Ned Ludd'. They attacked machines and factories in early industrialization.The Luddites were known mostly for the attacks they had succeeded. Being a Luddite meant that you were just being a protester. The Luddites protested against bad wages the workers received and unfair employment practices. They wanted to get rid of the new machinery that was causing unemployment among workers. The luddites were concerned technology was developing too quickly, hurting society ,and peoples lives.

The following paragraph illustrates a mock primary source letter. This letter has a role of a young girl who is a new factory worker. The girl is going to talk about her experiences with Luddites around.

October 6, 1877

Dear Cousin Abby,

As you know, I've been in England working in the mills. The conditions here are gruesome, but we all stay because we need the wage. We also have been told that education will be provided here. Lately a group named the Luddites have been intruding our factories. They're actually skilled mechanics and weavers but have chosen to protest and break some of our machinery. They believe workers were receiving bad wages and unfair employment practices. I agree with them! We are doing dangerous work for such young ladies. There is a rumor going around that the boss could be cutting our wages anytime soon. I don't know how I'm going to provide home and for myself if this becomes true. The industrial revolution is shaping me into hard working lady, helping me provide for myself and broaden my choices later in life.

 

Your cousin-- Allie

 

Attitudes towards Women

Motivation and appeal were key to drawing girls to work at the Lowell mills. Life wouldn't be too different than when girls had worked the fields at home, so the adjustment wouldn't be bad. There were many appeals given to future workers of the Lowell mills.

Some appeals were that all of the machines used would have been assembled under one roof. The girls wouldn't be running around the factory all the time and would have their own machine to be responsible for. Also, since the factories were new, they would be free from England's industrial standards. The owners built boarding houses, created educational programs and made Lowell  desirable to go to. They made it sounds like Lowell had a nice environment to be around with economic and social opportunities.

Some benefits of going to Lowell were that women could start at the mills, but later move on with their lives and still containing independence. They could also earn good money and send it home to provide for their families. Some girls even provided for themselves and bought nice clothing and saved for their education later on.

People thought that women should stay with the gentler world of home and family. They didn't think the women could handle harsh circumstances men went through. The also changed perceptions on women of that time by working outside their homes, and living away. Also, people looked at women differently because the women were being educated, and began writing to the public.

For women to come to the Lowell mills under awful conditions, owners had to make the mills sound desirable to go to. They made it sound like you would be moving into a better life then ever before. The women had gotten used to these regulations and conditions. Women were  motivated by many ideas when they were going to work at the mills.

Negatives and Positives on the Industrial Revolution

 

Negatives and Positives on the Industrial Revolution

 

A curator is a person responsible for a specific collection of heritage institution. My group mates and I were curators for the Industrial Revolution on our specific topic. Our topic and exhibit were on changes to life conditions due to the Industrial Revolution.

Our exhibit consisted of how the environment and living was changed from the industrial Revolution. There was a lot more pollution to the water and air from the increase of factories. There was also more dirty and poor living. The factories had awful conditions too. Our group came up with our title from the many changes happening during this time. We hoped for visitors to learn that the Industrial revolution didn't just have a positive effect on the world, but also had a negative with many things changing.

 

This poster is A New Age is Looming Over the Horizon. In this group, I saw pictures of new inventions in this time, including the Spinning Jenny and the loom. The loom made textiles easier and you could now spin at home. This helped the working life.

 

 

 

This poster is Fueling Transportation in the Industrial Revolution. In this poster I saw that transportation made everything faster.  Transportation used to take too long and once trains were made they reduced travel time. They were quick and cheap convenience.

This poster is Unlawful Conditions, Dangerous Workspaces and Mistreated Children. I saw that child labor was difficult and there was bad conditions in work spaces. Because of this, laws were created to protect children from working under unlawful conditions.

This poster is Weaving Slavery into the Industrial Revolution.  I saw that cotton was improved and exported from Britain to the Us. to all over the world. Slavery had increased in the mills with more demands of cotton. Slavery increased wealth and mass production led to more slaves.

The Industrial Revolution opened many windows to new inventions. This could have ended in a positive effect or a negative one. Overall, the Industrial Revolution broadened ideas and created changes to the world.