LAD #21

Andrew Carnegie was very successful, he was an incredible business man who profited most from his work in the fields of iron and steel and sold them to the railways. Carnegie was a very generous man and did not use his wealth selfishly but instead used it to fund public works projects and a library as well with the money he made in the steel industry. This helped him in developing what came to be known as The Gospel of Wealth. Carnegie thought that wealth tore people apart from each other, and was the cause of many problems society faced which was why he did not keep all of his wealth to himself. However at one point he contradicted himself, saying that the definition of social classes and having a class wealthier and higher than others could help society, as it would allow the world to change as an opportunity was given for rich and poor to bond together. Carnegie thought that rich businessmen should share their wealth, by donating money, or spending on public works as he did. He concluded his statement by saying it is the wealthy men’s duty to share their money, to set an example for future generations as not being ones who pointlessly spent money just for the sake of spending it, but rather to benefit the people and the society. His Gospel of Wealth is an inspiring document which talks about a world that would seem flawless, and he greatly encourages this effort, but with all of the other selfish rich men at this time this hope did not look like it would progress into more than an idea.

LAD #20

The Emancipation Proclamation

On January 1, 1863 a very important proclamation was written by Abraham Lincoln, it stated that all slaves in the United States shall be forever free! That is, specifically the slaves in states that take part in the rebellion which does not include the states that are pro slavery. The military and authority and the government too will make sure that this proclamation is followed sincerely and that each slave is free and has a right to his/her liberties. This document was proven to be a symbol of justice and social equality among the United States and did not fail to make it stronger. This proclamation not only did that but it also helped to redefine the purpose of war which gave the men who were fighting a greater drive to finally make it to victory.

LAD #19

Abraham Lincolns Second Inaugural Address took place on March 4, 1865. Upon taking his second term in office he restates that his goals from his first term still stand and there is little new that he wants introduced, his hopes were high for the future. Lincoln mentions how the civil war that began soon after his first term had been going on for much longer then the people had hoped for. One of the causes of the war was the issue of slavery. The war began with the goal of protecting the Union in mind but little did we know that the issue of slavery would be the biggest factor in the midst of the war. It became a fight between the North and South with many factors involved and there had to be a victor in order to rebuild the United States stronger. Lincoln closes out his address by saying that the goal is to "let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nations wounds...". This speech came to be one of Abraham Lincolns most important speeches ever written.

LAD #18

The Dred Scott Decision in 1857 was delivered when sectionalist tensions in America were high. This was just before the Civil war and is known as the worst Supreme Court decision in history. The case was over Negro Citizenship as well as whether the Missouri Compromise was constitutional or not. Roger B Taney was the Chief Justice on the case after the first justice, Nelson was thrown out because he made the majority decision only his. When the decision was delivered by Taney, he delivered that any African American was not legally a citizen of the US, even if they were free and therefore Dred Scott didn’t even have the right to be suing in federal court because he wasn’t a citizen. Then he addressed the constitutionality of the Missouri Compromise. Taney said the land bought in the Louisiana Purchase was under federal government’s control and that they can’t deny any given right to any citizens, which made the compromise unconstitutional because the government would be depriving the new territories in the purchase of the right to hold slaves. Leaving the only part of the case left to be settled if Scott was free because he was in Illinois for a period of time, but since Scott was suing in the state of Missouri, Scott wasn’t a free man because he was in a slave state. Scott’s case and the decision were unfair and America was affected, the Sectionalist tensions raged on after hearing the decision of the court and eventually ended up leading to the American Civil War.

LAD #17

"Ain't I a Woman?" By Sojourner Truth

Sojourner Truth is a black woman. The issues that are going on at this time are of slavery and women's rights specifically. In this speech given by Truth, "Ain't I women?" is the recurring line which goes along with all of the stereotypical ways that women should be treated. In reality, none of these things play out in real life, especially for a black women like herself. She stresses how women work just as hard as men and are just as important, so why are rights between the two genders different. Women deserve just the same. In the last paragraph it says how men are treated as superior because "Christ wasn't a woman!", which is not a viable reason because how did Christ come to be? In the end, this speech stressed the importance of women and how their rights and responsibilities are just as important as men's.

LAD #16

The 5th of July Speech by Fredrick Douglas

The 5th of July speech was a significant one delivered by Fredrick Douglas speaking on how the Fourth of July is only considered independence day to some, specifically white men only! To blacks this is considered a day of mourning. Douglas states how from a slaves point of view this day is only a celebration to those who can truly call themselves free. Now, these slaves along with the rest of the United States were freed from British rule, but they were still under the rule of their white owners and therefore they were not truly free men. Slavery was still a large issue that had not yet been stressed upon enough. He speaks on how it is wrong to have a day called independence when there are men in America who are still robbed of their own liberty and are forced to work and be controlled by other men without complaints. A slave is a victim on this day of celebration, they do not have any respect or independence and therefore this so called 'holiday' is meaningless to them.

LAD #13

This speech by John Calhoun was one of his most famous despite the fact that he was even to ill to deliver it himself. It addressed the issue of slavery and how it was tearing the Union apart bit by bit. This was due to the fact that the South approved of slavery and the North strongly opposed it and it was causing a controversy that needed to be addressed. Calhoun in his writing leaned more towards the South and their views in a sort of pitiful way. He knew that the real issue was that the South did have less representation in the senate, also were taxed more then the North and had unequal opportunities on many issues, especially slavery. The South was also affected more economically in comparison to the North with tariffs and taxes. Therefore, Calhoun then went on to state how the only way to preserve the Union was to equalize the power of the North and South in the government. Calhoun delivered this speech with the best of intentions for America, weather it became a success or not he knew he had done everything he possibly could to save it.

LAD #12

To sum up Polk's message on the War with Mexico stated why he declared this war and how he planned on going about it . He made it clear that Mexico had brought this war upon themselves and that they had continuously been attacking parts of America after each and every failed peace treaty. Polk eventually had had enough and sent Slidell to attempt one more effort at peace with Mexico, but the government of Mexico would not even acknowledge him and what he had to offer. Therefore, even when war was not yet declared officially it was plain to see that the U.S. and Mexico were enemies when it came to this border dispute. And so because of this, Polk knew that the only reasonable thing to do was to take action in order to protect the citizens of the U.S. and declare a war with them. This message made it very clear that America was fighting this war for the right reasons to protect its people and the country itself.

LAD #11

The Seneca Falls Declaration was a monumental document in the women’s suffrage movement which held roots in upstate New York. This document stated how in the Declaration of Independence the rights of women are very unclear; therefore in this Seneca Falls declaration it states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal” only changing the words in order to add women into this equal group. They also restated the line about when the government is not supporting the interests of the people, they posses the right to rebel, in which case the Women’s rights activist did just that during this time period. The Declaration covered many rights that had been stripped from women throughout history. Some of these consisted of at marriage, women lose all wages as well as property to their new husbands, there are no rights for women to vote and the women of history never had any say in law making processes, therefore causing many of their interests to go unrepresented by the government. The writers then added a section of the Declaration when they made revisions to the problems stated earlier, suggesting things such as “women is man’s equal” and “that she should be recognized as such”. Their showing of the problems in treatment of women throughout history and the presented possible solutions were a big step in achieving Women’s suffrage. The Seneca Falls Declaration played a huge part in American history in achieving the equality sought by America and its founders for women throughout America.

LAD #10

Monroe Doctrine

Passed by President James Monroe, the Monroe Doctrine was a monumental step for foreign policy in the United States. It stated that any European colonization in the Americas would be seen as an attack on America that gave them the right to intervene. Monroe was trying to help with the development of America with this doctrine and also aid the underdeveloped countries in mid and South Americas that were trying to gain independence for themselves. He wanted the Americas, “not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European power”. This really summarizes the doctrine well being the main idea of it. Monroe's main goal was to preserve the happiness of the fellow American countries and to give them the same opportunity at freedom as they had. The European powers were threatened by the United States saying that if they tried to colonize in America, it will be taken as a personal threat to our country and we will intervene to preserve the best interests of the surrounding nations, an attempt to be an ally to the developing countries. The main point of the Monroe Doctrine was to keep European Powers away from colonizing the developing countries in North and South America in order to develop new countries to ally and also potentially keep other colonial powers as far from opposing American expansion as possible.

Columbus Blog #8

Christopher Columbus can be seen as either a villain or a hero, but he is more of a villain to a greater extent. First off, he did not actually discover American in 1492. There were already several Native American troops that had been there for years before. Second of all, he and his troops brought new disease to the New World like smallpox. No one in the New World was immune; it caused the deaths of many already American citizens. Although that was unintentional, it may have caused many to dislike him. However, he did some worse things too, for example he took men and women away from their families heartlessly. Lastly, he was selfish. He took those innocent people for his own selfish reasons. He also kept all of the profits that he earned and did not share them. He even promised a reward to one who could spot land first in 1492, but he did not follow through.

LAD #9

Thomas Jefferson's first Inaugural Address was a deferential, but memorable beginning to a very productive presidency for the United States of America. Jefferson’s speech has become a very famous one in our history as it was a document that helped to further develop the idea of  a democracy in America. He stated early in his speech that the constitution requests a free land, where people are equal and there is toleration of other groups. Jefferson’s strong federalist beliefs showed through early in the speech with his admiration of the constitution and how closely he follows the document that he will soon rule under. He also talks about how equal law must protect these rights, especially for the people. While these statements may pertain to other things, they could have been related to the feud between the federalists and anti federalists. Later in his speech the line that stuck out was, “We are all Republicans, We are all Federalists” was for sure directed at this issue. The Sedition Acts passed by John Adams, the former president and the anti federalist that Jefferson had just beaten out in the prior election, were causing problems all around America as they seemed to be very fascist in their goals. The acts were mostly to prevent opposition to the government, mainly aimed at the Federalists, and with the statement mentioned earlier, Jefferson showed his reign would be much different, that he stood behind the ideas of the constitution and had no right to deny the rights of anyone else despite different sets of beliefs. The speech of Jefferson that began his rule was a great one, regarded as one of the most famous Democratic documents of its time. The strong start to the presidency for Thomas Jefferson was just one of many things good to come.

LAD #7: Washington's Farewell Address

In Washington's Farewell Address, the objective of his speech is to tell the people that he does not desire to be their ruler for a third term. He started by stating how he believed he was not cut out for the job but according to the people he was, which encouraged his second term serving as the president. Therefore after his second term was coming to an end he reproaches his farewell speech or address. He preaches that without the support of the people during his presidency, he would not have been able to accomplish all that he did that benefitted the country. Washington stresses the importance of the government in maintaining peace and freedom of each and every person. He notes the need for nationalistic feelings of pride in our country and patriotism to be prominent to keep the colonies united! He is wise when leaving an important message to not get involved with foreign affairs and to try and limit interruption of peace. To maintain manufacturing within the colonial boundaries and to make no alliances. Another importance that is looked upon is that all should obey the established government due to the fact that we as citizens are lucky enough to have a say in forming the Constitution which represents us all. He also mentions how factions need to keep from causing conflict as that will only end with worse consequences. A main take away from his address was that the best way to keep a united and free America was to stay away from foreign intervention and to embrace independence.

LAD #6: Washington's Proclamation of Neutrality

George Washington's Proclamation of Neutrality states that the United States will stay neutral through the fighting of the war between the other belligerent powers. Also because of how strongly Washington believed in this, he stated that if any citizen might try to intervene with any powers involved there would be severe consequences.

LAD #5: Federalist #10

1.  Why are factions so difficult to eliminate?

Factions were what we know as political parties where everyone involved in one faction has the same beliefs, interests and passions which makes them very difficult to eliminate. This is due to the fact that the remedies that were thought up in order to eliminate them only would backfire. For example, it states in Federalist paper #10 that, "There are two methods of curing the mischiefs of faction: the one, by removing its causes; the other, by controlling its effects." However, we can conclude that removing its causes is not an option and therefore the only way to eliminate a faction is to control its effects.

 2.  If factions cannot be removed then how can they be controlled? The only way to control a faction is to try and get everyone involved in the faction to believe a persuasive government in an agreement on one decision with no opposition whatsoever.

Republican Motherhood Blog

1. What role did the Revolutionary War play in the transformation of housewifery to Republican Motherhood?  

During the Revolutionary War, women played a huge role in the home life while the men were fighting in the War. They raised the children all on their own, loving and caring for them while maintaining the home (Doc C). They also played parts as nurses in caring for the men when they were injured in the war. The role of women due to this time increased for the better and soon enough women were considered just as important as men were.

2. What were the consequences of Republican Motherhood on women?

One consequence that Republican Motherhood can cause is the fact that if a women were to disregard her duties, she would be deserting what God had assigned her to do therefore letting him down. This is because if the mother does not maintain a well-ordered family, she and her family will become a disgrace to society (Doc A). Another consequence that can result from motherhood is if she does not educate her children properly then they will not have the proper knowledge to maintain an occupation later in life (Doc B).

3. What is the significance of the ideology of Republican Motherhood as a stage in the process of women’s socialization?

The importance of a women at this time increased immensely, they were now known as "the most important degree, the destiny of our country". Basically saying that without women in the world, society would be nothing, there would be no order and no future because women make the decisions that keep everything in order and together (Doc D).

The setting of this picture is in a house on a couch.

The women in the middle is Mary Gibson Tilgham and she looks happy. She is republican rather than aristocratic because you can see the strong sense of republican motherhood as she has both of her sons close to her and she looks very fond of them. 

Her sons exhibit values of innocence, happiness and love for their mother.

The significance of Mrs. Tilgham's arm is that she is actually touching her children and showing affection and closeness to them which was not very common before this time.

Blog #4- Revolution Article

  "Rethinking the Revolution"

 

           by John Ferling

1. The Civil War was known to many as the first modern war. This is due to the fact that there were cameras and technology getting footage of the war as it was being fought This therefore gave insight to historians on the war which gives us more accurate facts on what happened during this time. On top of this some of the soldiers letters survived, making what historians wrote very accurate.

2. Many did not have the impression that the Revolutionary War was the longest and most deadly war, its magnitude was downplayed. However, in America out of 2.5 million people, 30,000 perished. When in comparison to other wars, the facts are set that this war caused a high death toll; if the facts were the same in a war fought today our population would decrease from 300 million to about 3 million.


3. Peoples views on the Revolutionary War are not as clear and true as those are on the Civil War. This is because the facts on the Revolution and the Revolutionary War were passed down by word of mouth due to the fact that the 13 Continental Army Generals had all died out leaving information in the hands of those who hadn't lived through it.


4. Washington as President of the United States did not do much to appreciate/remember those who fought in significant battles at the time. He did not do much at all really; none of his words stood out to other significant people during the time and he also resigned his own position in November, 1783.


5. The Americans who invaded Canada had worse conditions than I thought. The desperation for food was so high that some ate a soup made from boiled shoes and candles or even gnawed on tree bark. Most were naked as the enemy took their clothing and they therefore died throughout the cold harsh winter.

LAD #3: Declaration of Independence

Declaration of Independence

 

1. Democratic Principles- The Declaration of Independence states that all men have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The people have the right to question and take action against the government if it misuses its power in any way. The safety and happiness of any citizens of the United States is the most important aspect of the Declaration of Independence.

2. Grievances-

The English King...

• Forbid governors to pass laws of importance
• Kept standing armies on us without letting our legislatures know at a time of peace
• Deprived us of rights like trial by jury
• Taxing without consent
• Forbid transport among the seas and cutting off trade in general
• Suspended our legislatures
• Burned our towns, attacked our coasts and killed our people
• Refused to allow others to be elected in positions of such power
• Was unworthy of heading our nation as he conducted works of death upon our people

3. Conclusion- In conclusion, The Declaration of Independence is that all colonies are considered free and independent from British rule. They have the full power to make decisions based on their own made up government and laws.

LAD #2: Zenger Trial

Zenger Trial of 1735

1. Who was John Peter Zenger?

John Peter Zenger was a man who opposed the views of the governor William Cosby and wrote weekly journals criticizing his ideas. For this, he was put on trial and after serving 8 years in prison charged with seditious libel.

2. What was the controversy over his charges? Talk about Hamilton's defense.

Hamilton took his defense straight to the jury to prove that Zenger being charged with libel was unjust due to the fact that what Zenger had written was not false. When this truth came across to the jury they were easily able to find the verdict which was not guilty.

3. What influence did his case have on American governmental tradition?

This case opened up options for human kind. It showed that people are beginning to have a voice in things and that the government does not have complete control over everyone and everything. The idea of a democracy became more clear.

4. What is the lasting significance of his trial? Explain.

The lasting significance of this trial was a stepping stone in the area of the freedom of the press. Therefore proving that libel, if what is written is true, is not in fact libelous. The juries eyes were opened up to the fact that not everything when charged with is proven as true.

LAD #1: Mayflower Compact & Fund. Orders of CT

Mayflower Compact

 &

  Fundamental Orders of CT

1) What concepts are included in the Mayflower Compact?

The 41 men who signed the Mayflower Compact made an agreement that they would all combine together as one to better preserve what they had and keep order before they reached Plymouth Rock and the New World. They would live among their own laws in a civil society throughout this journey in order to remain loyal to their king and god as well.

2) How does the Mayflower Compact reflect an attachment to both the "Old" and "New" worlds?

The Mayflower Compact reflects attachment to the Old world as it states that the men will remain loyal to their own practices and leaders of Europe.  Therefore carrying on traditions from their mother country in the Old World when entering the New World. It also states an attachment to the New World in saying that, here, they will be able to develop a new government to benefit the new colony.

3) How did the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut differ from the Mayflower Compact?

There is such a difference between the Mayflower Compact and the Fundamental Orders of CT due to the fact that the Mayflower Compact is an agreement of things that these men are given the ability to change written in the fashion of a document. Whereas the Fundamental Orders of CT are written as an actual set of rules set up constitutionally verifying what you can and cannot do.

4) What prompted the colonists of Connecticut to take this approach to government, i.e.: use of a written Constitution?

The colonists believed that this approach to government was necessary at the time so that a set of rules would be known to everyone and therefore would help lessen the possibility of one trying to take power into their own hands that might cause problems within the state. Each colonist had their right to their own liberty.

5) In what significant way(s) does the Fundamental Orders reflect a fear of and safeguard against the usurping of power by one person or a chosen few?

The orders reflect this fear of and safeguard against the uprising of power by one person or a chosen few because the rules state certain limits that one can rule. For example, "no person be chosen Governor above once in two years". 

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