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.