Was The Discrimination Intentional?

The essential question for this week was, Was the discrimination that the Buffalo soldiers and Native Americans faced intentional or did the White settlers and federal government actually believe that what they were doing was just? The Buffalo Soldiers were black soldiers for U.S.A., African American, cavalry officer, and United States colored troops. The buffalo soldiers thought that becoming soldiers would be more interesting than going home and sharecropping. The first thing we did to learn about the Buffalo Soldiers and the Native Americans was to watch ABC Cleo videos just like we did last week to learn about Rockefeller and Carnegie. During the videos we assigned each group a topic to take notes on while watching the videos. After we each took notes on each of the documents according to our groups topics.

http://americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Topics/Display/1187738?cid=140

These videos give some background information on both Buffalo Soldiers and Native Americans on what the rest of this post will be talking about

Buffalo Soldiers were very frequently put into the Indian wars and mostly helped with the battles of Spain and Cuba. As said before Buffalo Soldiers are black soldiers who thought it would be more interesting to be a soldier than go back to sharecropping. After the Civil war, the Americans expanded westward and took their land. They used total war strategies against the Native Americans and attacked the Buffalo Soldiers. They took their food, supply and clothing. They also destroyed their horses’ food source and their homes. People started to think that Native Americans should be understood and taken into society. The Americans started to split up the land owned by the Native Americans though, they believed that they were their friends. The Land that the Americans split up was not good for farming so instead they started schools for the children to try to remove Native American Culture. Shamans who were the chiefs of the tribes began to introduce the concept of Total War and the government used it to wipe out the Indians starting with the Buffalo Soldiers. They went after the camps and the horses of the people. Many Indians were forced to move farther west and move to land for reservations. The Native Americans lived on the reservations and the land was understood as a sovereign nation, until they were put under government protection. The main goal was to encourage the Native Americans to fit into the society of America, but reformers thought that what was needed was assimilation, 90% of land went to American settlers. Reformers thought that they were the “Friends of the Native Americans”. The Dawes Act was the federal legislation related to land rights of Native Americans which tried to promote assimilation with Native American culture and U.S. culture.

The discrimination of Buffalo Soldiers and Native Americans faced was not intentional, the white settlers and federal government believed what they were doing was just. The government and settlers thought that they were actually helping the Buffalo Soldiers and Native Americans by taking away their land and  building schools to teach the children American culture and to forget about their culture making them fit in with the Americans thinking that that was a good idea. Also reformers thought they were “Friends of Native Americans” by helping them. The White settlers and federal government were not discriminating the Buffalo Soldiers and Native Americans intentionally but they thought they were doing the right thing by helping the Buffalo Soldiers and Native Americans fit in with American Society.

    

Carnegie and Rockefeller: Robber Barons or Captains of Industry

The essential question for this week is, were Carnegie and Rockefeller robber barons or captains of industry. Robber barons were seen as corrupt, unsportsmanlike. They bribed government officials, bought out or destroyed rivals, created giant monopolies and trusts and citizens had a love-hate relationship with them. Captains of industry were business leaders. This week we created a class google doc. and then we watched six videos on ABC Cleo and tooks notes. Every group was assigned a different topic, main ideas, key people, important events/key dates, essential terms. Once we watched the six videos each group had to analyze each of the four other documents and for this we also only took notes on the topic we were assigned to take notes on the videos for. After we had taken all the note we all agreed on an essential that would be answered in the blog post.

From 1865 to 1900 was the time of the uninterrupted industrial growth period. It was the time when industry boomed, Laissez faire capitalism became more popular, Immigrant labor was very popular and favored, transcontinental railroads was a goal, acts were passed that hurt those they were meant to protect, government did allow corporations to consolidate and die out, man's responsibility to drill and refine oil and the wealthy had a duty to give back to society. John D. Rockefeller created the Standard Oil Company, bought up rival companies and helped advance the economy. He was willing to drop his prices which had consumers always interested in him. Rockefeller also bribed politicians and gave to education. He was named the greatest business leader in American history. Although Rockefeller's ruthless and cutthroat business practices brought him tremendous wealth, his reputation with the public became severely damaged. Many suspected that Rockefeller and his associates had used illegal tactics and immoral business practices. Andrew Carnegie was known for strong production of steel in the U.S., used vertical integration where raw materials were controlled, transportation was controlled and so was manufacturing and sales. Carnegie was also notable as an philanthropist who gave millions of dollars to advance education, establish public libraries and promote world peace.

This picture shows two Andrew Carnegies showing that he had two sides to him. On one side (the right) Carnegie is giving the people land and money and is being very generous. On the other side (the left) Carnegie is giving someone a list of rules and regulations that they have to follow, instead of giving he is taking away. once people started to realize what he was doing people started to pity and have contempt towards him.

http://www.edline.net/files/_EfHIe_/cf8ad07e3892cfd73745a49013852ec4/Doug_Ernst-Inquiry_Lesson-Robber_or_Captain.pdf

Carnegie and Rockefeller were Robber barons. Both Carnegie and Rockefeller  were seen as corrupt and unsportsmanlike. They bribed government officials, bought out or destroyed rivals, created giant monopolies and trusts and citizens had a love-hate relationship with them. At first people thought both men were wonderful and great leaders but soon came to realize what they were actually doing which soon ruined their reputations to the public.

Sources:

http://americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Topics/Display/1187729?cid=140

http://www.edline.net/files/_EfGYe_/f55c55cde748ef0d3745a49013852ec4/John_D_Rockefeller_Bio.pdf

http://www.edline.net/files/_EfGX5_/a11882b861a51a603745a49013852ec4/Andrew_Carnegie_Bio.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9M_eDmpZsk&feature=youtu.be

Did Freedom Come from Above or Below?

This week in class we learned about whether freedom came from above or below. The first thing we did in class was look at a picture of Abraham Lincoln helping slaves get back on their feet. Given this picture we had to write speech bubbles with things that both Abraham and the slaves would say. Here is an example from class of what is could look like.

http://www.edline.net/files/_DMF3y_/abfc09536fdb31443745a49013852ec4/Freedom_to_the_Slaves.jpg

Then we looked at the social pyramid of American society at the beginning of the Civil War to get a better understanding of who had more power over who, so in the end we would be able to determine if freedom came from above or below. After this we split up into groups and each were assigned one of Lincoln's documents. With this document you had to find a quote that fit into three categories; goal of war, position on freeing slaves and evidence of personal feelings on slavery. The three essential questions for this topic are, who 'gave' freedom to enslaved Americans? Did freedom come from above or below? To what extent where Abraham Lincoln's actions influences by the actions of enslaved Americans?

Abraham Lincoln was someone who gave freedom to the slaves, in the picture above it shows Lincoln helping a slave family become free. In Lincoln’s Open Letter to Horace Greeley, 1862, Lincoln stated that the cause of the war was mainly slavery. He also states his position on free slaves and his personal feelings on slavery. Lincoln states his position on free slave by saying, “If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it.” This shows that Lincoln will make whatever decision he has to to be able to save the Union. Lincoln’s personal feelings on slavery is that even though he wants slavery to end, as president of the Unite States he cannot make it his first priority. Also in the Emancipation Proclamation, 1863, Lincoln wanted all slaves in the states to be free and he felt like freeing the slaves was simply an act of Justice. France and Britain could not consider allying themselves with the confederacy anymore, they had already outlawed slavery and now that the war was about slavery they could not side with pro slavery. The South was outraged that Lincoln could even say something, no slaves were released. They needed to fight twice as hard so that they could win the war by themselves without any foreign help.

The fugitive slaves did influence the government and Lincoln’s actions on slavery. The slave owners were telling their slaves that if they tried to talk to the Union soldiers then they would tie them up and told them that the soldiers were terrible people. This was to prevent them from joining these regiments. But eventually the word got out that they were lying and slaves started to go join the soldiers. The slave owners started writing to the government and the government did not know what to do with the extra people who they could not feed, and were not able to fight because they were not trained. This caused the government to realize that the war was really about slavery. Lincoln claimed that he did not do more for the abolition at this point in the war because he was afraid that if he abolished slavery that he would lose the support of the border states. He did not want to abolish slavery because he needs the resources these states provide to fight and succeed in the war against the south. Some factors that influenced the planning and the execution of the Emancipation Proclamation was that Lincoln’s cabinet advised him to hold back on abolishing all slavery. He only frees the slaves in the rebelling states and he issues the proclamation when the union has won a battle so this way the act does not look like an act of desperation to try to win, but rather a piece of value added to the war by the winner.

I think that the freedom of slavery came from below, meaning the slaves were the ones who made slaves free. I think that slavery came from below because if they never left their slave owners to join the soldier would the government never realize the real reason for the war, slavery. This is a picture showing slaves that left their owners and are meeting with union soldiers. These slaves are finally taking action on making sure they get their freedom.

http://www.edline.net/files/_DMF2g_/25617cd6768f5fcd3745a49013852ec4/Docs_XY_Above__Below.pdf

Today justice still comes from below. If people of lower power have a power that the people of the higher power overlook, the lower class people stand up for what they believe in and finally take action just like the fugitive slaves did to get their freedom back.

Sources:
http://www.edline.net/files/_DbH0m_/beb977bb964cfe7c3745a49013852ec4/Activity_4_Class_Notes.pdf

http://www.edline.net/files/_DMF2g_/25617cd6768f5fcd3745a49013852ec4/Docs_XY_Above__Below.pdf

http://www.edline.net/files/_DMF17_/2238431140fb386a3745a49013852ec4/Freedom_from_Above_or_Below_Documents.pdf

Battles of the Civil War

This week in class we did a Civil War scavenger hunt to learn about all the battles that occurred during the civil war. To prepare for this scavenger hunt each person in the class was assigned a number and the description of a battle, but we weren't given the name of the battle. With the information from the description we had to find out watch battle we had. Once we found out what battle we all had, we made a Google doc with the name of the battle. where and when it took place, who the victor was and what theater it was located in. After we had all the information we made a QR code and a bitly so that other people could scan in during the scavenger. For this scavenger hunt I had to research the battle of Chickamauga. This battle occurred on the 19 & 20 of September and it took place in Catoosa and Walker County; the confederate was the victor and it was in the western theater. Here is a link to my Google document on the battle of Chickamauga and a picture of the battle.

The Battle of Chickamauga

Finally it was time for the scavenger hunt, first we put the QR codes that we printed out somewhere in the school and then we went around the school from battle to battle in order making sure to take notes on each battle. The essential questions for this lesson are, Who was the ultimate victor in each of the theaters of war: eastern, western or naval? What are some commonalities you can identify in the reasons for the results of the battle?

After the scavenger hunt, in class we made a padlet to decide who the ultimate victor was in each theaters of the war and what some of the commonalities were in the reasons for the result of the battle. The ultimate victor for the western theater was the union. In the eastern theater is was the confederate, and in the naval theater the union was also the victor. Some reasons for the union being the victor in the western theater is that  the union outnumbered the confederate in most of the battles in the west. The confederate had a lack of supplies like ammunition, this allowed the union to overpower the confederate and push their attack deeper into the south. Some reasons for the confederate being the victor in the eastern theater is because most of the of the military schools were in the south and that means that most of the graduates were confederate and they fought with the confederate army. Also in th eastern theater many more union soldiers were killed giving confederate more of an advantage. Finally, the reasons for the union to win the battle in the naval theater is because the union had more soldiers again than the confederate army giving the union soldiers the advantage. Something all three of these battle have in common considering the reason for the results is that they all have to do for lacking in supplies and soldiers giving the enemies the advantage to become victor. Here is our padlet that we made in class where most of this information was produced on.

Created with Padlet

http://padlet.com/KerryHawk02/2015BTheaters

The Election of 1860

This week in class we learned about the election of 1860 and the events that lead up to this big election. To learn about these events we watched a crash course video on how the slavery issue caused divisions for the fugitive slave law, railroads, republicans, and bleeding Kansas. The essential quest this week was, were the results of the election of 1860 representative of the deep divisions over slavery? To answer the essential question we made a video on educreations to explain the events that took part during the election of 1860.

The Election of 1860

Click the link below to watch the story of the election of 1860

Lincoln finally won the election, but many people were angered from the south. The South did not 
agree with Lincoln about trying to end slavery like what the North wanted. The South wanted to encourage slavery which is why many of them voted for Breckenridge.

Strategy and Statistics of the Civil War

Strategies and success in the civil war: North vs. south | Create infographics

This week we learned about the statistics and strategies of the civil and the advantages both the North and South had. To learn about these statistics we made infographics. An infographic is a visual image such as a chart or diagram used to represent information or data. This infographic really did help me learn about the strategies and statistics of the civil war. Seeing different numbers on a piece of paper than thinking about the how big the difference is and how this could really effect the result of civil war is so much different than having a graph or a pie chart or any of the other tools that you could use in Infogr.am actually show you the different in an easy and understandable way. It helped me see how many more people were in the North compared to the south, but how many more slaves were needed in the South because that was where the only cotton bales were produced. More slaves were needed in the south to be able to produce all of that cotton that was being produced.I also learned that most slaves lived on large plantations and only 10% of slaves lived in the city. And I learned that slaves in different areas may react differently to the war depending on where they were located. Slaves on small plantations because they could be freed, but it is less likely for a slave to be freed on a big plantation.

Sources:

http://www.edline.net/files/_CCBV6_/39d28344c59e45213745a49013852ec4/Railroad_and_Slave_Density_Maps.pdf

http://www.edline.net/files/_CDHeg_/849bf0de56cb0eae3745a49013852ec4/Resources_Pie_Charts.pdf

http://www.edline.net/files/_CCBWZ_/257d654637b0aff83745a49013852ec4/Slavery_by_the_Numbers.pdf

http://www.edline.net/files/_CCBWz_/21e469c533466ada3745a49013852ec4/Strengths_of_the_North_and_the_South_Reading.pdf  

There's an Elephant in the Room?!

Last week in class we discussed how we know the debate over slavery was the “elephant in the room” for American politics in the early 19th century. The phrase “elephant in the room” describes a specific topic that no one cares to address. To learn about this we learned about different people and events from this time period and then made a timeline through the 19th century. The essential question for this week was: How do we know the debate over slavery was the “elephant in the room” for American politics in the early 19th century? The first thing we did it class was go over the Missouri compromise in 1820. The Missouri compromise creates and even split of 11 slave states and 11 Free states. Also, all new territory north of the 36 degrees, 30 minutes latitude line will be free in the future. Then in 1850 California requests to join the union as a free state. Henry Clay anticipates the inevitable controversy of the loss of equality between slave and Free states, so he proposed of five-part compromise. The first part was that Texas would give up the land in dispute, but in return given ten million dollars and the money would be used to pay off its debt to Mexico. In part two the territories of New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona and Utah would be organized without mention of slavery, they are still not considered states because they are not very populated yet, once they get more populated it will be decided if they are slave and free states. Next in the third part the slave trade would be abolished in the District of Columbia but slavery will still be permitted meaning that people who already have slaves are allowed to keep them but no more slaves are allowed to be purchase in DC. The fourth part it says California would be admitted as a free state. And the final part, part five says to pacify slave-state politicians who would have objected to the imbalance of free and slave states they created another free state, the Fugitive Slave Act was passed. It was supposed to help the recovery of fugitive slave. It denies a fugitive slave to a jury a trial. These are only two events from the timeline we made in class. These two events should how there was an “elephant in the room” because even though they are trying to decide which states should be slave and which ones are supposed to be free; the people aren’t discussing how they are going to try to end slavery.

This is the timeline we made in class to show all the even causing the “elephant in the room” for many politicians during the 19th century.