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.

Slavery Increasing

Recently in class we have learned about how slavery was entrenched in American slavery in the early 19th century, how the system of slavery based race affects human dignity and what human characteristics does society tend to ignore. The three essential questions are: How did slavery become entrenched in American society, both economically and politically, by the early 19th century? How does a system of slavery based race affect human dignity? What human characteristics does such a system tend to ignore?

People thought that slavery was going to decrease because as the result of the American and French revolutions many slaves escaped and planned revolts, which made people, believe that slavery going to go away. But, then the cotton gin was invented which was a machine that took the seeds out of the cotton so that it could be woven into threads, this increased production so more slaves were needed to keep up with the supply and demand. During the time when the cotton gin was first invented slaves price almost doubled and the number of slaves in the United States increased by 33 percent. In 1793 short staple cotton was easier to make and there was more demand for it by 1800, the production increased to 85 million pounds; during this time the total slave population in the United States was about 690,000 all located in Virginia and the Carolinas. Then by 1860 the south grew 28.2 million pounds up from about 1.5 million cotton exports produced 191.8 million pounds which is 57 percent of the nation’s total export revenue; as the south was producing more and more cotton the amount of slaves also increased to 3,954,000 throughout the south. Slavery was entrenched in the early 19th century because there was a high demand for cotton so they needed more slaves to produce the cotton increasing the slave population drastically.

One antislavery activist was Frederick Douglass. Frederick was the son of a slave women and an unknown white man, he was born in February of 1818 on Maryland’s eastern shore. As a child he was a slave and he experienced brutal whippings and spending much time cold and hungry. He did teach himself to read and write in defiance of laws while enslaved. He escaped for good at 20 years old and continued to try to make African American lives better. As an active abolitionist, he wrote an abolitionist newspaper called the North Star and wrote his autobiography. He was also known as a powerful speaker in the abolitionist movement.

Here is a picture of Frederick Douglass. We put words from one of his speeches that we felt were powerful to make the portrait come alive.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p1539.html

A system of slavery based race affects human dignity. Most people lose their dignity when they were forced into slavery, they become the lowest of the low and they aren’t treated with any respect. They are beaten and starved just because they are slaves; they aren’t really even treated like humans. One human characteristic that society usually overlooks could be that everyone is free and have the same rights. People who are enslaved don’t have the rights to say no to becoming a slave and to be owned by someone, and not being free anymore

People Still React Differently to Women

Recently in class we learned about the women’s reform and how women were treated in mid-19th century society. The essential questions for this topic are: How did mid-19th century society react to women’s demands for equality? Does 21st century society still react differently to men and women?

Women in the mid-19th century were treated much different from men. Women were supposed to stay at home, cook, clean and take care of the kids while the husband would go out and work to get money for their family. Here is a picture of a woman taking care of the children and doing other things that women were expected to do during this time period.

http://www.edline.net/files/_AIGmX_/90f5674f15c6c9f63745a49013852ec4/Activity_8_-_Lesson_Notes.pdf

Some other things that women were expected to do was to educate the girls and teach them how to read because girls typically didn’t go to school because they believe that it is useless to learn things that they wouldn’t actually do, so the girls would stay at home and learn how to cook, clean, sew and many other things. Women would also fix toys and clothes that were broken or ripped and take care of any pets that they had. Women were also treated differently working at the same job as men. If women were going to work really the only job they could get was as a teacher. Women would be paid around 20-30% less than what men would be paid for the same exact job. The mid-19th century did not like the idea of women getting more rights and treated more equal to men because men like to feel superior over women and they were worried that if women started getting more jobs there would be no one at home to cook, clean and take care of the kids.

21st century society does still react differently to men and women but definitely not as much as people reacted back in the mid-19th century society. In the 21st century women do have the same opportunities as men and they get paid the same amount, but a women’s personality can be perceived differently from men which causes society to label women differently than men. Here is a Pantene commercial that shows how society labels women differently from men who both work and are going for the same thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K2kfgW7708&feature=youtu.be

This Pantene commercial does a good job of showing how men and women are perceived and labeled differently today in society. Although 21st century society doesn’t react as strongly to the equality of men and women as in mid-19th century society it is still there and we can find a way to stop it.