Crossing the Atlantic: Post #3

This is the third post of four that will be published here about European immigration and the enduring understandings that dictated the roles of people, places and power within this event. The previous blog posts were very similar, the first summarizing the key terms that were found to help define just what European immigration was, who were involved and how they lived. After these posts were written, I was able to join a small group of other students and compare and contrast the key terms and enduring understanding s that each of us found to define the event of European immigration. I was astonished at how my group was able to expand on my previous knowledge and build an even stronger foundation of key terms and understandings to help guide the group on its way to the final product. One such way our helped to expand on my knowledge of the topic was to find the best enduring understandings from our group as a whole, and expand off of those understandings. I personally thought my previous understandings were a little weak, but our group was able to adapt and add stronger ones that further expanded on European immigration, such as adding the understanding that "People in power tend to be threatened by competition from outsiders, and thus take steps to limit the potential power of those underneath them." This one understanding is able to incorporate both people and power in an easy to research understanding that still applies to the world we live in today. We also had the idea to help organize and expand our knowledge of the key terms by grouping them by when those specific terms most effected immigrants and those around them. Organizing the key terms this way helped our presentation to flow more evenly and allow us seamless transition through each phase of immigration.
Once our group had optimized the research we had previously gathered, we started to put it together in a video that we had been assigned to help spread the information we had found to other students in our class. Simply put, our group was tasked with creating a photo essay, but in the format of a video, which entails a slideshow of pictures is played and each picture has a caption that is read by a member of our group. I was overall very impressed with how seamlessly my group was able to take the information we had gathered previously and compress it into short captions that were able to give large amounts of information in a small frame of time. Each group member was tasked with further research and citing of the original sources, as well as creating the short captions for the video essay. Each person had equal amounts of work to do and our group worked fluidly and there were very few hiccups in the research or writing of the script. The final product is something I feel our entire group can be proud of, it gives interesting and important information about European immigration and the conditions immigrants had to endure in a time frame of only sixty seconds. I don't feel there were any missteps during the group phase and I believe the class will be able to become well-informed on the issues that surrounded Europeans immigration to America, and what people, places and power were able to influence those issues.

Crossing the Atlantic: Post #2

This will be the second of four blog posts in this assignment that covers and explains the significance of people, places and power in European immigration to America. Since the last post, I have been exposed to new source material that allows for a more in-depth look at how immigrants arrived in this country from Europe, as well as how they lived and were treated in the months or even years after their arrival. One activity lays out, step by step what it was like to pass through Ellis Island (http://teacher.scholastic.com/ACTIVITIES/immigration/tour/index.htm), whilst the other activity allows for a closer look into tenements lived in by immigrant and their families while they were fresh off the boat and looking for work (http://www.tenement.org/Virtual_Tour/vt_rogar.html). Each source is able to expand on just how people, places and power was each significant in its own way by allowing for new insight into each topic as well as a new perspective from the readings that were analyzed in the last post.

Key terms

• Immigration: Immigration is defined as the act of moving to a country of which one is not native, usually with the intention to permanently stay. During the early 20th century, many immigrants came from European countries that had struggling economies or suffered from famines or other disasters. They would then gather everything they had and take it across the ocean to America, having to travel through Ellis Island to be approved. 
• Pogroms: Pogroms were the organized persecution of Jews in Russia during the late 19th and early 20th century. They ranged from random acts of vandalism to violence and murders. These Pogroms drove many Jewish family out of Russia and eastern Europe, many of whom immigrated to America to try and find a better life, free of persecution. 
• Ellis Island: Ellis Island is a small island in the New York bay that formerly was the center of immigration in New York, and the US, as a whole. It was open from 1892 to 1943 and accepted almost 8 million immigrants who wished to enter and live as Americans. The main job of the island was to hold immigrants for inspection before allowing them to actually enter the country. 
• Quarantine: Quarantine, in this case, refers to the section of Ellis Island where immigrants who were deemed unfit to enter the country where held for further examination. Reasons for being quarantined raged from mental health problems to all sorts of physical disabilities, whether small or egregious. 
• Ghettos: The Ghettos were a sectioned off area of many big cities in the US during the early 20th century where immigrants where able to buy homes. Usually kept in awful condition and crammed with people, sometimes 10 to a room, they were horrid places to live, but the immigrants had little choice and the ghettos in many of the cities remained full of immigrants until the later half of the 20th century.
• Restrictive covenants Restrictive covenants where laws and agreements set up by owners of buildings and tenements in large US cities which restricted, or even prohibited, the sale or renting of the housing to immigrants. They were implemented as a way for the building owners to keep immigrants away from their property and asserted their power over the immigrants.They made it extremely difficult for immigrants to find housing in the early stages of US immigration.  
• Tenements Tenements were the apartments or housing that were found in the ghettos, usually extremely small and overcrowded with immigrant families. Usually, these were the only options for immigrants who were just starting in America.
• Immigrants The people who immigrated from their home to America in search of a better life, came from a wide variety of European backgrounds, with many different reasons for immigrating.
• Steerage The tight, enclosed space on a ship where many immigrants were forced to reside in whilst they crossed the Atlantic. Cramped conditions and poor supplies usually made these journies hell for the passengers, who had no other options on how to escape their old lives and start fresh. 
• Sweat shops Some of the only work available to immigrants at the time was working in sweatshops.These jobs had grueling hours with back breaking labor for extremely small pay. Many immigrants were abused at these jobs, as well as having to deal with the labor itself which was also quite dangerous, most of it having to do with the textile business.
• Americanized The process of adopting American culture and trying to replace your own culture in favor of it. Usually undertaken by immigrants who felt that with their new life they must forget their old customs and adopt as many American customs as possible, so as to truly become Americans.
• Greenhorn: one who has arrived in a new country but has not localized to the customs and culture in the new country
• Immigration act: passed in 1924, the act established immigrant quotas designed to reduce immigration from southern and eastern Europe.

Enduring Understandings:

1. It is difficult for someone to pack up their whole life and move to a new country to start over.

• Many immigrants, including Jewish immigrants from eastern Europe, had little options when it came to traveling to their new home and often were forced to be crammed inside a ships steerage for weeks or even months. (Transitions, p.265)
• When it came to work, there were few options for immigrants to earn steady pay, most had to work grueling hours in sweatshops for a fraction of the income of their native countrymen. (Transitions, p.272)
• Immigrants were confined to cramped tenement housing within ghettos constructed solely for immigrants and the ultra poor. There may have been as many as 10-12 people per apartment or about 150 to a floor in the early buildings. (America: Pathways to the Present p.530)
• Once the immigrants arrived at Ellis Island, they were examined for even the smallest imperfection or disability, and if an immigrant was suspected of being sick, they were immediately quarantined and might have been deported. 
• Even such trivial things as not having the correct amount of money on you as you tried to enter the country was enough for an immigrant, and even their entire family to be denied access to the US, and in some cases deported to their homeland. (Virtual Ellis Island, 7th stop)

2. People who held power over others tend to take steps to limit the potential of people under them.

• Land and building owners during the immigration boom would usually strike deals called Restrictive Covenants, which limited or even prohibited immigrants from buying housing in wealthier neighborhoods, giving them little choice but to rent tenement housing in ghettos. (America: Pathways to the Present p.531)
• The immigration act of 1924 was put into place by the government to limit the amount of immigrants that were allowed to enter the country from certain countries. This was because many Americans were tired of having to deal with the increasing amount of immigrants, and were scared that they would soon eclipse them in success. (Transitions, p.287)
• Sweat shops, the places were most immigrants were forced to work, provided dangerous work to immigrants for extremely small pay and most of the time the immigrants were also harassed by their American bosses.

3. The power one person controlled is usually dictated by the amount of money they control. 

• If an immigrant did not meet the requirement of having twenty dollars when they first enter the country, he might be deported. Therefore, some immigrants charged a small fee for allowing others to borrow their twenty dollars to show the immigration officers, then return it once they passed legal examination. (Virtual Ellis Island, 7th stop)
• As many immigrants entered the country with only a few dollars to their names, they had little power over where they could and could not live or work. Immigrants would only be offered certain tenements to live in, many of which were only two or three rooms for a whole family. Still this housing would require a majority, if not all an immigrant families  money. (Virtual Tenement tour)
• As some Jewish immigrants began to become more successful in the working world, some American businesses and families tried to limit the rights some immigrants had, including their ability to find a job and apply to certain educational institutes. (Transitions, p.288)

In this particular historic event, it is not hard to pinpoint the group that inhabits the bottom of the power structure, the immigrants themselves. The immigrants controlled the least assets when they entered the country and did not have the some rights to fair labor or housing agreements that other Americans at the time were privileged to. The second an immigrant steps off the boat and onto American soil, they are forced to endure and pass rigorous inspection to ensure that they would be able to pull their weight the second they left Ellis Island and integrated into American society. They wee then, as mentioned before, restricted in the housing they could rent and work they could do even if they passed the previous inspection. Immigrants had seldom options other than renting an extremely cramped and derelict tenement for themselves and their family, as well as being relegated to working long hours in sweatshops and other factory settings doing dangerous work for measly wages. The first few months, the settling in and finding a place to live and work, would be hellish because it was very realistic that they might not find a place to live or a place to work and without these essentials, it is very unlikely that those immigrants or their families would be able to attain steady lives in their foreseeable future. Even after the essentials were taken care of, more subtle topics like racism and acts against lower working classes would demoralize some immigrants because many of them had come to America to escape persecution or racism in their home country, and now they arrive in a country of promise and bright futures, and they must once again deal with the racism they fought so hard to escape. Most immigrants wanted nothing more than a brighter future, greater opportunity than what they could be offered in their real homes, but unfortunately many Americans took advantage of these immigrants by making them work their fingers to the bone for just a fraction of the freedoms and rights they deserved. 

Crossing the Atlantic: Post #1

Immigration, one of the contributing factors that helped shape the diverse country called the United States of America. Since America had been formed, when it was still just a group of thirteen small and differentiated colonies, immigration had been part of American life and helped to shape the very foundation of the country. However, immigration to the States did not reach its peak until the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century, when people from all over the world, mainly small European countries, poured into New York City and other major ports to try and start a new life in the country that was said to have "streets paved with gold." The major point of this post and the posts following will be to, by analyzing history from that time, discover the significance of people, places and power within European immigration to America.

Key terms

• Immigration: Immigration is defined as the act of moving to a country of which one is not native, usually with the intention to permanently stay. During the early 20th century, many immigrants came from European countries that had struggling economies or suffered from famines or other disasters. They would then gather everything they had and take it across the ocean to America, having to travel through Ellis Island to be approved. 
• Pogroms: Pogroms were the organized persecution of Jews in Russia during the late 19th and early 20th century. They ranged from random acts of vandalism to violence and murders. These Pogroms drove many Jewish family out of Russia and eastern Europe, many of whom immigrated to America to try and find a better life, free of persecution. 
• Ellis Island: Ellis Island is a small island in the New York bay that formerly was the center of immigration in New York, and the US, as a whole. It was open from 1892 to 1943 and accepted almost 8 million immigrants who wished to enter and live as Americans. The main job of the island was to hold immigrants for inspection before allowing them to actually enter the country. 
• Quarantine: Quarantine, in this case, refers to the section of Ellis Island where immigrants who were deemed unfit to enter the country where held for further examination. Reasons for being quarantined raged from mental health problems to all sorts of physical disabilities, whether small or egregious. 
• Ghettos: The Ghettos were a sectioned off area of many big cities in the US during the early 20th century where immigrants where able to buy homes. Usually kept in awful condition and crammed with people, sometimes 10 to a room, they were horrid places to live, but the immigrants had little choice and the ghettos in many of the cities remained full of immigrants until the later half of the 20th century.
• Restrictive covenants Restrictive covenants where laws and agreements set up by owners of buildings and tenements in large US cities which restricted, or even prohibited, the sale or renting of the housing to immigrants. They were implemented as a way for the building owners to keep immigrants away from their property and asserted their power over the immigrants.They made it extremely difficult for immigrants to find housing in the early stages of US immigration.  
• Tenements Tenements were the apartments or housing that were found in the ghettos, usually extremely small and overcrowded with immigrant families. Usually, these were the only options for immigrants who were just starting in America.
• Immigrants The people who immigrated from their home to America in search of a better life, came from a wide variety of European backgrounds, with many different reasons for immigrating.
• Steerage The tight, enclosed space on a ship where many immigrants were forced to reside in whilst they crossed the Atlantic. Cramped conditions and poor supplies usually made these journies hell for the passengers, who had no other options on how to escape their old lives and start fresh. 
• Sweat shops Some of the only work available to immigrants at the time was working in sweatshops.These jobs had grueling hours with back breaking labor for extremely small pay. Many immigrants were abused at these jobs, as well as having to deal with the labor itself which was also quite dangerous, most of it having to do with the textile business.
• Americanized The process of adopting American culture and trying to replace your own culture in favor of it. Usually undertaken by immigrants who felt that with their new life they must forget their old customs and adopt as many American customs as possible, so as to truly become Americans.
• Task system: process of assigning a work quota to a team of ten to twenty workers, usually related by blood or neighbors. The group worked as a unit, each being assigned a specific task, and the group was paid as a unit as well.
• Section system: work divided into several steps and workers completed one task repeatedly, early assembly line
• Greenhorn: one who has arrived in a new country but has not localized to the customs and culture in the new country
• Immigration act: passed in 1924, the act established immigrant quotas designed to reduce immigration from southern and eastern Europe.

Enduring Understandings:

1. It is difficult for someone to pack up their whole life and move to a new country to start over.

• Many immigrants, including Jewish immigrants from eastern Europe, had little options when it came to traveling to their new home and often were forced to be crammed inside a ships steerage for weeks or even months. (Transitions, p.265)
• When it came to work, there were few options for immigrants to earn steady pay, most had to work grueling hours in sweatshops for a fraction of the income of their native countrymen. (Transitions, p.272)
• Immigrants were confined to cramped tenement housing within ghettos constructed solely for immigrants and the ultra poor. There may have been as many as 10-12 people per apartment or about 150 to a floor in the early buildings. (America: Pathways to the Present p.530)
• Once the immigrants arrived at Ellis Island, they were examined for even the smallest imperfection or disability, and if an immigrant was suspected of being sick, they were immediately quarantined and might have been deported. 

2. People who held power over others take steps to limit the potential of people under them.

• Land and building owners during the immigration boom would usually strike deals called Restrictive Covenants, which limited or even prohibited immigrants from buying housing in wealthier neighborhoods, giving them little choice but to rent tenement housing in ghettos. (America: Pathways to the Present p.531)
• The immigration act of 1924 was put into place by the government to limit the amount of immigrants that were allowed to enter the country from certain countries. This was because many Americans were tired of having to deal with the increasing amount of immigrants, and were scared that they would soon eclipse them in success. (Transitions, p.287)
• Sweat shops, the places were most immigrants were forced to work, provided dangerous work to immigrants for extremely small pay and most of the time the immigrants were also harassed by their American bosses.

So far, it is easy to see that European immigration to America shows the significance of the theme people, places and power. Each theme is significant in its own way, each of which is able to, when joined together, define the struggles that immigrants had as they travel from their old home countries and arrive in America. For people, the diversity plays a large role because with each new person entering America looking for a new life, it creates ethnic melting pots in large American cities, which helps to shape America as we see it today as many cultures from around the world are represented and accepted in America. The people also provide labor to a still burgeoning American economy, aiding in the expansion of such businesses as the textile business. Places are represented in European immigration as soon as the immigrants step off the boat, as most immigrants had to pass through the famous Ellis Island in New York City before being admitted into the country. Next, the ghettos and tenements that many immigrants lived in, although not the most attractive parts of American cities, help to promote city growth and begin the mentality to build up, rather than out. This resulted in tall building s and skyscrapers being constructed to quell the ever growing population, many of which still dot the skyline of American cities today. Power was a large influence during the early and later stages of European immigration. During the early stages, American land owners tried to assert their power over immigrants by signing acts such as restrictive covenants which prohibited immigrants from buying land in nicer areas, confining them to the ghettos and tenements where most immigrants lived. Nearing the later years of European immigration, many Americans pushed for and passed the Immigration Act of 1924, which limited and even prohibited immigration from certain European countries because Americans had begun to fear that the immigrants would begin to overtake them in important areas such as education and job quality. These three components together have begun to take shape and create the conditions that immigrants endured when they first arrived in America. 

DBQ; Who Killed Reconstruction?

American History recalls the death of Reconstruction as a dark and conflicting time for all citizens, especially blacks. It is , therefore, quite ironic that the death of reconstruction can be traced back to the year 1876, the centennial  anniversary of Americans coming together as a nation and gaining independence from their previous rulers, the British empire. Reconstruction in this case was the governments attempt at reintegrating the southern states under laws that would be beneficial for the whole nation.The Reconstruction effort officially ended after the 1876 presidential election, which had the democrat Tilden who, although he won the popular vote,  eventually lost the election to the republican Hayes due to his victory in the electoral college. The end of reconstruction was also aided by the enactment of the Compromise of 1877, formally removing all federal troops from southern states. Taking these actions into account, is it possible for one half of the country, the north or the South, to retain greater responsibility for the death of reconstruction? Although both the North and the South are both partially to blame, the South is more responsible for the ultimate death of the Reconstruction.
The Northern states, although not as egregious in their contribution to the death of Reconstruction, should not be overlooked entirely. The north contributed to the death of Reconstruction in several ways, many of which are very different than how the south contributed. The first and foremost action taken by the North that helped kill Reconstruction was almost completely neglecting the efforts of the Reconstruction. An example of this neglect can be found when Ulysses S. Grant became president, as he shifted most of his efforts and resources towards weeding out corruption that had built up in the government over time. (Doc C) This left small amounts of resources that were able to be put towards aiding the reconstruction effort, and lead to a sharp drop in northern support for reconstruction. Also, throughout northern news and media, blacks were still being portrayed as dumb oafs unfit for government positions, or any positions of power at all. (Doc D) This shows that northern americans, although more open to the idea of freedom for all, most were not ready to accept Blacks as equals in any aspect, which just fueled the flame that helped immolate the Reconstruction.
The Southern states contributed to the death of Reconstruction, not only in similar ways as the North, but in different ways as well. The Southern states had a much tougher time trying to have the Reconstruction accepted by the population, as a large chunk of it was still bitter over being forced to release their slaves near the end of the Civil War. The bitterness of a few confederate veterans ended up spewing over as they formed the Klu Klux Klan, a pro-white terror group that would lead the charge against reconstruction in the south. The KKK tried to use fear to persuade blacks from participating in any of the freedoms they had been granted. One such action taken by the Klan was to intercept blacks before they were to vote, interrogate them to find out who they were to vote for, and if they disagreed with the blacks decision they did not hesitate to violently whip and beat the blacks. (Doc D) This awful abuse was able to scare many blacks from voicing their opinion on the Reconstruction, and aided in killing Reconstruction all together. The KKK was so ruthless in its efforts to defeat black’s rights that they even targeted whites who supported the Reconstruction. One such man targeted was senator John Stephens, who was stabbed multiple times and then hung from a hook in the grand jury room, all because he had spoken for the rights of blacks in America. (Doc A) This fear mongering scared many supporters away from speaking for Reconstruction,  and aided in its downfall.
To summarize, although both parties were major contributors towards the death of Reconstruction, it was the South that provided the proverbial killing blows to the Reconstruction, making them more responsible than the North for its demise.  The South was the birthplace of the KKK, a ruthless terror group that rampantly snuffed out large amounts of support for Reconstruction in the south, not afraid to target any man, regardless of skin color, as long as you were against their cause. The north contributed more by just ignoring the Reconstruction, not openly opposing it but instead focusing on other important topics during the time. Perhaps if the Reconstruction had been successful, racism and segregation in America might have been snuffed out completely by the start of the 20th century, instead of having to wait another sixty ought years for it to be even challenged. America may have been and might still be a simpler place to live if its inhabitants were able to look past the color of ones skin and see a person for whom they really are.

The Civil War; Turning of the Tide

Nearing the later years of the American civil war, Abraham Lincoln was beginning to fear the possibility of his army being unable to conquer and reintegrate the Confederate States of America. His forces had suffered important losses at such battles as Chancellorsville as well as Cold Harbor. Worse so, residents of the union had begun to lose faith in their leader and the war as a whole. Although General Grant had begun an important march onto Vicksburg and even further south, the rumors and tales of the might of his opposition, General Lee, had northern citizens in a frenzy as the union did not have an exact position on him, but knew that he was closing in on the north. Lincoln was forced to make a decision; he appointed George Meade as the new commander of the Union Army and told him to prepare a defensive force to fight the confederates at a small Pennsylvania farm town named Gettysburg. The Confederate and Union soldiers, who's combined numbers during the battle peaked at around 180,000 men, fought brutal warfare in the hills around Gettysburg for three days and amassing a total of around 48,000 troops combined and making it one of the bloodiest battles ever fought on American soil. At the end of the three days, the Union had successfully suppressed the Confederate push and forced General Lee to retreat with his remaining troops. Although the casualties on either side were of similar amount, the fact that the union was able to suppress the attack allowed the union to claim victory for its own. This union victory combined with other union victories on the western front and a mass shortage of supplies available to the Confederates created a turning point in the war, allowing the North to gain momentum and push through the Confederates and eventually win the war. This drastic change can also be viewed in General Lee's letters to the President of the Confederate States grew more and more desperate as time went by, portraying the lack of supplies and high death toll that had resulted from a loss at Gettysburg.
When the North did march upon the southern territory to try and regain it and win the war, General Grant and his other officers employed a form of total war to gain as much of an advantage as possible over the Confederates. Total war describes a way of fighting ones enemy using any means to try and defeat them. In this case, the Union army was not afraid to burn crops, slaughter farm animals, sabotage railways and even evict civilians from their homes all in the name of a faster and more painless victory through attrition. These acts should be viewed as just acts of war because, although they involved interrupting and altering southern civilians way of life, these acts guaranteed the Union a faster path to victory and reunification of the north and the south. Once the country is made whole again, the citizens involved can be justly reprimanded and peace and prosperity can be restored throughout the country. This could all be made a reality as quickly as possible with a Union victory which provides a just cause for the use of total war so as to attain greater prosperity for the whole nation.
As the war came to a close, the country itself was in mourning. Yes, in the literal sense of the word, the Union had won the war as they had the army left standing and the goals of the war met. However, the US was once again reunified and the sheer loss of life, not Confederate or Union anymore, but American life was staggering. Many soldiers on both sides of the fighting were relived that the fighting had ended and many more wanted nothing more than to return to peace once again and rejoin their brothers from both the north and the south. Northerners were relieved that the war had to come to an end as they had almost completely exhausted their will to fight by the end of it. Blacks at the time rejoiced as they had finally gained the freedom they had sought for generations, yet they would soon come to realize it was freedom in a much different sense that what they believed in. As for the south, many southerners were resentful of Lincoln and the north for forcing their ideals and stealing their property in the form of the slaves that had been freed. This resentment would lead to the creation of anti-government groups that would stop at nothing to try and secede once again from the Union. One such group, piloted by one John Wilkes Booth, did eventually succeed in damaging the Union government by assassinating President Lincoln just five days after the war had ended. Shock permeated the country as one of the most influential leaders in US history lay dead in a small Inn within Washington D.C. Although the president had been killed, Confederate sympathizers were never able to successfully rekindle the rebellion and soon the country began to march forward, as America always had, into the future with advancement, liberty and prosperity as its main goals.

sources:
Battle of Gettysburg DBQ: http://www.edline.net/files/_zGHaC_/96f92692263e53293745a49013852ec4/Gettysburg_DBQ_-_Student_Version.pdf
Ken Burns Civil War videos

The Civil War; Freedom from Above or Below

Slaves throughout history have always fought through whatever means they could to attain the one thing they were always prohibited from, becoming free men and women. Nearing the end of the American Civil war, slaves in the south had one of the greatest opportunity's to become free and it came from many different directions at the same time. Many argue whether these chances at freedom came from "above", being freed by the rich land owners, or "below" being freed due to rebellion. The actions of the enslaved also greatly influenced the actions of the current union president, one Abraham Lincoln. However true this may be, Lincoln could not formally state that his goal was to free the slaves early in the war lest he risk losing huge amounts of support and as many as three states to the confederate cause. Regardless, The first example of these slaves gaining access to their freedom was when the union army began to march into confederate territory. When they arrived, they were greeted by many fugitive slaves who desired to be free and many of whom decided to join the union in arms against the southerners. The soldiers were baffled at first, many refusing to work with blacks even in arms, but many were also accepting of any and all help they could get and were able to look past and this was seen as a gain of freedom from below as the slaves were rebelling against their southern masters to attain freedom. The second and overall more important mean by which southern slaves gained there freedom was through the emancipation proclamation. This proclamation was issued by president Lincoln and was one of the first times he made it entirely clear he wanted to end slavery in the south. The proclamation helped to strengthen the northern war effort and allowed southern slaves to join forces w
ith the union army, which was stated previously. This particular example, however, was that of gaining freedom from above as the slaves were officially freed by the most powerful land owner in the free world. The proclamation had resounding effects on not only the south, who's occupants were furious that Lincoln would try to underhand them and free the slaves that they owned, but also worldwide as nations like England and France could not risk opposing the union and losing valuable trade resources, allowing the decline of slavery to begin in those nations as well. In short, enslaved Americans had an enormous impact on how Lincoln fought the Civil war, and many could argue that he would not have won the war if not for the help  they gave the north near the end of the war.

The Civil War; Breaking The Sphere

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Women in 19th century America were in a very interesting position. Up to that point in time, American women were mainly subjugated to the home. A women was thought to have a role in the home and nothing more. Women were expected to care for the children, educate the girls in the house and keep the home clean and her husband fed and happy. This restrictive attitude towards women and their activities was known as keeping women inside their sphere of domesticity. Many people during this time period frowned upon a women stepping outside of her sphere, citing it as not ladylike and incorrect. However, during the American Civil War many women did end up stepping outside their sphere to help in any way they could with the war effort. Women became nurses and even soldiers that answered the call of duty in any way they saw fit, even if other men and women thought they were not needed. This was also one of the first times that women were able to hold a position of power over men, which did not hold well with the men they commanded. Many refused to follow the women's orders and directly disobeyed only because she was a women in a line of work that had been dominated by men for the longest time. One women who held one of the most powerful positions of any women in the war was Dorothea Dix. Dix had been appointed the commander of the nurses in Washington D.C. and also controlled most of the medical equipment in the capital. She was also revered by her nurses as an almost nun like stickler for the rules, forcing her nurses to dress extremely conservatively and ignore many of the temptations that Washington offered after work. In short, women stepped outside their sphere because they wanted to help the war effort in anyway they could, even if it defied the men that had always held power over them.

The Civil War; Battles Breakdown

During this past lesson, our history class participated in perhaps one of the most entertaining lesson of the year. We were split into pairs and tasked with creating clues and Google documents for a scavenger hunt. These clues would be hidden around the school and would have scannable QR codes that allowed easy access to each groups Google doc. Each Google doc created by a pair of students had a description of a different battle from the civil war. These battles were all extremely important in shaping the war into what it was, a bloodbath between brothers. The battles varied from eastern to western theater, from naval to land battles and from union to confederate victories. My Google doc, which can be found here, was focused on the battle of Hampton Roads which was the first time both sides utilized the new naval technology ironclads. Ironclads changed the way naval battles were fought, not only in the civil war, but other wars in other parts of the world as well. These QR codes were then hidden around the school and it was our job to find them, scan them and analyze the information given to answer the essential questions. To answer the essential questions, our class used a program called padlet which allowed all students to give their own input on what they believe the answer is and why. The first padlet, which can be found here, answers the question of who was the victor in each theater during the war. The victor of the eastern theater was overall the confederacy due to strong leadership and tactics which allowed the larger confederate army to edge out the invading northern forces. Such battles as Spotsylvania and the battle of cold harbor were won by the confederates and provided huge boosts to the moral of the confederacy. However, many other confederate victories were much closer which allowed the union to work its way through the south by waging a war of attrition, slowly bleeding the south dry of all supplies needed to sustain a fighting force. In both other theaters, the union dominated the fighting, only losing one battle in the western theater (that we studied) while obliterating the confederates in all others. The same was true for the naval battles, although one battle was closer because of value of the supplies lost, and was eventually ruled inconclusive although the union took slightly greater losses. The second padlet, found here, helped to answer the question of what commonalities can be found in each armies respective victories. Simply put, when the confederacy won battles, it was largely due to their superior military leadership and overwhelming numbers. Many of the battles were held in southern territory which allowed the confederates the privilege of knowing the area and easier movement of troops then the north. When you combine that with brilliant military planning that generals like Robert E. Lee brought to the confederates, they dominated the fighting. When the Union wee the victors, it was mainly due to their overall army and nation being much larger than the south, allowing greater numbers of resources to be produced and larger armies to be formed. This meant by the end of the war, the north had a much larger capable fighting force than the south which allowed generals Grant and Sherman to march their armies into enemy territory with little worry and large chances of success. These questions summarize beautifully what our class learned during this scavenger hunt and gave many students insight on just how and why the north was able to triumph over the south in the American Civil War.

The Civil War; A Battle of Morals

In a persons life, some of the hardest decisions one must face involve whether a person is willing to put their body, their life on the line in order support a cause. The ability to do so shows incredible courage and selflessness, along with proving just how loyal they are to the specific cause. During the civil war, many men and boys had to make this very decision as did the men before them in the wars long before them. The difference this time was that the war hit much closer to home, turning brother against brother, father against son as men chose which side they believed fought for the greater good. Yet, men on both sides of the conflict still lined up for a chance to defend the rights they believed in. This is also incredible when you take into account that the weapons of the time were far more powerful and advanced than the soldiers and tactics used to put them into action, which would mean a much higher mortality rate on both sides. Weapons like grenades, Minie balls and ironclads were used to making the job of manslaughter easier in a technical sense than it had been before. The Minie balls were especially brutal as they did not just pierce a body that had been hit, but almost completely destroyed any part of the body they touched, ripping through flesh and shattering bone on contact. The major problem with the development of this technology was that it far surpassed the fighting tactics used at the time. This lead to an enormous amount of casualties as the new weapons were able to decimate soldiers who had no chance against such things as the minie ball and other developments such as grenades.
As the weapons had advanced beyond their time, medical personnel were tasked with the job of keeping up with the gruesome injuries and casualties caused by the advancement of technology. Unfortunately, medicine had evolved nowhere near as far as weapons had which made treating the wounds terribly barbaric and brutal for anyone involved. Amputation was one of the most common ways to try and treat wounded soldiers. At least 30,000 men on both sides of the war were amputees by the end of it. Amputation involved the complete removal of the afflicted part of the body and was used when field doctors thought there was no other way to prevent an infection from spreading from the wound through the rest of the body. This happened way more often then it should have because of how little supplies field doctors had at the time and even fewer supplies that allowed for safe removal of shrapnel and other alien objects from the body. Many times, although the amputation was successful, soldiers would just perish from another infection that entered through the large open wound left by the amputation. Yet, though survival was such a slim chance during the war, men still volunteered to fight for their side, to fight for the rights they believed in. These soldiers believed that service to their country was more important than anything, even their own safety and would sacrifice their very lives if it meant gaining an edge in the war.

sources:
NOVEMBER 17, 2012, 9:30 PM, Under the Knife By TERRY L. JONES
Strategies review article
http://www.history.com/photos/civil-war-gettysburg/photo4

The Civil War by the Numbers

    The civil war remains to this day as one of the most bloody and costly wars fought by the United States. This was to be somewhat suspected, however, as the only lives that were lost on either side of the battlefield were American. The war began with the southerns states finally proclaiming that they had had enough of the laws and regulations that the north was trying to create, most of which dealt with the long fought over topic of slavery and the rights of the slave. When you compare the resources that each side had at its disposal during the war, many people wonder how it is possible that the south lasted even a week against the far larger and more prepared northern states. As can be viewed from the info graph above, the north led the US in railroad mileage, number of industrial workers and number of manufacturing plants. Seemingly the only advantage the south had was they possessed a vast majority of the slaves in the US and the south controlled the cotton trade which is not on the info graph, but the south did in fact control 100% of the United States cotton industry.
    The south did have one advantage however; the fact that the wartime success of the south did not rely on taking land from the north, but only on defending their own land from the northerners who believed it should once again be rejoined as the United States. This was still no small feat as the north still held a large resource advantage over the south, and they extended that even further when they decided to create a naval blockade around the southern states, ceasing all imports and exports from leaving southern shores. Also, the north had a much more extensive railway system when compared to the south. This allowed a quick and steady movement of troops to the points along the Dixie line where they were needed most. Also, the north had far greater amounts of manufacturing power and industrial workers who were ale to mass produce the essential items needed to keep a fighting force as strong and able as it possibly can be. These conditions all added up in the end to spell the end of the Confederate states as they just had no hope of keeping up with the northern juggernaut.

A New Look at The Compromise of 1850

Before I explain what the Compromise was, please view my groups whole project using this link.

The Compromise of 1850 was one of the many compromises and resolutions at the time that was issued in an attempt to stave off conflict between two parties, the abolitionist northern US and the slave dependent southern US. As can be seen from the timeline to the left, the compromise was not the first to be passed by the government in hopes that it would quell the rage brewing on both sides of the conflict. However, The Compromise of 1850 was one of, if not the largest compromise to be successfully passed, so large in fact that it had to be broken into five smaller bills just so all parts could be passed by the government. Some of the most important parts of the compromise were the admittance of California into the union as a free state, the slave trade was banned in Washington D.C. (however slavery itself was still permitted) and slave states received the Fugitive Slave Act which forced free northern states to assist southern slave states by returning any runaway slaves found, whether in the borders of a free or slave state, to the slaves owner. This last act was one that drew the most controversy as abolitionists in the north were disgusted at having to return men and women to slavery and felt that their very rights were being violated by forcing them to do so. The compromise was drafted by Henry Clay and Stephen Douglas, members of the Whig and democratic party respectively. Both men firmly believed in democracy and how it should be the driving force in deciding whether laws be passed or failed and whether policies should be adopted or not. Both men were against slavery in certain ways but neither would claim to be abolitionists. They simply wanted to return America to peace once again and hoped this document could do so. Although the document seemed successful at doing so for a time, the US would inevitably fall to its knees under the weight of the conflict and a full blown war would be ignited because of it.

Ed Cafe Wrap Up

The Edcafe was certainly an interesting experience and the first time I have ever done an activity like it at school. It was a different way to learn the material that was taught, giving more emphasis on student interaction which kept the lectures more interesting even if the topics themselves were not. Also, the level of interactivity was raised which allowed students to have an input on how they were receiving the material, which allowed students to acquire the essential components of each lesson without having to deal with any excess information that may not be useful. My first lecture that i attended dealt with the relationship slaves had with their masters. I was able to take away from the lecture that each slave owners relationship with their slave was depending on the slave owners personal morals and how he wanted himself to be viewed by both the slaves and the other people around him. Some used fear and harsh punishment to drive their slaves and keep them from acting up, lest they wish to endure the pain and agony of whatever punishment the master would want to use. Others kept good relationships with their slaves, treating them with more respect which kept them from running away as they felt that they had no need to. The second lecture I attended was centered around the emotional toll that wanes on slaves and their families when they are forced into slavery. It was especially hard on some families as they could easily be separated and sold to different masters, tearing mothers from children and wives from husbands. This made some slaves more resentful to their masters for not trying to keep the family together, increasing the chance that they run and try to reconnect with their lost family. The pain of losing a family also gave slaves new drive, making it so they never stop trying to pursue freedom, even if they had to risk their own lives just so they could see their family again and be together with them. The lecture that i ran with my partner was also on slave relations with their masters and went reasonably well. The only inconvenience was that we only had one other student to lecture with, making it harder to pool more information together. It was somewhat beneficial, however, because it allowed all three of us to remain active in the discussing and kept us on topic, which was somewhat harder in the larger groups. To summarize, the edcafe seemed like a success to most students and introduced a more interesting and innovative way to teach students and kept students more involved in the subject matter.

Slavery in the North Revisited

Slavery is a part of American history that many people today wish had never been used as a tool to help America develop during its infancy as an independent nation. It was a condition which allowed many people in america and america itself to prosper, but at the cost of millions of African men, woman and childrens freedom. They were driven from their homes, shipped to america in horrible conditions and forced to work back breaking labor and obey their masters lest they wish to meet the tip of the whip, or worse, the rope of the gallows. Many people in America, and the world even, believe that during the 19th century, when slavery was at its peak in america, that the southern states in America were more harsh and treated slaves less likely people and more like property. They believe that the northern states, however, had more tolerance for slaves and treated them more like fellow humans. This can easily be perceived due to the fact that the civil war, which pitted the northern union states against the southern confederate states, seemed to be centralized around freeing the slaves and that the northern states freed their slaves before the southern states did. It may be true that more northern US states freed their slaves before the southern states, it does not automatically mean that the northern states treated slaves any better than how they were treated in the southern half of the US. Whites in both halves of the US wanted the blacks in the US to continue to believe that they were completely inferior to any and all whites in the US. Charles Mackay, an English writer who had visited America during this time of turmoil, had this to say about what he witnessed during his travels."This is the prevalent feeling, if not the language of the free north...'We shall not make the black man a slave; we shall not buy him or sell him; but we shall not associate with him'...'We are of another race, and he is inferior. Let him know his place - and keep it.'" This quote exemplifies that whites tolerated free slaves to a point, basically until they started to think they deserved anything that whites themselves were privileged to.

Northern Am
ericans during that time period have also been stated as being against slavery on an economic standpoint, as well as a moral one. This is also a misconception as all of America thought slavery was declining and was not needed at the beginning of the 18th century. Then the cotton boom happened. Eli Whitney was an american inventor who was living in Massachusetts during the beginning of the 18th century and had created very useful inventions during his previous years, most notably his use of interchangeable parts in modern weaponry of the time. His invention of the cotton gin helped to explode the cotton market and made slaves extremely desirable to work plantations in the south. This also translated into a large growth of slavery in the north as workers were needed to process the cotton into textiles and cloth. The picture above is taken from Harpers weekly, a magazine written in 1869 and depicted events of about 70 previous. The cotton boom also allowed the slave trade to boom in the sense that more slaves were being brought into the US and so more ports were needed to help handle and transport these slaves. Many of these ports were run in the northern US and ran far past the point when slavery became illegal in the northern US. One such family that ran these ports was the Dewolf family who lived and operated out of Connecticut and were in the slave trading business for three generations. Even though they traded when slavery was illegal, the government turned a blind eye due to the sheer amount of money and power the family possessed thanks to the slave trade.  These examples easily depict that slaves were in no way treated better in the north than they were treated in the south. Slaves were treated as subhumans by almost all whites during this time and no one part of the nation should be credited with treating them better than the other parts of this nation.