Andrew Jackson: Kinda of a Jerk

Last week, out class learned about Andrew Jackson independently without our teacher.  Andrew Jackson was one of America’s Presidents.  To learn about Andrew Jackson, our class split into groups and learned about different topics.  My group had the Spoils System and we decided to make a movie trailer about Andrew Jackson and the movie trailer.  The spoils system rewarded people who voted for Andrew Jackson with a job.  This encouraged the citizens to vote for him.  The movie trailer that my group made depicts the movie of the year that will be about Andrew Jackson’s mistakes and everything he lost. 

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

Andrew Jackson decided to appoint Samuel Swartwout to the office…which was a huge mistake.  Jackson disregarded the fact that this man had criminal tendencies and the Regency was not a big fan of him.  Jackson only liked him because Swartwout had supported him in the beginning.  In time though, Samuel Swartwout made a great theft of $1,222,705.09.  Jackson made a huge mistake. 

Learning about the spoils system was so much fun and my group and I had so much fun creating the movie trailer. 

Don’t miss it!

Race Then, Race Now

The Latin American Revolutions occurred during the 1800’s and between the three countries, Gran Columbia, Mexico, and Brazil.  The essential question for the week was: Why is it essential to acknowledge human value regardless of race? How are the events in the Latin American Revolutions evidence of this social imperative? 

Race was very important to the people back then and there were specific rules for how people were categorized.  We learned about this by observing a series of paintings for different racial

combinations.  The main classes were; Peninsulares: Native Spanish that migrated to colonies who were mostly wealthy and high in rank, Creoles: Pure Spanish who were born in the colonies.  They were wealthy, but not as wealthy as the Peninsulares, Mestizos: A mix of Spanish and Indians.  They were farmers, shopkeepers, and artisans, Mulattoes and Free Blacks:  Mixed African and Spanish.  They were slaves who could buy their freedom, Indians and African slaves were at the bottom of the categorization with forced labor and not much freedom.  To study the impact of race the class spilt into groups and we learned about 3 countries separately.  My group studied the time line of Brazil. 

The timeline our group came up with was:

After completing our own timeline, we shared our timeline with the other groups.  We identified commonalities and differences between Gran Columbia, Mexico, and Brazil.  Some of the commonalities were that all countries wanted independence and they were fighting against the same forces; European countries.  Some differences were that they were led by different groups; peninsulares and creoles.  Also, Mexico and Gran Columbia was republic and Brazil was a constitutional monarchy.  The events that happened in these countries were an example of social imperative because social difference led to the unfair treatment of people.  This continued for generations in a family.  This aroused civil unrest and fighting.  In Gran Colombia, Simon Bolivar is “the Liberator”.  The people who were under his rule were treated unfair in that they felt if their humanity is less than others, then they are less free.  In Mexico, the people fought for independence.  Their leader, Miguel Hidalgo, wanted to get rid of racial inequality.  Once Brazil gained its independence, Pedro, the leader, only allowed peninsulares to be a part of the government which caused the other classes to revolt. 

In society, some judgments are still based on race.  Recently, an African American man was confronted by the New York police for allegedly selling illegal cigarettes.  A video shows that one of the police grabbed the man in a chokehold and without unknowingly killed him as the man was saying repeatedly “I can’t breathe.”  The police officer was cleared of all charges in the end.  Mayor Bill de Blasio said that the grand jury’s decision was “one that many in our city did not want,” but cautioned against “violence and disorder” in its wake.  Being African, having a different colored skin has a lot of impacts in today’s society.  People automatically began stereotyping people because of what they look like and make connections to other issues or matters.  This is pretty significant in society, but it shouldn’t be.  People shouldn’t be judged based on what they look like.  They shouldn’t be labeled or categorized as something because that’s defining people based on what they look like and that’s unfair.  

A Passion for Freedom

     In the eighteen and nineteen hundreds, Mahatma Gandhi was the primary leader of India’s independence movement.  Gandhi peacefully fought the British with his small, but significant actions and played an important role in achieving India’s independence.  Unlike Gandhi, Toussaint Louverture didn’t attempt peaceful resolutions to gain independence from France, but he fought for his country unswervingly and gained independence for Saint Domingue.  Saint Domingue declared its independence on January 1, 1804.  This amazing feat rose from the slave rebellions that Louverture led.  Toussaint Louverture had many qualities that made him a strong leader; he was a great military commander and ruler of Saint Domingue.  However, his work to liberate the slaves was the most significant because it highlights his passion for fighting for what he believes in. 

     Despite being born as a slave himself, Toussaint Louverture rose to become a liberator of slaves.  Toussaint encouraged slaves to fight for their freedom and liberty after the white refused to end slavery in Saint Domingue.  In 1797, Louverture writes to the French Directory when there were whispers that the government was going to reinstate slavery after Robespierre had abolished it.  Toussaint responds a severe letter.  In Toussaint’s opinion, it would be impossible to restore slavery in Saint Domingue because “they bore their chains when they knew no condition of life better than that of slavery.  But today when they have left it, if they had a thousand lives, they would sacrifice them all rather than be subjected again to slavery…”  (Doc B)  The people in Saint Domingue had tasted freedom; they knew what it was like to not work under a master.  It would be impossible to go back to servitudes and constrictions.  If the French Directory reinstates slavery, he declares “We have known how to confront danger to our liberty, and we will know how to confront death to preserve it.”  (Doc B)  The slaves were ready to fight to the death for their freedom.  In the Saint Domingue Constitution of 1801, Toussaint declares “There cannot exist slaves in this territory, servitude is therein forever abolished.  All men are born, live and die free and French.”  (Doc C)  He writes in the constitution how there will be no more slaves and how everyone is born free French men and women.  Toussaint Louverture was a confidant liberator of slave because he believed in independence and always fought for the freedom of the slaves.  

     Another important quality that makes Toussaint a person worth remembering is as a great military commander.  A slave revolt begins Louverture’s legacy.  In 1791, Toussaint joins a slave revolt serving as a doctor to the troops and a commander to a small detachment of slave soldiers.  In 1792, as a military commander, Toussaint gains respect for running a camp and for training his men in both guerrilla warfare and European style.  Finally in 1798, Toussaint defeats the British and becomes ruler of Saint Domingue.  (Doc A) In 1801, Hyacinthe Moyse, nephew of Toussaint led rebels against Toussaint.  They were “discontent with Toussaint’s draconian [cruel] labor policy and gathering suspicion of his friendliness with the white planter class.”  (Doc E) The citizens of Saint Domingue have already worked as slaves before their entire life and they are mad because things haven’t changed even after “gaining their freedom”.  (Doc E)  The former slaves no longer trusted Toussaint.  When the revolts broke out, Toussaint captured his nephew.  He ordered his arrest and execution.  Though Toussaint was a fair and nonbiased commander, he could have done better by addressing the problems of the former slaves before they got out of hand.  A secondary source by William Brown, “A Description of Toussaint Louverture”, describes Toussaint “by his superior knowledge of the character of his race, his humanity, generosity, and courage, had gained the confidence of all whom he had under his command.”  (Doc F)  These traits helped Toussaint gain the confidence and respect of his soldiers.  Toussaint was a confidant and fair military leader who never gave up and fought for his country. 

     Aside from being a brilliant commander and liberator, Toussaint was an unforgettable leader of Saint Domingue.  In 1798, Toussaint becomes the ruler of Saint Domingue.  (Doc A) Being unforgettable though doesn’t mean he was a good leader.  In article 3 of the Saint Domingue Constitution, Toussaint declares freedom to all former slaves.  Contradicting his statement though, in article 15, “Each plantation…shall represent the quiet haven of an active and constant family, of which the owner of the land…shall be the father.”  The previous owners of the land, the whites, are still the owners and the slaves still work for them.  The only difference is that everyone will be treated like family.  Article 28 mentions how Toussaint Louverture was governor of Saint Domingue for life.  He is a smart and good leader, but if he makes a mistake, he is leader for life.  Toussaint’s goal was to keep order.  In the proclamation written in November 25, 1801, Toussaint made some rules, “As soon as a child can walk, he should be employed on the plantation according to his strength in some useful work…”  Former slaves were once again put back to work.  Acts of sedition were brought to court and if a worker ran to another plantation, then they would go to prison.  He enforced strict rules and severe consequences.  Although Toussaint was a strict ruler with severe punishments, he was a significant leader who shall not be forgotten. 

      Toussaint Louverture died in 1802.  French troops captured him in a fight and Louverture was taken to France.  While Louverture was in France, the soldiers in Saint Domingue put up a brilliant fight and won.  Louverture couldn’t join the victory and celebration though.  He was dying from pneumonia in a French cell.  He never knew that two years later on January 1^st, Haiti would become an independent nation.  Like Mahatma Gandhi, Louverture was a great leader who fought for his country.  He should be remembered for his great leadership skills and military commands, but he should be most remembered for his passion to liberate slaves.  

A Survey?

The past week our class was busy working on mini surveys for the class to take.  Each group had a specific topic or event and surveys were created for them through an app called Survey Monkey.  Our main goal was to answer the essential question: Were the revolutions of 1830 and 1848 really failures as many historians have concluded?  My topic was the Frankfurt Assembly in 1848.  We were given general information about the even and also multiple primary sources.  While we read the introduction summary, we kept note of the country, date, goals, opponents, outcomes and whether it was a success or failure.  For every primary source, we gathered evidence and also labeled whether they were related to goals, opponents, or outcomes.  We also highlighted significant quotes and included sourcing information.  Everyone in the class took the surveys and we analyzed the scores that we received. 

Survey Results 

(To view our survey, click here)

The Frankfurt assembly was a group of middle class men who wanted to create a constitutional monarchy in Germany.  The people demanded for national unity and liberal reforms.  During the year of 1848 men debated endlessly on such topics as whether the new Germany should be a republic or a monarchy, and whether or not to include Austria in a united German state.  The assembly presented their offer to King of Prussia, Fredrick William IV.  The King rejected the offer though because the offer came from common people and not from the German princes.  B.S. Berendsohn of Hamburg claimed that, “the king made it perfectly clear that he had no intention of allowing his God-given rule to be diminished by a piece of paper, namely a constitution."  The middle class men revolted and rallied, but they were dissolved under the threat from the Prussian military.  Many people were killed, went to prison, and thousands fled their homeland and immigrated to other countries like the United States where there was promise of a democratic government and economic opportunity. 

Overall, most of the revolutions ended in a partial or complete failure; none of them were successful.  The Decembrist revolution in 1825 was a complete failure because Czar Nicholas I moved too quickly to crush the rebel soldiers and he ended up fired his on his own people.  The 1830 revolutions of France wasn’t a complete failure.  In fact, it was almost a success.  They ended up with the “citizen king” who, at least in the beginning fought for the people.  The King’s policies favored the citizens.  In Hungary 1948, when many Budapest rebels fought for an independent government, they were squashed.  People were imprisoned, executed, or forced into exile.  Not all of the revolutions were a failure, but a lot were.  I think even though many of them failed, they inspired hope for the future.  

Hoedown Throw Down

     The past three days my History class prepared for a throw down!!! (Not the Hannah Montana version) It was actually a very silent Throw down because it was a Monday, but it was still effective. The Throw Down was basically a face-off between two groups with the same ideology.  Ideologies are ideas and ideals that form the basis of economic and political authorities. Our class was split into 6 groups and we had Liberalism, Conservatism, or Nationalism. My group had Liberalism.  Our goal was to create an effective video explaining Liberalism.  We then competed against the other team that had Liberalism and the class picked who was the best.  Our videos helped answer the essential question: What were the major political ideologies of the 19th century and how did they influence social and political action? Before creating our video, we learned more about Liberalism using an article to gather information. 

     We created our video using an app called Chatter Pix. In our video, Adam Smith and John Locke explain to their "audience" about Liberalism. Liberal’s believed in freedom and equality for humans.  Socially, Liberalism fought against the aristocracy and monarchies.  They wanted to end the social hierarchy.  Politically, Liberals favored meritocracy.  Meritocracy was the system in which everyone should be rewarded for their hard work, not because of their position on a triangle.  Adam Smith came up with the invisible hand.  The invisible hand lowered prices so that the poor could afford necessities.  It regulates the economy by raising the quality of products and lowering the prices through competition.  John Locke me the argument for the existence of god given natural rights and believed in the promotion of liberty.  

     The other groups with Conservatism and Nationalism had their own throw downs.  Conservatives wanted to keep a traditional monarchy with social classes.  They believed change wasn't a good idea because it resulted in a chaos.  They used the French Revolution as an example.  Without a monarchy, things would pretty much be a blood bath.  They wanted to keep aristocracy and the social hierarchy.  They believed this was the best route for a society.  Nationalists believed in independent nations and unification.  People were unified because shared culture, language and history.  They didn’t want foreign rulers and they called for natural boundaries.  

Brautigam, Jeffrey. “The Rise of New Ideologies in the Nineteenth Century for AP European History.” Education.com. March 4, 2011. http://www.education.com/study-help/article/rise-ideologies- nineteenth-century/ (Accessed October 21, 2013).

Perspectives

     The majority of class last week was spent on learning about the great Napoleon Bonaparte.  Our primary focus was answering the essential question: What was Napoleon’s impact on the social, economic, and political systems of Europe?  To answer this question, we watched a few videos and read primary sources inside and outside of class.  The video we watched, All You need to know about Napoleon Bonaparte, gave a brief overview of Napoleon’s life and things he changed during his time.  We also read primary sources from The Lost Voices of Napoleonic Historians by Thomas J. Vance and two different points of views of Napoleon from Madame de Stael and Marshall Michael Ney. 

Madame de Stael

     Madame de Stael was a member of the nobility and a daughter of King Louis XVI’s former financial advisor.  She most likely grew up near Versailles and lived a comfortable life before the reign of Napoleon.  Madame believed that Napoleon had contempt for values of human nature and saw values such as virtue and dignity as “enemies of the continent”.  She didn’t think that he had any sort of plan to govern the country.  She saw his system as one in which France’s independence and liberty increased at the cost of the rest of Europe’s freedom. George Gordon Andrews believed that Napoleon was a reckless and an uncontrollable tyrant who pretty much wreaked havoc across Europe.  Marjorie Johnston author Domination: Some Napoleonic Episodes refers to Napoleon as “[a] usurper, a tyrant, and a greedy, egotistical and ambitious ruler.”

Marshall Michael Ney

     In contrast, Marshall Michael Ney had a completely different perspective of Napoleon.  Marshall Michael Nay was an officer who served closely to Napoleon.  Marshall Michael Nay strongly believed that Napoleon had the right to rule France.  He states how “The times are gone when the people were governed by suppressing their rights.  Liberty triumphs in the end, and Napoleon, out August Emperor, comes to confirm it.”  John C. Ropes, author of The First Napoleon: A Sketch, Political and Military praises Napoleon for “his untiring industry, his devotion to the public service, his enlightened views of government and legislation [and] his humanity.”  Marjorie Johnston also describes the era full of “splendid elements” and calls Napoleon a great soldier, liberator, reformer and lawgiver.   

Napoleon Bonaparte

     There is no one way to look at Napoleon’s rule; only perspectives.  Looking at everything that Napoleon has done in his life time, I think he’s got some real guts.  I do think he made a lot of positive impacts for France.  He overthrew the French directory.  He also controlled prices of products, encouraged new industry balanced budgets and started the bank of France.  He undertook massive work programs such as building roads and canals and removing trade barriers.  During his reign, more citizens had rights to property and education.  Napoleon established a meritocracy in which people were rewarded based on skill rather than class.  He said adios to titles such as nobility and serfdom.  The lives of many people went from horrible to manageable.  He is a daring military strategist and a charismatic leader who had a very significant impact in the world.  There is no denying the negative impacts he had in the numerous countries he conquered, but there is no way he should go unrecognized for the amazing things he did for his country.  

The Lost Voices of Napoleonic Historians by Thomas J. Vance Napoleon Review Worksheet

Images:  

"Madame De Stael." Madame De Stael. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2014.

"Marshal Michel Ney." Michel Ney. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2014.

"Napoleon Bonaparte." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.

Gambling our Sweet, Sweet Souls

     Last Friday, we gambled our souls in History class.  I am referring to Hershey Kisses as our souls.  In the beginning of the lesson, our teacher distributed some Hershey Kisses to everyone.  The teacher gave most people 3 Hershey Kisses and some people ten.  Ten!!!  It was quiet unfair.  After the (unfair) distribution of candy, we began to gamble.  We played rock paper scissors with our classmates.  If we lost, we gave up a Hershey Kiss.  If we won, we get one of theirs.  It was q

uiet nerve racking and if we ran out of candy, we lost the game.  We were out.  Fortunately, luck was on my side.  I started with 3 and ended up with 13.  I went back to my seat pretty happy, but all my risk taking flew away in the wind in a matter of few seconds.  Our teacher collected all of our candy and redistributed it equally to everyone.  Everyone got three.  I wasn’t exactly mad because I started with three and ended up with three, but I was annoyed that the risks I took were for nothing since I ended up with what I started.  Everyone had what I did.  No one had more and no one had less.  This little activity wasn’t just a fun Friday game; it got into depth about Capitalism, Socialism and Communism.  The Industrial Revolution changed more than technology and the way work is done.  It changed the way money and goods were distributed and how people looked at the rich and poor class.  Karl Marx and Adam Smith believe in two systems in society. 

     Karl Marx's Theory of communism starts with capitalism.  Capitalism describes a society where people have private ownership of industry and the freedom of competition.  This results in an economic class with poor, middle class, and rich people.  He states that poor people will revolt because they will realize that their life is unfair and will want more for themselves.  In order to make

Karl Marx

things fair, Marx said that people would create a government system of socialism.  In socialism the government owned the industry.  The poor would share a goal to bring economic equality and aim for a classless society.  Socialism is the final step in the path to communism.  Marx believed that the people would create communism by any means, even violence, to escape the divisions between rich and poor. Communism describes a classless society where there is no government and everyone has an equal income.  This system, the path to communism, would benefit the poor because the poor don’t live beneath anyone anymore.  They have an equal amount of money as the rich and have a fair chance at life. 

     An alternative system was created by Adam Smith who is considered an enlightenment thinker.  He based his fantasy society on capitalism and created the invisible hand.  Smith believed that people will always want more.  He said that people will find always look for the most for the least amount; the products with more quality that cost less.  This will force businesses to improve their business plans to stay competitive.  The businesses that have high quality products for low prices will stay in business.  Slowly, economy will regulate itself.  Although this would take a really long time, this would benefit the poor because they will be able to afford products for a cheaper price. 

     I believe that Adam Smith’s theory is a better solution, but it isn’t the best.  Smith’s theory is much more realistic than Marx’s.  Marx’s theory is a dive into a Utopian Society.  It’s like living in The Giver and that isn’t bound to happen any time soon.  Human beings will always be human beings and will always want more than what they have.  Even if that sounds mean, we will always want to be better than others.  Smith’s theory is kind of like what we have now.  For instance, in many towns, there is more than one Supermarket.  Both companies have similar products and different prices and qualities.  The people will go to the market that has cheaper products at lower prices.  The downside to this theory is that regulation of economy will happen very slowly.  There will need to be some government regulation if the people would not want to face mass unemployment during the wait. 

     Neither theories are the best; both have flaws.  I think a great society should be aware of the differences taxes and insurance.  In our society, depending on jobs, people have different insurances.  Some people have insurance’s that cover essential things like medical issues and some other don’t.  This isn’t fair to the people who sometimes have to pay a lot more.  Also, some states have taxes and others don’t.  People who live in NH don’t have to pay taxes while people in MA do.  

"HERSHEY'S KISSES | Chocolate Candy Products." Hersheys.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2014. 

 "Karl Marx." The History Guide. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Oct. 2014.

Two Different Worlds

     The Industrial Revolution had a very significant effect on the lives of workers and their families in both America and Great Britain.  To put it straight, the working conditions in Great Britain were harsher and much crueler.  There were factory accidents, deformities, bad food and severe punishments. 

     In England working conditions were brutal and harsh.  Accidents were inevitable.  Children suffered loss of limbs and death. If one hundred kids worked in the factories, then at least half, if not more got injured. The children didn’t get enough sleep either, so their drowsiness made them less attentive.  Children had their arms caught in the machines, lost fingers, had skin ripped off, etc.  There were also many deformities due to the physical work. The bones of children from age 1-13

  A child while the mill is moving.  

would bend and snap.  Pregnant women would have pelvis’s that pressed inwards making child birth dangerous for the child and the mother.  Many people were knock-kneed and because of the lack of nutrition, there was no marrow in the bones.  Only a small portion of food was given to the workers.  There was no variety in the food; it was usually water porridge with oatcakes and potato with boiled bacon.  The food was unhealthy because a lot of cotton got in the food and the workers had to work and eat at the same time.  The children and women were constantly beaten by sticks for things that weren’t their fault.  If they worked too slow and if there was something wrong with the machine that they couldn’t control, then they were beaten.  Girls were flogged in front of everyone and children wished they were dead. 

Mill Workers

     In America, things weren’t nearly as bad as Great Britain.  America didn’t have an abundant supply of cheap labor like England.  The land was plentiful and most families could move west to purchase more.  The lack of workers in mills made the Industrialists change the perceptions of manufacturing that was brewing in England.  Industrialists began the Lowell Experiment to try to avoid the negative aspects of Industrialization in England.  This was an experiment to convince parents to let their girls come to the mills in Lowell where they will maintain morality and dignity of temporary workers.  It was emphasized that the women would be protected and taken care of as if they were a part of a family.  The father of the family was the corporation.  He set the rules and made sure the girls went to church no Sunday and maintained a code of behavior.  The mother of the family was the boarding house figure who regulated behavior and maintained a home.  

     It is quiet easy to see who had it best; America.  If I had the choice to either work in the mills in England or America, I would choose to work at the Lowell mills.  I would be taken care of, grow with the right values and live in a protected environment.  I wouldn’t want to go to a place where I would be beaten, given bad food and treated like a slave.  Despite Great Britain and America to be only an ocean apart, they are completely different worlds. 

"Living and Working Conditions." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 2 Oct. 2014. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesiz

"the mill." the mill. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Oct. 2014. <http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/jackson/mil

A Chat With the MOSI

     The MOSI isn't a secret agent company, it is a Museum across the pond in England.  The day before yesterday, our class had the amazing opportunity to skype with Jaime and Darren, Museum Curators, to learn more about the textile industry in Great Britain.  Jaime and Darren are curators at The Museum of Science and Industry in England.  Before we could meet them though, we had to prepare ourselves.  The day before, our class went on the MOSI website and read about Richard Arkwright and some of Manchester’s Textile Designers.  We also watched a “prep” video that gave us a brief overview of the museum with Jaime explaining some significant terms.  We all made of list of the terminologies and defined them within groups after the video.  When we were searching the definitions for words, we had to be careful with the keywords we used in search bar because we wanted the definitions related to textiles.  Then within our groups, we prepared questions we wanted to ask Jaime and Darren.  A few of the questions I had are: What were some of the risks that families took when they worked in the mills and what was the maintenance of the machines like?  How long did they last?  The early prepping really helped us understand some of what Jaime talked about during the video chat. 

Shuttle

Speed Frame

     Jaime taught us a lot about the machines that were used and a lot more about the people who worked and the conditions that they worked in.  Jaime explained how the people worked constantly, “From sunrise to when it is too dark to keep working.”   The men usually operated the hand loom.  It was hand powered and created thread.  Men who usually worked the hand loom got arthritis.  In the old days, the loom was passed down from father to son.  Hence the name, heir loom.  The women operated the spinning wheel and the children would do the basic carding.  We saw a prototype of Arkwright’s water frame.  I was surprised to learn that Arkwright wasn't the actual inventor. He improved on other people's ideas but still got the recognition and money.  We also learned a lot about risks.  Many workers became deaf, had tuberculosis, and mouth, lung or throat cancer.  Disease spread like a wild fire in these mills because sanitation was really bad.  If women didn’t tie their hair back, it would be pulled back in clumps.  700 hundred bits of fiber entered the lung a day because the thread for the shuttle had to be put in the mouth before into a hole in the shuttle.  Children would have to clean the machines like the speed frame while it was running which lead to mangled hands and broken fingers.    

      I definitely learned a lot more from this video chat than I probably would have from a textbook.  It is hard to understand how the overall textile process is performed from reading a textbook, but it was very helpful to see the machines in front of us because we could understand how they were used.  Also the stories that he had were really interesting.  The only part that was a little annoying was the video quality, how it cut off what Jaime was saying sometimes and also screen wasn’t clear, but aside from that, it was really cool.  Plus, he’s from England talking to us from a totally different country!!!  I would love to do this again with other experts on other topics.  It was an entirely new experience and I really like it.  

Gold, Silver....and Rust

   Last week in History class, my group and I became Museum Curators of the 4^th floor of our school.  We were given a letter from during the Industrial Revolution and had to research more about the letter to answer sourcing questions: Who wrote it?  Why did they write it?  This led to our group project.  We were given sources like paintings, statistics, and letters and we had to set up an exhibit based on the sources we were given. 

     After looking though all the sources, we had to decide what the theme was.  Based on the sources we were given, we concluded that the point we should try to inform our readers was that the Industrial Revolution had negative affects alongside positive affects towards the people and

Making Money,
Destroying Neighborhoods

environment.  After deciding the theme of our exhibit, we did background research on the sources and made sure the source was relevant to the exhibit.  Then we determined what should be learned from the exhibit and accordingly, we designed placards and labeled pictures and added captions.  Finally, we added a title, “Making Money, Destroying Neighborhoods.”  The title wasn’t too boring and it sums up what we want the audience to learn from our exhibit.  The Industrial Revolution did a lot of good things for society, factories were created and there was better travel!  It wasn’t all silver and gold though.  There was rust everywhere.  The environment was polluted and people weren’t living healthy and comfortable lives. 

     Other groups also did exhibits in my class.  Group A talked about how once the Spinning Machines were invented, only one person was needed to maintain them, usually the father.  So what used to be everyone earning some money for the week became only the father earning the money and was fully dependent on.  Group B talked about the new transportation systems such as the steam engine and the railway.  These really helped traveling become more efficient.  Group D talks about the regulations and laws passed for the children who work.  According to different sources, children under the age of 18 shouldn’t work during the night time and should only work 10 hours per day.  Group E talked about how slavery increased drastically because of the Industrial Revolution.  The Industrial Revolution made a lot of significant changes.  Not all of them were positive though; there were a lot of negative effects also.  

A Much Better Life

     A few days ago, my history class was put into groups and we were each assigned a few topics to learn about the Industrial Revolution.  We learned about how the industrial revolution affected everyday people, and how it was the era of new technology, resources, and transportation.  The Industrial Revolution was a huge revolution because of the significant changes and impacts it had created not only in its origin, Europe, but all over the world.  The industrial revolution led to a better life for people and amazing new technology. 

     The Industrial Revolution changed people’s lives and was the beginning of improved farming methods and enclosure.  The Dutch started the agriculture revolution by building walls called dikes, combined smaller fields into larger fields to make better use of the lands, and used fertilizer from the livestock to renew the soil.  The British expanded from these ideas in the 1700s.  Roy Charles Townshend urged farmers to grow turnips which restored exhausted soil.  Jethro Tull invented a new mechanical device, the seed drill, to plant the seeds in rows (an organized fashion) rather throwing them randomly.  Rich landowners also used enclosure.  Enclosure is the process of taking over and fencing off the land formerly shared by the peasant farmers.  The new farming techniques helped farmers farm more efficiently.  Because of enclosure, peasants were forced to move to factories to build machines.  The agriculture revolution also increased the population of people in Europe.  There was a decrease in famines and because everyone was well fed, more and more people led healthier lives. 

The Spinning Jenny 

     A lot of new technology was also invented during the Industrial Revolution.  In 1712, the Steam Engine was invented by Thomas Newcomen.  The Steam Engine was powered by coal to pump water out of mines.  Iron was also improved.  Coal plays a very important role in the production of iron by separating the iron from its ore.  People were able to produce higher quality iron that was less expensive.  The higher quality iron was used everywhere and especially when building rail roads and textile machines.  There were also many innovations in textiles.  John Kay’s flying shuttle allowed weavers to work faster than spinners.  James Hargerave invented the Spinning Jenny in 1764 which spun many threads at the same time.  Richard Arkwright invented the water frame which used water power to speed up spinning.  To house the machines and the people who worked with them, long sheds were built.  Later the machines were powered by the steam engines.  The machines produced what an entire industry of a district used to produce.  The new technology made people’s lives more efficient and less of a struggle.    

Spinning Jenny: http://faculty.humanities.uci.edu/bjbecker/SpinningWeb/lecture15.html

World History: Connections to Today. Chapter 20 Sections 1 & 2. PearsonSuccessNet.com. Accessed Aug. 25, 2014.

Climbing for Answers

     A few days ago in History, my class was split into groups to do a few activities (although they were more like challenges than activities.)  Together, we went on a cyber-scavenger hunt and also justified that a certain species of octopuses, the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus, were fake.  The activities we did in class taught us how to use search engines and online resources responsibly. 

            

     The first activity we did was A Google a Day.  Google a Day was basically a quest to find the answers to the randomest of the randomest questions.  For instance, one of the questions on the website was “Besides the Gorilla Press, what famous finishing move did the face-painted “Warrior” famously use on Hulk Hogan to end the match on April 1, 1990?”  It’s literally a game!  There were five people in my group including me and we all had some kind of techy instrument to find the answers with.  The challenging part was the technique to use to find the answers.  You had to break them apart into small pieces.  This game was actually really fun, but really frustrating because sometimes finding the answers took a really long time.  It was like wracking your brain.  This has definitely taught me that if I want to search something, I can’t copy and paste my question into the search engine.  I’ll have to work bit by bit to get the answer. 

            

Pacific NW Xmas Tree Octopus
http://zapatopi.net/
treeoctopus/sightings.html

     The other activity that we did was proving whether the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus is accurate, authentic and reliable based on its website to save the Endangered Pacific Tree Octopus.  Accuracy is how true the information is and whether the website is up to date.  Authenticity is the genuineness; whether the site was what it claimed to be and reliability is whether the author/creator is an expert on the subject at hand.  We concluded that the website was authentic, but not accurate or reliable.  It was authentic because the website claimed to be saving endangered octopuses and however crazy that may sound, it is what the website was about.  The website is not accurate because there is no such thing as a tree octopus and this site isn’t reliable because when you search the creator of the website’s name, Lyle Zapato, you don’t get any information about who he is.  This activity has taught me to make sure a website is all three; accurate, authentic, and reliable before using it for any reason.  

Zapato, Lyle. “Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus.” Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Sep. 2014. <http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/>.

Education leads to...Everything!

Hi!  I’m Srimitha!  I’ am 15 years old and am a Sophomore.  I am so excited for this new school year and can’t wait for the new surprises and challenges that this year has in hold for me. This is my second day in Honors History 10 and this is my first blog post of the year!!!

When I walked into my classroom on the first day of school, I couldn't immediately pinpoint what kind of teacher I was going to have; whether I was going to like them or not.  First impressions definitely leave a mark, but I think some of the great teachers can be identified by what they have to offer us as our teachers.  Every teacher has some great qualities.  A great teacher should know you as a person and as a student.  They should make you feel safe in a classroom and support you in your goals and dreams.  A great teacher should also push you to your limits, help you when you are in need of help and make sure that the lessons are interesting and easy to understand.  Some of the best teachers I have had always looked at my work and told me what I did well and what I could do to make my work better.  They were also willing to sit with me after or before school if I needed help.  They were kind, friendly and were people in my life who helped me become a better person and student.  To support me this year, I would like my teacher to be there when I need help and offer me good constructive criticism so I can learn from my mistakes.  

            There are a few teenagers who think that sitting in a desk and listening to a teacher talk about something that is not what’s running on TV tonight is pointless; that school is a waste of time and that we are never going to use a squared plus b squared equals c squared in life.  Recently, I watched a video created by John Green, an Open Letter to Students Returning to School, and I think it will make everyone look at school and learning in a completely new way.  He talks about how educating kids like us led to the creation of the apple devices embedded into our daily life, the amazing books in our libraries

Hot New Technology Devices
http://www.ispsources.com/hot-
new-technology-devices.html

and the medicine that keeps us healthy.  I agree with him because people wouldn't have been able to create such advance things if they hadn't been educated.  This year, I hope to complete all my courses with a thorough understanding of them.  I also wish to become a better officer and co-leader in Science Olympiad and Book Club.  I’m going to work on asking more questions when I have trouble with something and using my time better at home (avoid procrastination *cough *cough*) by avoiding distractions like technology and books (I’m a book geek).  I’m also going to work on speaking up for things I believe and build my self-confidence by participating more in class and stating my ideas more often. 

            A new year has begun and even though I know it’s going to be exhausting, I’m très excited!!!