Date of week: September 22th - 26th
At this point in history slavery is creating high tension in the Union. The South is even threatening to leave the Union. It was clear that there would be no way to settle slavery without a war. The material that we covered in class has gotten me very interested and excited to get into learn about the Civil War. I have had classes were the Civil War has been briefly covered but mostly skipped over. I have also been to Gettysburg and gone through a guided tour of the battlefields including the museum that had tons of exhibits regarding the Civil War. I am thrilled that the class is going to cover the Civil War and based on what American Studies has been like for far the material of the Civil War will be quite informative and deep in content. I understand that the topic of war will be heavy content and I ready to take the content very seriously. Slavery and war will continue to tear the nation apart. While the class has been learning about slavery I have felt that everyone now days can learn something from how the African Americans were treated and apply it to their own lives. The basic lesson to be learned is to think about how you treat others and if any mistreatment does occur recognize it and change it. By looking to the past events that have had negative effects on today's world, example slavery, we can avoid making them again in the future. So a c all to action to eliminate the mistreatment of others.
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Friday, September 19, 2014
American Studies: week 2 Indians
Date: week of September 15, 2014
The thing that was most interesting to me this week in class was the discussion on the Chief Justice John Marshall reading. When I read it for homework the opinions that I saw really stood out and made me ask some questions about why he had these thought and if this was the normal thought on the Indians at the time. While I read I circled the words in the text that stood out the most. I took a quite sarcastic voice as I read it in my head, what he wrote was completely the opposite of what I know actually took place with the Indians. The main point struck me hard at how someone would think the way he wrote. The statement, "discovery gave exclusive title to those who made it" which was a nicer way of saying that the founders had control and power over everything (Marshall). Then, when the class had a group discussion on the reading and on the very reasons the Indians were taken advantage of. There was arguments on the concept on the Indian Removal Act in 1830. The two sides to the disagreement were based on if the Europeans moved the Indians out of compassion or selfishness. My thoughts were that the Europeans only had concerns about obtaining more land to increase the economy and they removed the Indians because they were in the way of what the settlers wanted. The Indians were no more then a seer annoyance and were pushed aside. I really do not believe that the Europeans had anything else in mind other than for their own personal gain and prosperity. The class came to an agreement in the end about how John Marshall's writing was so convenient to acquiring the ultimate goal of more land. Also that there was definitely some Puritan ideals found. The main ideal was the thought that it was impossible to mix races. These very details that came from the reading will help in moving forward to understand why other events regarding the Indians occurred.
The thing that was most interesting to me this week in class was the discussion on the Chief Justice John Marshall reading. When I read it for homework the opinions that I saw really stood out and made me ask some questions about why he had these thought and if this was the normal thought on the Indians at the time. While I read I circled the words in the text that stood out the most. I took a quite sarcastic voice as I read it in my head, what he wrote was completely the opposite of what I know actually took place with the Indians. The main point struck me hard at how someone would think the way he wrote. The statement, "discovery gave exclusive title to those who made it" which was a nicer way of saying that the founders had control and power over everything (Marshall). Then, when the class had a group discussion on the reading and on the very reasons the Indians were taken advantage of. There was arguments on the concept on the Indian Removal Act in 1830. The two sides to the disagreement were based on if the Europeans moved the Indians out of compassion or selfishness. My thoughts were that the Europeans only had concerns about obtaining more land to increase the economy and they removed the Indians because they were in the way of what the settlers wanted. The Indians were no more then a seer annoyance and were pushed aside. I really do not believe that the Europeans had anything else in mind other than for their own personal gain and prosperity. The class came to an agreement in the end about how John Marshall's writing was so convenient to acquiring the ultimate goal of more land. Also that there was definitely some Puritan ideals found. The main ideal was the thought that it was impossible to mix races. These very details that came from the reading will help in moving forward to understand why other events regarding the Indians occurred.
Friday, September 12, 2014
Week 1: Early Interactions and beginning of Revolution
Date of Week: September 8 - 12
Power has the ability to do good but also an equivalent ability to do evil. The English Puritans along with the Spanish Conquistadors brought many things with them that were considered extremely new and strange to the inhabitants that lived in the New World. In my opinion the English consciously made the decisions to overtake the Indians. The most recognized things that aided the English and Spanish in their efforts were the illnesses and the weapons. The early interactions between the Puritan settlers and the Native Americans formed the history of North America. The interactions between the Spanish Conquistadors and the TÃanos, Mayans,Aztecs, and other indigenous groups created the history of the South and Central Americas. To my understanding these interactions created cultural clashes. The opposing cultures of the Indians and the Puritans began blending into one another. The Indians thought this as somewhat fine which is shown in their curiosity of how the white men lived and acted. On the other hand the English saw the Indians as savages and their mere existence was opposing the progress of making the land profitable to the Puritans. This huge difference in motives is what I believe began the conflict between these people. The English settlers came and their motives were build around the Settler Colonial Imperative which seemed to say "you go away" you referring to the Indians. The Puritans wanted the Indians to convert or be eliminated from the picture entirely by either sending them away or killing them off. The Spanish Conquistadors had a more Colonial Imperative approach which demanded "you come and work" trying to get as much out of the land as they possibly could. They worked to drain the resources form the area and take back the spoils so to speak to their homeland. These two motives define what will happen and why it happened.
The American Revolution marked a new stage in American history. Slavery made its way to the Americas and African slaves were being shipped in by the boat load. The slaves from Africa were brought for the purposes of labor. In this time there was a huge demand and need for labor for the farms. At this time 20% of the entire population of the Americas was African slaves. In the reading that the class did about Thomas Jefferson's thoughts on the new country I was surprised to find the appalling statements about the slaves. In the beginning of the Declaration of Independence (also in the reading) it states that "all men are create equal"which contradicts to what it said later in the reading. It is clear that Jefferson thought of the slaves as not equal to the white men who could own property. If the slaves were to be freed they would not really be free because society would not welcome them in. The so called "gentlemen" are not seen as good people in my eyes. They used their wealth and power for only themselves and those who were just like them instead of using what they had to influence society to change their thoughts on the African slaves. No person has a right to be deemed better than another person of a different race, color, or culture. The gross mistreatment of the African people that had black skin was derived from the idea of Caesura, the idea that people only have the ability to fill in what they don;t know with things that are familiar to them. For some people differences can be scary and hard to deal with.
The biggest thing that I got out of the learning and content of this class so far is the analysis of the events that occurred on a deeper level of looking beyond just the facts but with different view points. The class focuses on why events in history played out the way they did. It is said that we have to look into the past to move forward to the future. This statement rings true as we must look to historic events to avoid making the same devastating mistakes. From the early interactions, the clash of the Old World and New World, along with the American Revolution we learn about the ways to treat other human beings that may not be exactly like us. The future generations will learn to embrace the uniqueness of each culture and understand that they all bring something into the world.
Power has the ability to do good but also an equivalent ability to do evil. The English Puritans along with the Spanish Conquistadors brought many things with them that were considered extremely new and strange to the inhabitants that lived in the New World. In my opinion the English consciously made the decisions to overtake the Indians. The most recognized things that aided the English and Spanish in their efforts were the illnesses and the weapons. The early interactions between the Puritan settlers and the Native Americans formed the history of North America. The interactions between the Spanish Conquistadors and the TÃanos, Mayans,Aztecs, and other indigenous groups created the history of the South and Central Americas. To my understanding these interactions created cultural clashes. The opposing cultures of the Indians and the Puritans began blending into one another. The Indians thought this as somewhat fine which is shown in their curiosity of how the white men lived and acted. On the other hand the English saw the Indians as savages and their mere existence was opposing the progress of making the land profitable to the Puritans. This huge difference in motives is what I believe began the conflict between these people. The English settlers came and their motives were build around the Settler Colonial Imperative which seemed to say "you go away" you referring to the Indians. The Puritans wanted the Indians to convert or be eliminated from the picture entirely by either sending them away or killing them off. The Spanish Conquistadors had a more Colonial Imperative approach which demanded "you come and work" trying to get as much out of the land as they possibly could. They worked to drain the resources form the area and take back the spoils so to speak to their homeland. These two motives define what will happen and why it happened.
The American Revolution marked a new stage in American history. Slavery made its way to the Americas and African slaves were being shipped in by the boat load. The slaves from Africa were brought for the purposes of labor. In this time there was a huge demand and need for labor for the farms. At this time 20% of the entire population of the Americas was African slaves. In the reading that the class did about Thomas Jefferson's thoughts on the new country I was surprised to find the appalling statements about the slaves. In the beginning of the Declaration of Independence (also in the reading) it states that "all men are create equal"which contradicts to what it said later in the reading. It is clear that Jefferson thought of the slaves as not equal to the white men who could own property. If the slaves were to be freed they would not really be free because society would not welcome them in. The so called "gentlemen" are not seen as good people in my eyes. They used their wealth and power for only themselves and those who were just like them instead of using what they had to influence society to change their thoughts on the African slaves. No person has a right to be deemed better than another person of a different race, color, or culture. The gross mistreatment of the African people that had black skin was derived from the idea of Caesura, the idea that people only have the ability to fill in what they don;t know with things that are familiar to them. For some people differences can be scary and hard to deal with.
The biggest thing that I got out of the learning and content of this class so far is the analysis of the events that occurred on a deeper level of looking beyond just the facts but with different view points. The class focuses on why events in history played out the way they did. It is said that we have to look into the past to move forward to the future. This statement rings true as we must look to historic events to avoid making the same devastating mistakes. From the early interactions, the clash of the Old World and New World, along with the American Revolution we learn about the ways to treat other human beings that may not be exactly like us. The future generations will learn to embrace the uniqueness of each culture and understand that they all bring something into the world.
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