Class Update: 11-28-12 and 11-29-12

Yesterday in history we finished discussing the debates between Lincoln and Douglas. We filled out a chart showing their varying view points on many topics. In the end, Douglas become senator of Illinois. We also began discussing John Brown and the crimes he had committed. To me, he basically sounded like a crazy person with good intentions. All he wanted was to liberate the slaves, but sadly he went about it all wrong. Today in class we read three primary source documents on John Brown. They included official reports and court testimonies which described what happened when Brown and his men took over an armory.

Class Update: 11-26-12 and 11-27-12

Yesterday in class we discussed the case of Dred Scott vs. John Sandford. Basically, the case was a slave versus his master to sue for his freedom. Scott believed he could win this case because he had lived on free land for quite some time. Also, there were other cases of this in which the slave was able win. It was interesting to see that the final verdict was basically an opinion. The judge was strongly anti-slavery which obviously caused him to rule against Dred Scott. This judge's ruling would also end up changing the way the public viewed slavery and popular sovereignty. Today in class we watched a video clip depicting the debates between Abraham Lincoln and Steven Douglas. Each one was vying for the position of Illinois senator. I was shocked to see some of the racist things Lincoln had said. I think most people, including myself, tend to idealize him by saying how he was for equality. In reality the country was a century away from equality it would have been shocking for the time to see Lincoln preach such a thing.

Class Update: 11-19-12 and 11-20-12

I realize now that with the preparation for homecoming and the hypnotist show, I forgot to make a class update post on Tuesday. Here it is! On the nineteenth in class we talked about Uncle Tom's Cabin written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. We talked about how slaves were captured and the fugitive slave act, which encouraged Northerners to help return fugitive slaves. It was sickening to discuss how the slaves were hunted down by dogs, as if they were animals or some kind of prey. Fugitive slave cases were taken so seriously that even the small acts that Northerners did such as feeding or housing fugitive slaves could get them jail time or a hefty fine. The next day we completed multiple worksheets on the Nebraska-Kansas Act and what was known as "Bleeding Kansas". These explained the creation of Kansas and Nebraska and allowing them to have a popular vote on the topic of slavery. This caused a huge commotion and many deaths as pro- and anti-slavery activists alike tried to gain control of these lands. I was shocked to hear about the attack between a Northern Senator and a Southern Representative and that despite beating someone nearly to death, the Southerner never received jail time. Many people can't believe the dirty politics and slander that occur today, but nothing compares to this incident over 150 years ago!

Abraham Lincoln

Class Update: 11-13-12 and 11-14-12

Field trip! Yesterday we went to the computer lab to do work with a map of the United States in 1820 on the computer. The map showed the amount of slave states and free states and also showed Arkansas Territory and the Unorganized Territory. The Southerners outnumbered the Northerners which meant that in the house of representatives the power was swayed in favor of the Southerners. But, in the Senate the balance between the two was relatively equal. When the south wanted Missouri added to the union, Northerners feared that another state in the south would upset the balance. The Missouri compromise added Maine as it own state restoring balance. Today we talked more about the Missouri compromise and the Mexican war. This was the war between the U.S. and Mexico over the southern border of Texas. In the end the United States also received land which made it a "Two ocean country".

Class Update: 11-7-12 and 11-8-12

Yesterday in History class we took more notes on slavery and each received a document either defending or supporting slavery which we answered questions on. My document was by a Southern Senator named John Hammond. The document was one of his speeches about why he supported slavery. He stated that every society needs a group of inferior people to do low level tasks while the more superior people do the more difficult tasks such as running the government and other parts of society. Reading his speech was quite disgusting and it was amazing to see someone justify something as horrible as slavery. Today in class we took more notes on slavery which talked a lot about the underground railroad.  We then read 10 textbook excerpts from 10 different textbooks, all explaining the underground railroad. While of the textbooks explained the basics, they all seemed to have different takes on its importance. Most textbooks seemed to believe the underground railroad only helped few slaves and was really of no importance.

Ted Talks: 30 Day Change

I just watched the Ted Talks video which discusses what you can do for thirty days to make a change. This can either be taking something up or giving up something. I've decided that my thirty day challenge will be studying for math every night. Typically, I only study before a test but for thirty days I'll make sure to study math for at least 15 minutes each day, which will not include completing homework. I will do this either in a study, by staying after, or just at home. For me, math is the hardest subject so I think this challenge will be very beneficial.

Class Update: 11-5-12 and 11-6-12

Happy election day! Today at the beginning of class we had our own mock election which everyone in school participated in. It will be interesting to see who wins and if it will match the country's vote. After our "election" we talked about whether or not the Constitution was pro-slavery. Interestingly enough, we found out that Frederick Douglass first believed it to be pro-slavery but then changed his mind. We looked at his points for both sides of the argument and then had to make up our own minds. I believe that the Constitution was anti-slavery. The founding father could have easily began the document with "We the citizens", "We the delegates", or even "We the upper class white men" but they didn't. They said the people of the United States deserve rights and this is one of the reasons I think the Constitution did not support slavery. Yesterday we talked about 5 people who were very outspoken about their opinions of slavery. It seems as though the highly educated rich people with no hardships in life where pro-slavery. I think this is because they had no way to relate to slaves or the lives they live. In most cases they probably owned slaves themselves and thought only of the money made when a business holds slaves. Before this we made Venn Diagrams about three true accounts of slavery. They showed that some slaves could have kind masters and better lives while others where forced to endure extreme hardships and suffer greatly.

Class Update: 10-30-12, 11-1-12, and 11-2-12

Because we had no school on Monday due to the power outage and Hurricane Sandy, today I bring you three class updates for the price of one! On Tuesday in class we worked on our Integrated projects which we then presented yesterday. My group consisted of me, Rachel Mahoney, Eliza Mullen, and Maeve Callewaert. We wrote, performed, and recorded a scenario in which Julius Caesar was on trial by the Continental Congress. It was a lot of fun to create and we edited it together into a more professional looking video. I was very happy with our finished project although in the end it had some glitches when we played in the school library. Today in class we read documents about slavery. My group read about slaves being transported in ships under horrific conditions. It was understand that many wished to jump ship and drown over live a life of slavery. We then created a storyboard which showed what our documents were about in pictures and words.