Buffalo SOldiers

In class this past week we learned a lot about Buffalo Soldiers and Native Americans because we watched many videos and took specific notes on a class wide google doc about specific topics. We also read document and made questions that we will be seeing on the exam.This gave us key information as a class. Our essential question that we came up with as a class was "Was the discrimination that the Buffalo soldiers and Native Americans faced intentional or did the White settlers and federal government actually believe that what they were doing was just? "  

I believe that the discrimination that the Buffalo soldiers and Native Americans faced was definitely intentional. General Sherman's strategy of war was to remove the Buffalo soldiers. He would do anything to accomplish this. For example he basically destroyed all of their belongings. Native Americans were also forced out of their land and 90% of it went to Americans and the land that the Americans let the Native Americans have was useless. Farming was a big part of the Native Americans lives and the land they were given couldn't be farmed on. Also the government were against the Native Americans because they implemented the Dawes Act which enabled the government to take away Native American land. Native Americans were clearly discriminated against and that was not okay but they couldn't do anything to stop it.


Americans at this time basically bullied the Native Americans and the Buffalo soldiers. They took what they wanted and they gave them back the scraps. They set up the Native Americans to fail. The Native Americans couldn't do anything about it. Native Americans still feel the affects of this today.

Captains of Industry

In class this week we learned about Andrew Carnegie and John D Rockefeller.  We all had a lot of fun creating our own lesson and presenting to our class.  We all gathered up and watched many ABC-CLIO clips as a class then read documents on Rockefeller and Carnegie.  Also we all took notes on one class wide google document and we made a 40 question test which will end up being our final.  I had a lot of fun during this lesson and I felt very independent.  Our essential question as a class is "Were Carnegie and Rockefeller robber barons or captains of industry?" In my opinion they were captains of industry. For example Rockefeller lowered the priced of his Standard Oil Company. This helped the economy tremendously. Also He gave back to society by helping education by giving his money. Carnegie also had a positive impact on the economy. Carnegie is well known for his strong production of steel in the U. S. He also used vertical integration, where raw materials were controlled, transportation was controlled and so was manufacturing and sales. He also built hundreds of libraries. Andrew Carnegie and John D Rockefeller did a lot of things in their lives but overall in my opinion they were captains of industries not robber barons.

Making a Change

In class this week we discussed a lot about how enslaved people gained their freedom.  We discussed whether their freedom came from above which is people that had higher ranks in society or whether it came from below which is people of the lower classes.  We did many activities like discussing the social pyramid and watching Ken Burns Civil War Clips.  Also we were all assigned different documents to analyze and find quotes to answer various question. Also we analyzed this pictured of a slave kissing Abraham Lincolns hand.  Abraham Lincoln gave freedom to enslaved people by passing the emancipation proclamation.  I believe that freedom ultimately came from above because they passed laws to legal make enslaved people free.  On the other hand the people "below" forced their hand.  They stood up for what they believed in and they wanted freedom.  If it wasn't for the people below it would have taken a lot longer for enslaved people to become free.  I believe Lincolns actions were greatly impacted by the actions of the enslaved Americans.  They fought for their freedom and Lincoln the only right thing to do was pass the emancipation proclamation and make them free.  Lincoln was very fair to all people.  Overall freedom was granted by people from above but the people from below really forced the decision and that was the right thing to do.

Searching for a Victor

In class we all picked a battle that we would like to research. We then made a google document and it included the battle name, date of the battle, where it took place, the theater, and reasons for the results. After that we all made a QR code and a bitly and printed it out. The QR code would lead to the google document for your battle.  We went on a scavenger hunt scanner all the QR codes and copying the information about the battles.  Finally we went on a website called padlet and found trends on the theater of the battle and who was victorious.


The union was the ultimate victor in the western and naval theater, but the confederacy was the victor in the eastern theater.  For example in the battle of Baton Rouge, Louisiana which took place in the western and naval theaters in 1862 the union was victorious. The confederates had to separate into two divisions and the union was held at the center of Louisiana. The union army was successful in almost all of the battles in the western and naval theaters. Also the confederates won most of the eastern battles. For example in the second battle of Bull Run on August 28-30 in Prince William County, Virginia the confederates were the victors. The union attacked but were devastated by the confederate artillery then the confederacy also counter attacked with 28,000 men. The battle led to a ratio of 13,830 dead union men and 8,350 dead confederate men. The union overall was the dominant force even though the confederacy showed resilience.


One commonality in the reason for the results is that the union had a lot more men then the confederacy. For example, in the battle of Spotsylvania on May 8th and 19th 1864 in Virginia  there was not clear victor but the confederacy failed to stop the union army. An estimated 18,000 men were killed from the union army and 12,000 from the confederacy. This shows that the unions numbers were just too much. Even though the confederacy killed more union soldiers than the number of soldiers they lost they still couldn't stop the union soldiers.  One commonality the confederacy had was most of the time they won it was from unexpected attacks. For example the battle of Chancellorsville on May 1 and 4th of 1863 confederate troops flanked the right side of the union army while they were still woods, while the union army was stunned they were able to kill stonewall Jackson.   This is one of many examples.


I had a lot of fun with all the activities that we did in class. I learned a lot about the civil war and the scavenger was a lot of fun.  I also learned a lot about technology by making a QR code and a bitly. I enjoyed walking around the school scanning the signs and copying down the information. I learned a lot about the union army and the confederate army. We learned a lot about the battles and the victors of them. Overall the Union was more dominant than the Confederacy. I really enjoyed this week of class.



Picture of the battle of Fort Donelson

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Donelson

Election of 1860

Last week in class we made a short "Show Me" on the election of 1860. President Lincoln was victorious in this election which made him the 16th president of the United States of America. Also we watched a crash course video tht showed how the slavery issue caused a division for many things.  The results of theelection of 1860 represented the deep divisions of the south in many ways. For example Breckenridge believe in no limits on slavery and he won most deep southern states. Lincoln was against slavery so he obviously won many northern states. Bell wanted to preserve te constitution and the union as it is, including slavery and he won 3 states bordering the north and the south. Finally Douglas wanted to determine the spread of slavery by using popular sovereignty. He only won Missouri. This shows how America really wasn't agreeing at this point in time which led to the civil war. This map shows the states that each candidate won. At this time in America people had a hard time agreeing on anything and I'm happy we got over it. 

Also we made a short "Show Me" enjoy!

http://www.showme.com/sh/?h=IOH7CIS

Stats and Strategies

In my info-graphic I tried to add the most vital information to show who had the advantage, either the north or the south.  The first fact I chose was the railroads.  The north had 21,700 miles of railroad and the south had 9,000 miles of railroad.  This gives the north the advantage because they could ship things farther.  If their soldiers need more supplies they can reach them with no problem.  The second point I added in my info-graphic was the total population.  There were 23,000,000 people in the north and there were 8,700,000 people in the south.  This gives an advantage to the north because most likely the north had more soldiers.  Also I added that the south had an advantage because they had the nations military colleges in the south and most of their officers sided with the confederacy.  This means they had more highly trained soldiers than the north.  Strategy gave an advantage to the north in my opinion.  One of the strategies by Lincoln was to create a blockade at all naval ports down the east coast all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.  This was to stop the south from shipping cotton to Europe and stop southerners from importing manufactured goods they needed.  This cut off it's biggest money maker and didn't let them get the things they needed.  Money was a big part of the Civil War.  The north crushed the south in this category.  The north produced 1.5 billion dollars in manufactured goods and the south only produced 1.5 million dollars in manufactured goods.  This gives the north the freedom to spend more money on the supplies they needed.  This process helped me understand the situations faced by the Union and Confederacy at the start of the civil war.  For example I had no idea how much goes into the war before looking at this information.  Comparing these stats and strategies shows that the north definitely had the advantage entering the war.  Both sides had to deal with many situations before the war.  They had to worry about money to fund the war.  They had to get people to fight, and they also needed transportation to send there soldiers places and go to them if help is needed.  People definitely underestimate everything. that goes into consideration before a war.

TENSIOn between the states | Create infographics

Women's Reform

How did mid-19th century american Society react yo women's demands for equality? Does 21st century society still react differently to men and women?

American society didn't give any attention to women's demand for equality in the mid-19th century and that is not right.  They all thought women were supposed to cook, clean, and take care of the children, basically they were like maids and had to wait on their husbands at every beckoning call.  For example the image below some of the things women had to do.  Making sure the house was cleaned, watching children, fixing broken items in the home, taking care of animals, helping children with school work, making clothes for family are just a few of many things women had to do.  They really didn't have many rights either.  They had to fight and earn everything they had.  You'd think after all they did they could at least be treated equal, but no they were still treated as the inferior race.  There were many women who protested for equality and many failed, but they kept fighting.  In my opinion women being trapped in the house is a waste of talent.  They could be changing the world and achieving their dreams but they're basically held back from doing what they want.  That is just demoralizing in my opinion.  Luckily after many hard fought campaigns and protests women are equal with men and that's the way it should be.  

In the 21st century I feel like people still act differently to men and women.  There are definitely still some stereotypes of women.  For example many people always think of the women staying home with the children and having too cook and clean.  For example in many baby commercials it's always a mom and her baby and that;s not always the case.  The world has had a substantial change in a good way also.  Women have just as many rights as men and can do everything they can.  I also believe a women hasn't been elected president because some people still believe that a woman couldn't run our country but I believe they are just as capable as men.  Also I believe we will have a woman leading our country and that will be a huge step in destroying those stereotypes.  

As a nation we have made tremendous strides in woman equality.  I have a great amount of respect for women that stand up for their rights.  Women were treated very poorly and that is just not okay and I am glad we made a change.  Women are treated equal today and that is the way it should be.  Women deserve everything they have and they deserve equal right also.