U.S. Intervention in Haiti

"How have the Haitians responded to the presence of U.S. Marines in their country?"

     It appears as though the Haitians are preparing for an upraise. They are unsatisfied with our efforts to help them. Haiti's currency was taken control of and kept from the Haitians in an effort to keep them safe. The U.S. military was asked to protect the Haitian's gold reserves, and we graciously did so. Our marines landed in Port au Prince on December 17, 1914. We moved their gold supply to the Haitian bank's New York vaults in an effort to keep it safe. We, as Americans see it as our duty to protect foreign lives and property, so we decided to place Port au Prince under martial law. We also put down armed resistance in rural area and began teaching Haitians new militia tactics.
     The Haitians are not taking our support lightly. They are constantly creating resistance movements and attacking us, accusing us of insulting them and oppressing them. In involving ourselves in the affairs of Haiti, we created a body of people against us. We promised stability and guaranteed enforcement by military occupation. Our only intentions were to protect, and protect we did. There seems to be a building opposition and our only option is to put it down.

Class Recap 6/10, 6/11

We have just been working on our immigrant's guide to the west for the past classes. Laurel and I have already finished ours, so we are just working on our study guides for the history final.

Justice: What it means to be an American

Works Cited

"1930s: The Great Depression and Racial Segregation." YouTube. YouTube, 28 Nov. 2010. Web. 12 June 2013.

"Best Songs of the Century (1900-1939)." YouTube. YouTube, 01 Mar. 2009. Web. 12 June 2013.

"A Brief Biography of George Washington." George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate, Museum & Gardens. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 June 2013.

"Confederate Song - Bright Sunny South." YouTube. YouTube, 30 Sept. 2010. Web. 12 June 2013.

"Elmer Bernstein - Boo Who & End Titles (To Kill A Mockingbird)." YouTube. YouTube, 17 Jan. 2012. Web. 12 June 2013.

"Fall of Paris." YouTube. YouTube, 06 July 2008. Web. 12 June 2013.

"Hildebrands - Over the Hills and Far Away (Beggar's Opera)." YouTube. YouTube, 09 Apr. 2011. Web. 12 June 2013.

"Janis Joplin - Black Mountain Blues (Bessie Smith Cover) - Early 1960's." YouTube. YouTube, 10 Jan. 2010. Web. 12 June 2013.

"Lorena." YouTube. YouTube, 18 Apr. 2011. Web. 12 June 2013.

"Main Title/Huck Finn - The Adventures of Huck Finn [SCORE] (1/10)." YouTube. YouTube, 17 Aug. 2009. Web. 12 June 2013.

"National Anthem Of The Confederate States Of America." YouTube. YouTube, 20 Mar. 2008. Web. 12 June 2013.

"THE PICTURE ON THE WALL - 1864 Civil War Ballad - Tom Roush." YouTube. YouTube, 07 Mar. 2011. Web. 12 June 2013.

"TENTING TONIGHT - Tom Roush." YouTube. YouTube, 29 July 2009. Web. 12 June 2013.

"Theme from "To Kill a Mockingbird" (Elmer Bernstein)." YouTube. YouTube, 20 Aug. 2008. Web. 12 June 2013.

"Theodore ~ A Tribute to Teddy Roosevelt." YouTube. YouTube, 26 Dec. 2006. Web. 12 June 2013.

"Theodore Roosevelt." The White House. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 June 2013.

"Yankee Doodle - Original Song." YouTube. YouTube, 20 Feb. 2011. Web. 12 June 2013.

"Yankee Doodle (Dandy)." YouTube. YouTube, 23 Apr. 2008. Web. 12 June 2013.

Class Recap 6/6, 6/7

For the past two days in history, we have been catching up on projects. We worked on the immigrant's guide and the Smithsonian quests.

Class Recap 5/31, 6/4

On Friday, we had the entire class to work on the integrated project. I am working with Laurel. We decided on targeting the Norwegian immigrants and started to divvy up the work between us. We worked on the project for the period.
Monday was a half day so we did not have class, so on Tuesday we worked on the projects again. It has been a calm couple of classes.

Class Recap 5/28, 5/29

     On Tuesday in class, we went to the computer lab. We answered some quick questions on a worksheet regarding U.S. influence in Central America and surrounding areas. We sent troops in a counted 9 times in 30 years, which I find astounding. After we filled in the sheet, we went to a different website and chose a question to answer regarding Latin America. We read a document and then proceeded to put our 2-3 paragraph response in our blog. I have yet to finish my response, but it will be up in my blog very soon.
     Today in class, we worked on a sheet that organized our thoughts of the U.S. and whether they were a good neighbor or an imperial power. We looked at different amendments and laws that were established during the time period and talked about the U.S.'s intentions through each of the events. It was nice to gather all of the information from the past week or so.

Class Recap 5/22, 5/23

Wednesday's class was basically an extension of Tuesday's class. We continued on with Roosevelt's Corollary. It was interesting to put the Corollary into our own words and pull apart each section. I think it was extremely beneficial to me because now I am confident that I know it front and back, inside and out.
Today, we went to the computer lab and worked on our Smithsonian projects. I hope that we have at least one more class to work because I am close to being done as it is.

Class Recap 5/20, 5/21

On Monday, in class, we focused on Teddy Roosevelt and his influences on the Panama Canal. The class was based off of the Sophia we watched the previous night about how America gained control of the Canal from France. It was interesting to learn that France tried to build the Canal directly through the mountains. It is understandable because the only other Canal they knew how to build was at sea level, and the method for digging it was the only method they knew. America bought the Canal from France after they went bankrupt trying to complete the dig, and America tried to get Colombia in on it. Colombia refused the monetary amount. After some mysterious activity, Panama revolted against Colombia with the help of America and declared themselves an independent country. They went on to accept America's offer, which happened to be the exact same one they offered to Colombia. It was also interesting to learn that the completion of the Canal cut the route from New York to San Francisco by almost two thirds and cut the travel time in half, from 60 days to only 30. After we had a small discussion of the Sophia, we looked at political cartoons with a partner and answered some questions concerning their content. It was neat to see other people's interpretation of Teddy Roosevelt and the Panama Canal. After we looked at the comics, we read a speech of Roosevelt's and essentially picked it apart. I liked Monday's class because I never knew the history of the Panama Canal, but it also made me feel a bit sleazy as an American to be associated with Roosevelt's trickery.
Today in class, we gathered into groups of four and interpreted two different documents. We picked out the words we felt were the most important, summarized the documents, and then put them in our words. Then, we shared them "Boggle style" and edited each others' statements on the projected image. It was a pretty simple class as far as classes go.

Class Recap 5/16, 5/17

On Thursday in class, we talked about Yellow Journalism. The night before we had a Sophia tutorial that dealt with yellow journalism. We got into groups of three and read different events that occurred when Yellow Journalism was an issue. We created our own Yellow Journalist newspaper headings.
On Friday, we went around to each category and voted for our favorite newspaper heading. After we discussed Yellow Journalism and expressed which was our favorite, we closed class with discussion.

Class Recap 5/13, 5/14

For the past two days in class we had the period to work on projects or history homework.

Class Recap 5/7, 5/8

On Tuesday in class, we exercised the fishbowl activity. There were four different groups in class that represented different groups regarding the Trail of Tears. The point of the fishbowl was to have a discussion about the Trail of Tears and to come up with an answer to the question of its morality. Was it right to essentially force the Amerindians out of their homes and into the foreign west? Three of the groups, the Christian missionaries, the Cherokee, and the Congress all argued against Andrew Jackson who, in actual history, disregarded everyone else and continued to push the Indians out west. Even though his acts were unconstitutional, he was never impeached. I do not think that is fair at all. The Amerindians had every right to stay on their own land, and our own classroom fishbowl showed that the majority of people in the U.S. did not care either way or believed strongly in letting them stay.
Today in class, we partnered up with someone, in my case it was my buddy Laurel, and read a primary and secondary source regarding the chief Red Cloud. He had a lot to say about what the whites are doing to the Native Americans. It was interesting to read his speech and try to understand his motives when he got up and spoke to the crowd. Laurel and I finished answering the questions with time to spare. We ended class with a discussion about Red Cloud and a prelude to the end of the Indian Wars.

Class Recap 5/2, 5/3

On Thursday in class, we read three separate but related poems. The first poem we read was also the first one written of the three. It was called "A White Man's Burden." It was talking about how it is the duty of the white man to take power and to carry out the idea of imperialism with all of their made-up justifications. It was a confusing poem and even after reading it a few times through, I could not really get a good handle of it. The same went for most of the class. The second and third poems we read were related and written as a sort of response to "A White Man's Burden." They were called "The Black Man's Burden" and "The Poor Man's Burden." They were parodies and shared many similarities with the first. Our jobs were to find the similarities and then write a found poem, which proved to be rather difficult.
On Friday we went to the computer lab and tried to make progress on our Smithsonian projects. It was a good end to the week.

Adventures on the Oregon Trail

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/jsavagexx55/3310643

Class Recap 4/26, 4/29

On Friday in class we had pretended to do something like Shark Tank the TV show. I don't know much about it and I also was not part of any of the process so I just took notes and observed. Today we watched a movie and tried to teach each other Scratch, which is highly unsuccessful and frustrating.

Class Recap 4/23, 4/24

Yesterday in class, we spend the entire time trying to see what it would be like living in a soddie on the prairie. I was in a group made up entirely of boys, so my soddie life was rather interesting. Our first station was "stand," where we had to pretend we were living in the cramped area of a soddie. It was easy to create our floor plan because there was not much we had to fit in, and then all we had to do was sit around. It became boring very quickly. I could never imagine living in such a small sparse place with five boys. The next station was "sit," where each kid sat in a chair and was time lapse-d for a minute to stimulate the act of taking a "picture." Back when cameras were just starting to be used, the exposure time was much longer so we had to sit for quite a long time. After sitting, we had to "smell," which consisted of Caleb sticking his head into a plastic bag full of sod. I think we were supposed to take away from the experience the understanding that life was hard on the prairie and that it was terrible and smelly and boring, but to be honest I think it could be cozy and a nice place to be with people you love.
I was only in school for 10 minutes of today's class because I went on a field trip. Laurel and I just hung out until the bell.

Class Recap 4/12, 4/22

On Friday before the vacation, we had a "discussion" about the push and pull factors that affected the massive move Westward. Eventually the discussion turned into a debate. We started class by watching the Sophia that did not upload on the Thursday that it should have uploaded on. After we watched them and took down some questions that came to mind as the videos went on, we split into two groups that formed two circles, an outer one and a smaller inner circle. The inner circle had 10 minutes to discuss the push factors until they had to switch places with the outer circle. The outer circle then had 10 minutes to discuss the pull factors. The first group had a really hard time coming up with good questions and their discussion pilfered out quickly. When we switched places, Caleb got heated and he led the debate. It was a great way to end the last day of school before vacation because I love having discussions, especially with Caleb.

Today, we went to the computer lab and signed up to a website set up by the Smithsonian. The point is to basically do a project on something that interests us. I am excited for it, but I am just not sure what it has to do with history, and if we are wasting our time doing something that does not relate to what we are learning in school. Laurel had a really hard time picking a subject, but I decided to analyze portraits. I read a book called The Girl With The Pearl Earring and it gave insight on both the painter and the sitter, so I am looking forward to doing a more in depth learning curve on it. It was a relaxing way to end the day.

Class Recap, 4/10, 4/11

Yesterday in class, we talked about the Erie Canal and its positive and negative effects on America. I made a blog post about the Erie Canal last night so there is not too much to say about it in my class recap. I was in a group with Sarah Ganz, Camille and Laurel and we all took on a persona and read a different part that exposed an effect, whether it was positive or negative.
Today, we were immediately paired with someone of our choosing and discussed a few questions regarding Manifest Destiny that were projected on the board at the beginning of class. Everyone should have already known a little bit about Manifest Destiny because of the Sophia last night. After we talked about the five questions with Mr. Boyle, we looked at two different works of art that shared the same idea about Manifest Destiny and encouraging the move westward. The paintings were impressive. They were colorful and expressed a great number of ideas in one image. After we talked about the paintings, Mr. Boyle told us that we were to come up with a short skit with our partner. I have to say that the script Laurel was quite meritorious, unlike any other group's script. Most people acted out their skits to end the class. It was a busy period, but an overall interesting one

The Erie Canal: An Overall Positive Investment

From a purely economically- and socially- inclined point of view, the Erie Canal was, overall, had a positive effect on America. The construction of the Canal opened up trade with the west as well as an easier way to move people who wanted to contribute to the expansion of American settlements. The migration numbers grew exponentially after the Canal was dug and more people settled in the west than ever before. Without the Canal, America would not have become the trans-continental nation that we are today. Transporting their supplies from their homes in the east to their new stretch of land became so much easier and faster and cheaper thanks to the Canal. 

Economically, the Erie Canal created jobs and improved the economy of tons of towns beside the Canal. It is hard to deny the fact that the Erie Canal paid for itself almost immediately, in 6 or 7 years. The concept of paying less to move west became much more popular, so more people wanted to travel on the Canal. Economically and socially, the Erie Canal created substantial benefits for America.

Class Recap 4/5, 4/8

Friday was a half day, so we did not have class. We did have a pep rally which was pretty fun except when the sophomores did not participate in the festivities at first. As soon as people were bribed with T-shirts, they got right into it really quick.

Today, Mrs. Jones was our substitute. She handed out a multitude of papers regarding the Oregon Trail and the boom of Americans moving westward in the 1800s. We had to fill in boxes with the most important material and then write three journal entries that corresponded with the journey the pioneers took. The Oregon Trail is an interesting topic. We have not covered the westward expansion that much in any previous history classes, so I like learning about this so far. Mrs. Jones gives us a really hard time during class and pretty much everyone hates her, but she is funny and deep down, I think most kids enjoy her. If not, we have to appreciate the fact that she always tells the teachers the class was really well behaved and nice.

P.S. I just played the Oregon Trail game at the end of the Sophia (the bad version, not the one where you have to download an App) and I died of starvation. "Your party died of starvation. It's been a wild ride but now everyone is dead. Thanks a lot, jerk." I did not think that was very nice. 

Class Recap 4/3, 4/4

Yesterday, we did not have class because I, among other sophomores, had to spend E and F period in the computer lab taking the Accuplacer Test. In my opinion, it was pretty easy and a waste of time. The test was reading comprehension, an essay, and testing sentence structure. The essay took 50 minutes and the other two parts took much less. I did not much like taking a test on the computer. I like to go back and check my answers once I am done, so I did not like the face that we could not review our work. The essay was not hard at all, but I would rather write it out on paper instead of typing it. The most amusing part of the entire experience was the tutorial teaching people how to use a mouse and keyboard. The irony is that in order to have gotten to that point in the test, one would have had to use the keyboard and mouse.
Today in class, we split up into groups according to a letter, which represented a certain group involved in the War of 1812. My group had the Amerindians. After watching a short clip about slogans, we were told to create a slogan, icon and poem from the perspective of our specific group involved in the War of 1812. It was pretty interesting to get creative and try to walk around in the shoes of our specific group. The best was Caleb's. His group were all the Americans opposed to the warhawks and the war in general. Their poem and slogan were great.

Snap Debate Overview

In class today, there were four different causes that were argued to be the main cause of the war. Each group prepared a 2 to 3 minutes debate trying to prove that their cause was the one that caused the War of 1812. The four causes were as follows:

1. Impressment- Impressment was when British ships invaded American ships and forcibly took American sailors to be part of the British navy. The British were not technically on American soil, but they ended up capturing some odd 140,000 American sailors. They justified their intentions by going by the phrase "Once a British citizen always a British citizen."

2. Chesapeake Affair- The Chesapeake Affair was like impressment, except the British commenced to shoot at the ships. This became the first form of a battle in the War of 1812. As a result, Thomas Jefferson signed an Embargo Act that prevented Americans from exporting or even leaving the ports. It brought trade to a near zero.

3. Orders in Council- The Orders in Council was a response to Napolean's seize of power. Te Americans restricted trade from France, which did not help the trade situation.

4. Incitement- Incitement was when war hawks from the south west had evidence that the British were giving the Amerindians weapons and preparing them for war against American colonists. They bribed them with clothing and other items, and helped them to learn how to use the weapons they were given. The Americans saw this as a threat considering it was right on their own land and were worried that the Amerindians would be provoked to start a war.

My group was Incitement. While we discussed what incitement really meant, it was pretty obvious that it was the only cause that presented the most of a threat towards America. It was easy to write a debate because none of the other groups could argue that they affected the actual homeland of America. We could argue that the Amerindians were already unhappy with the Americans, and as soon as the British gave them guns and told them how to shoot, they would want to start a war.

Three people came to our group after the debate and they all said that incitement affected America directly while the others affected seamen and mostly Europe. Snap debates are really interesting and I hope we do more of them in the future.

Class Recap 4/1, 4/2

Yesterday in class, we were in the computer lab for the entire period. We did an online exploration that was mimicking Lewis and Clark's expedition into the Great Unknown, or in other words, the uncharted western territory. It was interesting to decide what to do, but it felt a little bit strange to sit at in front of a screen and pretend to do what a group of people did as an actual adventure. Their experience, though a bit more dangerous, was so much more exciting. We wrote diary entries like they did along the way and we had to try not to die. It was pretty cool.
Today in class, we had a snap debate. We were separated into groups according to our poll that we supposed to fill out after we did the sophia work. I did the sophia work but I did not even notice the poll at the bottom. Luckily, I was randomly put into Incitement, which was clearly the best argumentative group. Neal spoke for us and three people joined our group after we put in the debate. I am glad that we had such a great subject but it stinks that I did not complete the sophia like I should have.

Diary of the Corps of Discovery

Class Recap 3/27, 3/28

The past two days have been exactly the same, talking about something called a flip classroom, signing up for Sophia, and then spending the rest of class in the computer lab working on the Civil Rights Movements stories. I am exhausted and extremely glad this week is finally over.

Class Recap 3/25, 3/26

On Monday, we had the long composition and I took an extremely long time to finish so I did not go to class in order to write the long comp.

On Tuesday, we learned about the Black Panther party and their code. The code overall had nice ideas, like equal opportunity and suitable housing, but they also demanded some things that even white people did not have. Education seemed reasonable enough to ask for, and a right to control their own futures, but there were demands like jobs for every person as well as completely free health care when white people do not necessarily have these things.

The Story of the Civil Rights Movement

Class Recap 3/21, 3/22

On Thursday, we had split class because of second lunch, so for the first part of class, we finished filling ou tthe worksheets that had questions on either MLK or Malcolm X. After lunch, we watched a YouTube video of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. That speech is one of the most influential speeches of all time. American histroy would not be the same without it. It was a good class because I love that speech.
On Friday, we started class with a picture of people marching towards the capital. We had to write about it and talk about it. After looking at the picture, we had a discussion about whether or not blacks and white are equal today. It was an interesting talk and it was followed up with a talk about the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and how it was similar to the one in 1883.

Class Recap 3/18, 3/19

On Monday in class, we returned to our groups from Friday based on the letter from our document. Each group read a document on either about Martin Luther King Jr. or Malcolm X. We answered questions regarding the document and when we finished answering the questions in those groups, we split into different groups that read different documents amnd shared answers with them. My original group read a document about MLK. He was a huge inspiration and the way he led the black community and all of America and his speeches moved people for centuries to come. Learning about him is great because of what he did for our country and for people around the world.
On Tuesday we had a snow day again.

Class Recap, 3/14, 3/15

On Thursday in class we learned about sit ins that occurred in diners and 5 and dime stores. African Americans were made to stand facing the wall to eat their lunch, so that the white people wouldn't have to look at their faces during their own meals. Young black people eventually got sick of it and would peacefully occupy as much of the seats intended for whites as they could. They would not fight when white people poured food and lit cigarettes down their shirts, and they succeeded in losing money for white businesses.
On Friday, we learned about the Freedom Riders and bus sit ins. We started class with writing small details regarding a projected picture and then we took notes. It was horrifying to hear about what white people would do to try and get the black people out of their seats. The police even gave them 15 minutes to do whatever they wanted, kill, maim, abuse, the black people and white people alike on the bus. I wish that we nver had this part of our history because it is just too upsetting to hear about people hurting others because of what they look like.

Class Recap 3/12, 3/13

On Tuesday in class, we had a sub. We watched a really interesting documentary that talked all about the Civil Rights movement, of course. We had to fill out a sheet that wanted us to write down things we found interesting, questions we had, and a connection, all to talk about in class. The documentary focused on Emmett Till, a subject that we had already covered in class and also a subject that I am doing my desktop documentary on. It proved to be quite helpful. I hardly needed to search on the internet for anything on Emmett Till because I already knew so much from the documentaries.
On Wednesday, I was out sick, but I was told the Little Rock Nine were discussed. Rachel gave me some documents to read and answer questions on, which I did.

Class Recap 3/7, 3/8

On Thursday in class, we talked about Rosa Parks and the many different ways she is portrayed in history documents. In some, it appears as though she was tired and simply just did not have the energy to stand up. In many it seemed as though she was the very person who started the bus boycott. This all proved to be untrue. In an interview with Parks, she claims that she had been planning the act for a very long time with her organization, and that particular day was the day she was finally able to put the plan into action. She was certainly an important figure in history, and the Civil Rights movement can thank her for helping to start the ball rolling.
On Friday, we had a snow day so no class.

Desktop Documentary- Emmett Till

Class Recap 3/5, 3/6

Yesterday, I did not go to class because I and four other students went to Danvers with Mr. Colby to listen to a speaker named Al Duncan. He talked about leadership and change-making in our own lives and community and the world around us. It was interesting to go to the Summit. I am glad I went. Rachel got my work for me, which turned out to be four papers dealing with "separate but equal," mainly in schools. The segregation of the South was getting to be a major problem, so it was decided to hold a series of five trials that would all together decide what to do about it. The trials were collectively called Brown v. Board of Education. I read the handouts and answered the questions.
Today's class was extremely beneficial to me. We watched a documentary the entire period that taught us all about the case of Emmett Till. We answered four or five questions about the documentary. It was very interesting, but it was even better because I picked Emmett Till for my Desktop Documentary due on Friday. I was completely shocked when I saw what happened to Emmett and even more shocked when I learned that the two white men convicted for his murder were announced not guilty. It just shows how twisted and wrong society in the South was back in the years leading up to the Civil Rights movement. I did not know very much at all about Emmett Till until today, and I am excited to speak about him in the documentary.

Class Recap 3/1, 3/4

On Friday we had a half day so we didn't have class.

Today in class we were assigned a letter and were told to sit with people with different letters in groups. Then we got a timeline describing the events of the Scottsboro case. We had to read it and then had to make up three journal entries about it. Our group had to write them in the voice of Ruby Bates who was one of the women who accused the teenager boys of raping her on the train. It was very interesting because it turned out that she had lied about it. She disappeared and then came back two years later as a surprise defendant and confessed that it was a lie. Learning about the trials was pretty cool because they were the very things that inspired Harper Lee to write To Kill A Mockingbird.  Today was a good class because we all pretended to be different vital people of the trials. 

Class Recap 2/26, 2/27

Yesterday in class, we focused on a man named Garvey. We divided into groups of 4 and were handed a packet including four documents regarding Garvey and how he contributed to his cause and questions that were attached corresponding to each document. Reading about Garvey was interesting because was a man with very radical ideas. He believed that blacks and whites would never be able to coexist. Garvey dedicated his life to an organization designed to help African Americans live a better life. Garvey's main goal was to raise enough money to begin transporting African Americans to motherland Africa. His organization was very popular for many years until he was jailed for mail fraud. It was interesting to learn about his take on the situation because it was so different than other people's at the time.
Today, we looked at different medias involving the black segregation. It was a great class because we read Langston Hughes and listened to Duke Ellington. We also looked at at from that time period. I really liked today's class because we connected what we are learning to actual arts of the time.

Class Recap 2/15, 2/25

On Friday in class before vacation, the only thing we worked on is recording our voices for the Reconstruction project. It was a pretty uneventful day because I wasn't one of the kids who read the script. Cam and Sarah talked and Laurel and I sat with them as they spoke. Not much else happened because other groups had to record their scripts as well. The rest of us quietly talked until class was over. After vacation, we returned to a normal classroom experience. As we walked into class, we were told that we were either an "A" or a "B" and to sit with someone with the same letter. Then we read a document highlighting either Booker T. Washington or W.E.B. DuBois and answered questions regarding the document we read. Then we paired up with a student that had the opposite letter and exchanged answers to the questions. The two men had very different ideas about how to deal with inter-racial society. It was interesting to learn about what each person wanted to do for America and what they were going to do about it. It was a neat class, but average as far as history classes go.

Class Recap 2/13, 2/14

Yesterday in class, we had the "dress rehearsal" for the RSA project. Cara had written out most of our plan and outlined the topics into an intro and organized each point chronologically. I wrote about one of the topics, and when we got into the classroom, we combined the plans and collaborated about what we were going to do for the pictures on the whiteboard. It seemed as though we were completely prepared for the next day when we were supposed to draw and make the RSA on the whiteboard. We only got to work on it for less than half of the class and it was hard because we made some mistakes 20 minutes in and we could not restart or do anything about it. I was the one writing on the board and it felt like I was alone up there. Nobody was helping and I felt terrible when I messed up. I am afraid that the pictures won't line up with the words we speak on the RSA. I also hope that they are graded easily because I really have a hard time not having a perfect project to present.

Reconstruction Timeline

Class Recap 2/7, 2/11

On Thursday, our class focused on sharecropping. Sharecropping is just a way for white landowners to keep control over African Americans by lending them an area of land to grow crops and sell, but they charge such a large amount for rent that the family goes into a debt that is impossible to get out of. After debating the pros and cons of sharecropping and taking notes on the topic, we worked on our RSA projects for the remainder of the class. Monday, we did not have any school because of a snow day.

Class Recap 2/5, 2/6

Yesterday, we focused on equality. We talked about what it means to be equal, and if separate means equal. Without much difficulty, the class defined "equal" as the same, without difference, etc. We figured that to be treated equally meant to be treated the same. But we were quickly proven wrong when we looked at a scenario in which a doctor had to treat two different patients with headaches in the same way. One of the patients had a brain tumor and the other just had a little headache. It was a hard question to answer because equal will never really mean equal, no matter what happens. After we talked for a while, we read about Plessey and his motions to make everyone equal by sitting in a white cab instead of a black one. There were segreagation laws banning segregation, but it happened regardless of any sort of law. People were just not ready to merge their lives with the black people. It caused a huge problem for such a long time in America.
Today in class, we took notes on a few slides from a powerpoint and then just talked about the RSA project and got together with our groups and planned for Monday, which is the dress rehearsal for when we record our actual RSAs.

Class Recap, 2/1, 2/4

On Friday in class, we read an obituary of Andrew Johnson. It was interesting to read because the writer tried to make it sound like he was a good President but all he had to write about was all the bills Johnson vetoed and denied. The writer talked about his impeachment and how he kept in office by one vote. It was strange because all that anybody needed to know about Anrew Johnson was in the writings calling for his death. From reading the obituary, anybody can could tell that Johnson was not the best for our country. Today in class, we took notes on Reconstruction and the white Southerners response. The powerpoint focused mostly on the KKK or the Ku Klux Klan, and what they did to the freedmen. There was a huge amount of controversy about merging the African Americans back into society, and making them equal. There were bills passed to make everyone equal but white business owners and white people all over that were getting aorund the laws by separating the blacks and whites. It was a hard time in America, because everyone was going so nutty about separate public places that they were not thinking about what was really important. It was an interesting class.

Class Recap 1/29, 1/30

Yesterday in class, we focused mainly on the Fourteenth Amendment, the amendment to the Constitution that guaranteed rights to freed slaves, like certain priveleges and citizenship, due process, and protected every citizen equally. The Fourteenth Amendment was really about equality and the right to certain natural rights, as well as being protected by the law. It is a really important amendment because it makes each person that is born in the United States more of an equal kind. After we learned about the Fourteenth Amendment, we, in our groups, had 15 minutes to design a magazine cover that talks about the 14th Amendment and why it was important. Our group focused on marriage. The Amendment allowed marriage between freedmen, so we put that on the cover as big news. It was cool to see how people interpreted the Amendment and how they presented it.
Today in class, we used our groups to learn about the plans that were introduced in the time after the war. We looked at three different plans- Lincoln's plan, Johnson's Plan, and the final Act made by the Congress. It was nice to see how three different ways to reunite the South into the Union were made into ideas and presented as plans. Many people had many ideas about how to deal with the South after they lost the war. We came up with our own ideas about how we would have handled it and then ended the class with a discussion about what each person would do.

Class Recap 1/25, 1/28

On Friday in class, we took notes on Abraham Lincoln's assassination. It was interesting to learn about because all I knew before we talked about it in class was that we was killed during a play. I had no idea that the assassin was a celebrity, or that he broke his ankle. I did not know about his run from the law and I did not know that Lincoln was not killed on instant even though he was shot in the head. It was like listening to a horror story, like something you would read in a story. After we took notes, we listened to two different pieces concerning Abraham Lincoln, his life, and his beliefs, it was cool to listen to them and put the events into music.
Today, we went to the computer lab and worked on some worksheets involving the Reconstruction of the United States. It was really helpful to look at the different states and to see who was standing where on the issue of freedmen. We thought about why the South would want to keep the freedmen under their control. The South did not want the freedmen to move to the North, which would give them a say and vote against them, which would leave them almost powerless in the United States. I really like going to the computer lab because it is a great way to learn the material.

Class Recap 1/23, 1/24

Yesterday in class, we focused on primary documents written between March of 1864 and March of 1865. They were from different viewpoints of people involved in the Civil War, including Davis, Sumner and Lincoln. We discussed why the North had the advantage and what the South did not have going for them. By this point in the war, it was pretty clear that the North was going to win, and this begins the ideas of reconstruction vs restoration. It was interesting to look at how the war had shifted over the years, and now looking at how Lincoln wants to stay in office and campaigning for his spot. Today in class, we talked about the articles we read last night at home. They were interesting to read because primary documents help to almost put you into the time frame itself. After talking about the rest of the documents, we listened to a podcast that talked about whether or not slavery was "the" cause of the Civil War or only "a" cause of the war. Even though it was a dry piece of listening material, the idea was sound. Was slavery the only cause of the war or just part of it? It is a debate still going on today, and even in our own history classes. The past two days were educational and revolved around reading documents.

1/23 Winnie The Pooh

If I were to choose which Winnie the Pooh character
 I am most like, I would probably choose Rabbit. Rabbit is always going in a thousand different directions and is a shameless perfectionist. Pooh's slowness clearly gets on Rabbit's nerves repeatedly, but they share a special friendship unlike any other in the Hundred Acre Wood. I think that even though Rabbit can seem a little cranky at times, his heart is always in the right place and he always makes time to help out his friends. Sometimes I think that my efforts to help can seem a little direct or even too indirect but my heart is in it, kind of like Rabbit. Rabbit is definitely a lover.

You are Piglet. You are timid, quiet, and like to stay in others' shadows. Though your shyness can irritate some, you are courageous when it counts and are always loyal to your friends. I think that Piglet can also apply to me, so I am not too surprised that the quiz gave me this. I think that I have some qualities of most all of the characters in Winnie the Pooh so it is hard to choose. Maybe I am more like Piglet than Rabbit. I am not sure, but this was a cool exercise even though some of the questions were really strange and did not seem to have anything to do with Winnie the Pooh or Piglet or Rabbit.

Class Recap 1/14, 1/15

Class periods have been devoted to reviewing for the midterm on Wednesday. Today and yesterday, the class helped each other study and make flash cards and things of that nature. We were also welcome to ask Mr. Boyle any questions that we may have had. I really hope that I do well on the midterm!

Class Recap 1/8, 1/9

Yesterday in class, we finished the Civil War unit by taking notes on what happened at the end of the war when the Confederates surrendered to Ulysses Grant. After we took notes, we studied with our class mates and asked Mr. Boyle any questions about the chapter. Today, we had the test. It was pretty easy and I really hope that I did well!

Class Recap 1/4, 1/7

On Friday in class, our class walked in to a packet of six journal entries that were written during the time of the Civil War. Reading these entries was supposed to put us in the mindset of a total war setting, and spark certain ideas to write about in our own journal entry. It was interesting to read firsthand experiences from other people from that time period. I was assigned to write in the voice of a Union soldier. It was tricky because there were not any entries that pertained exactly to a soldier, so I had to guess at what they would be feeling during the war. It was a considerably enjoyable class.
Today, we had the quiz on the Gettysburg Address. I got most of it right; I just forgot a few words to one of the sentences. After that, we took a lot of notes on the Civil War and how the Union was slowly gaining the upper hand by cutting off the Confederate's supplies and means of having any chance to win the war. After we took the notes, we started to watch a movie on the Anaconda policy among other pieces of information about the war, but myself and a few other kids got called down to the library to talk about Why Triton, so we did not get to finish watching the clip.

Class Recap 1/2, 1/3

Yesterday in class, I was not here for the first half because I was at the doctor's, but I am told we examined a picture. When we got back from lunch, we looked at the Emancipation Proclamation. Today in class, we took lots of notes on the Civil War and allowing African Americans to fight in the war. We also looked at a piece of art located in Boston that symbolized the 54th Regimant of Massachusetts, which is a pretty big deal.