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.