Sunday, May 2, 2010

Letter of WW1


My Dearest Susan,

I am writing this letter to you from the camp in Mexico where we have just arrived two days ago. We were very tired to therefore I didn’t have time to start writing immediately. We are planning to stay in this camp for 5 more days the time that Corporal decides to take off. In the camp we live as a family having fun together and playing chess. The food in the camp is pretty good since there are women that are helping for the cooking. Concerning the security of the camp, it is very safe since it is very far from war. I am starting to miss you very much as well as for young Tom I hope he’s feeling better after my departure. I wish you could be here with me where I’ll show you all my friends and family and make you taste the flavor of war and how everyone cares for one another one.

During the night the camp gets really fun each person starts telling their stories and telling about extreme moments during the battles and how do they feel on the trenches. Some people share their fears and how they could have died. We also share jokes and sing songs to forget our problems that can be haunting us deep in our hearts. Our favorite singing songs are “And He'd Say "Oo-La-La Wee-Wee", by George Kessel, and "America Here's My Boy", by Peerless Quartet's hit. When we get to sleep all I can think of is you and how I’d rather be with you than risk my life to help my country because when I think of it Susan, you are my life, my country, and my nation and I love you and always will. I hope that I won’t die to be able to see you again because I can’t bear living without you. It is harder for me since my friend Peter died because of me and I could have helped and I didn’t.
It all happened two weeks ago on a trench where we were 4 using a big machine gun and shooting the German troops when the night came we had to let two people awake and two other could sleep. When Peter and David finished their shift they saw that I had catched some kind of disease therefore Peter took two shifts in a row. During my shift the Germans threw an iron canister grenade and it killed both of the guys and kept me alive since I was hidden. I could have died in his place and he would of pursuit his dream of being a doctor. I feel so miserable for having killed a person that would serve as something to the world.
My dear Susan I have to say the truth about something that I am afraid is inevitable. War is hard and I don’t think I’ll be able to survive because of the dangerous diseases that I will probably get. I learned from the Corporal that in Sante Fe there are huge amounts of mustard gas and that 50 percent of our group will die. If I won’t die with mustard gas, then I’ll die in a trench. Life there is really hard since we have to avoid receiving bullets and the only protection we have are the sandbags and sometimes I am so afraid that I want to commit suicide to finish with this.

For Tom you son, I want him to be a pilot as he has always wanted to be. I hope that you’ll be here for him through hard and easy times to reach his goal. You should tell him the truth and I’d like for both of you to live your lives as usual and don’t forget to have fun. Tell little Tom to keep up with his baseball pitches and I’d like to offer him my baseball bat. Tell Tom I love him and that even though I shouted at him it I always wanted him to succeed. I want you my dear Susan to help Tom exploit his potential in drawing and baseball and make sure he trains to become a better baseball player as he likes doing and for him to have very talented art skills.
Concerning the heritage, I’d like for you and Tom to split everything since you are the only family I have and on the cupboard in my wood shelf is a ring and I’d like you to wear it during 1 year in a dedication to our lives if Tom agrees with these circumstances. As for Tom, except for my baseball bat, I’d like to offer him a bracelet that is hidden in my cupboard too and it has our initials name written on it in order for him to remember me.

To finish my dear Susan, I want to apologize for making you suffer after my death and I want you to move on, but remember me, remember us and all what we used to be because we shared moments that must last forever and I never had these feelings that I feel for you and now I don’t know what to do because I’ll never be with you. I hoped that I could I share some more time with you but life is life. Hope you’ll live a great life.

Goodbye my Lover,
Amine Benkirane

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Progressivism


Progressive people are people who are concerned with the problems emerging from immigration, industrialization and urbanisation. They can focus in such issues such as; catalysing a number of fundamental changes in the American social and political manners, focusing on humanizing the modern city or improving workplace conditions.



Politically, Progressive Americans wants to change the political system by eradicating corruption and enfranchising women. These progressive Americans are trying to help because they want their country, America, to be faithful and be able to have a civilized country where citizens face problems and where every citizen should be equal and money won’t change decisions of people.
Democratically, progressive Americans aim to promote ideas that are associated with freedom and equality. As I said before progressive thinkers main goal is to have a fair society where everyone follows the same rules and regulations.
Economically, they work toward curbing some of the market excesses without affecting economic growth or eliminating some personal and economic freedom & opportunities.

Despite the ambitions of progressive people to improve the living conditions in the American Society, there are enormous obstacles influencing the changes they could envision, including; hostility toward labour unions, indifference regarding the rural poor and racism toward African-Americans and these concerns are still affecting the American Society nowadays.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

No For Imperialism !

Imperialism is the practice of a policy in which a nation extends its control off their borders on other countries. It is the extension of ruling over foreign nations. It is the process by which one country dominates another directly, by political means, or indirectly, by economic means.

First, economic opportunities grew. The United States saw potential in starting international markets, such as the open door policy for china which enhanced the trade between foreign countries and the US. Or Japan, where they were forced to trade by Matthey Perry. The U.S government also wanted control of some Pacific islands to use as refuelling and repair stations for its naval vessels. Therefore, Seward championed the annexation of the uninhabited Midway Islands in 1867. Also U.S signed a treaty with Hawaii and this agreement allowed Hawaiians to sell sugar in the United States duty-free.
Secondly, cultural superiorty made people think that they should spread their beliefs, and thought that they were better than all other groups of people, which is nationalism. Thirdly, humanitarian goals spurred on imperialists, who believed that second world countries would need their occidental medicine techniques & doctors. Finally, the U.S was getting behind other countries concerning economical, military, politically, etc… power therefore they wanted to be in the same level of Europe and therefore they did so by blaming it on social Darwinism and Manifest Destiny.

Examples of Expansions

There are many examples for why imperialism expanded, when the Secretary of State Seward
bought Alaska from Russia in 1867 and convinced the Senate that Alaska had many natural resources that was benefiting for them. Seward also annexed the Midway Islands to use as refuelling stations for the navy.
The example of American imperialism that stood out the most was their meddling between the Cubans, who wanted their independence, and the Spanish who were occupying Cuba. Spain refused to let Cuba away, therefore the Spanish-American War started and was ended when the US Navy sank all the Spanish ships. After the Spanish-American War, The Treaty of Paris was passed, and Spanish lost all its colonies in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean. It had ended Spain's power, yet strengthened the United States since they went form a continental power to an empire by acquiring Philippines & Puerto Rico. However, since the principles of the Constitution of the US states that everyone has a right to liberty & the Cubans didn't want to be ruled by the US, the US was forced to give them their independence. The Platt Amendment was passed to allow the US to intervene in Cuba whenever they pleased, and to settle navy places along the coasts, and it made it fair.

Puerto Rico did not become independent like Cuba, United States maintained it a military government in the territory until 1900. This military aided the development of the infrastructure and education.

Finally, The Annexation of Hawaii was also crucial to the imperialistic expansion of United States. Hawaii became increasingly important to United States business interests. Hawaii also leased Pearl Harbor to the United States as a fueling and repair station for naval vessels. In 1898, Congress approved the annexation of Hawaii. Hawaiian sugar was also sold in America as a duty free.

Pros and cons
A positive effect is seen when the larger nations gave to the smaller colonies. The nations built
roads, canals, and railways. Showed them the telegraph, newspaper, established schools for them, gave them the blessing of their civilization, and overall made them economized. They were part of modern culture after this occurred. Another positive effect is how the colonial governments introduced improved medical care, and better methods of sanitation. There were new crops; tools and farming methods, which helped, increase food production. These changes meant less death to smaller colonies, and overall improve the state of living. They now could live longer and have better sanitation compared to the earlier imperialism. A negative effect is that the colonies doing the developed countrys hard work did not civilize the smaller colonies. They were put to work as cheap labor. They had no freedom, had to do what the big country said since it has so much power over them, they were exploited and were taken advantage of. The negative effect of imperialism is when many parts of the country is ruled badly by the other country, many local citizens get the foreign disease, many had no money to pay heavy taxes, and many more bad things. Sometimes even the cultures in that particular country was forgotten, lost, and then not known. These negative effect make a big difference on how the world is today and how it must be.

Arguments for and against

The arguments against imperialism were that the small colonies that belonged to United States didn’t have the same Constitution and law to follow which was very disadvantageous for the
small colonies since they wanted to be part of a developed country to be able to thrive as citizens. Anti-imperialists also believed that imperialism could lead to the break down of the nation’s democratic foundations. Finally, the last drawn reason was that countries were opposing the fact that Americans were feeling haughty about their culture and discriminating other cultures.

There are 3 arguments for imperialism: promoting economic growth, protecting American security & preserving the American spirit. Workers and farmers started convincing firm and political leaders that the US markets must expand abroad for their overproduction led to financial panics and economic depressions. This also lead to business leaders going one step further and investing directly in the economies of other countries. For example Minor C. Keith, who began the idea of the banana republics. Those who favored strong US Navy formed a second force, and strived for the pushing forces of expansion. They wanted to build modern steam powered teel-hulled ships to protect over seas trade. As Mahan said, the US needed a powerful navy to protect those markets from foreign rivals. Thus, the Congress established a Naval Advisory Board, which would manage the navy’s budget. Finally the Naval Act called for the construction of more battleships, gunboats, torpedo boats, and cruisers.


Op/ Ed
Imperialism is never considered as a good or bad. Colonies inside colonies would fight because
they wanted independence and have their own government and rule. There were many ethnics group that had nationalistic feelings but could not accomplish anything and become a free nation because of Imperialism. The developed countries ran for things they really wanted and they got it. They wanted raw materials, markets for goods, balance of power and they also felt as though they needed to help smaller nations as though it was their destiny. In their point of view they thought they were helping people but really all they were doing was hurting the smaller colonies. Developed countries were destroying ethnic groups and causing civil wars between smaller nations. To conclude, negative effects of imperialism have more impact on people therefore I believe solemnly believe that Imperialism should be abolished.

Bibliography:

wikis.nyu.edu/.../imperialism.jpg

southbronxscholars.files.wordpress.com

analepsis.wordpress.com/.../18/empire-contcult/

mwhcp-per6.wikispaces.com/imperialism

4.bp.blogspot.com/.../s400/Imperialism+2.jpg

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

GLOBALIZATION

Globalization is a process of interaction among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, it is also the spread of economic, political, and cultural systems across the globe. Globalization can have some advantages such economic growth, prosperity, and democratic freedom, Nevertheless, their can be many disadvantages….

Advantages of Globalization

The globalization has sevaral advantages on the economic, cultural, social and some other fronts,it helps to reduce poverty and increase living standards as well as encourage a better cultural understanding.

  • Economical advantages of Globalization

It is known that globalization increases the economic prosperity and opportunity in the developing world; In the 21th century, there is a worldwide market for the companies, and for the people, there is more access to products comming from different countries.

In the economy, there is a rising cash flow into the developing countries, which decreases the dollar difference. because these companies are known in a world wide network which then increases the amount of international clients. This increase causes the country to be economically developed.

Due to the worldwide market, there is also an increase in the production and there are lots of options for the companies now. Such as to make products suitable for the country where the company is situated. For example, in Morocco, Mc Donalds have made a special sandwich to satisfy the consumer’s tastes, for example : They made the Mc Arabia that is composed by the moroccan spices rather than United States. This process is really advantageous because it can influence other globalized companies to make products that are suitable to the area of sale. Therefore, the countries have to consider globalization as a way to « THINK GLOBAL, ACT LOCAL »

People around the globe are more connected to each other. Goods and services that were once produced in one part of the world are increasingly available in all parts of the world. International travel is more frequent which allows better communication among company owners and the different employees of different backgrounds and ethnic groups.

  • Social and cultural advantages of Globalization

Socially, with Globalization, we became more open and tolerant towards each other, and people became less racist, because they have understood that foreigners can give the countries an added value.
Globalization leads to better cultural understanding and tolerance. Because of improvements in airplane companies, more and more people are traveling to different countries, therefore they spread their culture to other parts of the world.

Disadvantages of Globalization


Today, Europeans are losing jobs and that is causing problems for them, since the companies are outsourcing work to the Asian countries because the cost of labor is low and profits the company are higher.

Another major damage of globalization is that some cultures are getting lost. The cultures of the countries that have more economic power are more dominant than others. Because, wealthy countries produce many things that can affect cultures, for example, clothes, movies and technologic products, as a result, the true meaning and culture of this country will disappear .

Bibliography of images:


http://themoderatevoice.com/


http://illuminati-news.com/

http://forum.thevotenation.com/


Thursday, February 4, 2010

Buy the Car, Save the World


Name: Benk&Srondy Corporation
Products of Company: Benkondy electrical motors
Horizontal Nature of the Company: There will be a store of these cars in the 3 most polluted cities New York City, Beijing, and Berlin. There will be one very big factory in Beijing since it is cheap, big, the labor force is very low and there are qualified workers. This factory will make all the cars completely that will be exported to the stores in New York and Berlin.
Energy (Explain where each segment gets its energy whether for offices or manufacturing): New York City and Berlin will get the cars from Beijing that will be imported directly from car dealers.
Raw Materials-Resources: It includes an electric motor to provide all of the power to the wheels, as well as batteries to supply the motor with electricity. Then you have a completely separate gasoline engine powering a generator. The engine is very small -- perhaps 10 to 20 horsepower -- and it is designed to run at just one speed for maximum efficiency. The purpose of this small, efficient engine is to provide enough power for the car at its cruising speed. During times of acceleration, the batteries provide the extra power necessary.

Labor (who will be your workers at each location-what is your payment plan- what is your healthcare plan if you have one, etc.): For the workers in Beijing and Berlin, will be paid by a transfer to their bank account as well as for the workers in United States. Workers will be engaged in their own country however, 5 trustworthy men are going to travel every month to these two cities to be able to see what is happening.

Government and Regulations (how will you work with the government and its regulations upon you): The cars will be made in order to keep the world clean and unpolluted, therefore less petroleum will be consumed by cars and more electricity. These cars will allow the government to use the petroleum for other resources that do not involve cars.

Business Plan:

The product that i want to sell is an ecological car that runs with electricity during a time of 1000 km. The car will contain recyclable materials. The innovation is that it will be able to run at 160 km/h rather than 80 km/h. Many ranges will be proposed for the ecological cars. The high range cars, the medium range cars, and low range cars.
We have made many studies of market on the countries that are really polluted such as Beijing, Berlin, and New York. 80% ofthe answers we got on the ecological cars were positive. We made a prototype with the the same characteristics respectcing the technique and international qualities in order for the product to be commercialised in the world.
A team that have worked on ecological cars has been consulted and are capable to work with us in collaboration with car designers and qualified engineerers.
We have come into contact with the head of green peace and they have accepted to finance 50% of the project in order to decrease the pollution in teh world. For the marketing strategy we will use these criterias below
We will make three ranges of cars:
Normal Range: For the majority of the population
High Range: For the Chief Companies.
Finally cars without license for the teenagers to be able to learn how to drive.
There will be a loss of price since there will be no more gasoline to pay.
The car cost 60 000 dollars and one place car 4 000 dollars.
The car chaine will be produced in different countries since the labor force is low and it is the ideal time to have ecological cars because of the pollution.
Concerning the communication , there will be tv channels that will diffuse the advertisement of the car. In the serving stations we will have some batteries to power the cars as well as areas in the highway for the car power.

With the money i will obtain from these cars i will try to expand the market of these cars and import the cars in different countries. I make at least two stores in every continent and two big factories in the world. One that will be in Beijing and one in Morocco because of the low labor force and Morocco has a very good geographical setting which means it is near to Europe and America. When the car industry will start to work automatically, i will try to invest in better ways to increase industrial pollution. I will try to provide better chemicals of work than fossil fuels and harmful chemical that are bad to the oceans. Then i will make electrical buses for countries that are really polluted and these buses will have the same process as the cars only the distance it travels will decrease because of lack of power. The way the buses are going to get powered is that the stop will finish it work lain after 45 minutes and it will get powered during a 4 hour delay. Therefore some buses will be used for the day and some for the night.




Friday, January 29, 2010

Moroccan Industrial and Technologic Revolution


The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and transport, and cultural conditions starting in the United Kingdom, and then slowly spreading throughout Europe, North America, and eventually the world.

The industrial revolution in Morocco started immediately after the War between Morocco and France. After the independence Morocco needed to start developing and thrive as a country in another sector than agriculture. Seen the important resources Morocco has, such as Phosphorus which is an advantage to the development of industries.
Morocco welcomed new immigrants from the rural area that come to work in factories in the city. At the same time, electricity becomes more and more accessible, as well as the telephone. The starting of new projects such as dams, the routes and highways in particular allowed more development and even bigger than industries until the end of the 20th century. Sectors like fishing become modernized and pass from the artisanal stage to industrial stage in cities like Rabat and Casablanca under the reign of Hassan II.


According to technology of Morocco, revolution is happening, since it is still growing. Many technological stores have been installed in Morocco, such as RadioShack, Apple, Samsung, Techno Park, and many other technological industries. These industries are still developing therefore now immediate revolution has occurred yet.




While i was talking with my family about industrial Revolution we found out that Morocco has all characteristics of a real industrial revolution. However, it is not as spectacular as the ones that happened in Great Britain since it was the first industrial revolution in the world. On the other hand, Morocco is starting to reach developed countries according to the technology, Morocco are making new ways of communication and building new networks that can cover a whole nation such as Maroc Telecom and Meditel. To conclude, this thriving nation is in the pathway to being a developed country.





Thursday, January 21, 2010

Socratic Seminar

During the Socratic seminar I have gained much knowledge. First, I realized that some of my classmates and I were actually growing up since they could peacefully participate actively and give interesting ideas and later defend their ideas. However, the support of the teacher was a bit handy since he directed the seminar to be able to hear different ideas from different people. The teacher also used our ideas to concretize them to make further analysis and use our ideas to relate to real life and go beyond surface. The seminar was handled in a peaceful and respectful way, the ideas of each group were taken into consideration and the groups shared their point of view on each person’s idea rather than arguing and making contradictions. This method had more benefit because it helped the students understand what the real problems were and it didn’t hurt people.
No one dominated the conversation however; every group was assigned a question that they really had to investigate on, these groups had more to saw on a specific question but everyone contributed and followed turns to talk and follow up on what the previous person said to add on what he said or to share his point of view on the question or to tell his feedback or opinion. The groups help make the comments clear in other words reformulate them for the whole seminar to understand.
I had many evidence of people building on other people comments or making links to daily life such as Hussam when he blamed drug dealers and prostitutes from doing these jobs and their reason was that they had no economic opportunity like Thailand and other poor countries.
After having answered my questions with my group I had given them my point of view on the question, “How to bring about change…deliberately or quickly?” I had answered that they should make the change quickly to stop having economic problems, however Yasmin A changed my point of view and convinced me to choose deliberately since the change has to take time for the citizens to adapt and not make the country in rush to avoid chaos
Overall the seminar went well the good parts were that everyone could share his point of view without being interrupted or judged whether it was right or wrong, on the other hand students were disrupting the class until the teacher had to react in order to keep peace and in the seminar and avoid too much outside talk.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

S.O.S Haiti

Thousands of people may have died. Haiti's worst quake in two centuries hit south of the capital Port-au-Prince on Tuesday, breaking the presidential palace. The Haiti earthquake occurred at a fault that runs right through Haiti and is situated along the boundary between the Caribbean and North American plates, which are rocky slabs that cover the planet and fit together like a giant jigsaw puzzle. These two plates constantly creep past one another, about 0.8 inches (20 mm) a year, with the Caribbean plate moving eastward with respect to the North American slab. The Red Cross says up to three million people have been affected.


The earthquake was a catastrophe Haiti's cost of the damage could run into billions. A number of nations, including the US, UK and Venezuela, are gearing up to send aid. The quake, which struck about 15km (10 miles) south-west of Port-au-Prince, was quickly followed by two strong aftershocks of 5.9 and 5.5 magnitude. Communications were widely disrupted, making it impossible to get a full picture of damage a powerful aftershocks shook a desperately poor country where many buildings are flimsy. Electricity was out in some places.


The American military has begun to do its first airdrops over Haiti but is proceeding cautiously despite an enduring need for humanitarian relief. An Air Force C-17 dropped more than 3,700 gallons of water and 14,000 packaged meals after US military personnel secured an area in a neighborhood in Port-au-Prince Monday.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Failures and Secessions of Reconstruction

Failures
· The Reconstruction was a time when the government thought that all people needed human rights even African Americans. Until this point African Americans had no rights. They were still considered less than a full person in a society that proclaimed that all of people are created equal.
· Corruption was one of the failures of the Reconstruction, since the Grant’s administration was being corrupted, greedy, and the government became very poor.

· The economy of the Reconstruction Legislatures taxed southern states, and therefore these states became badly in debt. There was also an economic downturn from the movement of equal rights.

· Violence was also a major failure in the Reconstruction, such as when white democrats used violence against federal troops to prevent freedmen from voting.

· Many blacks and white southerners remain caught in poverty because jobs are unavailable in the South, people are racist and refuse to hire a black person, and finally white southerners are poor since they have lost all of their lands.

Successes

· Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments guarantee African American the rights of citizenship, equal protection under the law, and suffrage. These amendments means that the conflicts and racism will be abolished therefore the black people will be able to gain money without any discrimination or any judgement.

· Freedmen's Bureau and other organizations help many black families obtain housing jobs and schooling. Since education will be given to uncivilized freedmen, therefore the overall education of black citizens will grow.

· The South’s economy grows and new wealth is created in the North. Since the economy in the North is growing, poverty will be less important in their therefore the industries will produce more products which will lead to a much more organized and structured society.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Congressional Reconstruction



Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan:
Johnson Abraham former vice President proposed a slight different plan that was more generous after Abraham Lincoln’s death. He pardons southerners who swore allegiances to the Union. He permitted each state to hold a constitutional convention without Lincoln’s 10 percent. He forced states to void secession, abolish slavery, and repudiate the Confederate debt. He also permitted to hold elections and rejoin the Union.


Black Codes:
Black Codes are laws that restricted freedmen’s rights. These black codes established virtual slavery with provisions. The black codes consisted of curfews, when black people could not gather after sunset. Vagrancy laws Freedmen convicted vagrancy laws, not working could be fined, whipped, or sold for a year’s labor. In addition to labor contracts were freedmen had to sign agreements in January for a year work. Those who quit in the middle of a contract often lost all the wages they had earned. Finally Land Restrictions, freed people could rent land or homes only in rural areas. This restriction forced them to live on plantations.

14th Amendment:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
This law means that all persons that are born in the United states territory with full and equal rights should get protected under the law.

15th Amendment
The 15th Amendment to the Constitution granted African American men the right to vote by declaring that the "right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude."
This law guarantees African Americans the right to vote, to hold public office, to serve on juries and testify the court.



Radical Reconstruction:
After sweeping the elections of 1866, the Radical Republicans gained almost complete control over policymaking in Congress. Along with their more moderate Republican allies, they gained control of the House of Representatives and the Senate and thus gained sufficient power to override any potential vetoes by President Andrew Johnson.


Carpetbagger:
North republicans who moved to the postwar south became known as carpetbaggers. Southerners gave them this insulting name, which referred to a type of cheap suitcase made from carpet scraps. The name implied that these northerners had stuffed some clothes into a carpet bagger and rushed in to profit from southern misery. Carpetbaggers were often depicted as greedy men seeking to grab power or make a fast buck. However, historians point out that carpetbaggers were honest and educated men.

Scalawag:
Scalawags is originally a Scottish word meaning "scrawny cattle". It was used to name white southern republican because they were believed to be traitors. The scalawags usually included Wigs which were opposed to the secession and farmers who resented the planter class. Many southerners resented the scalawags, carpetbagger and freedmen’s power. They also thought reconstruction legislatures were incompetent. But it is believed that these officials were no worse than in other regions of the country at that time.

Monday, December 7, 2009

The Civil War Times Newspaper

RECONSTRUCTION LIMITED EDITION
The War has brought misery for some and freedom for others.
Our streets are devastated, two thirds of our shipping industries and 9000 miles railroad have been dismantled. Farm lands, farm buildings, and farm machinery have been erased. Factories, ports, cities, bridges, and canals are lay smoldered in the streets of our nation.
The loss of life touched virtually every family. The practice of organizing military units with troops from the same town meant that communities no longer have any surviving young men; all of them have died in the same battle. Of the 3.5 million men who fought in the Civil War, on both sides, 620,000 died. One in ten Confederate soldiers had come from North Carolina. Of the 125,000 North Carolinians who fought for the Confederacy and the 8,000 who joined the Union army, 20,000 died in combat. Another 20,000 succumbed to injuries. Many of the survivors were affected both physically and mentally.
4 million black southerners are freed and start new lives in poor and slow economic regions. Since they are poor they receive food and shelter, however inadequate. Most of the black people are homeless, jobless, and hungry. However, others remained in their plantations or sought new jobs in the west.
Our plantation owners have lost their slave labor worth about 3 billion dollars. In addition, the Captured and Abandoned Property Act of 1863 allowed federal government to seize 100 million dollars in southern plantation and cotton. Because Confederate money became worthless, some farmers couldn’t afford to hire workers, thus they had to sell their property.
Our white laborers are without any jobs because of job competition from freedom. Our poor white families migrated to frontier lands such as Mississippi and Texas to find new opportunities.
Abraham Lincoln has left us one month ago on April 14, 1865, he had done immense amount of things for the reconstruction, and he denied pardons to all confederates military government officials who had killed African American war prisoners. He permitted each state to create a new constitution after 10 percent of the voters in the State had sworn allegiances. He offered a pardon to any confederate who took an oath of allegiance to the Union and accepted the federal policy on slavery.
Johnson his former vice President proposed a slight different plan that was more generous after Abraham Lincoln’s death. He pardons southerners who swore allegiances to the Union. He permitted each state to hold a constitutional convention without Lincoln’s 10 percent. He forced states to void secession, abolish slavery, and repudiate the Confederate debt. He also permitted to hold elections and rejoin the Union.
After the Civil War, the country needed to be fixed and rebuilt. A period of Reconstruction followed the war. The reconstruction was important for different reasons, it would allow the nation to find a new United States which would be cleaner and better organized, it would give another chance for the United States to really become united. The last reason is that it would allow the population to find new homes and be able to live in a peaceful area.

The Southerners had many difficulties that it faced; black southerners had economical conflicts because they were without any jobs or shelter. The southern plantation owners had lost immense amount of money because of the Captured Abandoned Act, finally poor white southerners had work problems they lost their job and there was too much competition for jobs.
Freed slaves faced many challenges, they were found out without any shelter, nor job and no family. They looked for their family that they were separated from and they never found them. Slaves in the South still had rules to follow. They had curfew which means they could not gather after sunset, if they were found not working they could be charged a fine or whipped, they had labor contracts which means they had to sign agreements in January to work for the whole year. Black could only buy or rent homes that were in rural areas which meant that they had to work on plantations.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Effects Of World War II







WORLD WAR II




Economic Effects:
During the World War many men went to fight and women did not work, since no one was working products could not be sold, industries worked poorly, thus the economy of the war countries became low. There was a huge growth in munitions and aircraft industries while the other industries such as house building, daily use productions were on hold. There were massive government debts in all countries because of the expensive materials they used for the war. Destruction of factories and machines for example, Britain lost 12% of her productive capacity. Since buildings in fighting countries were destroyed, after the war those buildings were supposed to be built, and it took immense amount of money to build all of them.

Social Effects:
Veterans from World War 2 experienced many mental and physical symptoms that was due to the harsh treatment of others, or mental trauma, or because of physical difficulties.
World War II veterans who chronically ill or dead by age 65 because they experienced heavy combats. Several veterans reported chronic problems of concentration. Ongoing sleep disturbances and nightmares were also common. Some veterans reported still suffering from flashbacks and distress caused by situations that recall the battle.

Effects on Countries:
Japan: Japan also was in ruins from extensive bombing. Japan was temporarily placed under U.S. military rule. After World War IIhad ended, Japan was devastated. All the large cities, the industries and the transportation networks were severely damaged. A severe shortage of food continued for several years. The remains of Japan's war machine were destroyed, and war crime trials were held. Over 500 military officers committed suicide right after Japan surrendered, and many hundreds more were executed for committing war crimes.
Russia: People had suffered immeasurably during the war, and western Russia was devastated by the war which was primarily on Russian territory. However, when the Russians defeating the Germans, the Russians had built a large and powerful army, which occupied most of Eastern Europe at the end of the war. The Russian military industry, that was already enormous, switched, in January 1939!, to an extreme wartime regime, and produced vast quantities of tanks, aircraft, and particularly vast stockpiles of ammunition, so much that there was a separate government minister for ammunition production beside the minister of military industry. Work hours increased. In June 1940 the entire country switched to seven days of work per week, then work hours increased too, initially to 10 hours per day, then to 12 hours per day, and since mid 1940 the penalty for any failure to provide the requested quotas or product quality, or even just being late for work, was years in prison.

United States: The United States was affected nearly as much by WWII as Europe, but it did suffer. Many people died in Pearl Harbor. The United States also lost Franklin Roosevelt from a major stroke near the end of the war. The war also affected United States positively it was one of the reasons the Great Depression ended. World War Two gave jobs to thousands, if not millions, of people in the U.S. Soldiers were paid and some sent money home, men too old to be in the army replaced the men that were at war, and women worked in factories to build airplanes, ships, tanks, etc.

Monday, November 23, 2009

What I learned


What I learned by Watching the Video's

· The civil war was fought in 10000 places

· More than 3 million Americans fought in it

· 3% percent of the population died in it

· 1000 men died in cold harbor

· The war made some rich and ruined others.

· Ulysses S. Grant was a general then he became President of United States

· Lincoln rised to be the greatest President.

· The last veteran of civil war which was a confederate 1959.

· The civil war opened Americans to become good or bad.

· Women were also second class citizens.

· Ralph Waldo Emerson was right in predicting that the Mexican Cession would reignite the explosive issue of slavery

· Abolitionists such as Harriet Tubman wanted to prohibit slavery in Washington, and Southerners demanded a more effective fugitive slave law.

· Most slaves led harsh and brutal lives. They were frequently whipped and sometimes branded or mutilated.

· The only significant slave rebellion during the antebellum period was Nat Turner’s Rebellion. A literate slave, Turner believed that it was his divine mission to “slay my enemies with their own weapons.” In 1831, he led about 30 slaves on a murderous rampage through tidewater Virginia, killing close to 60 men, women, and children.

· Because of this disaster government stopped education of slaves.

· Some fugitive slaves were aided by the Underground Railroad once they reached the free states. The railroad was a loosely organized group of abolitionist conductors” who operated safe-house stations in northern states and transported their passengers to freedom in Canada, beyond the reach of slave catchers. Harriett Tubman, was the most famous Underground Railroad conductor. She escaped from Maryland in 1849, and risked her freedom by returning from Canada 19 times to rescue some 300 slaves—including her parents.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Northern vs. Southern Advantages




Vs



Northern Advantages :
· The Northerners have a higher population than the Southerners

· Their Railroad Mileage is much longer

· The number of factories in the North was much more important than the number of factories in the South

· Union troops always had more weapons and armor then the South.

· Movement of troops was much easier in the North because if the Railroad.

· Since there were many factories in the North, the Union was able to produce more ammunition, guns, shoes, and other items needed for the army.

· The North economy was well balanced between farming industry, and the North had far more money in its banks than the South.

· The North had a functioning government and a small army and navy.

· Since the population was higher in the North, then the army was more outnumbered.

Southern Advantages:
· Seven of the eight military colleges were in the South, thus the majority of the nation’s trained officers were in the South and sided with confederacy.

· Because the South was defending its borders, its army needed only to repel Northern advances rather than initiate military action.

· Many Southerners were eager to fight, considering the war a struggle for their way of life.

· The Southerners believed they had rights of self government.

· Well the Confederates (South) had Farming and Agriculture.

· Also the South had slaves to work on those Farms. There was also an agreement that slaves in the southern states could become soldiers and after the war was over they would be free.

· The Southerners were at the defensive which meant that they fought in their homeland and own soil they were intimately familiar with the territory while the Northerners had to rely on maps.

Monday, November 16, 2009

The Abolitionist of Slavery


The Abolisitionists of a Race

Frederick Douglass : Frederick Douglass was a black abolitionist leader that fought against slavery. Frederick fought indirectly to stop slavery; he Frederick Douglas started his own newspaper called the North Star and it was based on freedom for slaves. Abraham Lincoln recognized Frederick Douglas and invited him to the White House to talk to him about slavery. Frederick urged President Lincoln to use Negro soldiers in the Army of the North in the Civil War Frederick Douglass continued to travel around the country giving speeches to bigger and bigger crowds. His speeches were about how he was a slave and what it was like for him growing up. He tried to convince his listeners to fight against the slavery. His fame increased and he continued to publish his paper. He did not stop publishing until the Emancipation Proclamation was issued.Frederick Douglass died in 1895. He was important in black history because he helped end slavery. It was his brave fight for the freedom of slaves that he will be remembered for. Frederick was born a slave and ended up helping end slavery through his speeches and leadership.

Harriet Tubman:
Harriet Tubman helped many slaves escape from slavery. Since childhood Harriet played an active role in the fight against slavery. She was part of the Underground Railroad. She brought over 300 slaves to freedom, along the Underground Railroad a network of antislavery activists who helped slaves escape from the South. Over a period of ten years Tubman made 19 expeditions into the South and freed about 300 slaves to the North. Harriet got hit by weight of 21 lb because and had a blackout because she wanted to save another slave and help him go away.


William Lloyd Garrison
William Lloyd Garrison was an abolitionist that fought for slavery. He became co-editor of Lundy's newspaper. One article, where Garrison's criticized a merchant involved in the slave-trade, resulted in him being imprisoned. Back from prison we created his own newspaper, the Liberator he argued about freedom of slaves, the newspaper only had a circulation of 3,000 but Garrison gained a national reputation as the leader of those favoring immediate emancipation. He even burned a part of the Constitution on slaves. During the civil war Garrison joined Abraham Lincoln to fight for the freedom of slaves.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Events That Lead to Civil War



Events of Civil War
There were many factors that lead to the Civil War. After my reading, I understood that the Civil War had to happen, there were too many conflicts arousing between the North and South and these conflicts lead to it.

California Gold Rush: When California was accepted as a free state, the balance between slave and Free State changed there were more free states, thus the senate southerners became outraged since the northerners became more outnumbered than them. This is why Henry Clay came up with the Compromise of 1850. Where California was admitted as a state, Utah became a territory and the boundaries of Texas became smaller.


Kansas-Nebraska Act: When Stephen Douglas called for the creation of two new territories, Kansas and Nebraska, slave state Kansas and Free State Nebraska. Stephen believed in popular sovereignty and pushed to let residents decide whether or not they would permit slavery. Stephen Douglas was sure that the Southerners would support his plan but the Northerners were against this plan.
Bleeding Kansas: Under the Kansas Nebraska act, voters in Kansas would decide whether they wanted to become a slave state or not. Antislavery Northerners sent Englanders known as the free-soilers, they went to Kansas and destroyed stores, killed people and this was known as the Bleeding Kansas.

When Lincoln was elected President, the Southerners were outraged that they were not able to vote. The Southerners then decided to create their own nation and remove themselves from the United States of America. The new nation they made was called the Confederate States of America. Lincoln believed succession was wrong as well as slavery, but if he stopped it he would cause the Civil War.

Slavery was one of the main causes of civil war; however all of these events, united made it happen. If one of these events was not produced the civil war would probably been avoided. It all started with the admission of California when the senate was not sure to except California as a slave or free state; the Northerners wanted it to be free and southerners wanted it to be slave this is when the South North conflict arose, moreover the Kansas and Nebraska act caused even more conflict among the two parts it caused a bleeding battle, finally the secession was the drop that overwhelmed the glass the southerners went and made their separate territory and then the real war started.