Advocates for equality

                                                       Influential Black People 

     During the early nineteen hundreds, the push for African American rights was at an all time high.  As the Civil War ended, all seemed well and good for the United States' black community as the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were instituted. These amendments, often called the reconstruction amendments, abolished slavery, guaranteed African American citizenship and also allowed African Americans the right to vote. However, the Jim Crow laws prohibited blacks from fully engaging in any of these amendments. Laws like the grandfather clause, the Poll tax, literacy tests, and intimidation along with fear contributed towards the restriction of black rights. Two of the most important people to advocated for black and white equality were Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois. 

     Although W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington both advocated for equality, they had very different approaches towards the subject. W.E.B. Advocated for Immediate equality and was very respected in the back community. Booker T. Washington was far more popular with the white community for his mentality that black people should earn their equality. He believed that if  black people acquired better jobs, their situation would get better over time because they would receive more respect. For his beliefs, he was given the name "Uncle Tom" from the book Uncle Toms cabin. This mean he was a negro that obeyed whatever the white man said. 

     Although both these activists had great major differences, they both wanted to break the chains of black oppression. Even though they approached the situation differently, advances were certainly made. W.E.B. spoke for equality and made advances in his creation of the NAACP. Booker T. Made progress through the Atlanta Compromise. If these men didn't exist, African Americans may have never received the rights they truly deserved.    

Booker T. Washington 

W.E.B. DuBois 

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/race/etc/road.html is an excellent resource for more information. 

Cuban affair

                                                             The Cuban Affair

        As America grew from the cub to the lion, it seemed that nothing could stand in its way. The United States could flex its military's muscle and send countries running. With no fear of a frontier, American expansionism had room to flourish. With the inalienable rights at heart, America stood as the all powerful justice and prosecutor for those who chose to oppress others. At the time Cuba, a colony of Spain, was in great need of freedom from its mother country. The United States saw this as a great opportunity to help those who needed it. While the sheer fact that Cubans were being denied inalienable rights was important, the actual trigger that set off the U.S. Invasion of Cuba was the explosion of the war ship Maine.

       The Maine, on a non aggressive visit, was anchored off the coast of Havana. On February 15, 1898, to the shock of thousands, the Maine erupted into flames. The lives of 258 American men were taken on that tragic day. When news reached the American press, scapegoats were instituted. Among the most famous perhaps was the allegation towards the Spaniards, claiming that they had intentionally ordered the Maine to dock over an old naval mine. According to the New York Journal, "Wires connected the mines with a… magazine, and it is thought the explosion was caused by sending an electric current through the wire". Even the Assistant Secretary of the Navy ,Theodore Roosevelt, claimed that this was an act of sabotage on behalf the the Spanish loyalists. In actuality, evidence later showed that the explosion actually took place from within the Maine. Capt. Schuley, a respected naval captain, stated in the New New York Times that "He had found that with frequent and very careful inspection fire would sometimes be generated in the coal bunkers, and he told of such a fire on board of the New York close to the magazine, and so hot that the heat had blistered the steel partition between the fire and the ammunition before the bunkers and magazine were flooded". When the press used stories that fingered the Spaniards as the culprits, they were actually using a technique called yellow journalism. This type of journalism would only show one theory or side of a story that completely left out evidence, facts and motives. Yellow journalism played the emotional strings on many naive American hearts; thus proving it's crucial role in the decision to invade Cuba.

   

         The millions of Americans who read and supported the theories that the Spanish were involved in the destruction of the Maine played a vital part in the decision to invade as well. The American people believed the sailors should be avenged. Patriotism was certainly evident in those who advocated to invade Cuba. Marie Elizabeth Lamb certainly felt the urge to share her nationalism and patriotism in the form of a poem called "Awake United States!". In Marie's poem, she begs for her fellow Americans to retaliate by stating, "Comrades will you go? Avenge the cruel blow!". With nationalistic works like Marie's and yellow journalism, there should be no wondering why the American people began to despise the Spanish. It was only a matter of time before the U.S. government heard the peoples cry for retaliation. 

          

         President Mckinley heard his people loud and clear. McKinley had these statements to share, ". . . The destruction of that noble vessel has filled the national heart with inexpressible horror. . . ." and ". . . [T]he destruction of the Maine, by whatever exterior cause, is a patent and impressive proof of a state of things in Cuba that is intolerable . . . .". These statements came directly from his war invoking message to Congress. This message relied on the principles of the Monroe doctrine. The Monroe doctrine stated that no European force could peruse in any aggressive affairs inside the Western Hemisphere. President McKinley was feeling the first hand effects of nationalism. Soon after this message of war, war was declared on the Spanish and the invasion of Cuba began. 

         Although there may have been a multitude of reasons why the U.S. Invaded Cuba, the most prominent reason was due to the explosion of the Maine. Yellow press played an important role when it pointed towards the Spanish as the main culprit. Even if the explosion was an accident, propaganda fueled nationalism encouraged the United States masses to call for war. Without the strong advocation on behalf of President McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt, Cuba may have never been liberated from Spain. 

           

         I believe that if the Maine didn't explode, the Spanish American War would not have occurred. The Spanish would have continued to thrive on the colonies they possessed, for example Cuba, the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico. With this prolonged rule, the people of these colonies would have suffered unfathomable hardships. Meanwhile, the Spanish would be racking in fortunes and valuable resources. I could imagine many rebellions being formed to throw off the oppressive reigns of the Spanish. However, with little to no resources, the likelihood of an effect rebellion would have been futile. If the lives of those 258 sailors hadn't been taken, the lives of many more innocent people would have been taken by the oppressive Spanish. 

Check out this awesome YouTube video dedicated to the Maine! http://youtu.be/FU--Ed_dggc

The information gathered from the quotes above came from the sources given to us by Mr. Thomas, on his schoology page.  

Popular Sovereignty Deadly Effects

In the year 1854, the United States was in a very tense state. The U.S., Europe and many other areas of the world were dealing with the issue of slavery. Because slavery was such a controversial topic, many countries had a hard time dealing with its legality. In the U.S. Feuds over slavery had divided the country and found its way into heated arguments inside politics. The seemingly everlasting battle between the southern settlers, who supported slavery, and the northern settlers, who opposed slavery, had reached a new level of dangerous. The south did not want to abolish their most sufficient work force. Northern business owners bought cotton from the south for industrial reasons and relied on payed workers instead of slaves. The north demanded the swift end to all slavery. Politicians were scrambling to influence territories, that were close to statehood, to either declare themselves as free states or slave states. If one side gained control over  states decision, then they would gain more control in congress. The Nebraska territory saw a lot of undesired violence when a proposal by Senator Douglas was made to aid in the decision of becoming a free or slave state. He decided that the most democratic solution would be to allow white settlers who lived in the territory to vote on the topic, this is called popular sovereignty. Popular sovereignty lead to the horrific events of Bleeding Kansas.

In 1854, Douglas compiled a bill that would set up a government in the Nebraska Territory. The region would be organized according to the idea of popular sovereignty. The people of the territory themselves would democratically choose whether to allow slavery or abolish it when they applied for statehood. In theory this would have been an excellent idea, however, Douglas did not factor in the mentally of some settlers. Kansas attracted settlers from the north and south, both with their own political motives at heart. The apposing groups wanted to outnumber the other, so that when it came time to vote, the bigger group could control the government. In no time at all, a proslavery town and an antislavery town were established. Both towns competed to petition for statehood and submitted their own constitutions. With both towns trying to claim their statehood, following the principle of popular sovereignty, tensions rose. This battle for control lead to devastating violence in the Kansas territory.

With both groups at each others necks, it's no surprise that a wave of violence occurred. A group of Border Ruffians, proslavery supporters, decided to raid the antislavery town of Lawrence. They broke into houses, burned down buildings, and most importantly destroyed the presses of The Kansas Free State newspaper. An Immediate counter attack came from John Brown, an abolitionist who found
comfort in fighting slavery head on. He gathered his sons and a few friends to carry out a midnight execution of five proslavery settlers near Pottawatomie Creek. An exchange of violence continued to occur for several years. This conflict adopted the name Bleeding Kansas. Bleeding Kansas was only a short term effect of the institution of popular sovereignty, the long term effect was the Civil War.

Slavery not only lingered in the minds of normal American citizens, it also lingered in the conversations and arguments inside of Congress. The topic of slavery inside of Congress created a lot of unneeded tension between the Northern and Southern politicians. Their was such passion in each sides debates over the topic that some times the disagreements turned into verbal and in one instance physical violence. Members of Congress started to come to work with pistols, canes and swords. The very people we put in charge to create a peaceful and protected union could not even work together.
The worst case of violence in congress was between Charles Sumner and Preston Brooks. Senator Sumner was giving a speech about the atrocities occurring in the crisis of Bleeding Kansas. As a northerner himself, he could not help but call out slavery as evil and specifically target on man, Senator Andrew Butler. Senator Butler was a southerner and was not present the day of Sumner's speech. However, Senator Preston Brooks, Butlers nephew, heard about the speech a few days later. In rage over the insults, he beat Senator Sumner unconscious with a cane while Congress was in
session. This only further shows how Bleeding Kansas and slavery truly did separate the citizens and the politicians at the time.

It didn't take people too long to figure out that the unfortunate killing and violence was a result of instituting the principle of popular sovereignty.

Fore more insight on this period of history, check out this amazing Video  and this website History Channel!

American Renaissance

Transcendentalism is a word that describes a relativity simple idea. All people have knowledge about themselves and the world around them.  This knowledge "transcends" and goes beyond what they can see, hear, taste, touch or feel. This knowledge came purely through intuition and imagination and not through logic or the senses. People started to trust themselves to be their own authority on what is right. This movement prompted the start of independent thinking. A Transcendentalist is a person who accepts these ideas not as religious beliefs but as a way of understanding life. This extremely popular new movement started the rebirth of  new poetry, painting and many other art forms. Nature was a very influencial piece in a lot of these new art works. 

This is a seminal landscape painting by Thomas Cole, founder of the Hudson River School. The painting depicts a romantic panorama of the Connecticut River Valley just after a thunderstorm. It has been interpreted as a conflict between wilderness and civilization. The left side if this portrait shows rough and untamed nature in its purest form. To the right, the land is displayed as cultivated and tamed by man. The message I receive from this painting is that man can and will tame all of natures rough beauty. 

Weapons used in the war of 1812

Weapons used in the war of 1812 were knives, swords, bayonets, pistols, muskets, rifles, cannons and crude bombs. The most commonly used weapons were muskets and rifles with bayonets. In fact, these were considered the weapons that won the battles between the two opposing armies (Britain and American). The reason for this is because most battles were fought by soldiers facing each other, separated by a wide distance. 

When it came to close combat fighting, the weapons used were bayonets witch were sharp stakes attached to the ends of rifles and muskets, Swords, knifes and pistols. Pistols however, were usually 

used by army officers and they were rarely used in close quarter fighting among soldiers. The muskets and rifles were credited for the winning of the war because in most situations fighting was in close combat. 

Cannons which were the artilleries weapons used in the war of 1812 were primarily used for the bombardment of buildings and perimeter defenses of string holds. These cannons were in no case labeled accurate for hitting their target and therefor were not depended upon to win any battles. 

There were several kinds of cannons used in the war. Some were designed for use on ships which was a specialty of the British naval forces. Cannons used on land were known as the earliest form of mortars that could carry cannon balls to far distances over the battlefield. Cannons that would be used for an attacking force were called artilleries.  These cannons had to be movable. They were mounted on wooden wheeled contraptions that could be carried to its location by horses. There were many different models and types of cannons used by the British and American forces durning this war.  The type of cannons would depend on the weight of the cannon ball that it could fire. 

Another weapon used in the war of 1812 was the crude bomb. This bomb was intended to explode above the enemy lines. When they explode junk hardware from inside the bomb (like nails and other hard items) are sent flying over the heads of the enemy. One of the many kinds of crude bombs was called the grapeshot.  This bomb contained many musket balls and clearly caused devastating destruction to the enemy if it actually did explode  over enemy lines. Most of these kinds of weapons used in the war of 1812 were undependable to function and therefor not relied on for winning battles. 

• listed below are pictures of the weapons described in the above passages