What it Means to be an American

May 24

Lately we've been talking a lot about rich people and how they became so rich, and the types of societies. We learned a lot about Andrew Carnegie and John Rockefeller. They became rich because they created a monopoly, which means their businesses soon became primarily the only business of their kind. It was smart of them to do this, but not fair to everyone else because they only had one choice as to where to purchase, in these cases, oil and steel.
Today we talked about the types of societies. Mr Boyle said that America is actually very socialist in some ways, but that Americans thought the healthcare Plan was socialist and therefore a threat to our capitalistic society. I personally don't understand what is so bad about being socialist, in my opinion it's probably better than being capitalist. In our capitalistic society, so many people and families are struggling to put food on the table, meanwhile a percent of Americans are rolling in money. I don't understand how this is fair at all. Most of the time, the poor actually work harder at their low-income jobs then the wealthy heirs do. A socialistic society would eliminate all injustice in that field, and I think that people would begin to pursue careers according to their true talents and interests, as opposed to becoming lawyers and doctors simply for the high income.

Wednesday May 4

Today we talked a lot about whether or not it is ever justifiable to go to war. There were many views in the class, some thought that no one should die no matter what they did, some thought it was natural to go to war as long as you didnt start it. Personally, I think that the only reason a country should go to war is to protect their own people against harm. I dont think wars should be fought over land, money, leadership, religion, etc-though, unfortunatly, that is how it is most of the time.
We talked about the Nez Perce tribe and how they tried to remain in their land even though the whites were attempting to force them out. The class was trying to decide whether or not the tribe should leave or defend their point of view. I dont even think we came to a conclusion. But, I think that because the white forces were significantly greater than the tribe's forces, it was in the best interest of the tribe to migrate to a reservation. I dont think it is worth the risk of harm to the tribe just to stand up for their beliefs.

Tuesday April 26th

Today we inspected a post-Civil War painting by Winslow Homer of a veteran in a field, cutting down the grass. Mr Boyle said that Homer originally painted the tool the man was using with a basket-like attachment on top, but painted over it. Homer left the man holding a grim reaper blade, which symbolizes that, while the man is an innocent man in a calm assuring painting, he was at one point a killer.
We listened to people from the Metropolitan Museum talk about the painting in depth. And, before I knew it, class was over.
It was kind of an off day because the chairs werent in their normal position. I have to say that I liked it much better the old way, it was easier to concentrate.

April Fools Day

I sort of expected Mr Boyle to do something April Fools related, but he didnt, not that I'm complaining. We learned about Lincoln's assassination, which actually was really bizarre. I always thought he was shot walking off a train, but it turns out he was shot by a famous actor while watching a play. I guess it was karma when Lincoln's murder actually made things worse for the South in the long run, as Reconstruction wasnt fully carried out. Booth probably didnt think through the lasting downsides of killing the President of the United States too much, which is no surprise because he obviously was a little stupid. By assassinating Lincoln, Booth got himself killed, and worsened the South's wellbeing.

Tuesday

I had to stay home sick today, and I think I might have missed a lot in history because we had to do the packet over the weekend. I hope I didnt miss too much work!

March 21st

Today we talked for the whole class about our end of the year project. We each have to make a 8-10 minute long documentary on what it means to be an American. I think that the project itself isn't hard, just time-consuming. But,thankfully we have a schedule and so we'll be forced to not procrastinate.

March 2nd

Today we wrote even more paragraphs about Lincoln, only this time they were about his promises to uphold the laws of the Union. But the big thing today was deciding which history class to take next year, and I'm happy with my placement. I think that learning about the same time period in history as we're studying in english will be helpful, and both will highlight the other to make each easier to understand.

March 1st

Today we wrote a few paragraphs about how Lincoln connected "liberty to all" to the overall goal of the Union. I think I learned alot from doing this because I had to explain to myself and put into words what I thought Lincoln was trying to convey. In my opinion, Lincoln was exactly right in saying that the Constitution and the Union were both formulated around the similar principle of "liberty to all." Liberty is a common theme of the United States, it is something that every citizen knows we are ensured with, and from that, we can all be confident that we'll be treated fairly.

February 16

Today we reviewed for the test tomorrow. There's so many terms that we need to know, it might just be me but there must be double what there normally is. I think I'll do well on the test tomorrow and I'm glad that we got time in class to review, because my other teachers don't do that sometimes.

Abraham Lincoln Post 1

Even though his speeches weren't the best, Abraham Lincoln tried really hard to get the support of Americans, because he wasn't popular with most people and he didn't even show up on some ballots in the South. According to the AbrahamLincolnBlog, lots of people hated Lincoln and there were even death threats against him, which is not a good way to start off a Presidency. I bet he wished that his speech-making skills were in better shape, because obviously poor talking skills didnt add to his credibility in the South.

February 8th

It's been hard to get back to blogging regularly with all the snow days and 4 day weeks, but I'm going to try extra hard to blog everyday from now on.
In history lately we've been learning about slavery, and all the issues that came with it. Such issues include disputes between free states and slave states, and violent abolitionists, like John Brown, who is a both a hero and a villain depending on which side of the country you ask.
I like learning about slavery because it is something we've grown up learning about, so it's not confusing at all. I think it's interesting how Southerners thought of slaves as property instead of humans, and even the Supreme Court tended to give rights to owners over the rights of humanity. The slaves must have felt so hopeless since even the national government of America, where "all men are created equal", thought of them as nothing more than a cotton picking machine.
Today in class we learned about John Brown, a devout anti-slavery activist who did everything in his power to end slavery. He prayed to God that he would end slavery in the United States, or die trying, which is what happened. I think he went about ending slavery in the stupidest way, he drew too much attention and thus, he was executed along with other activists. If I were John Brown, I would have thought the whole situation through a lot more, but maybe it's good that he drew so much attention. John Brown's Raid is considered the event that started the Civil War, one of the biggest events in US history. The Civil War ended slavery, so does that mean that, in theory, John Brown did end slavery in the long run? I believe so, and that's why I voted him as a hero who achieved his goal during our activity in class. I just dont see how he could be a villain when he was trying to help a surpressed group of people to freedom. Even though he killed some people in the process, the people he killed were the real villains for treating fellow humans so horribly.

January 10

Today we learned about the rights of women in the 19th century. I always had thought that women were treated well during that time period, but today I learned that there were basically no differences between women and slaves. Women had hardly any rights, they couldnt vote, werent entitled to their property and wages, and kids.
I read an essay on the Quaker society and I found out that Quaker women were treated very well, they had the same rights as men. Also, something I found interesting was that marriages were initiated from actual relationships, as opposed to just being married for the sake of being married.

January 6

Today we had a discussion about the Civil Disobedience essay we read last night, and Mr Boyle connected the idea of civil disobedience to our everyday lives. It's obviously a social thing, and the Transcendentalist philosophy finally made sense to me. First you go into nature to discover your true inner beliefs, then you stand up for your beliefs in everyday society. That is easier said than done, as Mr Boyle emphasized. But I think that I personally agree with the transcendentalist's point of view, that people should not blindly follow the "rules'' of society and organized religions, unless they fully understand what it is they are following.

Transcendentalism

Today we took notes for like 20 minutes, where we learned about transcendentalism. Then we got in groups and answered questions about nature and spirituality and transcendentalism.