Good or Bad Intentions?

The essential question for this lesson is did the government have good intentions when enacting policies for westward expansion and in what ways did these policies impact the natives and buffalo soldiers. To start off this lesson we watched a series of ABC-CLIO videos as a class to get an overview of the subject. During the video we took notes in a google doc shared amongst the class. We divided into 4 groups and 1 group took notes on main ideas, one took notes on key people, one took notes on important events, and one group took notes on essential terms. Following the ABC-CLIO videos, we watched a PBS video about Buffalo Soldiers Society and continued taking notes on the same categories. Within our little groups we analyzed a couple of documents to expand our knowledge on Buffalo Soldiers and Native Americans. The first document we looked is the ABC-CLIO Federal Native American Policies Visual. This visual talked in details about events from 1830-1890 about American Indians, Buffalo Soldiers, and Westward Bound Whites. Next, we analyzed the document Helen Hunt Jackson: A Century of Dishonor 1881. Helen Hunt published A Century of Dishonor in 1881 and it mobilized public opinion for reform of U.S. Indian policy in the late 19th century. After that we analyzed excerpts from Dawes Act 1887. The 1887 Dawes Act which is also known as the General Allotment Act, is regarded as the most significant piece of federal legislation related to the land rights of Native Americans. Lastly, we came up with 40 exam questions relating to Buffalo Soldiers and Native Americans and began our blog posts.

The first policy that the government enacted was the United States Colored Troops. These troops were mainly known as Buffalo Soldiers. The Buffalo soldiers were African American soldiers who were in Union Army cavalry and stayed in the military as career soldiers. Buffalo Soldiers were mistreated and discriminated against during this time.

Here is a picture of Buffalo Soldiers
 from the PBS video we watched. 

According to the ABC-CLIO Federal Native American policies visual, the soldiers were involved in at least 117 of 138 campaigns fought against the Indians on the Western frontier.The soldiers were sent to fight in battles that no other troops would want to fight and were given the old and worn out uniforms, weapons, and horses that the other regiments did not want. I believe that the government had good intentions when creating the troops. Many African Americans stayed in the army after the Civil War ended because really the only other option they had for work was sharecropping. Compared to sharecropping, staying in the military meant having a steady job, having clothing, and having food. The government was trying to give African Americans who fought in the war a chance to do something other than sharecropping. The government’s intention when assembling the Buffalo Soldiers was to provide African American soldiers another form of work after the Civil War but assembling them did not really benefit the African Americans but rather the government and the soldiers who would have had to fight the battles the Buffalo soldiers did.

The next policy the government enacted was the Second Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868. This treaty promised Indians possession of the Dakota Territory west of the Missouri River if they promised to stop fighting. I think the government also had good intentions when enacting this policy because they were trying to keep the Indians safe and tried to stop the fighting. This treaty forced many Native Americans off of the land that they were living on and onto unfamiliar land. When many refused to move the government ordered all Indians to return to designated reservations or be considered hostile. A lot of the Indians rejected the order and confrontation took place at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.  

Following the Battle of Little Bighorn, the Dawes Act of 1887 was enacted by the government. According to excerpts from the Dawes Act of 1887, it was “an act that provided for the allotment of lands in severalty to Indians on the various reservations, and to extend the protection of the laws of the United States and the Territories over the Indians, and for other purposes.” Basically, the act authorized the government to set aside and divide up land to Native Americans. The land the Native Americans were provided with was not good for farming, it had been more migratory, and many of the Native American’s traditions began to fall apart. The land they were being moved on was unfamiliar to them and they wanted to stay on the land that they had been living on for their whole lives. A number of reformers believed the Indians needed assimilation. They created the Carlisle School which was where Native Americans were “Americanized”. A quote that they went by was, “Kill the Indian in him, Save the Man.” I think the government thought they would be helping the Natives by dividing up the land and giving individuals their own. But the Natives lived closely as communities and shared with one another so this did not benefit them.

In my opinion, when enacting many of their policies, the government had good intentions and truly believed that they were benefiting the Native Americans as well as the Buffalo Soldiers even though they did not.

Robber Barons VS Captains of Industry

The essential question for this lesson was, should Andrew Carnegie and John D Rockefeller be classified as robber barons or captains of industry. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Andrew Carnegie dominated the steel industry while John D. Rockefeller controlled oil. Many argue that these men are both captains of industry and robber barons. A robber baron is a ruthlessly powerful industrialist that only became wealthy by exploiting natural resources, corrupting legislators, or other unethical means. A captain of industry, the opposite of a robber baron, is a business leader who accumulated a personal fortune that contributes positively to the country in someway and drove the Industrial change that swept the nation allowing the U.S. to emerge as a world power.

To start off this lesson we watched 6 mini videos as a class. We divided the class into 4 groups and each group had to take notes of 4 different categories. One group was assigned main ideas, one group was assigned key people, one group was assigned important events, and one group was assigned essential terms. My group was assigned main ideas. We created a google docs and contributed our notes into it. After finishing the videos, we analyzed Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller's biographies. As a class, we then came up with an essential question for the lesson that we could then write a blog post about.

I believe Rockefeller shows traits of both a robber baron and a captain of industry and should not be categorized as just one. John D. Rockefeller helped to create the American petroleum industry and is known as one of the greatest business leaders in American history. In John D. Rockefeller’s biography it is shown that he could be a robber baron when it says that his ruthless and cutthroat business practices brought him tremendous wealth. Some cutthroat practices included selling oil at a loss and then after the competitor collapsed driving the prices up and also bribing politicians. The public was convinced that everything he did was motivated by greed. Rockefeller grew the Standard Oil Company by keeping production costs down, obtaining favorable rates from the railroads in the form of rebates, engaging in occasional price slashing, and buying out competitors. In addition, many thought that Rockefeller and his associates used illegal tactics and immoral business practices. On the other hand, he could be seen as a captain of industry. Rockefeller gave away more than $500 million. His biography states, “He gave money to Spelman College in Georgia to educate African-American women and funded the University of Chicago (ultimately giving it $80 million).” The cartoon below shows the Standard Oil company as an octopus crushing its competitors including the steel, copper, and shipping industries, as well as a state house, the U.S. Capitol, and the White House.

I also believe Andrew Carnegie shows traits of both a robber baron and a captain of industry and should not be categorized as just one. Andrew Carnegie gained virtual control of the U.S. steel industry and became one of the richest men in the world.

Carnegie invested the vast majority of his fortune in the steel production in 1873. Carnegie’s reputation was damaged by the Homestead strike. His biography mentions, “The strike, which began on June 29th, 1892, revealed Carnegie’s plans to destroy the iron and steel workers’ union, and the event raised a public outcry.” Even though he damaged his reputation, he did many things that benefited the public which could help classify him as a captain of industry. He made about $350 million. It is said in his biography, “This money provided for thousands of public libraries and church organs and helped advance both higher and education and the cause of peace.” Just like Rockefeller, they both gave a lot of their profit to help others. In addition, he helped establish a number of schools, helped establish the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in 1910, and gave money for the construction of three temples.

Freedom from Below or Above?

The essential questions for this lesson are, "who gave freedom to enslaved Americans? Did freedom come from above or below? To what extent were Abraham Lincoln's actions influenced by the actions of enslaved Americans". For the activator for this lesson we analyzed a print called Freedom to the slaves.

Our task was to put the image into our notes and add speech bubbles for President Lincoln and the adult African Americans. We had to fill in the speech bubbles with words or phrases that they would potentially say in the scene. After the activator, we discussed what freedom from above and freedom from below meant. Freedom from above means that the people at the top of the social pyramid help the people at the bottom of the social pyramid gain freedom and freedom from below means that the people at the bottom of the pyramid are helping themselves and each other gain the freedom. We also went over a couple examples like Harriet Jacobs. Harriet Jacobs got her freedom from below because she had to help herself and suffered greatly trying to gain her freedom. Next, we did a document assignment. We divided into four groups and each group was assigned one of the four documents. The four documents included the Open Letter to Horace Greeley 1862, the Emancipation Proclamation 1863, the Gettysburg Address 1863, and the 2nd Inaugural Address. My group was assigned the 2nd Inaugural Address. Once we read the document we had to choose the best quote to represent the Goal of the War, a quote to represent the Position on Freeing the Slaves, and a quote that showed evidence of President Lincoln's Personal Feelings on Slavery. When all of the groups finished the activity we then shared our quotes with the rest of the class and took notes on the quotes that the other groups chose. After some of the groups shared we watched a couple of clips and videos elaborating on the topic of the document. For example after the group with the Emancipation Proclamation shared, we watched a video which discussed the international impact that the Emancipation Proclamation had which was the Confederacy would not get foreign aid because the European governments already abolished slavery so they couldn't support something they had banned.  Next, we analyzed primary source documents X and Y. One half of the class analyzed document X and the other half analyzed document Y and then we compared answers. For the document we had to figure out what was going on in the source, who was taking action and why, and does the document prove freedom from above or freedom from below. Document X is a letter talking about how the fugitive slaves from surrounding plantations were going into the cities that the Union took over. This primary source proves freedom from below because the slaves are taking action and forcing the people towards the top of the social pyramid to acknowledge them.  The slaves are taking action by moving themselves into the city and staying in the homes and using the stuff from the city. Document Y is an image of the slaves leaving their plantations to go into Chickasaw City and follow around the Union army troops. This also proves freedom from below because it shows how the slaves are helping themselves by taking action and leaving their plantations and getting the troops attention. Lastly, we compared two images. The first one was the one that we analyzed in the activator. It is an image that shows the slaves thanking President Lincoln for freeing them, so this picture presents freedom from above. The other picture that we looked at was an image of slaves thanking god for giving them the strength and the hope to free themselves. This picture represents freedom from below.

Freedom from below, in my opinion, played a huge factor in the freeing of slaves.  Document X and Y both proved freedom from below because like I mentioned before the slaves were the ones who went into the cities and forced the Union troops to acknowledge their existence. Also, the Lincoln Documents help prove freedom from below. The Open Letter to Horace Greeley says, “My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union and is not either to save or to destroy slavery.” It is basically saying that the goal of the war is not at all about slavery but just about saving the Union. This evidence supports that freedom came from below because the government was not at all focused on the problems with slavery at the time yet the slaves somehow got their attention anyways. I think that Abraham Lincoln's actions were influenced more by the status of the war than by the actions of enslaved Americans. For example, in the planning of the Emancipation Proclamation Lincoln waited until a victory from the Union to announce the proclamation because he did not want it to look desperate if he was doing it when they were losing the war. This action clearly was not influenced by the slaves but more the war itself.

Civil War Battle Scavenger Hunt

The essential question for this lesson is, who was the ultimate victor in each of the theaters of war- East, West, and Naval and what are some commonalities you can identify in the reasons for the results of the battle. To start off this lesson each person was given a battle description. I had to figure out what battle I had and had to research it once I figured it out. Once I researched my battle I had to create a Google Docs including the Battle name, location, date of the event, the victor, theater (East, West, or Naval), an image, and at least two bullets explaining the reasons for the results. Then, I created a QR sign that linked straight to my Google Docs that provided the information on my battle and decided where I was going to hang my sign. Each of the battles was given a number so that when the QR signs were posted around the school you could go in numerical order. Once the QR sign was done you had to ask the person who had the battle after yours where they were putting their sign so that you could add to your Google Docs the directions to the next location on the scavenger hunt. When all of the groups were ready we each took our QR signs and brought them to our designated locations. From there we went on to complete the scavenger hunt! We were only supposed to stay at each stop for about 5 minutes and record all of the same information that we put onto our Google Docs. Finally, we used Padlet to collaborate on the answers to the essential questions. Overall I really enjoyed this activity because it was hands on and a very fun way to learn a lot about the Civil War Battles.

My QR sign

                I got battle number 12 and it came with this description, “This battle took place between July 1 & 3, 1863. The Union leader was George Meade and the Confederate leader was Robert E Lee. This battle is widely considered the turning point of the war.” I then created my Google Docs including all of the necessary information.  Next, I created my QR sign and decided to put my sign outside of my homeroom teacher’s classroom.   I posted my sign outside of her room and moved onto number 13 and then went on to finish the hunt.  After the scavenger hunt was completed, as a class we used Padlet to collaborate on the answers to the essential questions. The Padlet was divided into 3 column-like-sections Western Theater, Eastern Theater, and Naval Theater.

Created with Padlet

Everyone in the class had to post (at least twice) onto the Padlet and answer who was the ultimate ‘victor’ in each of the theaters and what some of the commonalities we could identify in the reasons for the results of the battles. The Union was overall the ultimate victor in the Western Theater during the war. The commonality I identified in the reasons for the result of the battles was the Union greatly outnumbered the Confederacy which allowed them to win battles. The Confederacy was the overall victor in the Eastern Theater. The commonalities I identified were that they had powerful attacks and suffered fewer casualties. The ultimate victor in the Naval Theater was the Union and the commonalities I identified were that they were very strategic and had a stronger naval fleet.

Election of 1860

The essential question for the lesson the Election of 1860 is: Were the results of the election of 1860 representative of the deep divisions over slavery. To start off this lesson, we watched a Crash Course video. This video helped to show how the slavery caused divisions for some events. Events like the Fugitive slave law and the Dred Scott vs Sanford case. After watching the video, we took a look at the Election of 1860 results map. Lincoln is represented in red and was against slavery and felt it should be contained. Shown in dark blue, Douglas believed that the expansion of slavery should be determined using popular sovereignty. Bell wanted to preserve the constitution and the Union as it was and he is represented by pink. The light blue represents Breckenridge who believed there should be no limits on slavery. Here is the map:

The main activity for this lesson was to create a video that explained the essential question and the events surrounding the Election of 1860. Our video had to include the 5 images that were found on the Civil War in Art website and an additional 3 images that help support the story. To begin my partner and I read the information provided on the Civil War in Art website and took notes on the 5 images. After completing that research, we found 3 additional images. We chose to use an image to represent the Dred Scott case, one to represent Jefferson Davis, and one to show the attack on Fort Sumter. We also took notes on each image. Before starting our video we wrote out a script. For each slide we would record a little blurb about that event to help tell the story. We used Educreations to create our video. Here is our video:

Citations: 
~Dred Scott Decision Image- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dred_Scott_v._Sandford 
~Jefferson Davis Image- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Davis 
~Attack on Fort Sumter image- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Battle_of_Fort_Sumter 
~Other images- http://www.civilwarinart.org/exhibits/show/causes/introduction/the- election-of-1860-and-seces

North vs South

My Infograpic

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH AND THEIR EFFECT ON SUCCESS IN THE CIVIL WAR | Create infographics

I created an infographic to display the information I learned throughout this lesson. An infographic is a visual image such as a chart or diagram used to represent information or data. To create my infographic I used the tool Infogram. The point of this infographic is to answer the essential question. The essential question is: how did the differences between the North and the South affect each region’s strategy and success in the Civil War. Within in my infographic, I mentioned the advantages of the North and the advantages of the South and how they affected the outcome of the Civil War. First, I used a doughnut graph to represent the resources percentages in 1861. I made 5 different graphs one representing industrial workers, one representing the Value of Manufactured Goods, one representing Railroad Mileage, one representing Corn, and one representing Cotton. The North dominated and had advantages in all of these aspects except the Cotton one. Cotton was how the South made a lot of their money. Following my graphs, I represented the total population in the North and the South using a pictorial. This just shows that 73% of the total population lived in the North and 27% lived in the South. Due to the high population percentage in the North, the Union had enough men to go fight in the war and enough to stay back and work on farms and in factories. After that I used another pictorial to display the slave population. This showed that 88% of slaves were located in the South and 12% were located in the North. The high slave population in the South was what fueled the economy. The 2 pictorials were followed by the North Advantages and the South Advantages. At the bottom of my infographic, I created a word cloud for both the North and the South. A word cloud is an image composed of words used in a particular text or subject, in which the size of each word indicates its frequency or importance. I used the words that were the most important and the most relevant for the North and the South. 

The Elephant in the Room

The essential question for this lesson is “how do we know the debate over slavery was the elephant in the room for American politics in the early 19^th century”. The elephant in the room is an idiom that is talking about an obvious topic that is either being ignored or going unaddressed. It is clear that slavery was the elephant in the room during the early 19^th century because all of these events took place after 1850. Slavery was such an obvious issue that should have been dealt with earlier than it actually was. Throughout this lesson, we learned about the Missouri Compromise, Compromise of 1850, the Gadsden Purchase, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Bleeding Kansas, the Caning of Charles Sumner, and about Dred Scott decision, Lincoln- Douglas Debates, and John Brown’s Raid.  We read articles and looked up information on all of these events and then record them into our Evernote. We then transferred what we learned onto the timeline we created within our smaller groups. After adding the events onto the timeline we had to place the ones that benefited anti-slavery on top of the timeline and the events that benefited pro-slavery on the bottom of the timeline. Here is my group’s Timeline:

One of the events we learned about was the Gadsden Purchase. After winning the Mexican War, the U.S. negotiated and paid $15 million for all of Nevada, California, Utah, and much of Arizona and New Mexico in the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.  Only 5 years later the U.S. then purchased a much smaller strip of land known as the Gadsden Purchase for $10 million. The U.S. planned to use this land to provide a route for the southern transcontinental railroad because it is flat and is easy to lay railroads on. This event was put below the line because it is pro slavery. The railroad could be used to transport other pro slavery people from the south to settle in these territories who will vote for the territories to be slave states. Another event we learned about was the Compromise of 1850. There were 5 parts to the compromise. In 1850, California requested to join the Union as a free state. Henry Clay anticipated the inevitable controversy of the loss of balance between slave and free states. So he proposed a 5-part compromise called the Compromise of 1850. The first part of the compromise was that Texas would give up some land but would be given 10 million dollars to use to pay off its debts to Mexico. This part of the compromise was placed below the line because it is pro-slavery. It created distinct boundaries for a very large slave state. The second part of the compromise was that New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah would be organized without mention of slavery. When they apply for statehood the population got to vote on the slave status. This was also placed under the line because it benefited pro slavery advocates. This benefited them because they could transport pro slavery people into the states to vote for the states to become slave states. The third part of the compromise was slave trade would be abolished in the District of Columbia although slavery would still be allowed. This was placed above the line because it benefited anti-slavery advocates. The fourth part of the compromise was that California would be admitted as a free state. This would obviously be placed above the line because it benefited anti-slavery advocates. The last part of the compromise was the Fugitive Slave Act which stated that all citizens were required to assist in the recovery of runaway slaves. If you knew of a fugitive slave living free you had to report them.  This was placed under the line because it helped pro slavery advocates capture runaway slaves. Also, we learned about the Kansas- Nebraska Act in 1854. Stephan Douglas, senator of Illinois, thought that a northern railroad route would be beneficial. This act benefited both pro slavery and anti-slavery. It would help anti-slavery people because the railroad started in Chicago and would boost its economy and would make it possible to transport Anti-slavery people into states were the population voted for the slave status. This act also helped the pro slavery people because it violated the Missouri Compromise and would make it possible for slavery to extend north of the line.