Thursday, June 6, 2013

Works Cited For Documentary

Works Cited
"            Abolitionist Frederick Douglass; Persevere: His focus never wavered from his dream -- education, equality for all - Investors.com."         Business News - Financial News, Stock Market & Investing News - IBD - Investors.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 June 2013. <http://news.investors.com/management-leaders-in-success/091003-391584-abolitionist-frederick-douglass-persevere-his-focus-never-wavered-from-his-dream-education-equality-for-all.htm>.
"1776: Providence & Perseverance รข€” How George Washington Won the War - The American Vision." The American Vision - a Biblical Worldview Ministry. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 June 2013. <http://americanvision.org/6039/1776-providence-perseverance/>.
"George Washington from Valley Forge on the urgent need for men and supplies, 1777." The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 June 2013. <www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/war-for-independence/resources/george-washington-from-valley-forge-urgent-need-for-me>.
"If you Persevere, you shall Prosper: Character Analysis of Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird." If you Persevere, you shall Prosper. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 June 2013. <http://persevereandprosper.blogspot.com/2011/02/basic-character-analysis-of-atticus.html>.



MLA formatting by BibMe.org.

What Does it Mean to be an American?

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Perseverance

To persevere is to be steadfast in doing something despite how difficult it is to achieve success and Steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success and a state of glory. In the  of the revolutionary war Washington often had to fight to keep his army over one thousand members, while being hounded by a British army with tens of thousands of soldiers. Washingtons army lacked sufficient weapons. They lacked proper training. They lacked basic supplies. Disease plagued the soldiers frequently. Washington himself was even plagued by traitors and arrogant assisting generals who were trying to displace him. However, more than once in 1776 something happened that the continental army could only explain as “the hand of God” helping them along the way.Financial support from France and the Netherlands, and military support from the French army and navy, absolutely played a large part in the continental army victory. But in reality it was Washington and the army that won the war for American independence. The fate of the war and the revolution rested on the army. The Continental Army – not the Hudson River or the possession of New York or Philadelphia – they were the key to victory. And it was Washington who held the army together and gave it “spirit” through the most desperate of times. At several crucial moments he had shown marked indecisiveness. He had made serious mistakes in judgment. But experience had been his great teacher from boyhood, and in this his greatest test, he learned steadily from experience. Above all, Washington never forgot what was at stake and he never gave up. Again and again, in letters to Congress and to his officers, and in his general orders, he had called for perseverance – for “perseverence and spirit,” for “patience and perseverance,” for “unremitting courage and perseverance.” . . . Without Washington’s leadership and unrelenting perseverance, the revolution almost certainly would have failed. As Nathanael Green predicted as the war went on, “He will be the deliverer of his own country.” After ten days encamped at Valley Forge, Washington was communicating with New Hampshire legislature, talking about how deficient, and how exceedingly short they were of men. The commander in chief continued to express the urgent need for additional troops and supplies. Washington told the New Hampshire legislature to take action to recruit more men. The outcome of the war, he stressed, depended on it. The suffering of the soldiers at Valley Forge, and Washington’s desperate attempts to rally Congress and the states to help them, has become legend. This was the first large, prolonged winter that the Continental Army endured—nine thousand men lived at Valley Forge for six months. During that time, two thousand American soldiers died from cold, hunger, and disease. The troops who survived came out ready and disciplined, much more ready than the untrained men who had straggled into camp during the bitter December of 1777.

Frederick Douglass is an unforgettable figure in African American history. Similar to Rosa Parks, a train conductor told Frederick Douglass to give up his seat to a white passenger. This wasn't in the South where Douglass was once a slave. It was in Massachusetts where Douglass had already fought to be a  famous author. Instead of giving up his seat, Douglass gripped it as the conductor and others tried to pull him up. Years of persevering through manual labor had made him so strong, Douglass' grip ripped the seat out of the floor. That sums up Douglass' success: persistence. Douglass never gave up in fighting for his freedom, education and equality. Once he achieved his own freedom, he continued that fight for others. His grandson once said, "No matter what happened in his life, he was persistent, Once he locked on to something, he never gave up." He was born into a slave family. His early life revolved around immense amounts of brutality. He lived with his grandmother because his mother worked too much to care for him. Eventually, he was separated from his grandmother as they moved to different plantations. His master made him eat out of a trough with other slave children. He saw slaves being whipped and was himself whipped. Seeing that he was more successfun with a steady temper he remained witty towards his masters. This earned him a chance to be a houseboy in Baltimore. It was there young Douglass first heard one of his masters, Sophia Auld, reading from the Bible. He was fascinated by the words and the stories, so Douglass asked her to teach him how to read. She was glad to teach Douglass to read. But when her husband found out, he was furious because teaching a slave to read was illegal. These lessons had to stop. But Douglass persisted. He would find boys who went to school and dare them to tell him what came after T in the alphabet. The boys would make fun of him because he wasn't going to school, so he would turn that around to get information from them. When running errands for his masters, he'd find scraps of paper in the street to read. He swapped food with other children if they taught him to read. He'd read newspapers or books he found lying around the house until his master caught him and beat him. The most influential book in Douglass' life was "The Columbian Orator," which was a collection of classical speeches and rhetoric. Douglass bought the book from money earned in doing chores outside the home and coins found in the street. The book made the 15-year-old Douglass realize he no longer wanted to be a slave. He made plans to escape. By this time, Douglass was shipped to a new plantation. He made his first escape in 1836. But he wasn't sure where he'd go and returned. This taught him if you are going to succeed, you have to have a plan. He escaped again two years later, with a clear plan of where he wanted to go. This time, he was successful. Douglass landed in New Bedford, Mass. This city was full of anti-slavery activism. Douglass attended meetings, watching how speakers worked their audience. Douglass was particularly impressed by activist William Lloyd Garrison. Garrison's speeches triggered Douglass to launch his own career as a speaker. In 1841, he made his first speech. A journalist covering the speech at the time wrote "flinty hearts were pierced, and cold ones melted by his eloquence." Speaking out was dangerous for Douglass. The Fugitive Slave Act was in effect, so Douglass could be arrested and sent back to his master. To ensure his freedom, Douglass went to Europe where he raised money for abolitionists. During this time, Douglass wrote "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself" to counter critics who thought Douglass' eloquence could never come from an ex-slave. The money he earned speaking and writing allowed Douglass a solid middle-class life. With slavery still a fact, he created an anti-slavery newspaper. Now that he was free, Douglass knew and acted upon his own ideas. The main lesson of Douglass' life is perseverance in the face of injustice. According to one supported, "He helped us to recognize we are all the same, all of us can contribute regardless of our circumstances if you just work hard and believe."


Atticus is a highly-respected character in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. He had spent time teaching his children important lessons in life and also to defent African americans in Maycomb. Atticus faced many prejudices agains him and his profession but he didn’t let that stop him from doing his job. Atticus he dared to go against the opinions of the majority to help Tom Robinson. He knew that he would be mocked at for defending an African American in court since the whites are so racist. Atticus knew that the Blacks are mostly kind and innocent (as described in the novel). Atticus pushed throught and found s much proof to prove tom guilty, from catching with his right hand, which didn’t make sense with the mark on mayellas face, and toms story told to the court. Hes wasn’t going to give up until the jury came to a consensus. But in the end, stereotypes won. Atticus even followed through with his job by staying with Tom Robinson's one night to protect him from any gang or people who intended to kill Tom Robinson. He was almost killed but fortunately, Scout Finch, his daughter went up to talk to the gang of people and thus save Atticus' life. This wasn’t where Atticus’s perseverance stopped. Mrs Dubose often called him ugly names and foul language such as "nigger-lover". However, Atticus did not mind as he knew that Mrs Dubose have her own reasons to mock him and call him names. He even made Jem, who had previously offended Mrs Dubose (for calling Atticus ugly names) to apologize to her. Atticus knew clearly how Jem felt and the consequences he might have but he wanted Jem to learn to be a gentleman. Atticus knew what the proper thing to do was and was going to follow through and not break down his wall and become upset.



Homesteaders were people who traveled to the western united states in order to find a new life. They were promised big things and nev amazing lives, however, in order to receive these things they were forced to endure so much to get there. If they were to travel along the Oregon trail they ofter encountered deaths by disease, children were crused by horse and buggies, people drowned crossing streams, food was scarce, and starting anew was not an easay task. They faced language barriers and homesickness and many were lucky to even make it all the way to the west. Homesteaders who persevered were rewarded with opportunities as rapid changes in transportation eased some of the hardships. Six months after the Homestead Act was passed, the Railroad Act was signed, and by May 1869, a transcontinental railroad stretched across the frontier. The new railroads provided easy transportation for homesteaders, and new immigrants were lured westward by railroad companies eager to sell off excess land at inflated prices. The new rail lines provided ready access to manufactured goods and catalog houses like Montgomery Ward offered farm tools, barbed wire, linens, weapons, and even houses delivered via the rails. These things made pushing through the bad times seem worth it. 

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Wednesday May 29th

Yesterday in class we were in the library looking at how to US affected central america and specifically Haiti which we wrote a short response to a prompt about Americas interference.

Today in class we summarized all of the different doctrines and policies that we have been looking at which i found very helpful to put them all together and summarize them and discuss them.

U.S Intervention in Haiti : How the Haitians really feel


"Die for your country! Long live independence! Long live the union! Long live the just war! Down with the Americans!" The Haitians are not about to put up with anything from the United States. They are not strangers to these kinds of actions from foreign countries upon their homes, and land. Similar to the uprising against France, they will rise against the USA. The Americans have been constantly insulting and bullying Haiti by oppressing them with taxes and spreading fires, forbidding them to rebuild houses. All Haiti wants is to keep their country beautiful, and simply livable, and without homes, that cannot happen.

            The Hatians believe that they are going to remain firm and follow Belgian example. They have come to the determination that, “At the first cannon shot, giving the alarm, cities disappear and the nation stands up”. After four years of cruel and unjust acts against Haiti performed by the United States, Haitians demand the liberation of their territory, and are willing to sacrifice everything for it. The hatitans beleieve that the united states needs to follow their own rules and by doing so, they do not have a right to fight against the people of Haiti

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Thursday May 23rd

yesterday in class we finished talking about the roosivelt corrrolary and basically did the same thing that we did the class before. Key words, summary, and in your own words

Today in class we are working on our smithsonian quest badges. I already unlocked h2o hero so I am alllll done!

SMITHSONIAN QUEST BADGE