ch30

To be honest I did not really enjoy reading this chapter.  I know it is a fault of my own, but I really do not like reading about politics and this chapter starts to focus on political things that I should but do not have much interest in.  I think there were/are a lot of scandals and its kind of depressing to read about them.  I know this is just a small part of a section in the chapter, but I though the Americans with Disabilities Act was a major positive step in fairness in our politics.  It is odd to think that I am now reading about things in a history book that I was alive for.  It’s weird to think about that I was being born while the new innovations were shaping trends of today.  People started to buy more fun and unnecessary things like handbags and sport cars. 24 hour tv came about and so did internet!  Now I wonder how people ever managed without these daily used things.   

civil rights today

A civil rights movement that is relevant today is same sex marriage.  I really do not understand why some people are so against it.  I think that anyone should be allowed to marrythe person they want to spend the rest of their life with regardless off what gender they are.  Honestly I do not even understand why some people care so much.  It is not hurting anyone to let people of the same sex get married.  It kind of shocks me that after all the civil rights movements this country has had in the past that we still cannot learn to except people for who they are when how they are is harmless.  I read a litlle bit about this topic and found that just very resently Hawaii passed the law allowing same sex marriages.

Minutes after the Hawaii legislature passed same-sex marriage tonight, President Barack Obama offered a statement praising his home state’s support of marriage equality.

“I want to congratulate the Hawaii State Legislature on passing legislation in support of marriage equality,” the President, who was born in Honolulu, said.
“With today’s vote, Hawaii joins a growing number of states that recognize that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters should be treated fairly and equally under the law.  Whenever freedom and equality are affirmed, our country becomes stronger.  By giving loving gay and lesbian couples the right to marry if they choose, Hawaii exemplifies the values we hold dear as a nation.  I’ve always been proud to have been born in Hawaii, and today’s vote makes me even prouder.  And Michelle and I extend our best wishes to all those in Hawaii whose families will now be given the security and respect they deserve. ”
The President and the First Family usually head to the Aloha state for the Holidays. Hawaii’s same-sex marriage bill becomes effective December 2 (assuming the governor signs it, which he has said he will.) Might the 44th President become the first sitting President to attend a same-sex wedding?
Something tells me Bo would want him to.

ch29

Oh how the countercultural revolution changed things.  It seems like one minute we had many quiet youthful people just following in the foot steps of their parents to a very voiceful and outgoing group of educated college students.  Hippies will symbolize a time that I think will always be remembered.  Drugs where experimented with and sex was no longer something you waited to do with one person when you were married.  In my opinion this time period of hippies greatly changed our perspective on life.  The new outlook was if it feels good we should do it! The thought was both sex and drugs make you feel good so why not do them all the time.  People believed in love and peace and a good time.   Women’s focus on equal education, jobs and the right to abortion started making changes in womens opportunities that we should be thankful for today.

I never really fully understood what the Watergate upheaval was about before reading this chapter.  I knew it was about Nixon and I knew he tried to cover up a scandal and tapes were involved and I knew he resigned because of this scandal.  However, I never knew the scandal was about his dirty tricks to win and security break in involving wiretaps.

ch 28

Oh my gosh!  Reading about President Kennedy brings me back to third grade!  My teacher was in love with Kennedy.  Every year third grade puts on a performance for the school and every year part of it has to do with JFK.  We had to learn the Kennedy girls songs and such.  One of my cousins is in her class this year and they are still learning all about JFK and how he was handsome, inspirational and relatable.  Its so sad that it took things like images of a police dog attacking young black people to get people attention.  In my opinion it should have taken a lot less than physical abuse to get laws put in place that protected all races.  Thank goodness for people like Martin Luther King Jr. who spoke up for black rights and wasn’t afraid to proclaim aloud his dream of freedom and equality amongst all races, black or white.  I had no idea the Cosby Show came out during this time.  I wouldn’t have thought that they would have a show staring black people during this time when blacks were still discriminated against so much.  I never really understood why so many people in America disliked the Vietnam vets but after reading about the children and women that the soldiers raped and massacred I can understand now.  Just looking at the picture on page 707 is enough to raise questions about our soldier in Vietnam.  

ch 24

Before this chapter it seems as though the United States was making such great progress!  Reading about the great depression is so depressing!  Just like that the stock market crashed and many people were in a world of hurt.  It is also sad to think about so many people being jobless and living in such poverty in the United States.  I like FDR.  I did a whole report on him once and he seemed like he tried his best to make a bad situation better.  Eleanor Roosevelt seems like she was really trying to help make a difference.  It was nice to see her trying to help.  

ch 23

Oh my goodness, do you ever stop to think about what we would do without our vehicles?  I know I would miss my car for sure.  It is so convenient to hop into your car and drive to the grocery store or to school or home or to see family and friends.  I could not imagine how long it took people to travel for just simple things before the automobile.  I think I would spend a lot more time at home!  The picture on page 554 is hilarious!  How did people ever find their car?  The cars are all made in an assembly line and they all look the same.   Thank god for November 2, 1920 because I love listening to music on the radio.  Listening to music is fun and relaxing.  I am not surprised on how quickly it became popular.  I think that anyone could see that prohibition wasn’t going to make people very happy.  

ch 21

This chapter was surprising to me because there was so much that I knew so little about!  Usually I have a pretty good idea about what we are reading about already.  I had never heard the term “muckrackers” before this reading, but they seem like they can be compared to some of our journalists today.  I guess we will always have corruption and people will always be around who dig it up and were elaborate about it in their words to the public.  I think it is such a great thing that people realized working conditions were hazardous and started campaigning to make them better.  I cannot imagine if working conditions were still that bad in America today.  I certainly would not want to work in a cramped factory with poor ventilation for long hours with no breaks.  It sounds awful.  

E.C. ch 19

I have never been around New York, but I think it would be cool to see where all the immigrants had to come through when coming to America.  I think it is so odd that native born Americans did not like immigrants so much when just a few years before their family members were immigrants!

I love sports so I am so happy to read about them becoming popular in America!  It said baseball, horse racing and boxing were popular.  I play soccer, but I love watching baseball and boxing.  I think horse racing can be fun to attend every now and then.   

I find it odd that the book talks about what I great writer Mark Twain was, yet I have never had to read any of his work for school.  

chapter 18

This chapter seems like the United States is making some real growth!  It is nice to see that after everything the United States went through to get started, progress is finally being shown.  Companies were expanding and things like a telephone and light bulb were invented!  It is so interesting to think about how rare and amazing a telescope and a light bulb were for people back then, but today I can assure you it would be extremely hard to find someone that did not use a phone or a light bulb as a normal everyday thing.  I bet Alexander Gram Bell would be shocked to see how far phones have come.  I mean you unlock them with your finger print now!!!  In addition I think labor unions are for the most part good.  My dad is part of a union and I think it is beneficial.  

chapter 17

Reading about the Indians reminds me of fourth grade.  We learned about Indians in the fourth grade and everyone got to pick a tribe about write a report about it.  I was very into it and loved hearing about everyone’s different tribes.  It surprises me that there were not a greater number of Indians who causes uprising like Sitting Bull.  I watched a movie on Custer’s last stand at the Little Big Horn and though it didn’t get the Indians any positive outcomes besides winning the battle they still tried to fight for their land and their culture.  I cannot say they were wrong to try to stand up for themselves.  It saddens me that these people were once so free and all because white people think they have more right to the land the Indians had to be pinned down to small tribal lands.  I think the railroad brought about a great deal of good.  It opened jobs for immigrants, allowed people to settle west more easily and helped transport cattle.  I like reading about the cattle drives, I live on a ranch and my family raises cattle.  We also ship our calves off to stockyards like they drove their cattle to in Abilene. I also had no idea the Yellowstone National Park was founded so long ago (1872).

chapter 16

I know that the reconstruction after the civil war is important but I find it a bit less entertaining than reading about the actual war.  The Ku Klux Klan stands out in this chapter as being a group filled with very harsh and cruel people.  There is finally hope for black people and it amazes me how some people were still so awful to the black race.  

chapter 15

I love reading about the civil war!  I hope I have time to go back through and read the whole chapter.  I liked the part about recruitment and conscription.  I thought the confederacy would have enough volunteers, I never knew they drafted men to fight.  It always seemed to me like the south was eager to fight.  I think in a time of civil war Lincoln handled leadership very well.  I think it is a little unfair that women did the job of men while they were at war but after the war so no status gains.  

ch 14

It kind of surprises me that through the compromise of 1850 Utah and New Mexico Territories were territories open to slavery.  I thought they would more likely be free sense they were free when they were under Mexican rule.  The thing that caught my attention in this chapter was Uncle Tom’s Cabin.  It seems as though this book really caught people attention and pushed them to take an aggressive antislavery position.  I can only imagine how moving the play of this book must have been.  I cannot think of many people who could read about a woman and her infant running away from hounds and trying to cross an icy river and an old man being wiped excessive and the person reading it still being able to be proslavery.  No wonder so many minds were swayed against slavery in a major way.

expansion (chapter 13)

I loved the reading in this chapter!  I am able to stay so interested and focused on this part of the United States history.  The number of Irish people that came here all in a short period of time is crazy!  I have watched a couple movies on the Alamo, so reading about it reminds me of the movies and I was able to picture images in my mind more easily.  I think Santa Anna was pretty heartless being able to kill every single person there!  He even killed the injured who could not even fight.  It surprises me that early on California was not such an attraction.  I thought it had always attracted people, but it seems like it was the gold rush that gave people incentive to make the difficult journey to California.

fed paper 10

Honestly I am horrible about reading government papers and documents!  I do not really keep up with politics or things like that very much.  It was hard for me to read this paper and understand exactly what they were talking about.  What I think I was able to get out of the paper was that our government has come up with ways to deal with factions.  It doesnt seem like it is very easy but the best way to deal with factions is controlling their effects.  I do not really feel comfortable writting about this type of thing because I do not fully understand it.

southern ways

The first thing that struck me in the chapter is how cotton was over half of all exports in the U.S. in 1860.  I knew it was a big deal, but I never knew how important it was to the United States economy.  I though it was odd that after Nat Turner led a slave rebellion there was much done to end slavery.  In the South I think it worsened the chances of freedom!  I think it is so horrible that plantation women had to help raise the children her husband had with another women!!!  I really do not think I could do that.  I can not image watching a kid grow up that everyday reminded me my husband cheated on me.  What a horrible feeling to have all your life.  I also thought the part about the slave families being torn apart was just awful.  It said that I one life time a slave would see 11 family member be sold or traded.

chapter 9

I understand that the westward expansion was a good sign for the United States beause it showed we could expand and economically we could have more land for production and jobs and our government showed strength.  However, I feel like we could have done this without being so harsh to the Native Americans.  I feel like we should have tried harder to make compromises and not take all their land away.  I read a whole book on the trail of tears and what the Native Americans went through to get relocated seems like it was absolutly awful.
I like the part about children making the decision on what they want to do with there life.  Children could grow up and be able to specialize in something besides what there parents did.  Deciding what you want to do with your life and not having to have your parents pick out who you marry seems pretty important to me.

The war of 1812

It is not exactly clear to me how this war really started or why it even started?  I looked it up online and what I found was that Americans called it a victory and that it was like a second war of independence.  I wish the book gave a little more information about it because I do not know a lot about the war of 1812, but from the book it seems like it was a fairly even war.  At the end there was really no expansion or decrease in land.  However, politically weaknesses and new strenghts were discovered and the federalist party came to an end.

chapter 7

The first thing that caught my attention in this chapter was in the very first paragraph.  The part about a Cherokee woman being a "war woman" and that as a woman she was able to have some power and she tried to convince the Cherokee people to realize they were out matched and to make peice stood out to me.  It seems like women are gaining a little in social standings.  Later in the chapter we see this to be true!  It is an exciting part to read about because I am a girl and I like being to be educated in things and this chapter looks into intellectual equality. 
It surprised me that with the invention of improved agricultural technology that made crop production more efficient, like the cotton gin, that the black slaves were not given more freedom.  Instead of more freedom, they found themselves more restricted.  I really thought that it was going to be the other way around.  

quotes

As much as I enjoy reading factual information in our text, reading these quotes was very interesting.  I enjoy changing up the reading.  One qoute I could relate to best was the one about treating others how you would want them to treat you.  I can relate so easily to this qoute because throughout my childhood I attended a private Catholic school and I can remember reading this qoute all the time.  The qoute would also be in the prayers we would say and when we went to church we would have to sing it in a song.  I am really not very religious but I have been well educated in religion and out of all the prayers, sayings and beliefs I have learned about I believe this one to be true.  If everyone treated people in a way that they would want to be treated we would have a much more peaceful world.  I mean I do not think that anyone wants to steal from themselves or commet crimes against themselves.  The world will never be perfect, but if more people treated others as they might want to be treated it would be a great step towards a better world for all.
  

“When I was teaching children I began every day writing this on the blackboard: "Do to others what you would like them to do to you", telling them how much better the world would be if everybody lived by this rule.”
― Common, Common Sense

slavery

I honestly do not understand how one human being could possible treat another human being as bad as slaves were treated.  It's just sad that people are capable of such cruel and thoughtless behavior.  I feel so bad for anyone who has or even is apart of anything like slavery.  I mean having someone else own you and your freedom has to just be the absolute worst.  The accounts that mention the brutail beating the slaves recieved if they misbehaved were awful.  I mean just a simple thing like not being able to work as fast as someone else would get a slave beaten or whipped to the point that their skin opened and bleeding occured.  Just to stop and think that I though a little spanking was horrible when I was little, and these slaves were beaten practically to death for things like not working fast enough.  I also cannot imagine having bells be the thing that run my life.  A few of the accounts tell stories of a bell going off and its time for work, another to eat and a final one for sleep and that is how a slaves day went.  That is just awful.  It was however nice to see that a few slave owners treated their slaves as decent people and were nice to them.  It gives me a little hope for human kindness to expand.

chapter2

While reading about the European society I was surprised when I came to the paragraph about nuclear families and that if a person lived outside the household of the family they were automatically more suspected of crimes like stealing or practicing witchcraft.  People in today's world live alone and move away from their families often and I do not not think they are any more likely to be a thief than a person who lives in a household with many family members.  The next part of the reading that caught my attention was about Columbus.  I find it fascinating that finding America was pretty much an accident while explorers were looking for faster ways to reach Asia.  I also think it is sad that foreign diseases is what killed many Native Americans.  I really enjoy reading about the first settlements in America and it just shocks me that during one winter Jamestown went from a population of 500 to 100.  In that winter they had to eat the dead peoples bodies just to try and survive.  I cannot imagine how hungry they were to be able to eat their own dead friends.

chapter 1

I found parts of chapter one interesting and some parts very confusing.  I like reading about U.S. History but it was hard for me to stay focused on the reading in this chapter because they used so many different names to describe the early American people.  I could not keep track of what people were doing what things and making what contributions.  The part that I found interesting was towards the end of the chapter.  I thought the part about there kinship being stronger than marriages and parents to children to be kind of weird.  I mean I have a sister so I understand that it can be a strong relationship, however I also have a strong relationship with my parents and I certainly will have one with whoever I marry.  I thought how they got married so young was also interesting.  I know it was a different time, but I could not even imagine getting married in my teens.