The System That Almost Spoiled America

This week my class took on the challenge of accurately assessing Andrew Jackson’s reputation as “the people’s president” and attempting to decide whether it was a deserved title or not. This is an important point to think about because, as a democracy, we like our leaders to be working for the people each ad every day. Reflecting on past leaders and their efforts to be "the people's president" gives us insight into what our current leaders are thinking and whether their actions are really as democratic as we would like them to be. My class split into six groups and each took on a certain aspect of Jackson’s presidency. The six groups chose between researching the bank war, the Indian removal act, or the spoils system. My group chose last and, because of this, got stuck with the choice the other groups had neglected, which happened to be the spoils system.

The bank war groups showed us that, even though it didn't turn out well for America, Andrew Jackson had vetoed the bank with American's best interests in mind. The bank favored the higher classes and, by vetoing it, he was supporting the lower and middle classes, which were the majority of the population. Even if it didn't turn out well, his intentions could be described as being for the people. The Indian removal group showed us that Andrew Jackson should not be considered the people's president. He was trying to look out for the American people, but he wasn't looking out for all people, seeing as the Indians faced incredible suffrage due to this act. So we had one group in favor of his reputation and one group against it; it was up to the spoils groups to decide how Jackson should be remembered. Despite the fact we received the topic involuntarily, I found the spoils system to be a rather intriguing topic. We read through our online documents and created a common craft video summarizing what the system was. We came to the conclusion that Jackson wasn’t "the people’s president" because he gave positions based on loyalty rather than intelligence and merit. It would benefit the people more if they were run by electives who knew what they were doing, rather than just a group of people untied under the requests and orders of a single man. Not only that, but the spoils system ended up having a negative effect on America and, therefore, proves that Jackson should not be remembered as a good president, let alone one for the people.

Democracy is Spelled USA

My class has spent these past two days learning about the rise of democracy in America during the 19th century. We read through and analyzed primary source documents as well as charts and background essays to understand just how our government took shape. We then used these documents to create a presentation of the information we gathered to decide how much of a democracy this country was in the 19th century. 

The Color of Your Skin Doesn't Change the Color of Your Heart

We spent this week discussing the importance of human value. Do not fret, for it was not a week’s worth of, “Your smile is beautiful but your heart is beautifuller”. More appropriately, we focused on the acknowledgement of human values regardless of race and found evidence of this social imperative in the Latin American Revolutions. To start off our lesson, we took notes on the social rank of each racial group in the Latin American social structure as well as the percent that group made up of the population. The population was made up of 11% Peninsulares, 23% Creoles, 7% Mestizos, 8% Mulattoes and Free Blacks, 50% Indian peoples, and 11% slaves. If you were a Peninsulare, you were a European from the Iberian Peninsula (Spain or Portugal). If you were a Creole, you descended from Europeans but you were born in the New World. If you were a Mestizo, you descended from one white parent and one parent with Indian heritage. If you were a Mulatto, you were a free person of color (having at least one parent of African descent). Indians were the people living in Latin America before the Spanish colonized there. Slaves were of African descent, some even born in Africa. And, as history has often showed, the people with power made up the smallest percentages of the population: the Peninsulares.

My group's timeline of the Mexican Revolution

When comparing the Brazil, the Gran Colombia, and the Mexico revolutions we discovered some similarities between the three outbreaks. All three revolts were around the early 1800s and they were all against European countries who colonized and controlled them. All of the people not of European decent were fighting against the Peninsulares (lower class against the upper class). The revolutions were also somewhat different in that Gran Columbia and Mexico took place in Spain and were both very violent revolts, unlike Brazil, which took place in Portugal, and provoked very little fighting. Both Brazil and Gran Columbia had a government made up of only Peninsulares and the mixed lower classes wanted to overthrow them. Mexico was run by Peninsulares as well as Creoles. Countries were choosing their leaders based on race (white people in power, people of mixed race were in lower classes) rather than choosing them in a way that considers the real aspects of a good leader. Our class has just written a DBQ about Toussaint Louverture, the leader of a widely known slave rebellion. He was African American and possessed amazing leadership qualities. If his race were to prevent him from spreading his influence on those that were affected by it in a positive way, that would change history for the worse. When you’re a kid, you must’ve been told, “It’s what’s on the inside that counts”. If someone’s outward appearance blinds us from the capable qualities they possess, then revolts will inevitably and rightfully occur.

I think it’s very rare that, in our society today, we’ll make it through a whole month without hearing a story about racial discrimination. It’s hard for people to not consider someone’s race when figuring out their first impression of them. I’m not saying it’s right for someone to judge another person based off their race, but it’s hard for most people to ignore it. Then, in addition to that, there’s the dispute if it’s right for us to ignore it. Last year, in history, we took a survey about the future of America and one question asked if America should be colorblind or a melting pot; one ignoring all race and one embracing the different cultures and heritages. Either one is in support of equal rights. No one’s race should determine what they’re capable of; let alone what they’re incapable of. 

The Legacy of Louverture (DBQ)

Rulers should possess countless admirable qualities, such as honesty, eloquence, compassion, etc. A great ruler is typically only remembered for one specific quality, even if they possess all of the previously mentioned and more. Toussaint Louverture, the leader of the wildly remembered slave rebellion in Haiti, had many different aspects of his character and is remembered differently by historians today. Toussaint was born into slavery in the 1740s on the island of Saint Domingue which was first established as Hispaniola by Columbus and later renamed the independent country of Haiti. Under French control and producing 40% of the world's sugar as well as more than 50% of the world's coffee, Saint Domingue was one of the richest colonies in the world. In 1789, when the ideas of the French Revolution spread to the island, slaves, working on the plantations to produce the sugar and coffee, decided it was time to fight for their freedom. As a newly freed man, Toussaint Louverture played his part in helping the revolutionaries fight for their cause by commanding a rebel army of 4,000 troops in 1793. By 1794 he was appointed commander-in-chief of the army of Saint Domingue after France had abolished slavery and he had pledged his allegiance. Unfortunately, when Napoleon rose to power, there were rumors of reinstating slavery on the island. Toussaint then retracted his allegiance to France and led the islanders to put up an impressive fight against the 21,000 French troops invading the island in 1802. Toussaint was captured and brought to France where he died from pneumonia in a jail cell. He never knew Haiti defeated Napoleon and got their freedom in 1804. As such an influential leader, it's hard to pinpoint exactly what Toussaint’s legacy was. A legacy is what gets passed down from generation to generation in someone’s memory. Toussaint Louverture should be remembered as a liberator of slaves, a military commander, and the ruler of Saint Domingue.

Despite his admirable military tactics and his inspiring leadership skills, Toussaint should be remembered as a liberator of slaves because that was his main goal throughout the revolution. In 1974, “The revolutionary government in France under Robespierre abolishes slavery in France and all its colonies; Toussaint and his troops stop their revolt and now support the French.” (A). After fighting against the French for almost five years, Toussaint allies with his former enemy as soon as they give him what he wants: freedom for the people of Saint Domingue. And, when, “Napoleon sends 21,000 soldiers to Saint Domingue to reinstate slavery” (A), Toussaint switches back to fighting against France. The stability of his allegiances were questionable but his dedication to the cause definite. Toussaint was fighting to abolish slavery and whoever was against that was his opponent. When it was rumored that the French Directory wanted to reinstate slavery, Toussaint wrote a letter in which he threatened the French by saying, “We have known how to confront danger to our liberty, and we will know how to confront death to preserve it.” (B). He cannot and will not submit to the chains of slavery after he’s worked so hard to be free. Toussaint only plays the role of a military leader, threatening to use his troops against France, when it’s necessary to complete his task as a liberator of slaves.

Although not as important as freeing his fellow captives, Toussaint was a remarkable military commander. It is said that, “By his genius and surpassing activity, Toussaint levied fresh forces, raised the reputation of the army, and drove the English and Spanish from the island…” (F). Toussaint’s admirably strong grasp on the forces of Saint Domingue and the positive effect his leadership had on them was well known during this time. Not only was he marvelous in leading his troops to victory, but he also knew how to handle the soldiers when they got unruly. When a revolt broke out against his newly implemented labor policy, which stated free workers must return to work in the plantations, Toussaint showed how he reacts to soldiers who aren’t doing their jobs: “Toussaint himself was so enraged that when he passed through the rebel zone he ordered the mutineer regiments on parade and summoned certain men to step out of the ranks and blow their brains out…” (E). Sentencing the rebellious soldiers to death may be a bit harsh, but it kept Toussaint in control of the island and stabilized his position as the leader. His remarkable leadership abilities stretched farther than just the military.

Toussaint Louverture is also remembered as the capable ruler of Saint Domingue. He is declared their ruler in the constitution when it says, “The Constitution nominate citizen Toussaint-Louverture, Chief General of the army of Saint-Domingue and… he is entrusted the direction thereof for the remainder of his glorious life.” (C). The island of Saint Domingue had already seen Toussaint’s leadership qualities during the early revolts and he had shown them that they can instill their faith in him. Unfortunately, the citizens did not always realize he had their best interests at heart. In 1801, after Toussaint implemented new laws of labor, one of which stating, “As soon as a child can walk, he should be employed on the plantation according to his strength in some useful work…” (D), the citizens began to turn on him. Toussaint knew if their production rates for their crops went down after France had abolished slavery, slavery would be reestablished. He wanted what was best for the islanders and if hard decisions had to be made, he was willing to make them.

Throughout Toussaint Louverture’s life, his main goal was not to be the great ruler of Saint Domingue or a notable military leader, but only to be a liberator of slaves. He threatened the French Directory with his military forces, but only when it was necessary in order to avoid the reimplementation of slavery. He made harsh decisions as a military commander to ensure the newly free citizens of Saint Domingue would remain under control and not display any signs for possibly being better off in a society with slavery. As the ruler of Saint Domingue he implemented laws that would keep the island’s production rates high so France would have no reason to think slavery was required for the island to make the money they had previously been making with slavery. Although Toussaint Louverture took strong actions in the fields of military and ultimate leadership, his intentions were always focused on the liberation of slaves.

A: Created from various sources.

B: Toussaint Louverture, “Letter to the French Directory, November 1797.”

C: The Saint Domingue Constitution of 1801. Signed by Toussaint Louverture in July 1801.

D: Toussaint Louverture, “Proclamation, 25 November 1801.”

E: Madison Smartt Bell, Toussaint Louverture: A Biography, 2007.

F: William Wells Brown, “A Description of Toussaint Louverture,” from The Black Man, His Antecedents, His Genius, and His Achievements, 2^nd edition, 1863. Engraving of Toussaint Louverture, 1802.

Failure is a Matter of Opinion

Our failure scale

As students, we don’t exactly know how to measure failure. We have so much time left in our lives that any “failure” made now can be fixed by the time the books of our lives are sealed shut. Only when looked back on things can we decided whether or not they should be deemed a failure. In class, we inspected the way many historians have judged the revolts of the mid 1800s by posing this question: were the revolutions of 1830 and 1948 really failures as many historians have concluded? To start off the week, we created a scale that defined the outcomes of revolutions ranging from a complete failure to a complete success. SurveyMonkey to create a quiz about our revolution for our class to take. We then worked in groups of 4-5 to research specific revolts during this time. We read an online document about our assigned revolution, answered some guiding questions, and used

As you can see from our results on our
 SurveyMonkey questions, we recieved a
 variety of different answers.

I had the pleasure of working with the Decembrist group. The Decembrist Revolt  took place throughout December 1825 in Russia. People were unhappy with Tsar Alexander I’s ruling tactics and planned to overthrow him.

Some questions, such as this one, required
students to pay more attention to things other
than just the writing in the source. (The
answer to this question was in the title).

They wanted to replace him with his older brother Constantine, despite Constantine’s blatant statement that he did not want to be in power. After the Tsar’s unexpected death, Nicholas took to the throne. The rebels revolted in hopes of developing a weaker monarchy, abolishing slavery and abuse of power. Dmitry Zavalishin, a Decembrist, writes about the 1793 constitution granted to Poland and says, “Russians were offended at the granting of a constitution to defeated and conquered Poland before one was given to Russia, which vanquished it.” If Poland, who had been defeated by Russia, could handle the implementation of a constitution, then Russia, their superiors, should be able to too. Nicholas ended up firing on his own people to defeat the rebels. He shut down any contact outside of the country and took away religious freedom as well as all other rights. Nicholas explains his reaction to the revolt by saying, “The laws demand retribution and, in their cases, I will not use my power to grant mercy. I will be unbending; it is my duty to give this lesson to Russia and to Europe.” Nicholas was too stuck in his conservatism mindset to see past the threat of the revolution and look into its meaning. He didn’t even consider implementing changes to the way he ruled, he only thought to prevent any future revolutions.

Like the Decembrist Revolt, many other revolutions during this time were not successes. The French Revolution of 1848 lived a short success: the bourgeoisie prospering for a short time until Napoleon eventually brought down his empire and ended France’s leadership in Europe. The Frankfurt Assembly concluded with hundreds of people killed and thousands of Germans leaving their homeland. The Hungary revolt led to the imprisonment, execution, and exile of many. These revolts were all in favor of liberalism, the people wanted more rights and a weaker monarchy. Historians are right to consider these revolutions to be a failure, seeing as they led to the death of thousands of people. But despite that, they succeeded in spreading liberalist ideas throughout Europe. These revolutions helped created the world we live in today. The immediate outcome of these revolts wasn’t a success, and because of the massive number of deaths they caused I can’t imagine they’d ever be considered one, but because they succeeded in spreading a message, I think it’s fair to put them fairly close to neutral on the grand scale of failure.

Power Is Spelled G.O.D.

              Year after year on the first day of school, I’ve received a handout explaining the stages of punishment in the classroom. You know what I’m talking about: it starts with a verbal warning and ends with you and your parents in the principal’s office. Teachers like us to know we can’t get away with acting out in their classes. But can you blame them? They can’t let their students walk all over them; they need to keep us in line. This past week in class, we discussed what people in power should do when their power is threatened. To start off, we went through a background reading that describes the representatives from each country that attended the Congress of Vienna. We then looked at a reading that focuses on the problems the Congress of Vienna was trying to solve and chose which solution we thought would be best. We worked in small groups and posted our reasons for choosing our desired solutions on our class padlet. After seeing how we, as a class, would solve the problems, we took notes on how these problems were actually solved. The way my classmates chose to handle the 19^th century loss of power were not the ways those actually present in the 19^th century chose to handle it.

1815: The Holy Alliance
http://www.voltairenet.org/article170096.html

              Napoleon, as you can read about in my past post, defeated most European countries, which meant most European countries belonged to France. Although Napoleon was a great fighter, he was also a ruthless one, which left the people of Europe with enough warfare to last them a life time. How would the Quintuple Alliance (Russia, Austria, Prussia, Britain, and France) prevent future revolutions and violence in Europe? They decided to establish a Holy Alliance. This stated that monarchs had the divine right to rule and that any revolution was treason against God. At this time, people were heavily concerned with their afterlife and the idea of doing something that would wind them up in Hell terrified them.

              In my opinion, this was a brilliant way to stifle rebellions. The leaders needed to force people into compliance without the violence used by Napoleon. By saying it as a sin to rebel, people kept themselves in line. God was most important in society and the representatives at the Congress of Vienna knew that the ever present eye of God would shield them from any outbreaks by the citizens. If there came a time when it was evident that those in power were unfit to rule, then those rulers should sacrifice their power for the good of the country. But, seeing as the Congress of Vienna was mostly successful in what they had set out to do, I don’t think these rulers would have to make any sacrifices like that. 

Who's idea was it to have ideologies anyways?

In high school, the social classes are divided between what's 'cool' and 'not cool'. Politics are known to be divided between democrats and republicans. Things were not always split up in these ways. This past week, my class focused on the major political ideologies of the 19th century and how they influenced social and political action. We were divided into six groups and the three ideologies (liberalism, conservatism and nationalism) were assigned amongst the groups. As it worked out, each ideology would be presented by two different groups. This lead to a "show down" in which we would vote on the group that best presented the each ideology. Three groups, including mine, used an app called chatterpix, which allows you to make a picture talk. One group made a common craft video, one group made a movie in educreations and another group performed a skit. The class then worked together to come up with a definition for each of the ideologies. Once the hard work was done we voted on who's presentation was best. My group, being the winners, got two delectable  Hershey kisses.

Our chatterpix about liberalism

My group was assigned liberalism. We used chatterpix to make a photo of Adam Smith describe what liberalism was in the form of a haiku. If you remember from my past post, Adam Smith created the theory of the Invisible Hand. He wanted everyone to contribute to the economy. By "everyone", I don't mean everyone in society. I mean everyone accepted by society, which is really only the middle class and higher. Our haiku didn't really go into an indepth explanation of liberalism, as it is very hard to give specifics when you're given a limited number of syllables. We gave the main points of liberalism such as the focus on meritocracy and the opposition to traditions. Liberalists promoted constitutional rights as opposed to a monarchy. They tried to end the traditional rights belonging to the aristocracy as well as the church. Taking power away from the church was a big change at this time in history because it had previously had an enormous effect in the everyday life of society.

Conservatism is the opposite of liberalism. One group used chatterpix to show Edmund Burke describing the main ideas from his book about conservatism. The other group used educreations to show a family enforcing the traditions of the monarchy in the household. Our class defined conservatism as a system of government that wanted to protect the monarchy and keep the old traditions. These traditions include the rights of the aristocracy and monarchy, as well as the role of the church. Conservatives view revolution as troublesome and, for lack of a better word, dumb. Change is not a priority. The last ideology is nationalism. The first group made a chatterpix displaying a group of m&ms arguing over which color m&m is best. The candies eventually unite to defeat a skittle because, despite their differences, they're all chocolate and the skittle is most definitely not. The other group performed a skit which included three students fighting over who was better, only to eventually unite, because of their shared cultural background, to defeat a foreign invader. Nationalism is the belief that people should unite through common traits in order to prevent foreign rulers from taking over. The common traits are usually along the lines of similar cultural practices, religion, languages, beliefs and traditions. These contradicting ideas still play a part in our society today.

Napoleon (Bonaparte) Was Dynamite For France

Military portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Napoleon.

When I was younger I would always mix up Napoleon Dynamite and Napoleon Bonaparte. At the time I had no idea I was comparing a fictional character to a great historical leader. In class we watched a five minute video that gave an overview of Napoleon Bonaparte’s life and accomplishments. Napoleon grew up in France, attending military schools from the age of nine. He worked himself up the ranks of the French military and went on to lead many successful invasions, conquering most of Europe. Napoleon’s ways of leadership were hated as well as praised by the people of France. Nevertheless, Napoleon left his footprint most aspects of our daily lives.

In class, we looked at a list of accomplishments Napoleon worked on during his leadership and decided which parts of his rule effected France and which effected the world. we concluded that Napoleon greatly helped the economy of France. He encouraged new industry, built roads and canals for trading, and established the Bank of France. Napoleon also greatly changed the political and social systems of Europe by establishing a meritocracy, which means people’s chances of success was determined based on their skills, rather than their social class. In an article called “The Lost Voices", a quote from Napoleon and His Marshalls, a book written in 1847 by Joel Tyler Headley, says the meritocracy was a system that is responsible for, “opening the field to talent and genius, however low their birth”.  

The meritocracy was more beneficial for some than for others. The rich, who were previously successful because of their given birth right, were not pleased with the social and political changes. In class, we read reviews from two citizens, Madame de Staël and Marshal Michel Ney, about their feelings toward Napoleon. Madame de Staël, a wealthy woman in France, opposed the changes made during Napoleon's leadership. She says, “He would like to persuade men by force and by cunning, and he considers all else to be stupid and folly.” She thought lowly of him as a ruler because the changes he made during his rule were unbeneficial for her. Marshal Michel Ney, one of Napoleon’s soldiers, greatly admired him. He refers to Napoleon as, “our sovereign” and, “our angst emperor”. Because the changes Napoleon made during his rule were received well among the middle and lower classes, which made up the majority of the population, the people who worked with him, such as the soldiers, benefited from his success. But those who thought lowly of Napoleon, such as Madame de Staël, were no match for his empire, seeing as she was eventually exiled from France for speaking against the powerful ruler. 

Team Marx or Team Smith

Walking into a class and seeing two humongous bags of Hershey’s Kisses always brightens up a morning. In class on Monday, we recreated Charles Marx’s theory of communism with pieces of chocolate. Everyone in the class started with two Hershey’s Kisses, except for the two lucky students who got eight. My classmates were very upset, not at our teacher for the unfair distribution, but rather at the students who got lucky during the distribution, saying things like, “Let’s gang up on Brian”. Poor Brian. We then went around the room playing rock, paper, scissors, shoot; the winners got a piece of the loser’s chocolate. When a student lost all of their candy they had to sit down. Few kids who started with two kisses ended up with any chocolate but those who got eight lasted until the end. Comments were made along the lines of “rich people stink” and “I hate my life”. The teacher then collected all of the candy and redistributed it so everyone got two and only two. When given the option to play rock, paper, scissors again, the class voted against it in fear of losing their chocolate again.

Karl Marx.
http://spartacus-educational.com/TUmarx.htm

Marx's theory of communism starts with capitalism. This includes private ownership of industry and freedom of competition. Marx says capitalism results in unequal economic classes, lower classes struggling and workers revolting. In order to make things more fair, Marx said people would create a government system of socialism. This government system would own industry and hopefully bring economic equality in a classless society. Marx said that people would revolt against divisions between rich and poor and by any means necessary, even violence, the people would create communism. In this system, no government is needed and the goal of a classless society is achieved. This gives the poor an equal chance at success as the rich because everyone starts on a level playing field thanks to the redistribution of goods. Another theory is Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand. Companies will treat their workers better because the employees are also the customers.

Adam Smith.
http://livingeconomiesforum.org/Adam-Smith

Smith said that if government left industry alone, people will buy, sell, and run businesses on their own. Businesses that operate honestly and don’t cheat their customers will succeed and those that do not will fail. This benefits the poor because, eventually, high quality goods will be available at lower prices. Because employees work near the shops they live and shop at the stores closest to them, stores need to pay their workers enough so they can afford their products.

An alternate system would be a compromise between both Marx’s theory and Smith’s theory. These two systems don't include a government. Maybe that's what they're missing. If we could incorporate the level playing field that Marx wanted everyone to start with and smith's idea of a hands off economy, we might get respectable results. The government should have the ability to create and sponsor stores. When unemployment rates are up and poverty seems to have reached a high, the government should open some stores, such as a grocery store or a laundry mat. The government can buy the supplies and sell them at a reasonable price. Plus these government stores can employ citizens without jobs. These stores will function as the goal of the invisible hand: high quality goods at low prices. And once the economy is stable and more stores can match the rates of the government stores, those stores can sell their businesses and the hands off mentality can be resumed. 

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

A mill girl at work. "Song of the Sower"

We’ve been learning about the horrible working conditions in the factories during the Industrial Revolution for a couple weeks now, and it’s clear that the lives the mill girls led were not ones to be envious of. So why were the mills never short of employees? What kept the girls coming to the mills? Jamie told us during our MOSI Google Hangout that before there was the factory system, all cotton was made at home by families. It would be difficult for mills to recruit entire families to work at the factories, so they chose to target one family member specifically. They chose the daughter. Corporations wanted these girls because they displayed all the qualities the factories were looking for. Because of the way the girls were raised, under a very watchful eye, they were likely to be obedient and do the work the factories needed done in the way the factories wanted it to be done. Families were much more willing to let go of their girls rather than their boys because the sons were needed to work on the farms. The mill owners would go to farms and try to convince fathers to let their daughters work at the mills. In the movie Daughters of Free Men, a mill owner was shown painting a wonderful picture of the lovely mills that were very beneficial in the lives of all the girls who worked there. He emphasized that the mills would be like a small family, protecting the girls and making sure they didn’t get into any trouble. The father figure was the corporation, setting rules like a curfew and mandatory attendance at church. The mother figure was the boardinghouse keeper, who would regulate the girls’ behavior outside of mill hours. The girls at the mills always felt safe and happy. Was the mill owner describing the mills truthfully? Nope. Did he end up with enough girls working at his mill? Of course.

Families were willing to send their daughters into dangerous cities alone, not only because the mill owners were so convincing, but for their own reasons as well. With their girls working, there was one less mouth to feed and one less person to look after. Plus the girls would be able to send money home. The girls were eager to work in the mills too. They would get the chance to live an  independent life, which they wouldn’t otherwise be able to do. The girls could earn their own money, buy their own clothes, and live how they wanted to live without worrying about the responsibilities that came with running a household. These corporations changed the girls’ lives for the better in many ways. Girls were provided with an education, a small amount of money to themselves, plenty of food and a place to sleep. They experienced things they would never had gotten the chance to experience on the farm while being kept in good conduct with respectable reputations. Unfortunately, the corporations had their downsides as well. Families were separated, the girls were forced to work in uncomfortable conditions for long hours, received unfair wages, and faced brutal punishment for making mistakes in the factories. Even with the hardships these girls faced, many of them loved the independent lives they leaned to lead. These girls left their mark on the Industrial Revolution and changed the way women and girls live today.

Let's Go See the MOSI

Earlier this week, my class participated in a video chat with a museum in England that focuses on the textile aspect of the Industrial Revolution. To prepare for our MOSI Google Chat, we read through the museum's website and recorded three new things we learned. We then watched a video that was made by our soon-to-be explainer, Jamie. Throughout the movie we kept a running list of the terminology we heard. We then worked in groups to come up with a definition for each of the words. When searching for the definitions, we had to be smart about the key words we used. Some of the new vocabulary were words that had picked up different meanings over the years and we had to be sure we were getting accurate definitions. Once we had all our definitions, we worked in groups to create questions so we’d be prepared with things to ask Jamie. We were told to write eight questions. Two about the textile process, two about the evolution of textile technology, two about the negative impact of industrialization on families, and two about Jamie’s experiences as a real life historian.

In this very poor quality picture, Jamie is showing
us a "shuttle" which was a part of the paraloom. 

This chat gave me an insight into the transition from the cotton industry to the factory system. Cloth used to be made at home by the men of the house. It was a really physical job because the hand loom was powered by the men’s bodies. The women and children of the house would prepare the cotton or weaving. The children would use brushes to brush the fibers and the moms would spin the thread on the pedal powered spinning wheel. The factory system was worse for workers than the cotton industry. Since it required everyone moving into the cities to be near the factories, houses had to be built quickly and close together. Due to the little time allotted to build these houses, they weren’t in very good condition. Sanitation wasn’t a main concern at this time. There was one toilet for every 125 people. With all those people sharing one toilet, there was almost always a long line. Rather than waiting, people would relieve themselves in bedpans and then chuck it out the window. Their “waste” would seep into the water supply and people would drink it. Jamie also gave us a tour of the machines. I was shocked when he told us he didn’t know anything about it before he started working there. I always assumed people working in museums had known the information the museums were displaying before they were hired to help others understand it.

I really enjoyed learning from someone who’s an expert in what my class is currently studying. Before the google chat, I was afraid that I’d be in such a hurry trying to type up everything he’s saying that I wouldn’t be able to understand my notes afterwards. I had no problem following along with Jamie. He had all of his thoughts collected and he presented the information to us in a very organized way. Not only did we get good notes on the subject, but it was nice to see the relevancy of our studies in the world today. I know we’re learning about the history of our country, and it’s all very important to know, but sometimes I wonder why I’ll ever need to know, say, who invented the paraloom. Maybe I won’t ever need to know it, but it’s nice to be reminded that there are people out there who are affected by this information every day. 

More Than Scissors and Tape Go Into Making a Poster

My group was assigned to focus on the evolution of the spinning wheel. We started the curating process by laying out the documents and assigning each person to research one or more documents.

My group's pride and joy

 By filling out the graphic organizer we knew what information to include in the captions under our sources. We typed up what we needed to put on the poster but the question of how to lay it out still stood. We wanted it to appear as a horizontal timeline, but what’s visually pleasing about a timeline? We decided to use one of our sources, a bar graph including the different years our other sources took place during, as a road map to our “timeline”. We would attach each source to the bar graph with a piece of string, making sure it attaches to the year it’s from. We had to mount all of our information on pieces of construction paper because what would a poster be without a few boarders here and there? Laying everything out, we came across a problem pretty quickly: there was no way we would fit all the information we needed to fit onto the poster. But wait! There was a way! We simply turned the poster paper vertically and everything had its own place. Seeing as that was the biggest problem my group faced, I think it’s fair to say we had a pretty good time with this project.

One of the other groups focused on the transportation during the Industrial Revolution. They had a map that showed the coal and metal production in relation to the canals that were all over Great Britain. All the canals were connected to the cities in some way because the cities were where most of the production took place. The next group was assigned sources about the pollution during this time. Seeing as the cities were where most of the factories were found, that was where most of the pollution was found too. The amount of pollution found in countries skyrocketed during the Industrial Revolution. The fourth group focused on child labor. The Industrial Revolution was the first time children, especially girls, were working in factories. This group displayed many images of the horrible working conditions and the exhausted looking children. The last group was assigned the topic of slavery during this time.

The line graph from the slave group's poster

 They had a great line graph showing that as the industrial revolution advanced, slaves were in higher demand. I must say, I was genuinely surprised by how much I learned from this project. Who knew that by our tenth year of schooling we’d be able to effectively glue what we’ve learned onto a poster so that the viewers of said poster could learn the same things?

Changing The Way We Function Today

While figuring out the ingredients to industrialization, my class was asked the question “What was ‘revolutionary’ about industrialization?” To answer this we split into small groups to each focus on one aspect of the Industrial Revolution. We read an online text that gave an overview of each of our topics and shared what we found with the class.

             

A Revolution In Agriculture.
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-newsouth/5499

One of the ingredients of industrialization was the people. There were improvements made in almost every aspect of farming. Fertilizer was taken from livestock and farmers mixed different kinds of soils which helped more crops to grow. There were also improvements made to farming enclosures. These enclosures made it so farmers could farm more land, producing more crops, with help from less workers. These improvements created more food, which lead to an increase in population.

              Another ingredient of industrialization was technology. The two main aspects of technology were the improved iron and the steam engine. Coal helped make iron which is a material needed for the construction of machines and steam engines. Darby found that coal could be used to smelt iron (separate iron from its core). Watt’s steam engine pumped water out of mines. The steam engine became a power source of the industrial revolution. The industrial revolution truly changed the way we function today. 

Searching For The Best Way To Search

               This past week, my class has been participating in many online research activities. The purpose of these activities was to hone our ability to search on the internet, getting answers fast while avoiding questionable sources. These activities taught us to use online resources responsibly, without quoting directly and only taking the information we need.

              A Google A Day is a game from Google in which players answer questions by using google to search for the single correct answer that will solve a puzzle. The day we did this activity I had a headache, and sifting through website after website on my glowing little phone screen, reading an abundance of miniscule typing while my head was throbbing is not something I would consider to be “fun”, but it was helpful and I definitely strengthened my searching abilities. One of the questions was unsolved by anyone in my class because every website had a different answer to the question. It was very frustrating because none of us knew which website had the right answer. Wikipedia even had the wrong answer. From this, I learned that I must check to make sure information is the same on multiple websites before trusting that it is true.

              If a website is trustworthy, it fits the definitions of three words: Accuracy, Authenticity, and Reliability. Accuracy means that the information is correct and matches information that is already known. Authenticity means the website is as it appears to be; meaning it provides the information it looks like it would provide. Reliability means that the website can be trusted as a legitimate data source. In class, we visited a website for the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus .

Tree Octopus. http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/

This is a fake website created to look like a real one. There is no such thing as a Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus, but if someone didn’t know how to find flaws in an illegitimate website, they would think it’s real. This website could not be used as a source in school because it does not fit the three definitions. It is not accurate because all the data it provides is false. It is not authentic because it’s a fake website for a fake animal rather than a real data source for a real animal, as it appears to be. It is not reliable because it is fake and therefore cannot be trusted.  After the activities we did in class, I’ll know how to avoid getting tricked by websites like this.

Every Good Millionaire Starts With A High School Diploma

As this is my first blog post, I've decided to introduce myself in the form of a haiku:

My name is Lizzie,

This blog is for history,

I’m a sophomore.

And now the actual writing prompt will commence…

Winston Churchill once said, “The price of greatness is responsibility.” I believe that the greatest teachers hold themselves equally responsible for their students’ success as the students themselves. This means that the teachers take their job seriously while still understanding that if a student truly wants success, they have to earn it themselves. My favorite teacher freshmen year was Ms. Lynn, who teaches biology. It was obvious to everyone in class that she loved the branch of biology and was committed to her job. She graded our tests and handed them back within the week we took them. She made extra help available to anyone who was struggling but also made it clear we should try to figure out the topics on our own. One way that you can support us this year is by making your expectations clear. What’s going to be on a test; what should be written in a paper; the more specific the instructions the better.

I agree with John Green (John Green's video) about our duty to use our education to do great things.

Snuggie http://www.inc.com/ss/smartest-products-decade#7

 I understand that passing algebra may not be what leads a person to make millions of dollars by creating, I don’t know, say, a blanket that has arms, but putting the A in algebra is what makes things like the Snuggie possible. School is where we learn work ethics and how to put our ideas into action, whether it be creating a new vaccine for some up-and-coming disease or a life enhancing coat/robe/blanket that plays an inessential yet crucial role in society. This year, I’m hoping for at least three A’s on my report card. I don’t know what classes those three A’s will be in but I hope there will be at least three of them. For athletics, I hope to have fun doing cross country, improving every week (but mostly just goofing around with my friends). I can achieve these goals by keeping my priorities straight. Which means that, tragically, Netflix and other time-wasters may need to be put on hold until I’m in a good place with my goals. If I can achieve these goals I hope I can do great things, as John Green believes I can.