Gettysburg

Last week, we talked about the Civil war. To go more in depth, the Battle of Gettysburg and the Battle of Cold harbor. Today I will write about the battle of Gettysburg. We talked about how Gettysburg was probably one of the most decisive battles in the Civil War. I was wondering, why they would continue the war for months after? Wouldn't it only deplete supplies until the South would be left with nothing? The most decisive battles took place on little and big round top, and Culp's, and Cemetery Hill. The battle between little and big round top, took place in the area between, the Devil's Dens, also the valley of death. This battle, protected the Union army, from being destroyed by the sides. The leader of the Union army part, was Colonel Joshua Chamberlain. Wouldn't he get more recognition than that which was given? It seemed like his part in the battle was a bit underestimated. The battle on Culp's Hill took place on the last day. The tactics were important, to make sure that the Union Army won. I was wondering, why would General Lee keep trying to send troops through an open field even when his forces were depleted? Wouldn't it be better to recognize the failure and change the strategy to match the situation?  

Lowell Mill girls

I already wrote about this week topic last week so this is last week topic, we read about the Lowell Mill girls for homework. In both of the letters, the girls seemed to have a similar ideal liberty. The right to work and earn money. Even in the short story, a week at the mill, the girls seemed happy to work at the mill even though it would have been hard to work that long with under wage. According to, a week at the mill, most of the girls were from the country, which was the reason why they wanted to work. It said that they wanted to work for more clothes and things of that area. I was wondering, why didn't they work for money instead? Wouldn’t it be better, so they could help their families more? Another question that I have is, did they get compensation for injuries? Did their families get compensation if they died working at the mill? In any case, were injuries even common while working with the machines? Like with hands and fingers in the sewing machines probably. The girls probably went there because they wanted to also break social norms. Like how girls are supposed to not work in that time, at least not that much. My last question is, did they also work on Saturdays, because it only talked about having Sunday off.

Boston Tea Party

Boston Tea Party

If we examine the Boston Tea Party and England's reaction to it, we will find mistakes the Crown made that we're in a position to avoid now. Like Great Britain in the late 18th century, our federal government today is big, militant, and expensive to run. Consistent with old England, it serves as the armed partner of select businesses and groups, whose welfare is useful to the political status quot. Like our former mother country, American politicians today consider the injustices they create as necessary sacrifices for the good of the state, while refusing to acknowledge any wrongdoing. On the contrary, everything the state does is in the name of more freedom and justice. The English were shocked and hurt. Their beloved Tea Act was supposed to solve problems, not inflame them. By virtue of the bill, the near-bankrupt East India Company won a monopoly to export tea to the colonies, while the Crown would collect a small duty on the transactions, and the colonists would get their tea cheaper even than the smugglers' brew.

Was Civil War Really About Slavery

Civil War

During the last few days, I've asked several thousand teachers and Students for the main reason the South seceded. They always come up with four alternatives: states’ rights, slavery, tariffs and taxes or the election of Lincoln. When I ask them to vote, the results, and resulting discussions convince me that no part of our history gets more mythologized than the Civil War, beginning with secession. My informal polls show that 55 to 75 percent of teachers, regardless of region or race, cite states’ rights as the key reason southern states seceded. These conclusions are backed up by a 2011 Pew Research Center poll, which found that a wide plurality of Americans, 48 percent believe that states’ rights was the main cause of the Civil War. Fewer, 38 percent, attributed the war to slavery, while 9 percent said it was a mixture of both. These results are alarming because they are essentially wrong. States’ rights was not the main cause of the Civil War, slavery was. The issue is critically important for teachers to see clearly. Understanding why the Civil War began informs virtually all the attitudes about race that we wrestle with today. The distorted emphasis on states’ rights separates us from the role of slavery and allows us to deny the notions of white supremacy that fostered secession. In short, this issue is a perfect example of what Faulkner meant when he said the past is not dead it’s not even past.