Electoral College

I believe that the Electoral College, the way it is today, doesn't work for our country. For example, when Bush was elected, he had lost the popular vote. The electoral college votes put him in office. The electoral college should be changed so that things like that don't happen again. Only two states in the entire country can split their electoral votes and they are Maine and Nebraska. Neither have ever done it. I think that all states would be able to split their votes by percentage. Basically, minority parties in a state may actually have a chance in the election. For example, Massachusetts is and has always been liberal democrats. A republican in our state wouldn't have a say. No matter what, in the system the way it is, their voices would never be heard. Also more than eleven or twelve states should decide who the winner is. A major pro to the electoral college is that there is a lesser chance of a miscount. If we did voting by popular vote, miscounts could be easily done. I think that if we fixed the problems with the electoral college, more people would be happy with it. Not everyone will be happy, but it's impossible to make everyone happy. We can at least make a majority of our country like the system we use to elect our president.

American Revolution

In 1774, the Continental Congress passed a declaration to arm themselves and sent a petition to then king. The king doesn't get word of this until February of 1775. Parliament sent 1,000 more troops to the colonies in response. On April 19, 1775, the British sent soldiers to capture arms in Concord and Lexington. The American Militia meets the British there. A shot was fired which was named "the shot heard 'round the world." The colonists fired the first shot but no one knows the person who fired. 269 British soldiers were either dead or wounded.

In May of 1775, a second Continental Congress meeting was called as an emergency meeting. Congress formed the national army. George Washington was nominated as the General. The only problem with him was that he had never commanded a successful operation. It must have been nerve racking for the colonists to have him as their leader.

The British burned down the whole town of Charlestown. The first major battle of the American Revolution was The Battle at Bunker Hill. The British take Bunker Hill but the Americans consider it a victory because of the amount of British casualties. The Americans had slave troops. If slaves signed up to fight, they would be given their freedom afterwards.

Colonists urged the Continental Congress to send a second petition to the king. The Olive Branch Petition was the last attempt to stop the fighting. The king never even read the petition so the fighting didn't stop until the end of the war. Adams was in the Revolution, and he saw that it would transform America, which it did in the long run.

American Revolution 2

The Colonists and the British had major problems with each other. Therefore the the American Revolution broke out. The colonists pulled down the statue of the King of England and put the head on a stake. Naturally he did not like that too much. He sent 30,000 troops to fill Boston Harbour. It was the largest sea-borne attack in history. It was a war against the Mother country and it's daughter.


The Howe brothers run the British military and the American military was run by George Washington. The war started in the northern colonies (New York) and then moved south. Washington met with the British General for peace but he refused. The Americans wouldn't give up that easily. They did not want to back down and let the British win. So, the British had to stay in the colonies. They had to wait two months just to get supplies from Britain.


The British did horrible things while they were in the colonies, which spanned a seven year period. They used to wait for American women to walk by them and they would take advantage of them. No wonder why the colonists would not let these people win the war. American soldiers came from every colony. They tried to unite to beat a common enemy, the British. The Americans were getting slaughtered by the British and the Germans that fought with the British. Because the French didn't like the British either, they decided to help the Americans. It's a good thing they did because the colonists didn't have a chance without them.


The British targeted Brooklyn first. 15,000 troops landed on Long Island and the Americans were out numbered 2:1. They fired at very close range during this battle. The Americans held higher ground but they had no organization at all. Not like the British. The British surrounded the Colonists on all sides and so they fled. The British obviously won the battle of New York. The Americans started using Gorilla Warfare. They still were losing. By December of 1776, the British had taken New Jersey as well. The British eventually took all of New England under its control.


British started to head south. They befriend the Iroquois Indians for directional purposes. Americans resorted to knocking down trees and making obstacles so it was harder for the British to pass and sniping them out of trees.

American Revolution

http://docs.google.com/View?id=dggft9gp_7cx3bmmgk

Oliver Branch Petition

The Olive Branch Petition was a document written to send to the King of England to assert the rights of the colonists. While doing this, they suck up to the King which could have been taken offensively. Multiple times throughout the document, they refer to themselves as "faithful subjects." The colonists are basically asking for peace and to become more independent. They also say a few times that in the long run it will help both the colonists and Britain. They are arguing that they are being treated like children and they don't like the taxes being thrust upon them. The colonists blame the soldiers for everything that had happened between them and Britain. Also, at one point, they even bring up God in the argument. They colonists hit every point they could to appeal to the king and get their argument across. If I was the King and read this, I think I definitely would take it into offense. This is because the colonists think that I would really give into their demands because they called themselves faithful and sucked up to me. If they thought I was that dumb I would obviously never let them have anything they wanted and argued for in the document. I think this document is not very important because it did not change anything and the king never read it. The only important thing I found in the document was that the colonists called themselves still loyal to the king after all that he had done to them.

Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party, and Intolerable Acts

BOSTON MASSACRE

During the Boston Massacre neither the British or the colonists were justified. Both were wrong in their actions and the Boston Massacre's severity could have been avoided. Lives could have been spared if things were done a little differently. My reasoning behind this decision is that both sides did things to provoke the opposite side. The British put acts and taxes on the colonists that they didn't think were fair so they didn't abide by them. That agitated the British even more than they were. The British treated the colonists like they were an extension of Britain, when in reality they went to the New World to get their own country and live by their own rules. It was wrong for the British to treat the colonists like children by taking away their rights and basically some of their freedom. The colonists did things to provoke the British as well. They treated the British soldiers as the lowest rank in society. Not only did they verbally abuse them but they actually threw stones and snowballs at them. They also hit them with clubs. The colonists were wrong in the way they treated the British. The night of the actual massacre, the colonists were abusing the British like normal and they finally cracked. When the shots were fired it was partially in self defense, but the colonists fought back in self defense as well. So one thing led to another and 5 people were killed in something that could have been avoided if they had just stopped pushing each other's buttons.

BOSTON TEA PARTY

During the Boston Tea Party, the colonists were justified in their actions against the British. The British were unfairly taxing the colonists on everything they could think of. The colonists decided they could live without some of the things the British were taxing. So the king and Parliament put a small tax on tea from India. The tea was cheaper even with the tax than the tea they normally bought. But that wasn't the point. The point was that the colonists were still being taxed. The governor of MA said to the colonists that the tea shipped in would be sold. The colonists refused to buy it and so to get rid of the unfairly taxed but cheap tea, they could only think of one thing to do so they wouldn't give in to the British; and that was to dump the tea on to the docks and let the tide take it away into the harbor. This act was not violent and didn't destruct and British property except for a lock which was then replaced. It's not like they destroyed ships and killed millions of troops. The colonists didn't want to give in to the British and be taxed and become puppets to Parliament. I think they were right ultimately because they kept their beliefs and dealt with them in a nonviolent way as if to tell the British government that they had a mind of their own.

INTOLERABLE ACTS

Again, I think the colonists were justified. Britain really had no good reason to put these harsh laws in order in the colony of MA. One of the laws was that Boston Port would be closed. That port is needed for supplies. Colonists need supplies from other places to survive in their communities. Another was that the King would appoint the governor. The colonists should have been able to choose their own leader because they had to live under and listen to him. Why should the King choose if he is not living there to deal with the person? The answer is he shouldn't. Only one town meeting could be held a year and it was to elect officials. Towns need to communicate to survive. If they don't, they will fall apart. These acts made the colonists angry and anxious. This added to their fury against their mother country. This added to the start of the American Revolution.

News During The French and Indian War

Newspapers during The French and Indian War played a major role in colonial life. The number of newspapers skyrocketed 73% from their original numbers. Colonists learned that they could not live without knowing what was going on in the War. The newspapers gave them vital information about everything from fallen soldiers, battle descriptions, surrenders, enemy atrocities and so on. They also denounced the enemy in the papers. People wrote letters to soldiers too. News reporting was accurate from the colonists side of the story, not so much from the French and Indian side though. The primary stories in the newspapers were all about the war.

Join Or Die Cartoon

Why did Franklin believe that the French were going to win the war?

Franklin believed that the French were going to win the war because the colonies were disunited from each other. Each colony had its own governor and refused to become one empire. Also because there was a pretty big distance between Britain and the colonies so it was hard to get orders across to them. Another reason was that the French was one unified force whereas the British and colonists were split and it was hard to get all the parts together to make a plan.

What actions did Franklin state the French & Indians were taking towards the British / Colonists?

He stated that they were murdering and scalping the colonists and they were so terrified that they were abandoning their land and plantations. Also the Indians were taking the Fort. The French and Indians took British land as they wanted which they were permitted to do. Essentially, they are bullying the colonists and British out of their land.

ANALYSIS AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Why was the cartoon created?

The cartoon was created so that the colonies would know that they would work better together than apart. If they fight the French and Indians apart like they were, they were sure to lose. But if they had united together, they might have had a chance to win.

What is the symbolic meaning of the cartoon?

One idea of the symbolism with Franklin using the snake is that the colonies were very narrow and so it a snake's body. Each segment represents a region or a colony within the thirteen. The division of the colonies are a representation of how they were "divided over the war."

Why are there only 8 colonies included?

Only eight colonies were included because the territory of New England was counted as one united colony. The New England colonies worked together so they were counted as one.

How else was the cartoon used?

The cartoon was used and published at many times. It was used throughout the American Revolution and worked well because the colonies were split on that issue as well. Most of the time it was used, it was changed and redrawn and the meaning was changed just a little bit. It was also used in the Civil War and there were two versions. One for the Confederacy and one for the Union.


What is the message Franklin is trying to express in the cartoon?

He is trying to express that unless the colonists band together and become one united country, they were going to lose the French and Indian War. He knew that if they were separated they would have no chance of survival. The quote "United we stand, divided we fall" comes to mind when I think of what Benjamin Franklin was trying to convey to the colonists.

How has Franklin's message changed over time?

Franklin's message was changed because people took it differently than he had wished. His original moral was that "that the Colonies may be ruined, but that Britain would thereby be maimed." From that cartoon, people could have though that it meant that the colonies would break away from Britain if they fought them. Over time it could have been changed and used during the American Revolution.

Slavery

In 1619 the first Africans were brought to the New World by the Dutch. They were traded for food. Originally they were used as indentured servants and so were English people. Indentured servants were by race. Anyone could be a servant. They worked off their debt to the person that brought them to the New World. As the labor started to get harder, people didn't want to work. That's when slavery began. The first Africans were protected by Christianity and could not become slaves. Slaves could be of any race. In 1640, three servants run away. 2 were white and one was African. The white servants got years added on to their contracts. The African got a life sentence as a slave. In a short period of time slavery had shifted from non-Christians to non-whites.

People started buying a male slave and a female slave so they could bear children and the master would inherit them as slaves. If you were born into a slave family, you were automatically a slave. Free African servants could become slaves as well. No one knew you were free. They could just go up to someone and be like "I want to sell my slave" and you would be sold. The English made the Africans slaves because they were easy to identify.

Massachusetts was the first state to recognize slavery as being legal in 1641. Connecticut recognized it in 1650, Virginia in 1661, Maryland in 1663,and New York and New Jersey in 1664.

Slaves were treated very different than everyone else. If a slave owner killed a slave, it was legal because a slave was considered property. Government doesn't care what you do with your property so it didn't matter to them. In 1691 a law was passed that if was illegal to free a black slave.

In the short time between indentured servants of every race, to slaves, to black slaves, a lot of people's views were changed. Still to this day, some people look down on black people and how they were slaves. Some people are still so racists as to think that we should still have slaves.

French and Indian War Blog

1. What events occurred prior to the war that increased tensions between the British and the colonists?
Prior to the war, a couple events occurred to make tensions high between the British and the colonists. One was that the British tried to use the Navigation Acts to stop trade between the colonies and any other place but themselves. The colonists were angry because the English were charging a higher price for their products and they had no choice but to buy them. When the colonists went against these acts, the king took away their charter, making it under total power. This turned the Northern Colonies into the Dominion of New England which didn't sit well. They were no longer independent. A governor was placed in control and they were strict ad persecuted anyone who didn't follow the acts.

2. What problems were created by the war: political and economic
There were a couple political problems caused by the war. One was that the same piece of land was promised to two different parties. They fought over them and that's what started the war. Because the British got the land, the Indians and French have grudges and will probably seek revenge. They are not happy with the colonists and tensions are high with them. Economically Britain and the colonies are struggling. Britain has the largest debt nationally and no way to pay for it. The put some acts to use and tax the colonists are basically everything. The colonists don't like it and tensions are high between them as well.

3. What of the outcome had been different?
I think that if the outcome was different and the French and Indians won the war, things would still be about the same. Britain would still have a huge debt and tax the colonists and they would be angry and thinking about rebelling. Also I think that tensions would still be high between the French, Indians, and British. This is because Britain and the colonists would be mad that they didn't get the land and hold a grudge. Just like the French and Indians did.

Themes of Early Colonial Time

There were many themes in the early colonial time period. One was religion. The colonists left England so they could have religious freedom and when they got to the New World, people like John Winthrop took that away from them. He wanted the people to practice religion just like he did. If they didn't, he kicked them out just like Anne Hutchinson.

Exploitation was another prominent theme. The English settlers exploited the Indians. They gave them alcohol to leave them helpless while they took their land. Also they brought them to trial and killed a lot of them unfairly.

Conflict came up a lot as well. Whenever it was, the natives were almost always fighting with the English. They had wars, fought over land, fought over crime, and many other things too. Also, the English had conflict between themselves. They fought about religion and land and power.

I think that these were the three most important themes. Some others include money, greed, perfection, power,equality, and inequality.

I also think that the activity on Twitter was very useful to our classroom discussion. If we were just to talk in class i don't think everyone would have said what was on their mind to everyone else. I definitely know that I felt more comfortable talking through Twitter than I would've in the classroom. We should do more discussions like this throughout the year.

Middle Colonies Newspaper Project

Anne Hutchinson

The Massachusetts Bay Colony was meant to be a role model for future settlements in the New World. John Winthrop made a speech to the settlers before they even landed. He explained to them that they would be a "city upon a hill." They would be everything that every other settlement would want to be.

John Winthrop's vision of the colony was to have it be perfect in the eyes of others. He wanted it to be a "city upon a hill" and a role model. He wanted people to want to live there because it was so great. John wanted other settlements to model themselves after the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He wanted the settlers to not mess up or God would plague and punish them.

Mr. John Winthrop was very much against Mrs. Hutchinson. He believed that she should be kicked out of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He thought that she was disrupting their society by teaching religion different than the Reverends. Winthrop thought that she should stop having men and women come into her home and have meetings and teaching. He also thinks that she is not qualified to do the teachings of the Lord. Another reason John wanted her out was that she was claiming that she spoke directly to the Lord. Dept. Gov. Th. Dudley said that religious dissension in MA was caused by Anne and that she was threatening the colony's very existence. The Reverends were claiming that Anne criticized other ministers for teaching a covenant of works and claimed they were unfit to give spiritual leadership.

The Massachusetts Bay Colony became hypocritical when they kicked Anne Hutchinson out. When the settlers went to the New World, they expected to have religious freedom. That was also the reason why they left England. John Winthrop and others took that right away and made them practice a covenant of works and they could not practice with Anne or anyone else that did not teach that way.

Bacon's Rebellion

Governor Berkeley only thought of the plantation owners and the rich colonists. He never helped out the poorer colonists. When Nathaniel Bacon decided to go to Berkeley about funding a war, he was shot down. Berkeley would not fund the war to help the poor colonists. Against the Governor's orders, Bacon led a group of people to fight the Indians.
During Bacon's Rebellion, the colonists set fore to the town of Jamestown. Berkeley left by ship with other plantation owners. Bacon and his army entered an alliance with the Occaneechee Indians because they were enemies with the Susquehannock as well. After torturing them, Bacon turned on the Occaneechee Indians and killed and tourtured them too.
Bacon was known as a hero to the poor colonists after he led this rebellion.