First, mega-congratulations to the SCS soccer team for the state championship! Now the homework. We've researched the Civil War for several weeks now, and your essays have been excellent. The period of study we're entering now is as essential as any other when it comes to understanding America, yet, being sandwiched between the Civil War and the exciting 20th century, it is often overlooked. Think about it: in a period of 36 years (about as long as your history teacher has been alive) three presidents were assassinated. Can you imagine picking up the pieces after the Civil War? How difficult would it be to put a nation back together after the death and destruction, especially given the untimely death of Lincoln less than a week after the war ended? Still, America, now occupying the land from sea to shining sea, was ready for new challenges.
Blacks were not only set free from slavery, but given citizenship and the right to vote (the men were, anyway). It would take another 100 years before the descendants of the former slaves would be guaranteed their civil rights, however, as hatred, bitterness, and racism gripped the southern culture.
One might think that Americans would be so sick of war that they would have avoided it regardless of the cost, but, of course, that is never the case. No sooner was the Civil War over when Americans turned their attention to the Native Americans who were occupying land in the west that now appeared much more valuable than before. And the US entered the "Age of Imperialism" when we attacked Spain for reasons that now seem a little hard to explain. (When the US Navy defeated the Spanish forces in Manila and seized the Philipines, a surprised President McKinley only had the vaguest notion of where the Philipines are located!).
The first task at hand was Reconstruction. For your assigment this week, please consider the two philosophies concerning the question of the southern states. Presidents Lincoln and Johnson favored restoring rights and property (except slaves, of course) to former Confederates who were willing to take an oath of allegiance to the US. Others (mostly radical northern Republicans who despised Johnson) thought of the southern states as conquored enemies who ought to be used to the North's benefit. Choose one of the following topics and write an essay about it, viewing the issue through both sides of the philosophical divide. Here's the list: The Civil War Amendments (13th-15th), "Carpetbaggers", the founding of Arlington National Cemetery, the Freedman's Bureau, and the Reconstruction Act of 1867. Minimum 200 words, at least 2 responses (total of 150 words). Include your sources.
Here's something for looking ahead. As you know, this class focuses on the history of our country from the Civil War to the present. We should get through the chronological history in plenty of time to focus on some topical history near the end of the school year. I anticipate units on Kentucky history, the Civil Rights movement, and the history of Christianity in America. Good stuff!
I choose Carpetbagger ☺
ReplyDeleteCarpetbagger means to make a bag of carpet that was a cheap way to make or build a suitcase from an old carpet at the beggining it was just used for people that used and grow territory and then moved to a new territory to use it again.
The term Carpetbagger was created by the Southerners to the North people that moved south in 1865-1877.
The Carpetbaggers were people that went to south to help black slaves or whites suffering from war, however alot of Carpetbaggers were rejected by the south people because they thought the Carpetbaggers were there just to get political positions from South or to grow corn or sugar or something in the south and then go back to the north in their originating states. Everybody thought they were just opportunistic people that was trying to exploit land for their benefit and damage people from south.
There was no public school system in the south so many white woman moved south to teach black kids and guys moved south to be reformers.
Many Carpetbaggers were wealthy guys like businessme, editors, lawyers and veterans of the Union Army. Many northern republicans crated public schools and universities they were also taking control of the South railroads.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpetbagger
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpetbagger
Daniel González ☺
Carbetbagger was a name for the Northern after the Civil War. The name Carbetbagger comes from their travel bags, where they carried with them their belongings. The Northern, who came after the American Civil War in the defeated South, wanted to enrich the economy of the south. Many carpetbaggers were interested in supporting freedom and enlightenment of the slaves. Carbetbaggers had influence while working on a new constitution. For example, Robert K. Scott used his superiority of the South Carolina convention to construct the new Constitution of that State under his home state of Ohio. Carpetbaggers were a predominant factor in the deep south, where the black vote would have outnumbered the white. The Carbetbaggers were targets of the Ku Klux Klan because they were resented by many Southerners. Another prominent example of an carpetbagger is Henry C. Warmoth. He was Governour of Louisiana from 1868 to 1874. He supported voting rights for freedmen and led a campaign of violence and intimidation against Republicans. His goal was the restoration of democratic rule and the supremacy of the whites. They ousted the Republicans from office and disrupting the elections with intimidation and violence. The voter turnout among blacks has been greatly reduced. Warmoth remained in Louisiana after reconstruction and after the white Democrats regained political power in the state.
ReplyDeleteI chose to write about the carpet baggers. I thought this was a very interesting topic, well I thought it was interesting because I’ve never heard of that term but I think that it could be cool to learn about and to study. In United States history, "carpetbaggers" was a term Southerners gave to Northerners also called Yankees who moved to the South during the Reconstruction Era between 1865 and 1877. What the term meant was the “newcomers” carried Carpetbags a common form of luggage it was made of repurposed carpet. Together with Republicans they are thought to have politically manipulated and controlled former Confederate states for random periods for their own financial gains. Carpetbaggers were seen as crazy Northern outsiders with weird objectives and messing around in local politics. To me they don’t seem like the most “popular” people to hang out with the kind of seemed as like the “creeps” or outcasts of the bunch. They also took advantage of the Southerners as they took up land and bought it and really used it for no apparent reason. I think this was quite interesting to read about because it was something new to learn and definitely something diverse from what I would normally pick to read about.
ReplyDeletedaniel, i really liked your essay because it was well written and i liked hearing what you thought about it and its even more interesting because your from another country! so good job!
ReplyDeleteAnd Katherina i also liked your essay too because well its great to hear what you think because you too are from another country and i just like to hear what you have to say because since i am an american and you are austrian we have different views on different things and i just liked your essay so Great Job! (:
This week I decide to talk about the Post-Civil War Amendaments.
ReplyDeleteThe first amendament that I want to talk abou is number thirteen; in this amendament the slavery or the involontary servitude aren't except in the United States unless they are prisoners. The Congress approve this law.
The second amendament is number fourteen; This law talk about people that was born in US. The interestin part is about citizens of the United States. Obviously peole that born in US are US citizen. No state have to make a law that can danger a citizen of the United State. I think that it's not obvious, infact in Italy some rules are against the citizen (I don't know why).
The third amendament is number fifteen; the right of a US citizien to vote can't be denied,even if the person has different skin,race or condition of servitude. The Congress approve this low too. I think that's beautiful because so, black people can vote without problem or difficulty.
I don't know why I can't delate my comment.. this is my homework:
ReplyDeleteThis week I decide to talk about the Post-Civil War Amendaments.
The first amendament that I want to talk about is number thirteen; in this amendament the slavery or the involontary servitude aren't except in the United States unless they are prisoners. The Congress approve this law.
The second amendament is number fourteen; This law talk about people that was born in US. The interesting part is about citizens of the United States. Obviously people that born in US are US citizen. No state have to make a law that can danger a citizen of the United State. I think that it's not obvious, infact in Italy some rules are against the citizen (I don't know why).
The third amendament is number fifteen; the right of a US citizien to vote can't be denied,even if the person has different skin,race or condition of servitude. The Congress approve this low too. I think that's beautiful because so, black people can vote without problem or difficulty. The racism is horrible; it's horrible ignore a person because of his color of the skin, race or for his work and I'm so happy that here there isn't! (it's an example President Obama).
Marta Civettini:)
Daniel, I like you're essay about Carpetbaggers, and that you say/tell what kind of jobs they have, so we know where they have all there money from! And the essay is very good english, better than my own haha.
ReplyDeleteIts always cool with another view on how you see it and how I see it..
Good job!
Marta, I also liked you're essay, specially that you also have an example with Obama.
Good english!
Great job!
The Reconstruction Act of 1867 was put into action two years after the end of the Civil War. It was actually a group of four statutes that were passed between 1867 and 1868 by the northern states. Some of the main points of these acts are the creation of five military districts, the requirement of congressional approval for the new constitutions of the readmitted states of the Union, the Confederates giving voting rights to white men, and the requirement of former Confederate states to ratify the fourteenth amendment which granted citizenship and protected former slaves. The military districts allowed more control over the southern states. Congressional approval for the new constitutions prevented the states from creating a loophole that allowed them to succeed. This act also greatly affected the southern states because not only were all the slaves free, but they were also citizens. Imagine being a slave owner who just lost his slaves and now finds out that his slaves are citizens and have the same rights as him. This would probably upset him very much; all his wealth was his slaves, and now he loses all of it to find out that his slaves have as much opportunity as he does.
ReplyDeleteThis week I chose the Reconstruction of 1867 as my topic for my essay. What the Reconstruction of 1867 provided: five military districts in the seceded states, military officials would be in control of the state officials, the freedmen would be registered to vote as well as the whites who took a loyalty oath to the Union, discussion of male black suffrage, and states were required to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment before readmission to the Union. Johnson's vetoes were overridden by Congress. You can see why the Southerners may have disagreed with the Reconstruction of 1867 because they were very restricted by the military. On the other hand, you can see why the Northerners agreed with this plan because it gave them what they had been fighting for: a secured Union and the freedom of black slaves. Abraham and Johnson were in disagreement over this act, but Abraham was ultimately sided with (we would not be the United States we are today if he hadn't been sided with). In addition to the Reconstruction of 1867, there was also the Reconstruction Act March 11, 1868, the Reconstruction Act of 1867: Texas Library, and the Reconstruction Act March 2, 1867.
ReplyDeleteI chose the topic “carpetbaggers” because I really had no what clue they were. Every essay I read on line all of them stated that they were derogatory which means to lessen something or put something lower than what it really is. Carpetbaggers are what the south used to call the north after the civil War or in other words, the reconstruction period. Carpetbaggers were a term for the old luggage back then. So, the people who moved south were called this because the way they portrayed themselves as they moved to the south. The carpetbaggers were not a “positive thing” to people; people didn’t really like them moving onto their home turf. Also, the carpetbaggers who just came from the Civil War were not very welcomed in the area they moved into. One thing that struck my attention and one reason why I think the southerners didn’t like the northerner people moving was because of that. They were northerners and we know already that the southerners were pro-slavery. So, in the outcome the question is did these people who made this move was it a good thing or not? They did play a big role in the things we are learning now and also in the Civil War.
ReplyDeleteLydia: I thought your essay was very informative and I loved how you said the five things it reminded me of Mrs. VanHoose essays. So I think she would like it. Also, I like how you put the positive for the south and for north or at least you said something about both of them.
ReplyDeleteMarta: I loved your essay. I loved your splash of your ideas and ways of thinking in it. I thought your essay had proper information in it and I loved how you put your opinions in the way you think of how it should be done or how it should have been.
Daniel: Your essay was very good. I like how you put all the information in and how or in the order it was in. I also liked how you put the definition of carpetbaggers. That always helps explain it better to people who don’t know what it is.
Lydia, I really like your essay! there are a lot of information in it and we can understand relly well why the Southerners may have disagreed with the Reconstruction of 1867 and why the Northerners agreed with this plan.
ReplyDeleteDaniel, I really like your essay. With this I could understand what is the really meaning of Carpetbagger that I didn't know, so it was really halpfull for me! Thank you!
Bethany, I really like your essay too! It's well done and you explain the different mentality that there are today. Good Job!
(I forgot to put my surces: http://www.cleverley.org/areopagus/docs/usconst/usamend3.html
The Congressional Reconstruction Act of 1867
ReplyDeleteThe Act included 5 main points, to reconstruct the south, enforce the new laws and rebuild the destruction from the war.
1. point:
The states Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Texas and Arkansas were divided into 5 military districts, which were govern by a military leader. The leaders of the district’s were The districts were: 1.Virginia 2.North and South Carolina 3. Georgia, Alabama and Florida 4. Mississippi and Arkansas 5.Louisiana and Texas.
2. point:
The military leader of the districts have the right to punish and suppress disorder and violence. They also can judge criminals. But they are only there until a civilian judgment can be restored.
3. point:
There should not be any cruel punishment and also all executions should be signed by the president. And they also should be careful, not to make any wrong judgment.
4. point:
That also decided to add a new article to the constitution. Article 14, it says: That now member of the government should fight against the constitution or support its enemies.
5. point:
The congress also banned confederate leaders from voting and anyone who did not pledged their elegance to the U.S.
Sources:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_reconstruction_act_of_1867
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstruction_Act
http://www.legislature.state.al.us/misc/history/constitutions/1868/1868enablinginst.html
@Bethany:
ReplyDeleteI think your essay is very interesting, because I am learning some new vocabulary. And it also helps me to understand the relationship between the North and the South better. But I thing a little problem of your essay is, that it is asking more questions then it is answering! Maybe you can answer the question if it was an advantage or a disadvantage next time! I also have a hard time to understand why the Northerners moved to the south, because everything was destroyed and they were hated.
@Marta
I think you wrote a very good essay, there is a lot of interesting stuff in there. I also think that it is interesting that in Italy some laws are against the citizens! I also think that it is great that all the male people could vote, but I also think that you forget to mention that it was not allowed for women’s to vote.
K. Sellmaier:
ReplyDeleteGreat job on your essay! You supplied a lot of useful information. I had heard of Henry C. Warmoth before, at least what he had done and been involved with, but I never knew his name. Again awesome job ��
Bethany:
Great job on your essay! Was it good for the carpetbaggers to move to the South? I believe it was because if the Northerners and the Southeners had never mixed, but stayed seperate I think the Union would have ultimately became different countries.
Catelyn:
ReplyDeleteAwesome job on your essay! You were very informative and wrote it so it made a lot of sense. I like that you included the feelings of the prier slave owners l. Again great job!
Amanda:
Great job on your essay! Carpetbaggers was a popular topic this week, but yours stood out from the crowd. It was very informative.
K. Sellmaier:
ReplyDeleteGreat job on your essay! You talked about a lot of useful information. I have never known the things you talked about. So it is really nice to learn something new. I like it a lot. Good one. Awesome job.
Bethany:
You did a great job on your essay! The carpetbaggers are very interesting. I like it a lot. And I have never heard of it either. So it is good to let us learn about it, and know some new stuff. The reason that southerners do not like northerners, it is very interesting. Good job! I like it a lot! Nice one!
Lydia,
I do like yours. There is a lot of good information in your essay. It is really good I actually get to learn those from your essay. It is really nice. I like it a lot. You did a good job on your essay!
This week, I’m going to write about the “carpetbaggers”. I have never heard of the word “carpetbaggers”, it is a strange word to me, but I think it will be interesting, so that is why I chose it. During the civil war Reconstruction Period (1865-1870) a lot of people for the Northern States went south because they were so poor and there are many opportunities for a person to make money in south, even a little money. So South people called them “carpetbaggers”.
ReplyDelete“Carpet bags” was a common word for “luggage” that time. It is really interesting to learn that. And people, they moved from North to South, they carried a lot of luggage, so that’s why South people called them “carpetbaggers”. In sum, carpetbaggers were seen as insidious Northern outsiders with questionable objectives meddling in local politics, buying up plantations at fire-sale prices and taking advantage of Southerners. The term “carpetbaggers” was also used to describe the Republican political appointees. It’s not only to describe the Northerners moving for jobs, but also the other kind of people. They came to South, arriving with their “carpet bags” for traveling. Southerners considered them ready to loot and plunder the defeated South.
For my essay I will talk about the carpetbaggers because I didn’t know what it was. The term “Carpetbaggers” comes from the cheap bags that the travelers used to carry their goods. This was the way that Southerners picked out Northern travelers during the Civil War. Southerners saw them as trying to gain political control and were ready to loot and plunder the South. Many carpetbaggers were wealthy. They purchased or leased plantations then hired freedmen to do the labor. They had a vision of upgrading the Southern economy and society with railroads, factories and efficient farming without slaves. They also promoted public school, colleges and universities. The South did not have public schools because Southerners sent their kids to private schools. Northern women who moved to the South taught freed slaves how to read and write. Northerners helped many free slaves get jobs. Basically, the North helped reconstruct the South, but the South saw the North only gaining political control and wealth.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpetbagger
http://www.thecarpetbagger.com/history.htm
For my assignment I decided to write about the civil war amendments. They where three amendments added to the Constitution that gave black people full rights as citizens. The first part of this was the thirteenth amendment, this amendment made slavery illegal in the United Sates. But the thirteenth amendment did not guarantee blacks equal rights of even the right to vote, it was because of this that the Congress passed the fourteenth amendment. It was this amendment that gave black people full rights as American citizens and the right to vote, even though many states found ways around this to make sure that back people would not vote (like not tell them when the elections where). The fifteenth amendment said that states could not discriminate against race in elections; black people had to be able to vote.
ReplyDeleteThese amendments helped heal our nation but they did not help it all the way. It would take almost 100 years to heal our nation from these wounds of slavery and in a way they are still there. I don’t think the consequences of this will ever go away completely it will always be something we are working on to fix and make right.
Catelyn,
ReplyDeleteI liked your essay. I liked the analogy of a slave owner finding out his slave had as much freedom as he did. Good job.
Bethany,
I liked the explanation of the “carpetbaggers.” I had absolutely no idea what a carpetbagger was. I really learned a lot from your essay, good job
Daniel,
Your essay was very informative and straight forward. I liked how you mentioned that the carpetbaggers where not well liked in the south.
Founding of Arlington National Cemetery:
ReplyDeleteThis cemetery is the official resting place of close to 250,000 military heros. Sitting on this land is a mansion... known as the Arlington house. This house was originally intended to me a memorial for George Washington,built by his adopted grandson George Washington Parke Custis. Eventually the whole cemetery thought was thrown into actions and now the graves literally surround the mansion. As a matter of fact around this time 11 years ago on October 12, 2000 the USS Cole docked to fuel up when a small boat pulled up beside them killing 17 sailors and injuring many others... Three of the sailors killed that day were laid to rest right beside each other in Arlington. Not only is this cemetery worthy of the utmost respect but it is also very beautiful and breath taking. One section of the cemetery I find worth pointing out is the section for women. The Women's Memorial is a unique living memorial honoring all military women past present and future.It has women from all eras of militaristic history... Arlington definitely a monument worthy of commenting about, I just find it very interesting that this world known cemetery all started as a monument to George Washington.
Works Cited:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/
http://www.womensmemorial.org/
Bethany,
ReplyDeleteGreat Job on your SA. It was really good and informative. I liked the way you laid everything out and I like the way you made the point that the decisions they made them have a huge affect in what we learn today... They say history tends to repeat itself so knowing what happened back then might help us to know what to avoid now in the future.
Amanda,
Really good job on your SA. I like how you discussed your opinion on the possible lack of popularity for the carpetbaggers. It really makes me wonder is popularity is just another one of those things that remains the same throughout the years. Judgmental and overly opinionated people have always existed but it makes me wonder what the carpetbaggers were really like.
I chose to write about the Reconstruction act of 1867 for my essay this week. After the Civil War was over the Reconstruction Act, a four point act was passed to do different things within the southern states. after being passed it really upset some of the southern people. The four parts to the Reconstruction Act of 1867 include: five military disticts in the seceded states, Many of the military men would be over the state officials, the former slave men would be considered registered voters like the regular white men, and the fourtenth amendment would be recognized by all states. The Southern states were not happy with the way this put a limit on their government and how just a few years before blacks were not considered people and were just property but now the were equal to all other men and had the right to vote. To us this seems like nothing but their was already hatred for the lose of the civil war and now they have to sccept the fact that all men ARE equal and follow by it. The Northernes who had just fought so hard against slavery gave them a chance to actually put this into affect. I feel like they had the right to pass this specific act especially since they were the ones who won the war and let them off so easy in the end.
ReplyDeleteJessi: Nice essay! I've actually been to the Arlington National Cemetary. Its a very pwerful place and it really gives you an idea of exactly how many men have died for our country. It really as you said "breathtaking". Its amazing how uniform everything is. Anyways, good job.
ReplyDeletePatricia: I actually have never heard of a carpetbagger or what it is. Thats a very interesting that the picked notherners out like that. Its funny how the North was doing good thing but the south only saw it negativily. seems a little ignorant to me. Good job.