Social Studies

— Leave a comment

Journal of a revolutionary war slave. By Krishna Kumar

They promise victory. Say they’ll give us freedom. But we have to fight. Fight our brothers. Why should we? Kill in the name of our freedom? Well some think that it is worth it. Five more of my friends have joined the British. I am torn between doing what I think is right, and what I believe would have the best benefit to me. I must say though, if my owner asked me to fight, I will fight for the British for he does not offer something as tempting as freedom. But then again, the continental congress army is using a strange new tactic that the British are said to be defenseless against. Hiding like cowards is all I could find out. But once again I find myself weighing human lives against my own benifit. I have to remind myself of the fact that killing is wrong, and that I should not let a large bribe get the best of me. Resources: http://declaringamerica.com/paine-african-slavery-in-america-1775/

Declaration of Independence Interpretation. (runaway letter)

When it comes time to break away from this family, and attain the joy of independence, it only seem appropriate that I give reasons to explain what has caused this separation of me and you all. I believe it is quite obvious that all children are and should be treated equally, that we are given the same rights at birth including life, joy, and social freedom. It is the job of parents, to secure these rights, gaining their powers from consent of us children. Whenever any parent chooses to become destructive of these ends, it is the right of us children to alter the system or abolish any set off rules set by the parents, and to create new one in place of them. In the past, my parents have caused me pain and intruded in my personal space, proving to be cruel. To enforce this statement, I shall write facts in a frank manner showing that you have refused to take actions for my own good.

During all of this time, I have politely asked for things to change, but the only thing that is to come of my efforts is an exacerbation of our already bad relationship. And since you both have in every one of these actions shown cruelty, I deem you unfit to be my parents. I therefore have run away from home. Now gaining my well deserved freedom.

Arthur Williams

Meriwether Lewis journal entry. (Lewis & Clack expedition summery)

Dear diary, I have finally made it back from my long journey. Because of my extensive previous entries, I shall try to keep this long lasting story short and concise. I received a letter from President Jefferson asking me to explore the new land. He asked that we try to find a route to the Pacific Ocean and that we interact with the native tribes along the way. To understand multiple attributes of their lives including possession, other tribal relations, languages, traditions, monuments, agriculture, hunting, war tactics, fishing, arts, food, clothing, local diseases and their remedies for it, differences between the tribes, laws they have, and items they might need. Although it wasn’t the most important objective of this expedition, interacting with the native certainly played a great role in our journey. I remember the Shoshone Indians providing us with horses to help us cross the mountains, and the Mandan Indians who graciously helped us through a tough winter. We were also instructed to survey the land along with the animals and vegetation. We were expected to note down the soil, minerals, mineral waters, the temperature of the mineral water or factors that might indicate the minerals’ characteristics , temperature, rainy days, cloudy days, clear skies, lightning, hail, snow, ice, and any new species of plants and animals, especially those deemed endangered or that can be grown as food. I remember seeing the terrible grizzly bear which were extremely hard to kill, and the beautiful Blue Camas throughout the trip.

Meriwether Lewis

Trail of tears poem

Our hearts frozen
for they were put in the cold
We are sickened by
the White man’s hold

They force us into
conditions so cruel
We cry in the time
of Jackson’s rule

But we hope we can find
the meaning to be man
and make peace between the nations
we know we can

For now we wait
for the months maybe years
we will not forget
the trail of tears

Native American Essay

In the common childrens game, Cowboys and Indians, the Indians are typically envisioned as men covered in eagle feathers with a bows and arrows. ut not all were like that. In the days prior to European colonization, Native Americans had settled in the Americas. They were forced to adapt to new conditions while coming out of the latest ice age and rapidly rising temperatures, melting ice, and extinction of many species. The different environments caused there to be similarities and differences in the Natives’ way of life. So if feathery headdresses weren’t the norm, what are some common threads that the tribes presented?

The feathers has already been established as not something that is consistent throughout all Native Americans. So then what is? The most consistent trait in the American Indians’ lifestyles is that most of them hunted and farmed, proving themselves successful hunters and gatherers, for many of the Natives had meals consisting of both meats and various crops. Many of them also lived near the sea and experienced cold winters. The ocean and winters had large contributions to the food the tribes ate and the clothes they wore. It also affected games they played and what they did when not collecting food. Now that you know about the similarities, you might be wondering about the differences.

The similarities were quite vague and overall generalizations, but once you get into the details, you start to see differences. Different tribes relied on different types of meat. some on small animals, like rabbits, and other hunted larger animals, like bison. Some hunted physically, and some set traps. Some ate seafood, others ate landfood. Over all the differences revolve around the game they typically hunted and the climate of the region in which they live.

The regions in which the Native Americans lived, played a great role in their lifestyles. It is what created the similarities and differences that you now know. Just as the environment can create species that are not the same but have similarities, the environment affected the Indians, and changed they way they lived their lives. It does yours too.

Immigration Reform Reveiw

Immigration to the North America since the year 1000 when the Vikings first set adrift from their homeland. With a low birth rate, the United States population was kept stable by a large number of incoming immigrants. But now, immigration laws meant to keep illegal aliens out of the country, are making it harder for migrating families.

The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) passed in 1952, reorganized the structure of immigration laws. One of the laws it implements, is one that states that when a child or many children are adopted from a different country, the parents or guardian has to have documents showing the country and date of birth and that the child is in the United States legally. But in the past few years, adopters have been required to have many other legal documents that together can show that the child can be in the country and the child’s birthday. The extra document is not needed and is a waste of time and money.

Some say that the document is needed because the birthplace. The child can not become president and that document proves there are other applications that might require a certificate showing what place they were born.

This argument can be countered though because not all of them will run for president. The child can also just state their place of birth instead of showing a certificate. The purpose of the document just doesn’t apply to today.

Manifest Destiny

An old saying says that history is written by the victors. If Voldemort had won, would Harry be the ‘bad guy’? If Hitler won the war, would our society today hate jews? From our fictional stories, to our modern day situations, there has always been another side. Another perspective that many might refuse to look at. In the nineteenth century, Americans started the westward expansion later to be called the Manifest Destiny, or obvious fate. Often regarded as some amazing state of being that we were destined to have, the common belief is that it was a ‘good thing’. The ‘bad guy’ perspective of these series of events is what I hope to show you in this passage. This is why, instead of destiny, some might call it ethnocide.

According to merriam-webster.com, an online encyclopedia and dictionary, ethnocide is a deliberate and systematic destruction of an ethnic group or race. In one case, Native Americans. During the westward expansion, many Natives were rounded up and marched westward into new territory so white setters could build lives on the land that they were previously occupying. Thousands died on that march. That March that would later be called The Trail of Tears. The Indians were moved to less fertile land and in great quantities. Although this was under the guise of just relocating them, it was very unlikely that any of them would survive.

One more ethnic group that was greatly impacted by our expansion to the west were the Mexicans. During the Mexican American War, many Mexicans were killed to gain land. We continued to repetitively declare war on Mexico and fought many battles. Instead of peacefully buying the land we killed over 17 thousand people according to the article ‘Mexican American War’ by Kennedy Hickman. If we had continued on that path, we may have slowly destroyed people of that ethnicity. Which brings me back to the definition of ethnocide; the systematic destruction of an ethnic group or race. Declaring war is definitely deliberate.

A counter argument to this is that neither Native American nor Mexicans completely died out. In the end they both survived. But that is not what we are looking at. The definition of Ethnocide involves the destruction of an ethnic group. Although Native Americans still live today, their culture is in a weak state. Their society is barely kept going on Indian reservations.

From our fictional stories, to our modern day situations, there has always been another side. Another perspective that many might refuse to look at. The Westward Expansion was not an obvious fate for everyone. Often regarded as some amazing state of being that we were destined to have, the common belief is that it was a ‘good thing’. The ‘bad guy’ perspective of these series of events is what hope I have shown you in this passage. This is why, instead of destiny, some might call it ethnocide.

US Government Constitutional Essay

Two hundred and twenty one years; that is how long the Constitution has been around to protect our country. But is it always protecting us? Today there are many that question whether the Constitution really is protecting us as it was meant to, or if our rights have been slowly taken away. The statement “Over the one hundred years, the Supreme Court has wrongly placed an increasing amount of restrictions and limitations on the First Amendment’s right to Freedom of Speech.” lacks sufficient factual support, for the Justices not only perform their duties with the Constitution’s spirit, but many newspaper accusations are biased and wrongly suggest misuse of the condition of peace within our First Amendment.

One example supporting the upholding of the Bill of Rights by the Judicial System is a statement from a member of the court itself. During the Adamson versus California case, Supreme Court Justice Hugo L. Black wrote, “In my judgment the people of no nation can lose their liberty so long as a Bill of Rights like ours survives and its basic purposes are conscientiously interpreted, enforced and respected so as to afford continuous protection against old, as well as new, devices and practices which might thwart those purposes.” Mr. Black voted with the dissent of this case that questioned whether the rights from the 14th Amendment’s due process clause caries from the Fifth Amendment. Not only did he feel that the freedoms within the Bill of Rights should be carried out, he was the first Justice to write a decent. This demonstrates the firm belief held by the highest members of our Judicial Branch, in not only the literal meaning of the law but also in the spirit it represents. However this, coming from a Supreme Court Justice, could be very biased towards the courts rightfully placing the correct restrictions. Looking at other examples is crucial to avoid this bias.

Examining an alternate opinion the, following quote from a newspaper editorial calls into question the extent of restraint that the Supreme Court should impose on free speech. “The much-misconstrued statement of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes that free speech does not give you the right to shout fire in a crowded theater is now being used to curtail speech that might provoke a violence-prone minority. Our entire society is being treated as a crowded theater, and talking about whole subjects is now akin to shouting ‘fire!’” The quote shows the belief that our Judicial System is trying to hush up any talk about whole subjects by making an analogy to a previous situation that resulted in a violent panic. The verbal irony used exploits an empathic understanding within the reader that often results in a premature assumption. The editorial written by Jonathan Turley, highlights the primary argument against the manner in which the Supreme Court is interpreting the Constitution and tries to persuade the reader of its belief. The bias against heeding the clause of peace is evident within this text. For a just evaluation, the text being analysed should be devoid of subjective inclinations.

The Constitution itself has no bias. Its writers, our founding fathers, who had just endured the stress of a war, had already incorporated the reasonable condition of peace into its free speech clause. The First Amendment is as follows: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” The Justices of the Supreme Court, in the process of carrying out their duties of upholding the Constitution holistically both in letter and spirit, take into account the condition of peacefulness while evaluating cases concerning the right to free speech. Claiming that the Supreme Court has wrongly placed limitations and restrictions on our freedom of speech is an incorrect accusation for the Justices have to uphold the spirit of the law as indented by its authors.

Some may believe that the Supreme Court has wrongfully applied restrictions and limitations on our freedom of speech. This claim, though, lacks the evidence from within the Constitution that would be needed to support its validity; The Justices of the Supreme Court have shown interest in upholding the meaning within the Bill of Rights; Accusations come from invalid and bias sources; And the First Amendment does entitle them to apply the restrictions of peace. With a Constitution that has held strong for so many years, we can be sure that our rights and freedoms are protected.