Thursday, February 14, 2013

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

2/12/13

Today in class we worked on our rough draft for the Animate project recording. I was pretty satisfied when at the end of the class the drawing/writing filled up the entire page. I had drawn up a rough draft that seemed to be pretty successful to the rest of the group members (although some agreed my drawing of a member of the KKK looked a bit like a crayola crayon... I tried!). This week we'll be video taping the writing/drawing and then doing voice overs.

Monday, February 4, 2013

Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address Q's/A's

Section A; 3. What do you learn from Lincoln's address about his attitude towards the South, the apparent losers in the conflict? What do you learn from Lincoln's address about his attitude towards the North, the apparent winners in the conflict.

In Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, he speaks a lot about the war and the different issues it caused. He spoke about the different sides and how he felt they went about the war, but he never directly stated a "winner" or "loser" of the war; he tried to make it as un-bias as possible. "Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other." Rather than trying to say one was apart from the other, e.g. "The North was right." or "The South was wrong.", Lincoln puts the two as equals. He basically states that both prayed to the same God, and both asked Him for help against each other. "Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came." Here Lincoln is simply stating that one side would make the war, and the other accept; he doesn't blame the on that makes it, or even state which side it is. From the quote you can get a little sense that he feels the South may have made the war, but he doesn't blame him, and his attitude isn't inconsiderate. One might also interpret the accepter to be the North, but he never admits that they are the accepter or the maker. Lincoln's attitudes toward both the North and South are very un-bias, as a President should be.

Section C; 1. What can you discern about Lincoln's character on the basis of what he wrote? 

From Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, a lot can be taken from his character. He is not a one sided person, just as any President should be. He doesn't blame his people and he respects their choices. "Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came." He's also a religious man, and believes God was involved with the war and the outcome of it/the country. "The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes". Lincoln felt that although each side prayed against another, neither side was given a lead; that God had different decisions as to the outcome of the war and the country as a whole, and it wasn't in favor of either side. "do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations." Lincoln, among many others, was not one to want a war. And although there seemed no other way around it, he still wants to restore the peace and keep it lasting. Lincoln is a prime example of a President; he's respectful to his people's choices, he has a strong religious entity, and peaceful.

Section D; 1. In recent years, some Americans have called for a national apology letter for the slavery practiced for so long in the United States. Does Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address qualify as an apology? Explain.

When Lincoln spoke his Second Inaugural Address, it was more a statement about the war and how he interpreted it rather than an apology for slavery. Although slavery is mentioned (directly and indirectly), there is not sort of apology but rather a blame for slavery being the cause of the war. "All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union even by war, while the Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it." "Interest", meaning slavery, is being blamed for the cause of the war. By "strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest", they also are talking about slavery, and how the Government only wanted to keep it from expanding. Lincoln merely touches on slavery; he doesn't apologize for it or say anything about how the South should be sorry for what happened. Most apologies may say "sorry" or "we apologize", and this being his Second Inaugural Address (and of a different time period) you'd expect to find an indirect apology, but none is found. Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address does not qualify as an apology. 


Histroy Class 2/4/13

Today in class we watched a video and took notes on the different ways African-American were given rights, and how people were punished/laws were altered because of discrimination against African-Americans. We saw different cases that were real and we filled out a worksheet with different sentences and we had to decide whether they were constitutional or unconstitutional.