The radical Republican program for reconstructing the Union called for the punishment of those who rebelled by confiscating the lands of those who owned estates were worth $10,000 or were more than two hundred acres and then giving 40 acres each of confiscated land to the freed slaves. The goals of this program was to… Read More The Reconstruction
According to Gary Gallagher, slavery was the main cause of the Civil War. As questions about the institution of slavery and its future in the expanding U.S. arose, political debates grew heated and tensions arose between those who supported it and those who opposed it, making its way into legislation. At the same time, there… Read More The American Civil War by Gary Gallagher
John S. Mosby had fought for the Confederacy because he was a Southern man who very strongly believes in the idea that a soldier should fight for his country, no matter what the politics involved were about. For Mosby, a soldier’s duty was to not question his leaders’ motives, even if fighting for the “wrong”… Read More John S. Mosby’s Letter to Samuel Chapman
Popular sovereignty is the idea that the people of a state are the ones who hold all political power within the state. While in theory, popular sovereignty sounds like a fair and just system of ruling, its application to real life allows for many problems to arise, such as who it is that gets to… Read More Bleeding Kansas and the Pottawatomie Massacre
Before this class, I had no idea who the San Patricios were, or what their significance to Mexico might have been but after watching the clips, it is clear to see that the San Patricios were a battalion whose help during the U.S.-Mexican war is greatly appreciated and still honored to this day. What I… Read More The San Patricios Battalion
In order to understand how the Grimke sisters and the Transcendental movement were tied together, it is important to understand that Transcendentalism had originally been an ideology based in the belief that people, all people, were able to “transcend” and connect with the spiritual world beyond that of the physical. Each person’s soul was thought… Read More The Grimke Sisters and Transcendentalism
As a person passionate about social issues and the representation and liberation of all oppressed folks, John Ross, and his role in U.S. history struck a chord with me. As the film We Shall Remain –  Trail of Tears presented, John Ross was multiracial, being part white and only an eighth Cherokee, but grew up with… Read More John Ross and the Multiracial Identity
What I learned most from this film was the Cherokee Nation’s role in the events of the Trail of Tears and removal from their land. In high school elementary classes, I have only ever heard of the Trail of Tears as the event where the American government forced thousands of Cherokee people from their lands… Read More We Shall Remain – The Trail of Tears
The Missouri Compromise of 1820 came as a result from the issue over the balance of free to slave states at the time. When the Louisiana Purchase occurred and Missouri was granted statehood as a slave state, the ratio between free and slave states was tipped in the favor of slavery. To solve the controversy… Read More The Missouri Compromise & Monroe Doctrine
McCulloch v Maryland was a Supreme Court case, overseen by Chief Justice John Marshall, that led to decisions regarding the expansion of federal power, sparked from a trial that involved Congress’s power to charter a bank. Issues over this arose when Congress established a second national bank in 1816 and states questioned its legitimacy, resulting… Read More McCulloch v Maryland & Gibbons v Ogden
History 109 