The Simulation

This week in USH we have been doing a simulation in which the class was split up into 5 groups. Each group was given a slip of paper that told us what group we were on the board and how many of E.U.’S we had. In the beginning each had different amounts of resources. Some groups had more ships while others had more soldiers or artillery. Every group but group 5 had the same amount of planes. Even though planes weren’t the main concern it was a bit strange that they one while every other group had 6. In the second of the simulation a few groups allied with each other. Two groups even made secret alliance that the public of their country didn’t know about. The happy or sad face that was drawn on the board after every round showed the happiness of each group’s citizens. In the second round the group that I was in notice that the ability produce some products more effectively than others remind us how closely some of the groups represented actual countries in reality; for example are group was able to produce ships without spending as many E.U.’s as other groups. Another group represented Russia because there ability to produce troops was unbelievably quick.

By Jack Tomkins

What did you guys find interesting about the simulation?               

Woodrow Wilson

Today we watched a documentary about Woodrow Wilson. We also noted if he was a progressive or not. I think that he was a progressive. Although he was put into office by the boss system, after he was elected governor of NJ he began to reform workers rights and proposed anti-corruption laws. This was what being progressive was about. Giving everyone equal chances. He also denounced the bosses and believed that Americans should have a fair share of the country's wealth. One way Wilson differed from Roosevelt was their views on the trusts. Roosevelt believed that not all trusts were bad and only some who were hurting the people needed to be broken up. Wilson believed that all trust were bad and needed to be broken up so everyone could have a fair share. Do you guys think that Wilson was progressive?

Today, Friday, we took a test.

Teddy Rosevelt

On Tuesday,  we watched a documentary on the Theodore Rosevelt and took notes on whether or not he was a progressive.  personally I believe it is hard to judge him as either, because he did a lot of things that could contradict an arguement that he is one or the other.  For example, he broke up trusts that had too much power, but he himself did whatever he pleased an did not ask congress for permission, prompting his critics to believe he was undemocratic and possesed too much power.

Do you think Rosevelt was a progressive? Why or why not?

The Labor Movement

On Monday we talked about the working conditions of the factory workers in the late 19th century.  There were very few laws to protect the workers, so they worked long hours for minimal pay.  This means that the risk for injury was very high, and workers who got injured were just fired and replaced by new workers.  Workers were exploitable, and there were many immigrants from overseas who were willing to work, even for little pay.  Because of this, strikes were not very successful due to the large flow of immigrants willing to take the place of the strikers.
 Do you view the harsh conditions and low pay as a necesity for the growth of America?

Video Notes

Today, Tuesday 14th, we finished up the Theodore Roosevelt worksheet that asked the BIG QUESTION, is Theodore Roosevelt a progressive.  The video went in depth to talk about Theodore Roosevelt, and the later part of his presidency, and how he spent a lot of effort into breaking down trust's and other forms of concentrated power.  The video also went in depth describing how Roosevelt had a strong passion for nature and spent a lot of effort into making laws and creating state parks to preserve forests and other parts of nature.  There was also a quick segment about the teddy bear and how it originally started as a toy that was named after Theodore Roosevelt.  After The video we cleared up some misconceptions with the test and Mr. Stewart reinforced the idea that the practice test will enormously help us prepare for the actual test.  With the last 10 minutes of the class we started a video titles "War and Empire" that talks about America and its Empire.

Immigrants in America

In class we learned about the massive amounts of people immigrating to America every year in search of the success they were sure they could find in the "land of opportunity". However, they found that when they did arrive, they didn't always find what they had hoped. One of the most influential mantras of the time was "word hard and you will move up", so when the immigrants found that coming to America and becoming successful would be harder than they thought, they had to find someone who could help them. Despite the fact that there was always a job opportunity for immigrants due to the strikes that worker's unions would hold (and consequentially be fired for), many people saw the immigrants as taking over and flooding America. Without the help of the American public, growing numbers of immigrants turned to those known as bosses for help in this new country. Essentially, the boss system is focused around one person in charge (the boss) who would spend his time helping out the immigrants by giving them supplies, jobs, housing, etc. In return he would only ask that they vote in the elections the way he tells them to. This ensured that the elections were in favor of the bosses' preferences because they had the majority vote: the immigrants. Many people were enraged by the boss system because it essentially rigged the governmental and economic systems of the United States to be in favor of the few people who ran it. Eventually, the boss system was outlawed due to so many people rising up against it and therefore leading to laws being created that made what the bosses were doing illegal. Although the boss system did help the immigrants get set up in America, it was overall damaging to the country because of the way it controlled the vote and money flow in the US.

Factory Towns

Today we watched video segments about the wealthy, poor, middle class, and the factory workers. What I thought was interesting was the segment about factories and how they would have towns for the workers to live in. What was crazy about the towns though was that the factory's owner would also own the town. They were the landlords of the workers, the one that sold them food and items that they needed. Everything these workers had came from the factory owner. I thought it was insane how much control a factory owner had over his owners. The idea that someone could have that much power is incomprehensible, especially in today's world. It makes me appreciate the laws and rules that are in place today that make sure these things don't happen so that we don't have to deal with it.

Religion vs. Science?

Today we continued watching the "God in America" video. One major issue that arose was the clash/combination of religion and science. Most people know how religion seems to be at odds with science, especially evolution and all that. But what I found interesting today was how some religious people actually believed that religion and science could work together and that with both of them together, it could strengthen the Bible and a person's belief. I thought that was interesting because, as mentioned earlier, most times religion seems to clash with science. But there was actually a group of people that believed that religion and science could be compatible. One leader who led this idea was Briggs. He believed that he grew closer to God when he incorporated the Bible with science. And the people that also believe this were called Liberal Christians (I think). What I thought was very interesting was how some people would accept science and actually use it to strengthen their religious beliefs, but others just shut it off completely. What do you guys think about the situation of religion and science?

Trial Reflection

Today Wednesday Oct. 1, in class did our trial, where half of the class were against four important figures which were, Rockefeller, Morgan, Vanderbilt, and Carnegie, saying that they did bad by hurting the country, caring only on success and money. The other half of the class were pro them, saying that they were a great because they were great leader and helped many. The pro side said things about those figure such as that they had donated 350 million dollars, in libraries, and founded thousands of institutions, donated 1 million dollars to Vanderbilt University, helped people come across New York and give people free rights and such. Others that were against those four figures thought that they were a bad figure for America because they would, cut of money of other businesses, railroads and transportation just get through his way, and they'd also make their workers starve, because of the unlimited amount of money that they would get paid.