Sunday, November 14, 2010

Andrew Jackson



Personal Background:
· March 15, 1767.
· Waxhaw country, between North and South Carolina.
· Not really, I did study law in Salisbury, North Carolina, though.
· I was a strong leader, and a great warrior. I served in the military and did what I had to do ruthlessly. I was also America’s 7th president.
· I paid off the national debt.
· I made America a stronger democratic country.
· I brought the common man in government

Issues:
· The National Bank.
· Removal of Indians
· Nullification Crisis
· I was against the national bank, but I had mixed feelings towards the Indian removal. I was against the Nullification Crisis.
· The National Bank was gaining too much power and I felt that the Union should be kept. We also need room to expend our strong country.

Solutions:
· The Indians will be only voluntarily removed.
· I enforce the Force Bill
· I vetoed the re-chapter bill and moving the federal deposits in state banks.
· I successfully resolved all of the issues, but I faced many criticisms from the Whigs. They believed that I was trying to transfer more power for myself. I had to sign the Compromise of 1833 in order to deal South Carolina, find funds for the Indian Removal, and face Nicholas Biddle while vetoing the bank.

Relationships to Others:
· I disliked the Whigs.
· I was not concerned about other reforms, because I was too busy with mine.


Wordle: Untitled

Toni Milushev

Friday, November 12, 2010

William Lloyd Garrison











Personal background:

· I was born on December 13, 1805

· I was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts

· I received a limited education as a child, but I increased my schooling by working for various newspapers.

· I am one of the most prominent leaders in the Abolitionist Movement of the 1800s

· I am an editor of the newspaper The Liberator, and as one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society. I promoted immediate emancipation of slaves in the United States.

Issues:

· I dealt with slavery and women’s suffrage

· I fought for the abolishment of slavery and for women’s suffrage

· I believed that slavery was morally wrong; slavery is a sin, always, everywhere and only a sin

Solutions:

· In response to slavery, I went to Baltimore in 1829 to aid Benjamin Lundy in publishing the Genius of Universal Emancipation, an abolitionist newspaper. The Liberator advocated for women’s suffrage.

· I preached my principles in hope to end slavery but slavery still continued even after my efforts( although garrison didn’t directly stop slavery, his principles lead to the idea of the abolishment of slavery). With slavery increasingly important to south’s economy, southern forced opponents of slavery to flee the region. In the North, where racism was equally established, abolitionist provoked bitter resistance.

Relationship to Others:

· I would feel comfortable chatting with Mr. Frederick Douglass, since he too urged for the end of slavery.

· I would feel least comfortable interacting with Sylvester Graham given that he had no concern for women’s suffrage.

· I strongly support transcendentalism and women’s rights.


Mian



Wordle:

http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/2721278/Untitled

Sylvester Graham



-I was born on July 5, 1794
-I was born in West Suffield, Connecticut, United States
- I was a teacher but because of my poor health I wanted to become a minister and went to Amherst College in 1823 but by fellow students scorned my historic manner and I withdrew from college.
-I joined a crusade against drinking and joined the Pennsylvania Temperance Society. I also argued that moderation is beneficial. I believe that it is better for spiritual and physical reasons. I also created a wheat bread which I called the Graham cracker.
-I was involved in studies of the effects of alcohol and other substances on the body and with the need of personal hygiene.
-I believe that drinking is evil. Physical exercise, sensible clothing, continence, good sleeping habits, vegetarianism are some good habits I believe people should follow.
-My inspiration comes from religion. In 1829 I became a Presbyterian minister and was inspired to stop drinking.
- I believe individual moral reform provides a solution to drinking. I emphasized on a discriminatory diet which was against the heavy eating at the time. A person should control himself because it will show how strong he is morally.
-My ideas, even though they flourished, they soon faded partly because my followers split up my ideas. Also, I was unable to persuade a large enough audience on my ideas of personal hygiene.

Henry Thoreau Picture

Henry David Thoreau



Henry David Thoreau


Personal Information
· I was born the 12th of July in 1817
· I was born in Concord Massachusetts
· I studied and graduated at Harvard University and Concord Academy
· I have written Walden and Civil Disobedience
· I have provided a new way of looking at life, and being able to stand back and decide what I was meant to live for.
Issues
· I was very much against slavery and having to be ruled and governed by an unjust government
· I believe that a person should stand up for what they believe in. A person should live their life the way they want it, and need not be bound by the rules of government, nor be afraid to by judged and just.
· I found my motivation by leaving to a cabin near a pond and experiencing nature firsthand, apart from the pressures of the world
Solutions
· I am able to say that my solution for slavery and an unjust government is to be just. As I once said, “Under a government that prisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also prison.”


Wordle
http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/2717529/Henry_Thoreau




Henry Thoreau

Biography

  • I was born on July 12, 1817 in Concord Massachusetts.

  • I attended Concord Academy then entered Harvard in 1833 as a scholarship student, graduating in 1837.

  • I was a significant transcendentalist writer, but my brilliance was largely omitted until later years.

  • I contributed to Martin Luther's protest ideology in American history and to Gandhi in Indian History.

  • Find and include a picture of the person you are researching.


Issues

  • I was involved in the issue of slavery and personal improvement.

  • My stance on slavery is that it is repulsive and that people should strive to improve themselves.

  • My motivation is my transcendentalist philosophy, which makes me strive to follow my values above all else.


Solutions

  • My solution to slavery is that people are to improve themselves and convince others individually to oppose slavery.

  • My person was did not make much of an impact and unsuccessful.


Relationship to others

  • My best friend is Ralph Waldo Emerson, while I dislike Jackson's policies.

  • I support temperance because clean was is so much better than alcohol.

  • Abolition is a worthy cause worth supporting.

  • I do not affiliate myself with any side regarding education, though I have been a teacher, or prison, though I have gone to jail.

  • I believe that living alone is a utopian way of life.

  • I strongly support transcendentalism and following higher values.


Wordle for "Civil Disobedience"
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alt="Wordle: Civil Disobedience"
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Galusza

John C. Calhoun

Personal Background
-I was born March 18, 1782- March 31, 1850
-Abbeville, South Carolina
- I received little formal education early in life, but was able to graduate with honors from Yale, in 1804
- I was elected to the House of Rep. in 1810 and served in the executive branch
- I left Congress in 1817 to serve secretary of war under James Monroe.
- In the Election of 1824 I was elected vice President under John Quincy Adams
- I served briefly in the state assembly, but was elected to Congress where I quickly aligned himself with the War Hawks
- I was re-elected vice president in 1828 under Andrew Jackson
- My relationship with Jackson has crumbled once I opposed the “Tariff of Abominations” act and then I collaborated with Henry Clay to make the “Compromise tariff of 1833”.


John C. Calhoun Pictures, Images and Photos



Issues
- Issues that I have dealt with are those of slavery and Jackson’s spoil system
- I sided with John Tyler in the opposition of the central bank
- I opposed the “Tariff of Abominations” in order to support nullification
- My motivation was that I am a supporter of state rights and I believe that states have the option to disagree with the federal government and let the voice of the states be heard

Solutions
- I sided with John Tyler to have help in the opposition of the central bank
- I collaborated with my rival, Henry Clay in order to come to a compromise to the issue of the “Tariff of Abominations”
- In my road to solutions, I have been quite successful. Although I took a lot of criticism for opposing the spoils system, central bank, and the tariff acts, I have came to solutions and compromises with my opponents. I have dealt with Jackson’s anger towards but I fought back by using my powers as a senator to represent my voice.

Wordle: Untitled

Mehmed Suta

Sojourner Truth



Personal Background:
• I was born in 1797
• I was born on the Colonel Johannes Hardenbergh estate in Swartekill, in Ulster County. It was a Dutch settlement in upstate New York.
• I had no education because I was born right into slavery.
• I am a former slave that escaped slavery and became an African-American abolitionist and women's rights activist.
• I went through a life-changing religious experience that inspired be to become a traveling preacher.
• I died on November 26, 1883, in Battle Creek, Michigan

Issues:
• I am an abolitionist fighting for black freedom.
• I spoke about abolition, women's rights, prison reform, and preached to the Michigan Legislature against capital punishment. Not everyone welcomed my preaching and lectures.

Solutions:
• I tried to secure land grants from the federal government to former slaves, but it ended up without success.
• I preached about my beliefs and even though not everyone acknowledged the issues, I had many friends and support from many influential people at the time.
Relationship to Others:
• I would feel most comfortable with Frederick Douglass because he believes in women’s right and abolition.
• I would feel least comfortable with Sylvester Graham seeing that he had no concern about women’s rights.
• Influential people like Amy Post, Parker Pillsbury, Frances Gage, Wendell Phillips, William Lloyd Garrison, Laura Smith Haviland, Lucretia Mott, and Susan B. Anthony supported my work.

Trusiewicz

Thursday, November 11, 2010

FREDERICK DOUGLASS


Frederick Douglass

Ø Born February 1818, Tuckahoe, Maryland, U.S.

Ø Education: Self taught

Ø Took notice of problems with slavery/ engaged in solving it

Ø Worked with Abraham Lincoln to enlist blacks in the war

Ø Showed that knowledge is power that leads to equality

IMPORTANT ISSUES

-The Civil War, beginning in 1861, raised several issues, not the least of which was what role the black man would play in his own liberation--since one of the main objectives of the war was emancipation of the slaves. Douglass kept this issue alive. In 1863, as a result of his continued insistence (as well as of political and military expediency), President Abraham Lincoln asked him to recruit African American soldiers for the Union Army. As the war proceeded, Douglass had two meetings with Lincoln to discuss the use and treatment of African American soldiers by the Union forces. In consequence, the role of African American soldiers was upgraded each time and their military effectiveness thereby increased

In 1868, Douglass supported the presidential campaign of Ulysses S. Grant. President Grant signed into law the Klan Act and the second and third Enforcement Acts. Grant used their provisions vigorously, suspending habeas corpus in South Carolina and sending troops there and into other states; under his leadership over 5,000 arrests were made and the Ku Klux Klan received a serious blow.

Douglass continued his speaking engagements. On the lecture circuit, he spoke at many colleges around the country during the Reconstruction era, including Bates College in Lewiston, Maine in 1873. He continued to emphasize the importance of voting rights and exercise of suffrage.

SOLUTIONS

Womens rights-I fought for equality and liberty for all

ABOLITION- strong feelings of abolishing slavery

Education- Knowledge is power/ key to freedom

Relations

Lyman Beecher- opposing ideas on equality

Lydia Marie Child and Wendell Philips- same ideas concepts

Frederick Douglass


  • Personal Background:

    ·       I was born in February of 1818 on the Holme Hill Farm in Talbot County, Maryland.

    ·       My father was an unknown white man, but my mother, Harriet Bailey, worked under the bitter conditions of slavery in nearby plantation fields and would sometimes venture out at night to see me as a child.

    ·       When I was only a few weeks old, I was separated from my mother and raised by my grandparents.

    ·       At about the age of six, my grandmother took me to the plantation of my master and left me there, only never being able to recover from betrayal and abandonment.

    ·       When I was about eight, I was sent to Baltimore to live as a houseboy with Hugh and Sophia Auld, relatives of my master.

    ·       Even though I did not have a formal education, my master taught me the alphabet.

    ·       I made the neighborhood boys my teachers, by giving away my food in exchange for lessons in reading and writing.

    ·       After an aborted escape attempt when I was about eighteen, I was sent back to Baltimore to live with the Auld family, and in early September, 1838, at the age of twenty, I succeeded in escaping from slavery by impersonating a sailor.

    ·       I was the first slave to stand publicly and declare my fugitive status, became a prolific lecturer, and published many newspapers during my lifetime, which were devoted to causes in the name of "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" for all.

    ·       I was internationally recognized as an uncompromising abolitionist, indefatigable worker for justice and equal opportunity, and an unyielding defender of women's rights.

    Issues:

    ·       Abolition of slavery

    o   Stance: Found support for the abolition of slavery in my audience with persuasive techniques.

    ·       Justice and equality for all

    o   Stance: I am an indefatigable and devote worker moving towards equality and justice for all.

    ·       Women’s rights

    o    Stance: Unyielding defender.

    ·       William Lloyd Garrison gave me the inspiration to challenge the government and country to reform. Because Garrison and I share common interests in reform, he served as a mentor in my life.

    Solutions:

    ·       In 1841, at an abolitionist meeting in Massachusetts I delivered a moving speech about my experiences as a slave and was immediately hired as a lecturer by the Massachusetts Anti-slavery Society.

    ·       My life as a reformer ranged from abolitionist activities in the early 1840s to my attacks on Jim Crow and lynching in the 1890s. For sixteen years I edited an influential black newspaper and achieved international fame as an orator and writer of great persuasive power.

    ·       The color of my skin created a minor obstacle because it took a great amount of persuasion for an African-American to gain American’s support for the abolition of slavery, justice and equality for all, and women’s rights.

    ·       In thousands of speeches and editorials I levied an irresistible indictment against slavery and racism, provided an indomitable voice of hope for my people, embraced antislavery politics, and preached my own brand of American ideals. In the 1850s I broke with the strictly moralist brand of abolitionism led by William Lloyd Garrison and supported the early women's rights movement.

    Relationship to others:

    ·       Abolition- I, Frederick Douglass, feel Americans should focus on the immediate abolition of slavery. Due to childhood experiences, my fellow African-Americans do not deserve to endure slave cruelty.

    ·        Women’s Rights- Although I fought for equality and liberty for all, women’s rights were a high priority

    ·        Lydia Marie Child and William Lloyd Garrison would be among my top supporters in abolishing slavery in the United States.

    ·       I am in direct opposition to Lyman Beecher and his gradual process in the abolishment of slavery in the United States. This is an institution that must be removed in order to achieve an ideal society for all.

    ~Muñoz

John C. Calhoun




Personal Background:

• Born: 18 March 1782
• Birthplace: McCormick County, South Carolina
• Died: 31 March 1850
• Quit school at seventeen
• Returned to school and earned a degree from Yale in 1804
• Seventh Vice President of the United States
• United States vice president to Adams and Jackson
• Leading Southern politician from South Carolina during the first half of the 19th century.
• Talented orator and writer
• protective tariffs
• free trade
• states’ rights
• limited government
• nullification
• In January 1811, I married Floride Bonneau Calhoun, a first cousin once removed
• We had 10 children, but 3 died in infancy.
• Floride Calhoun was a central figure in the Petticoat affair.
• She was an active Episcopalian and I often accompanied her to church. However I never joined a church and rarely mentioned religion.

Issues:

• I led the pro- slavery faction in the Senate in the 1830s and 1840s.
• Opposed abolitionism
• Attempt to limit the expansion of slavery into the western territories
• Advocate of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law, required cooperation of local law enforcement officials in free states to return escaped slaves.
• I participated in the epic political struggle over the expansion of slavery in the Western states.

Solutions:

• Slavery= “positive good.”
• I rooted this claim on 2 grounds- white supremacy and paternalism.
• All societies are ruled by an elite group which enjoys the fruits of the labor of a less- privileged group.
• Regions were divided as to whether slavery should be allowed in the formerly Imperial Spanish and Mexican lands.
• The debate over this issue culminated in the Compromise of 1850.

Relationship with Others:

• Shared similar ideas with Daniel Webster and Henry Clay.
• Opposed by Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, James K. Polk, Franklin Pierce, and James Buchanan.



Wordle: CALHOUN




Radziejewski

Wendel Phillips










Personal Background

  • · I, Wendell Phillips, was born November 29, 1811
  • · I died on February 2, 1884
  • · I graduated from Harvard College in 1831 and then from Harvard Law School in 1833
  • · I am a popular man because I was completely against slavery in a time when it was strong in the South

  • I was a radical abolitionist and wrote many pamphlets on the matter
  • · I was also pro women’s rights, and I supported temperance and labor reforms
  • · After the Civil War, I worked to help African Americans get civil rights
  • · My oratory skills helped me get supporters for my cause

Issues

  • · I was completely for abolition
  • · The slaves should have been freed earlier
  • · I was motivated in my youth, by William Lloyd Garrison, to fight for abolition in the United States
  • · As stated earlier, I was for women’s rights, labor reforms, and temperance

Solutions

  • · To fight for abolition, I did what many anti-slavery people did and boycotted cane sugar and any cotton clothing, because they were made by slave driven plantations
  • · I also wrote pamphlets and made many a speech on the topic to get people to support my cause.
  • · I accumulated many followers for my troubles
  • · I was unfortunately indicted in 1854 because of my participation in the attempt to break a fugitive slave, Anthony Burns, out of a Boston jail

Brigham Young



Personal Background:
• I was born on June 01, 1801

• I was born in Whitingham, Vermont, United States

• I attended 2 months of formal education at a local school.

• I further established the Mormon faith, and led the Mormons on an exodus to the Promised Land, which formerly became known as the territory of Utah.

• I further established and defended the Mormon faith, even challenging the US government when it tried to oust me from my position as the governor of Utah.


Issue(s):

  • I colonized Utah as a sanctuary against the persecution of Mormons, was governor of Utah, but then was forced from power by the United States government, but continued to faithfully serve as President of the Mormon Church.

  • Persecution of the minority Mormons was present in America, thus I led the Mormons on an exodus to find the Promised Land, which ended up being Utah, so that us Mormons would no longer be persecuted. I, being President of the Mormon Church, dissatisfied the United States government by continuing to implement my Mormon religion in Utah from my position as governor. This led to the US government wanting to force me out power, but I refused, causing the US to send an army which ended in a compromise with I allowing a non-religious governor to govern Utah.

  • My inspiration for anything was religious since I was President of the Mormon Church. My many reforms were made to further distinguish Mormons from the other American people that have always persecuted us.

    Solution(s):

  • I backed my position as President of the Mormon Church when the United States government wished to knock me out of my legal position as governor of Utah and was ready to use force to do so. I wished to avoid bloodshed, so in the end I settled on a compromise that allowed my consent for a non-religious governor to rule Utah, but even so, I did not allow the Utah government to affect my people’s lives.
  • I basically created a utopia for Mormons when I lead them to Utah so that we may freely practice God’s true religion. I met no obstacles until the United States government wished to oust me from my position as the governor of Utah.

    Relationship to Others:

  • Abolition- As my predecessor Joseph Smith believed, I believe, and thus I support the abolition of slavery because negroes were born as humans, and thus have a soul. Anyone with a soul can be the subject of salvation and thus negroes can be saved. However, if they are oppressed as they are now, they are denied the freedom to participate in church activities and from their confined state, may not even become enlightened about the Mormon church.

  • utopian communities- I myself basically formed a utopia for Mormons in the territory of Utah. We Mormons were subjects of persecution throughout America until I led the Mormons to the Promised Land, Utah.

  • transcendentalism- I do not understand these transcendentalists. They willingly choose not to believe in God, but instead believe in themselves. Do they not know that humans thrive via the grace of God? These transcendentalists are a doomed people, unless one day they realize what they believe is wrong, and plead forgiveness to God in hopes to be pardoned for their actions.

-Nowicki-


Lyman Beecher


Personal Bio:

· Birthday: October 12, 1775 in New Haven Connecticut U.S
· Death: January 10, 1863 in Brooklyn New York, U.S
· Nationality: American
· Entered Yale in 1793.
· Presbyterian Clergy Man
· Reformer, educator, and central figure in theological controversies.
· 1799 he was ordained as pastor of the Presbyterian Church at East Hampton, Long Island, N. Y.
· 1826 Beecher became pastor of the Hanover Street Church of Boston
· Defended orthodoxy against Unitarianism which made him very popular


Issues:

· Fear of Catholicism began to emerge and led me to share in the nativist attack on that faith
· I wasn’t sure if I wanted to Christianize the West and educate the ministers because my desire was to cancel Catholic influence in the Ohio River Valley
· Debate over slavery in 1834 divided students and faculty that it took years for Lane Seminary to recover-I am in favor of anti-slavery
· Religion is what motivates me to challenge the gov’t and other people. I want people who believe to fully understand everything about our religion.
· While preaching, enforcement of the liquor laws was not strict and no one really showed a big opinion about excessive drinking
· Indirectly responsible for the sacking of a convent of Ursuline nuns at Charlestown by the Boston mob


Solutions:

· Individual moral reform is very important, it is the reason I give sermons, people listen and then they change themselves
· 1825- preached 6 successful sermons on the evils of excessive drinking (intemperance)
· 1831- gave a series of negative sermons against the Catholics
· The conservative Presbyterians attacked me with charges of heresy, slander, and hypocrisy
-Heresy because my interpretation of the Westminster Confession differed from theirs
-Slander because I maintained that my views were of a large body of evangelical Christians
-Hypocrisy because I pretended that my doctrines squared with the Scriptures and the Confession


Cronin

David Walker



Personal Background:
  • I was born on September 27, 1785.
  • I died on June 28, 1830.
  • I was born in Wilmington, North Carolina.
  • My father was a slave, but my mother was a free African American.
  • I had been found dead at my home, some people say that I had been poisoned others say the cause of my death was tuberculosis.
  • I had not attended school, therefore had no education.
  • At an early age I taught myself how to read and write.
  • I am African American.
  • I am an Abolitionist.
  • In 1826 I had settled in Boston Massachusetts and there I became a writer for the first African American newspaper, the Freedom's Journal.
  • In the 1820's I had set up a used clothing store in Boston.
  • I had written and published the pamphlet Walker's Appeal, or also known as The Appeal on September 1829.
Issues:
  • I had grown up to despise and have much hatred for the system of slavery that the American government allowed in America.
  • I had been very concerned about many social issues concerning and affecting free and enslaved Africans in America.
  • I expressed many beliefs such as: unified struggle for resistance of oppression (slavery), land reparations, self-government for people of African descent in America, racial pride, and a critique of American capitalism.
Solutions:
  • I had written The Appeal to the enslaved men and women of the South advocate a black rebellion and crush slavery. I had also written the pamphlet to remind African Americans that they are all American and they should be treated fairly too. My articles called for vengeance against white men, but I also had expressed the hope that their cruel behavior toward blacks would change, and if so then having vengeance would be unnecessary. The message I was sending to the slaves was that: if liberty is not given you, rise in bloody rebellion.
  • My Appeal had horrified whites and slaveholders both in the North and South. In result, laws were initiated that forbade African Americans to learn how to read and had banned the distribution of antislavery literature. Louisiana executed a bill ordering expulsion of all freed slaves who had settled in the state after 1825. In addition, I was worth $3,000 if found dead and $10,000 if found alive and brought to the South.
Relationship to Others:
  • Nat Turner led his bloody rebellion in 1831 as a result of Walker's Appeal and had forevermore frightened the men of the South.
  • Most abolitionists had disagreed with my advice to the slaves because I was insisting on resorting to violence in order to obtain freedom.
  • William Lloyd Garrison, a white abolitionist, believed in having an immediate emancipation of slavery but thought it could be accomplished through persuasion and argument, did favor the spirit of the Appeal, however, and ran large portions of it, together with his own review, in his paper, the Liberator.
-Nuñez

Ann Lee



"Put your hands to work, and give your hearts to God."
-Ann Lee

Personal Background:• I was born on February 29, 1736 in Manchester, England
• I died on September 8, 1784
• I had no schooling therefore I was illiterate
• My father was an English Blacksmith
• I had five brothers and two sisters
• I married Abraham Standerin and was pregnant eight times however none of my children lived to be older than 6.
• I was the founder of the Shakers
Issues:• I was a strict believer that celibacy and confession of sin are the only true road to salvation
• I taught that trembling represented sins leaving the holy body by the Holy Spirit
• I came to the conclusion that I was Christ’s female counterpart and I was the second coming of Christ
• I believed that men and women should be treated equally and that we should be kept apart in order to prevent any temptation amongst the genders
• During religious worship we danced, shook and talked in tongues
Solutions:• I founded a utopian community that unified men and women
• The Shakers gave everyone a specific job and we all lived a communal life
• We moved to America in 1774 and settled in Albany because God told me, in the form of a tree, that there was a place made for us in America
• My ideas were considered to hostile to some people and I was molested on several occasions as well as abducted.
• I continued to seek for more coverts and was also put into prison

Relationships to others:
• I worked with John Hocknell who helped me establish a settlement in Niskeyuna located near Albany


Gumkowski

Andrew Jackson



Personal Background:


  • My name is Andrew Jackson and I was born on March 15, 1767 and died on June 8, 1845.

  • I was born in Waxhaw, South Carolina and died in Nashville, Tennessee.
  • I have attended several academies in the Waxhaw settlement, and have some education from a few years that I studied law.

  • I was the seventh president of the United States; therefore, I am eminent.
  • Because I was a general and the president, I believe that I successfully guarded the United States. I contributed to the Second Revolution by winning the battle in New Orleans. The victory had lead to the end of the war, and I was known as a national hero. When I rose to power, it was named the "Common Man" era. The era included the spoils system, and male suffrage. During my multiple terms, I removed the Indians from their land so whites could gain more. I killed the Second National Bank which I believed would corrupt the Republic; however, the ending of the bank would lead to a depression. I handled the Nullification Crisis by imposing the Force Bill which would preserve the Union. Most importantly, I strengthened the presidential powers when I vetoed multiple bills.

Issue(s):

  • Issues that I had been involved in were the Indian Removal Act, the Nullification Crisis, and the Second National Bank. Also, I engaged in male suffrage.

  • Indians should be removed from our land. I was against the theory of Nullification. The Second National Bank should be destroyed, and there should be fewer voting requirements for men to vote.
  • My motivation for removal was the pressure from citizens who wanted to settle in the west. When Indians would move, it would create more open space for American families to settle onto. The reason I was against the Nullification Crisis was because I felt the Union should be preserved, so there was no sectionalism. The bank should be destroyed because I felt it would corrupt the Republic. There should be fewer voting requirements because it would spread equal opportunity and also maintain the nation's nationalism.

Solution(s):

  • To move the Indians I assured them they would be removed only voluntarily. Because of the threat of the coercion, the Indians reluctantly left. Also, I watched Georgia declare the Cherokee laws null and void (Worcester v. Georgia). (Nullification Crisis) I believed the Union was perpetual, and there was no right to succeed; therefore, I enforced the Force Bill which would use military power. To kill the bank, I vetoed the re-charter bill. I crippled the bank by withdrawing the federal deposits, and then depositing them in selected state banks. During my era, laws would be passed to change the requirements of voting for men.

  • I had been successful with resolving all the issues. Obstacles and criticisms that I faced were the opinions of the Whigs. The obstacle I faced during the Indian Removal was receiving the funds to withdraw Indians from their land. The interferences I encountered during the Nullification crisis were the other southern states and John C. Calhoun. To isolate South Carolina from other states, I had to sign the Compromise of 1833. Also, during the bank war I fought with Nicholas Biddle. After my veto, new commercial ethos sided with the bank. In addition, when I put the federal deposits in state banks, a majority named them "pet banks." Moreover, I did not struggle with male suffrage because it brought nationalism, and equal opportunity to American men.

Relationship to Others:

I was aware of the many reform movements; however, due to other responsibilities, I could not focus on them.

Dorothea Dix


Personal Information
• I was born on April 4, 1802.
• I was born in Hampden, Maine
• I was taught to read and write at home by my father, which allowed me to get ahead in school.
• I did attend school but wasn’t formally educated. I educated myself through reading, attending lectures, and making acquaintances with higher educated people.
• I am notable for my work in education, establishing many schools and publishing many books for kids. I also campaigned for the treatment of the mentally ill and educated women in women’s prisons.
• My contribution to American History was humanizing the treatment of the mentally ill and establishing schools for the poor and for girls.
Issue
• I was highly involved with the treatment of the mentally ill.
• I believe that those suffering from mental and emotional illnesses and diseases should not be housed in jails with felons and need their own treatment.
• I got my inspiration from being an eyewitness to the horrific conditions of housing for the mentally ill across Massachusetts and was driven by the moral values of the Unitarians, who believe in the good of society as a whole.
Solution
• My solution to this issue is to propose new legislation to improve the conditions for those who are mentally ill and allow them to receive the treatment they need.
• My proposals weren’t always welcome in congress and often met unenthusiastic officials and representatives who were only interested in politics and money. Most of the opposition was from those who didn’t want to finance the project.
• I have been very successful in my endeavor. I was responsible for the establishment of a number of hospitals, the first one housing 242 patients. In all, I established 32 mental hospitals, 15 schools, and a nursing school.
Relationship to Others
• I am mixed about some of the current issues in today’s society:
o Temperance: I do believe in temperance. Because many of my patients are treated for alcoholism, I believe that simply avoiding the alcohol in the first place would be the best way to go.
o Abolition: I am a strong supporter of abolition. I was the head of the Union Army Nurses during the Civil War.
o Women’s rights: I believe in women’s rights. I am a woman and I believe that we can do just as much as men and have accomplished a lot as a woman.
o Education: Education is extremely important for all classes and genders. That is why I dedicated the first half of my life to teaching girls and establishing one of the first public schools.
o Prison reform: I am a major proponent of prison reform. I would go to prisons and write down my observations and take them to the legislatures to ask for money to get things fixed. For example, I am responsible for the addition of heat to many jails.
o Utopian communities: I do not believe in Utopian communities because everyone is different and it is impossible to make one perfect society.
o Transcendentalism: I am against transcendentalism because it is a counter to Unitarianism, which is what I believe in. Its main belief was that the soul moves towards science and reason, and Unitarians believe in the good and purity of good. These ideas contradict each other.

Wordle: dorotheadix


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~A. White