Revolutions In Latin America

The Mexican revolution was started to end Spanish rule in Mexico, give back land to provide racial equality.  Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla started the Mexican rebellion with his army of peasants but was quickly defeated by Napoleon and his army in 1811. Many peasant leaders after him lead armies to fight the Spanish. However in 1820, Spanish liberals made reforms to please the Mexicans.  Later the Plan of Iguala deemed Mexico's independence. In 1821, Juan de O'Donoju of Spain signed the Treaty of Cordoba establishing Mexico as its own constitutional monarchy.  Race was a factor in the Mexican revolution because the Spanish gave less rights to the Mexicans or people with Mexican or Indian blood.  This was part of the reason that the revolution even happened among other things.


Today race still influences politics in the U.S.  Some people are prejudiced against the president because he is black.  Ed Pilkington's article on racial fear in politics says that to people who are uncomfortable with the changing demographics of the United States, Barack Obama is like a symbol for what is happening and because he is black, some people associate his skin color with what is happening in the country that they're uncomfortable with.  This event is important because it seems like many people dislike or disagree with Barack Obama and his actions because of the color of his skin.  Pilkingtons article does a good job of explaining why this may be and why it may affect the way people view other politicians with dark skin.  In some ways race still does have a lot of effect on politics because many people in our country are biased against people of different races and although some people do not see color in these situations it is still an issue that can not be ignored.  I think that race should not affect the way anyone acts toward another person and for people who are deciding what decisions we make as a country it disgusts me to think that someone would simply disregard another's input or idea just because they are of a different race.  This country was built on the basis that all men are created equal and that no man should be treated differently because of the color of his skin.

Pilkington, Ed. "Racial Fear Has Infected US Politics, Former Obama Adviser Axelrod Says." HomeUS. The Guardian, 10 Feb. 2015. Web. 10 Feb. 2015. <http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/feb/10/obama-axelrod-racial-fear-american-politics>.

Russian & Ukrainian Conflicts

There is a conflict in the Crimea peninsula of Ukraine between The Russian and Ukrainian governments as the Russians are attempting to take over the land as it sits between the two countries and is rich in oil. But where does the United States fit in to all of this?  The U.S. congress is debating weather or not they should send arms into Ukraine to help fight the Russian army.  The U.S. is also attempting to stop the exporting of military equipment from Russia to other countries.

If the U.S. were following the principles of the Monroe Doctrine, they would leave the matters alone and let Russia and Ukraine settle their own battles. The conflict does not directly involve the United States so if following the Monroe doctrine, they should have no part in the battle. Since the battles are taking place nowhere near the united states, they should not even have arms in Ukraine if following the Monroe Doctrine.  Although the U.S. is simply helping Ukraine stand their ground from Russia, and trying to provide justice, the Monroe Doctrine would stand against everything the U.S. is doing in the conflict.

Articles Used:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28969784
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/12/15/ukra-d15.html

Congress of Vienna

Basically our task was to choose what decision we thought the Congress of Vienna should make for each problem given.  I thought it was a good way to not only sharpen our decision making skills but also learn about the Congress of Vienna, how it functioned and what decisions they faced as well.

The Holy Alliance was one way the major political powers of the Congress of Vienna made sure their power was not endangered.  Initiated by Czar Alexander of Russia, it stated that monarchs had the right to rule and any revolution would be treason against god.  This prevented many people from revolting because they did not want to upset their holy figure. 

I think that they made the right decision  because afterwords there was not many repercussions  that drastically effected the world. 

Napolean's Impact on Europe's Economy

Napoleon Bonaparte  intents were never in the name of evil, he simply wanted to gain power for France because he thought he could help the public of many countries. He promoted science, literature and other teachings but  became overwhelmed by how much power he achieved and eventually turned all of Europe into a war.


Napoleon while conquering many countries and cities, was only trying to help the world while bringing power to France, he promoted sciences, math, and literature. Many of the average people were mostly effected by Napoleon's reign at first. Napoleon was at first trying to give as much land and power to France as he could. This would not necessarily mean he would change the way of life for most citizens of each country he conquered.  After being sent to the island of Elba and escaping, he became slightly more violent and attacked more cities more viciously. He was harsher and was even confident enough to challenge Russia. But, unprepared for the Russian winter, many of his troops died and he was eventually banished to the Island of St. Helena where he would eventually die.

Image From: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Napoleon_Crossing_Alps_copy_Mauzaisse_1807.jpeg

Socialism With Starbursts

In class we were all given an amount of starbursts, we did not all get the same amount, but everyone got between one and ten each.  then we were instructed to gamble our starbursts using rock paper scissors. Whoever won got to take one of the losers starbursts. This began to get violent, people were getting angry and some people started stealing and others were just frustrated that they didn't have any left. At the end Ms. Bailey came around and collected all the starbursts and distributed them evenly.

Adam Smith thought that instead of a government trying to figure out how to manage an economy, they would leave the economy alone for the people to deal with themselves, the only problem was the risk of unemployment rates spiking. Smith thought this would benefit the poor because stores would be battling for customers so they would have competitively low prices. Karl Marx thought that if he could have the government control the wealth of the economy, he could distribute the wealth evenly. The goal was to have a classless economy, where everyone worked the same amount and was paid the same amount and had the same amount of stuff. The problems with an economy like this were that there was no motivation for one person to work hard because they would all receive the same in the end.

I think that capitalism is the best form of economy because you are able to get out what you put into the economy.I think this is the best because people have the option to thrive which would encourage them to work hard and create a healthy economy.

Who Were the Luddites?

The Luddites were a group of people well known for staying away from technology. Today Luddite refers to someone who is not very good at using technology or struggles with it.  In reality that is not actually true, the Luddites were a group of people during the Industrial revolution who refrained from using large mechanical weaving machines in an effort to keep the cloth pure. They wanted the craft of weaving be purely an act of skill not just operating a machine.  The Luddites were opposed to using mechanical looms because they wanted to make high quality craftsmen ship and they were afraid the machines would put them out of business.  Some Luddites were even known to have destroyed weaving equipment with sledge hammers. Which sparked the legend that Luddites were known for it.



Dear Cousin Mo,
You may or may not know this but as a skilled weaver, I am actually becoming worried that all this new weaving technology may put me and others like me out of business.  The new machines are very efficient and have been sweeping the nation. People are now able to get more cloth in less time for less money than ever before. I have Heard about a group of people who have started to call themselves the Luddites these people are just like me! Worried by industrialization these skilled craftsmen are frightened that hey will go out of business and are protesting new weaving machines. Some have even been said to have destroyed weaving factories with sledge hammers.  While I am not as violent as some of the protesters have been, I still stand up for their cause which is why I have decided to call myself a Luddite and protest the new mills being made
Much Love,
Elanor

What Motivated Women to Work in the Mills?

So what motivated women to work in the Lowell mills anyway? The working conditions were sub par, the pay was mostly consumed by housing and food. But still many women worked at these factories.  These factories were a way for the girls and women to contribute to the income of the family and help them pay the bills.  In addition they brought a sense of freedom and independence to the women who otherwise had very few rights in these times if not related to a man somehow be that by blood or marriage.  Working in the mills was one of the few ways a woman could be on her own.  Knowing she was contributing to her family and this feeling of independence must have been very appealing to these women because they put up with a lot of other downsides for that. the food was mediocre, the hours were long, and the working conditions were poor but the women kept on working day after day.