First Semester Summary Activity

            On the first day of History class, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I can truly say that I have learned a lot about the history of the United States in this first semester.

            One thing I was pleasantly surprised to learn about the history of the United States was the way that the economy was perfectly set up in the late 19^th century to allow some people to become very wealthy. During this time, 6 of the top 10 wealthiest people of all time were alive and living in the United States, most of which were industrialists.

            I was unpleasantly surprised to learn the way that some people in history have made it seem as if they are genuinely good people, when that could not be further from the truth. One such person is James Oglethorpe, the founder of Georgia. Oglethorpe wanted to ban slavery because, as he said, “If we allow slaves, we act against the very principles by which we associated together, which was to relieve the distressed.” However, the real reason he wanted to ban slavery was that he was actually so racist that he didn’t even want to be around African Americans. Another example is Andrew Carnegie, whose name can now be seen all around the country on libraries. He also had the perfect “self-made” image that made him seem as if he was just an immigrant who worked his way up in the world. In reality, he was just like any other business tycoon, ruthless, greedy, and selfish.

            I will likely be able to remember and discuss some of the things I learned about in my research on the West in 10 years. I researched the religious freedom of Native Americans and found that they had been wronged by the U.S. government. Essentially, the government had infringed on their rights and made it illegal for them to practice some of their age old traditions, such as using peyote during religious ceremonies. I will be able to remember this because this is something that still happens today. Most recently, people believed that the government was plotting to take away U.S. citizen’s weapons, and this frightened people, but also made them angry because it was infringing on their rights.

            One thing Americans of the past struggled with and that we continue to struggle with today is racism. Since America was founded, racism has always been a problem. This is a country built upon slavery, so it can only be expected that racism will cause a problem. Then there is the removal of Indians from their home land into reservations simply because they are Indian. Now, with the Ferguson riot and the Trayvon Martin case racism is once again a topic of conversation in American society.

            If I had to name the late 19^th century in America I would probable name it the “Rebirth.” We were a country just coming off of a devastating Civil War and we desperately needed to get back on track. Then, the birth of the city came and with that came factories, more jobs, more diversity, and more money in the U.S.

Thinking About Success

1. Opportunity. Opportunity is the most important of the four words when it comes to success. I believe this because people that are born in situations with less opportunity tend to stay in the same situation most of their life, especially if you want to consider wealth a success. Statistically speaking, people born in lower income situations tend to stay in those situations rather than to move up.
2. Luck. Luck is almost as important as opportunity. Luck is very vital in success, and you can sometime see it in people who have little skill and are not exactly hard working.
3. Hard work. Although it is not as important as the first two, it is still more important than skill. Any time I think of comparing hard work and skill I always think of the old phrase, "hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard."
4. Skill. Although being blessed with a lot of skill would make things easier, it is truly not that important in becoming successful.

Supply Chain Management

After reading these articles I have realized that there are many ways large, million dollar companies can run their businesses. Zara, for example is a very fast paced, trendy company that is able to be that way due to their very localized way of doing things. The company keeps very close relationships with their suppliers and is in constant contact in order to make sure they have the  newest, trendiest clothing at all times. On the other hand, Uniqlo designs their clothing long in advance and believes that customers focus more on quality than they do trends. The company may spend months testing and trying new clothing before they begin mass producing it. Then there is H&M, who uses both philosophies and is kind of a hybrid of the two companies. They use both "fast fashion" and long term planning. The strange thing is is that all off the companies, no matter what their style of business is all make a lot of money doing what they do. The companies have perfected there craft into almost an art form. One question that was brought to my mind while reading this was what do companies like Nike, Under Armour, Adidas and other sporting wear companies do? Because sports fashion can change almost instantly. It seems as if all it takes is for one big name athlete to do something and then there are hundreds of thousands of young athletes running around wearing whatever they were and on the other hand they have staples that they have to create year in and year out, like cleats, yet the style of cleat changes every year and they are always better than the previous. Are sportswear companies into "fast fashion?"

Letter for Test

                                Dear Mom,

           I'm sorry I just now got around to writing this letter, I know you must have been worried sick. Anyways, I have now been here for almost a month and I am becoming really used to my new homeland. I have even caught on to the English language very quickly, as you can tell.

           When I first arrived here I was very scared and worried. I got off the boat in a large city by the name of New York. It is a wonderful, thriving city with many, many people. However, it was incredibly terrifying. It is nothing like home. At first, I couldn't find anyone to talk to, except for this one man who was on the same boat as me. He said that he knew a place where there were more people like us, so after we got off I followed him through the city into a small area that reminded me of home. There are are so many Italians here, the community itself is called Little Italy. Thankfully, you and father gave me enough money to be able to buy a half way decent apartment. Some people in this city live in tiny, one bedroom apartments with almost five times as many people as there should be and it is incredibly disgusting to see the way in which they live. I don't travel from Little Italy much, except to work. I often feel threatened when I leave the community because some of the "natives" will yell at me and threaten me, and I have heard stories of the things they do to immigrants like myself. Either way, I am very thankful to be in America now.

           I am also adapting to the American way of life very easily. In Little Italy, most of the Italians are very Americanized, or they are trying to be like the Americans. We all have studied the English language very hard and most of us are picking it up well enough to talk to our bosses. We even sometimes eat their food, and I must say it is pretty good.

Griffin Widner

I Pledge

B—US History

10/28/14

Native American Religious Freedom

                Followers of the “Native American Spirituality” do not regard their beliefs and practices as part of a religion. Their “religion” is very complex and hard to follow since there were many tribes and most of their principles were passed down verbally. Main practices in their religion include ceremonies, symbolism, and the use of medicine men and shaman that communicate with the gods.

                In the 1870’s Native Americans believed it was time to establish their spiritual beliefs as a legitimate religion, therefor the Native American Church was founded. The Native American Church was actually a combination of Christianity and tradition Native American beliefs, but still practiced the same principles as the traditional Native American Spirituality. One such practice was the use of Peyote, which had been used by the Indian tribes for thousands of years as both a physical and spiritual medicine.

                Peyote is a small, spineless cactus that grows naturally in some desert climates. The main ingredient in the plant is mescaline, a type of hallucinogen that humans can consume in order to “trip.” To consume peyote, one must cut the disc shaped buttons from the crown of the cactus and dry them. Once they are dried a person can either eat them or brew them into a traditional tea. However it is consumed, peyote produces a high that lasts around 12 hours and is said to be somewhat spiritual. Although the drug is very powerful, the side effects of it are still unknown. Recent studies suggest that it is not actually physically harmful to those who occasionally use it.

The use of Peyote for any reason was illegal just like most other substances until the mid 1990’s. The laws on peyote began to change after a monumental law case in Oregon. The case, Employment Division v Smith, was brought about after two Native American who worked as counselors in a private drug rehabilitation center were fired after getting caught using Peyote. The two men had previously used it in religious ceremonies, because they were members of the Native American Church. After being fired, they were also denied unemployment benefits because they had been fired upon the fact that the rehab facility viewed the use of peyote as misconduct. The case was taken to state court, in which the counselors lost the case. However, the Supreme Court vacated the ruling and sent the case back into Oregon courts. During the second state court trial, it was found that Oregon law didn’t allow consumption of drugs for religious purposes which was in violation of the free exercise clause, which protects a person’s absolute freedom of belief. After this case occurred in 1991, President Bill Clinton signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (1993), the bill was quickly struck down by the Supreme Court. One year late, President Clinton signed a law that exempted the religious use of peyote from federal and state controlled substance laws. This now meant that the Native American Church could legally continue a thousand year old practice within the United States.

The whole idea of not allowing the Native Americans to use peyote in religious ceremonies is very ironic to me. It’s crazy to think that a country that was founded upon freedom, specifically freedom of religion, would try to stop a group of people from continuing their religious practices.

Native American Religious Ceremony

Peyote Tea

Peyote Cactus

Native American Church symbolism

 Sources

Peyote and the Native American Church- About Religion

Peyote—National Institute on Drug Abuse

Native American Religious Freedom—Civilrights.org

Employment Division v Smith—OYEZ

Free Exercise Clause—Bill of Rights Institute

Native American Spirituality—Religious Tolerance

Native American Religion—Indians.org

Native American Church—Oklahoma Historical Society

Essay Draft

This picture shows a Native American religious ceremony

Griffin Widner

9/12/14

US History B

Learning History through Film

               

                The use of movies on historical topics in the classroom can be just as effective as learning by way of a text book. They can help students understand the deeper, more emotional side of history, rather than just reading facts in a text book. An example of such films would be Glory and 12 Years a Slave. These two films allowed me to feel more empathy for the social groups of the time period, and in return I was more enthralled in the learning process, because in my opinion, it is easier to learn about something you are genuinely passionate about.

                The movie Glory takes place in the Civil War, and is based off two books that contained actual letters from the General, one of the main characters of the film. Essentially, the film is about the first all-African-American regiment in the military and the struggles that they underwent. Director Ed Zwick does a great job of using different personalities to portray the events that are happening, and make a more emotional connection to the viewer. My favorite point of view was from the character played by Denzel Washington, who was my favorite character. He played a former slave who was mad at the world and viewed going to war as “trading one type of slavery for another.” He was very easy for me to connect with, because I believe we all know what it feels like to do something that we really don’t want to do although we know we have to. Through this connection I became more involved with the story, and the actual history that was within the movie. I know the argument can be made that Washington’s role wasn’t based upon an actual historical figure, therefor the film is inaccurate. However, it must be understood that this is a motion picture, not an old text book. Personalities help us connect to the story, which IS historically accurate, as it is based upon the letters of General Shaw. The film gave me a much more effective way to learn the history of the 54^th Regiment.

                12 Years a Slave is an Academy Award winning movie that takes us on the terrible adventure of a free African-American, Solomon Northrup, who is captured and sold into slavery wrongfully and then after 12 years becomes free again. The film is based upon the book of the same title that was written by the main character of the film, Solomon. This movie in my opinion was a lot more emotional than Glory, and I learned a lot from the move that I had never read in a history book, which only furthers my point that interest and learning are related. The film is seen entirely through Solomon’s eyes, and we witness the horrors of slavery. The film was fairly accurate in its depiction of the life of a slave. It showed the slaves being rented out to be used by other slave owners, which was something I had no idea ever happened. Another new thing I learned from the film was also very significant to me emotionally, and this is when Solomon is working alongside white men, who are getting paid, but that when he was free was of a higher social class than they were. This scene really made me feel sympathetic for Solomon, although the scenes of physical violence did as well. Through this film, I really felt more like I could possibly empathize with the slaves and that I learned a lot more about their daily lives that will stick with me longer than words on a page will.

                These two films are great examples of my personal learning experiences with movies. This should prove the correlation between a person’s interest to learn something and how much they actually learn. Also, I am a high school student, and it is much more interesting to watch a movie, even if it is analytically, than it is to read textbooks and do worksheets.

Sources, Film Research-Glory and 12 Years a Slave

IMDB- List of 12 Years a Slave Awards

New York Times- 12 Years a Slave Review

IMDB- 12 Years a Slave cost/box office

History Extra- Historical Accuracy of 12 Years a Slave

Indie Wire- 12 Years a Slave goals/intentions

IMDB- Glory cost/box office

IMDB- Glory Awards

Rotten Tomatoes- Glory reviews/critics

Time Traveling Critic- Historical Accuracy of Glory