Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Semester II Final

PART A (1-8)
1. Before doing any research, I predict the three most highly ranked presidents in US history will be Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and George Washington  and the worst might be Bill Clinton, Richard Nixon, and Herbert Hoover. 

2. Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Theodore Roosevelt are the presidents that have been consistently identified as among the top four US presidents. Dwight D. Eisenhower and Harry S. Truman are the two presidents that have gone back and forth between the 5th spot while Theodore Roosevelt has been 4th for all three years. 

3. While observing the data, I noticed that most of the rankings did not drastically change. Throughout the list, there was not a big drop or rise of ranking with possibly the exception of  Ulysses S. Grant who went up in the rankings by 10 spots. Another thing I noticed is that the top ten presidents have been the same for the past three surveys with the exception of Lyndon B. Johnson and Ronald Reagan who were both 11th at one point and then made it into the top ten. The last thing I noticed was that the last 5 presidents on the list have gone down in ranking from the last survey. John Tyler, Warren G. Harding, Franklin Pierce, Andrew Johnson, and James Buchanan have all gotten less popular from when the other survey was conducted. 

4. The participants in this survey seem to be well educated people. I say this because the participants vary from historians, to lawyers, to authors, to teachers, to journalists, to students of all very well known academic schools. I think that C-Span included this to show that these numbers were not made up and to also show the variety of the participants because this shows that the results had many educated viewpoints in it and that it was the best data that could have been taken. If they had not included this information, I would've wondered what the background behind this survey was and if the people that took this survey were educated on presidents and such. Like I said before, the participants in this survey seem to be well educated people. They all either come from very credited colleges or they have a profession that, to do well in, they have to be well educated. Having such good quality people makes for a more trustworthy and credible survey and results.

5. There are 10 categories that were used to determine the qualities for which presidents were ranked. These categories are: "Public Persuasion," "Crisis Leadership," "Economic Management," "Moral Authority," "International Relations," "Administrative Skills," "Relations with Congress," "Vision/Setting An Agenda," "Pursued Equal Justice for All," and "Performance Within the Context of His Times." 

6. C-Span did not weigh every category the same. The Presidential Ranking Game: Critical Reviewand Some New Discoveries said that "the presidential ranking game has been a fixture of political journalism." They also stated that C-Span not only took into consideration the president's personalities, but also it "additionally reveals the extent to which expert evaluators reward presidents who succeed in taking advantage of the contextual opportunity to reorder an enervated political regime". That said, some categories are more important than others and I do think that C-Span did a good job with their survey overall.  

7. If I was conducting this survey I would put "Public Persuasion", "Economic Management", and  "Administrative Skills" as my top three categories. I would choose public persuasion because I feel that it is very important for a president to be able to control his people, in the best way. I chose economic management because I feel that being able to use money and such efficiently and for the best causes is a very useful skill to have. And I chose administrative skills because being able to run anything efficiently whether its a business or a country is important during a presidential term. 

8. My initial predictions about best and worst presidents were similar but not quite identical to the C-SPAN survey data. My predictions were very similar for the top three presidents, but I was a little bit off when it came to the three worst presidents. I think this happened because of the gap in knowledge. Though I am in high school, presidents are not my strong suit while the participants in the C-Span survey have completed high school and have further expanded their knowledge on this topic. 
9. The anniversary of James Madison's birthday falls on March 16th. James Madison, who you might know as "the Father of the Unites States Constitution", preserves the open government. During his time he stated that if a government is run by misinformed people, it will end in disaster. He said that people that are educated and put together will always rule over the ones that are not and that the ones that urge to rule over others, have to be prepared with what adversity that will bring them. Along with that, he stated that he believed that the only way to a stronger and advanced community is through educating the people. James Madison is saying that to get to a community of unity and strength, we have to educate the people so that everyone can have knowledge and make the best decisions to avoid disaster.  
" . . . [K]nowledge of our own history is essential in the making of Americans. The reasons for this belief may be summed up under four main heads. History makes loyal citizens because memories of common experiences and common aspirations are essential ingredients in patriotism. History makes intelligent voters because sound decisions about present problems must be based on knowledge of the past. History makes good neighbors because it teaches tolerance of individual differences and appreciation of varied abilities and interests. History makes stable, well-rounded individuals because it gives them a start toward understanding the pattern of society and toward enjoying the artistic and intellectual productions of the past. It gives long views, a perspective, a measure of what is permanent in a nation’s life. "
10. Both Madison and AHA bring up very good arguments and points abut history. Madison talks about how knowledge is essential if you want to have a well rounded community. He talks about how without knowledge, the ignorance of people would get the best of them and they would make less than desirable decisions that would eventually lead to disaster. AHA talks about how how the knowledge of history is what will advance us as people and make us and our country better. AHA says that having knowledge about historical events will give us the push in the right direction to make the right decisions. 
     Both the view of Madison and AHA are very compatible with each other. Both of them talk about how knowledge is the key role in what betters a community and what leads it to success. There are a few slight differences, however. While Madison talks about how general knowledge will help us, AHA specifies and says that the knowledge about our country's history is what will help us. Knowing our history will, in turn, give us the understanding of what has happened and the mistakes that we have made. Both are great views on how knowledge advances a community. 
PART C (11-15)
11. I have grown a lot this past year. Prior to this year, I had never used Blogger and using is has taught me many things. I have learned how to correctly research, annotate, paraphrase, and hyperlink. I didn't know how precise and how accurate you had to be when doing any of these things until this year but I am very glad that I learned it. Through this year, I have observed that my writing and vocabulary has improved. My ability to understand my research and evaluate it has improved from the beginning of the year as well. Now I know what plagiarizing is and how to correctly avoid it. There are many things I have learned this year, not only in a historical context but in a writing and research context that I did not know before. 

12. The five parts that I was most proud of from the film-history project were: the movie I chose, the invitation, the menu, the exhibit, and guest list. I was proud of the movie I chose because it showed what it was like to be a soldier suffering from PTSD. My brother is in the Navy and he suffers from a mild case of it so I liked that I could somewhat see what he was going through. I was proud of the invitation because I liked the template I used and I liked the games, activities, and theme for the party that I came up with. I was proud of the menu because I thought that some of the food I picked was funny and also that it had a deeper meaning than just what it was, and I also picked a food that was served in a scene in the movie. I was proud of the exhibit because I was able to find a lot of really cool artifacts from that war and that were used in the movie to have at my party. And finally, I was proud of my guest list because I included both the people from the movie and their actors so that they could bond over the movie, and I invited the woman who won the medal herself so that everyone could meet her and ask her anything they wanted about herself and so that she could talk with them too. 

13. I find Rainey's Blog on the movie Jackie to be excellent work. I think this because she includes everything that she learned about the movie in her in-class write from details about the Kennedy's that everyone knew to little things that she observed from the movie. Her annotates sources blog was very neat and the links seemed to work and I knew what I was going to before I clicked on it because she did them correctly. Her menu was well thought out and informed me on some things I did not know about the Kennedy's and what food they liked. Her exhibit had a lot of interesting artifacts about the Kennedy's life that and would be really cool to have in person at her party. And her invitation looked very formal and the guess list was put together and thought out. She did a very good job. 

14. Quote: 


This quote is important to me because I believe that it is true. It shines a light on a very controversial topic and I believe that Lincoln’s view is very accurate and I appreciate his point of view. Many times in history and in our world today, people are always saying how if they were given the power, they would essentially be perfect and change everything for the better to make everyone happy. That, however, is not the case. Sometimes these people do their best to do what they said they would and other times it’s quite the opposite. There have been countless stories in the past where people use their power either for good or for bad but, as Lincoln said, if you really want to test someone’s character, give them power. Whether they wisely use it or take it for granted, you will find out their true character, no matter how much adversity they can withstand.

15.
 Jackie Robinson, Brooklyn Dodgers, 1954.jpg
Jackie Robinson - jackierobinson.com
I chose an image of Jackie Robinson because I think what he did in history was awesome. In 1947, he broke the racial barrier in baseball and became the first African American MBL Player. Not only did he do this, but he also got inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.

Image result for abraham lincoln
Abraham Lincoln - thewhitehouse.gov 
I chose a picture of President Abraham Lincoln because I have a lot of respect for what he did. In 1861, he became the United State's 16th president. Later, in 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation. This said that all of the people that were held as slaved shall be freed. Though he was later assassinated in 1865, he sparked the start of a movement.

Image result for national memorial for peace and justice
National Memorial for Peace and Justice - eji.com
I chose a picture of  the National Memorial for Peace and Justice because it really moved me when we went there on our field trip. As I was walking around I could feel exactly what the architects were trying to make me feel: claustrophobic. I felt enclosed with everything as I was walking down and as I walked into the square, I felt like everything surrounded me and that there was nothing I could do about it. This made me really think about the lynchings in out history. And as I read the stories as to why people were lynched on the walls, I was frustrated as to why we did these things to other humans I think that everyone should visit monuments and memorials to deepen their knowledge on our history, not forget and hide it. 

Monday, May 6, 2019

5. In-Class Write

     There is a lot that a person can learn from Courage Under Fire. Courage Under Fire is a movie that was set during the Persian Gulf War. This war was from 1980 until President George W. Bush called for a cease fire on February 28, 1991. During this war the Americans went to Iraq to fight the war and a lot of them didn't return. This movie is based on a true story about the first woman to receive a war medal.
     One of the views this movie shows is the struggles of soldiers not only during the war, but also after the war when they have PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). This was shown thorough many characters, including the main character Nat Sterling. During the war, Sterling and his men were under attack. It was night time and they couldn't tell which tanks were the Iraqis and which were not. Sterling sent fire on one of his own tanks and killed some of the members of his crew, including one of his closest friends Boylar. Nat struggles with PTSD after he gets back from the war and ends up having an alcohol addiction. This is very common for a lot of US soldiers that have been in traumatic war situations, so this was portrayed accurately in the movie.
     Another view that is shown in the movie is that of women's roles in the military. Women's roles i the military were rare. The textbook says that during the Persian Gulf War, only about 10% of american troops were women. This was shown through another main character, Karen Walden. Walden was a military captain. She was one of the highest ranked soldiers in her class and being a woman, she had to work hard to earn the respect of her fellow men soldiers. She was on the Desert Storm Mission when they rescued another military crew from being killed by the Iraqis. Unfortunately, this led to her eventual death but there was more to the story. Even though the US military had more advanced weaponry, our troops still needed to evacuate, but Karen did not get evacuated. One of her men turned his back on her and she did not make it out of Iraq. She was then awarded for her combat and bravery on the battlefield after her death, being the first woman to receive this honor. Her character was based on a woman named Mary Walker Edwards. She was the first woman to receive a military medal. Though she did not receive it for combat, the NY times said she received it for meritorious service.
     Though this film did a good job in portraying the US History, there were a couple things that it did leave out. If someone were to watch this movie looking for historical facts about the Gulf War, they would get an idea but most likely not fully understand what got the US into the Gulf War. The textbook says the American's interest in oil supply led to the beginning of the war in the Persian Gulf in the early 1990's. 10 years before to this, in September of 1980, Iran was attacked by Iraq. This led to many casualties throughout this war both between Iran and Iraq and the war with us involved. The film, though is accurate, started with a scene of the war so it left out the important information of what led to the spark of the war.
     Another part of history that was left out was the information about the Middle East military. The film is mainly focused on the US troops and perspective of the war so it rarely shows any context about the war that includes Iraq. One of the details that was left out was the Middle East military leader, Hussein. Hussein was the one who started the Persian Gulf war when he ordered Iraq soldiers to expand both Iraq and its oil supply. This is when the US got involved. President Bush called for Iraq to remove themselves from Kuwait and Hussein refused. This, in turn, led to the US entering the war with troops in Iraq. The movie shows our troops in Kuwait and the result of the war, the only information that was left out here was the background of how the war started and how the US got involved.
     I think that this film should've included more background information about the war. I think that the historical information about how the war was started and how the US entered the war is important information that should be included. One way this information could be included is to insert it at the beginning of the movie before the war scene. This would make the information in the scenes chronological. Another way to include this information is to put flashbacks progressively throughout the movie about how the war was started and/or our involvement. Though this would not be chronological, it would still effectively get the point across.

4. Annotated Sources

Courage Under Fire  

Americas History, 9th Edition, Chapter 29, "Conservative America in the Ascent, 1980-1991" Pages 939-940. Persian Gulf War facts and historical context

History (www.history.com), "Persian Gulf War"  - Background information on the Persian Gulf War

New York Times (www.nytimes.com), "Highest Medal Restored to War Heroine"  -  Article about the first woman to be awarded a war medal

Greetings Island (www.greetingsisland.com) "Golden Fireworks" - Template used to make party invitation

3. Menu

Appetizer:
Image result for beef jerky recipes
Beef Jerky 
I plan to serve beef jerky for the appetizer because when people are fighting in war and they need something quick but at the same time satisfying so they snack on beef jerky.

Main Course:
Shrimp
Gulf Shrimp 
I plan to serve gulf shrimp for the main course because it was the "Gulf War" and much like soldiers, shrimp stay in groups together. 

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Mashed Potatoes 
I plan to serve mashed potatoes for the main course because during one of Nat's first dinners back home with his family, he gave his son his mashed potatoes.

Dessert/Refreshments:
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Coffee 
I plan to serve coffee for the refreshment and dessert because throughout the movie, Nat was constantly drinking coffee because of his lack of sleep and his hangovers.


Cake Doughnut Mix
Donuts 
I plan to powdered donuts for dessert because when you are in war, you don't have the luxury to eat whatever yo please, you have to load up on carbs that fill you up so you won't be hungry, which is what donuts do. I chose to make them powdered so that they will be dry, just like the desert the war was fought in.

2. Exhibit

Cover art
Book about Mary Walker Edwards
This is a biography about Mary Walker Edwards. I intend to have this at my party so that people can learn about the woman who they are celebrating.

UNISSUED IRAQI GROUND TROOPS M80 HELMET VET BRING BACK DESER STORM 1991 AWESOME!
Ground Troops Helmet
This is an Iraqi grounds troop M80 helmet. I intend to have this at my party so that people can see what the soldiers had to wear during battle.

M16 Rifle Gun
This is an M16 Rifle gun.  I intend to have this at my party so that people can see what Karen Walden used to fight for her life with (and maybe people can try it out for themselves).

Image result for gulf war artifacts
Saudi Arabian War Metal 
This is the Saudi Arabian War Medal.  I intend to have this at my party so that people can see the honor that people are given for fighting in this war.


Iraqi Shirt and Gear
This is an Iraqi Shirt and Gear that was used in the war.  I intend to have this at my party so that people can see what the soldiers had to wear to survive and to show how rough they had it.


105mm Artillery Weapon 
This is a 105mm Artillery Weapon that they used in the Gulf War.  I intend to have this at my party so that people can see what was being shot and shot at soldiers during the war.

Image result for desert storm tank
Gulf War Battle Tank 
This is a tank that they used in the Gulf War. I intend to have this at my party so that people can see what Nat Sterling was using in the Gulf War.

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Medic Helicopter 
This is a medic helicopter. I intend to have this at my party so that people can see what Karen Walden and her crew were flying when they saved another crew and then escaped in.

1. Invitation


Guest List: 
1. Colonel Nat Sterling- the man assigned to investigate the case of Karen Walden receiving the Medal of Honor for Combat (movie); he is one of the main reasons why Karen's story was heard and made real
2. Captain Karen Walden- the woman who died in the Gulf War and who received the Medal of Honor for Combat (movie); was the first woman to receive this honor
3. Specialist Ilario- the man who was the medic for Karen's Team when she died (movie); told Sterling the truth about Karen's story
4. Denzel Washington- the actor for Colonel Nat Sterling; he portrayed his character so well, he deserves to come
5. Meg Ryan- the actor for Captain Karen Walden; she portrayed her character so well, she deserves to come
6. Matt Damon- the actor for Specialist Ilario; he portrayed his character so well, he deserves to come
7. George Bush- the President of the United States during the Gulf War; he was the President during this war, he would want to come celebrate
8. Mary Edwards Walker- the first woman to ever receive the Medal of Honor for Combat; the movie is based off of her

Monday, April 15, 2019

2.10 thinking like a historian

Image result for new york world yellow journalism 
New York World - Yellow Journalism  

To please the public, newspaper empires made up false articles to draw in readers to keep buying their newspaper.  These articles often made fun of the lower class to please their higher class buyers.

Source 1 is a comic from the New York World that makes fun of the lower class and their children.
Source 2 is an editorial about a campaign made by the New York World.
Source 3 is an article written about an old lower class woman being attacked by higher and middle class children.
Source 4 is an article about how newspaper sales plummeted after the war and how newsboys went on strike.
Source 5 is a picture of two boys that sell newspapers and how they went into bars to sell to drunks.

Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Criminal Justice System

     My initial thought of our Criminal Justice System was that it surely had problems and biases. I thought this partly because of our Civil Rights field trip. It opened my eyes to see how bad some people's cases were when it came to racial disparity. The United Stated has one of the largest Criminal Justice Systems in the world. In our Criminal Justice System, there are disparities in how people are sentenced for the crimes that they commit. There are a lot of factors that play into this disparity, however the main one happens to be race.

     The Washington Post video on Race and Incarceration in the U.S. said that the US has the world's largest prison population. There are approximately 666 inmates per 100,000 people. Within this, there are 450 White male inmates per 100,000 people, 831 Hispanic inmates per 100,000 people, and 2,306 Black inmates per 100,000 people. This data shows that Black inmates represent about 40% of the incarcerated population in the US and Hispanics represent about 19%. There is a drastic difference in sentencing when it comes to the race of the accused. Recent research shows that Black men who commit the same crimes as White men receive a sentence that is about 20% longer. But these racial disparities aren't just for Black men, Native Americans were incarcerated at a 38% higher rate on average than White men and Native American women were incarcerated at a rate of 6 times more than White women.

     Even though this was a big problem back in the days of mass segregation, it is still a problem today. People like Civil Rights activists, politicians, and reporters are constantly trying to find ways to draw the public's eye to the US's incarceration inequality. For example, Jay-Z spoke out against Meek Miller getting sent to prison for a parole violation that was related to a crime committed a decade ago. Jay-Z called this action "unjust and heavy-handled". After this, Barack Obama addressed worldwide racial disparities during his administration. He did this seeking to undo harsh sentences for nonviolent drug offenders. On the other hand, President Trump has a different approach. He is seeking to have a more tough-on-crime approach when it comes to these cases. Attorney General Jeff Sessions agrees and has ordered tougher sentences on offenders of these crimes.

     There are many factors that contribute to the data that was collected for this topic. The Sentencing Project's article mentions that one factor is the disparities for arrest rates. When it comes to arrest rates, it is found that racial minorities are the ones that commit certain crimes at a higher rate. Specifically, data shows that Black Americans, mostly males, tend to commit violent/ property crimes more frequently than other races. This doesn't necessarily have to do with their race, however. Other studies show that high crime rates relate to socioeconomic factors. Highly disadvantaged neighborhoods experience higher crime rates regardless of the racial composition.

     The USSC's article on Demographic Differences in Sentencing claimed that there were key findings on racial disparities. One of these findings is that Black male offenders continued to receive longer sentences than similar situated white male offenders on an average of 20.4%. Another was that females of all races received shorter sentences than white male offenders, so gender played a role in this as well. The EJI's article agreed with all of this data and based on its 2012-2016 data, it shows that this is consistent with the prior 4 periods studied by the commission. All of this data shown by these sources agree with each other. This shows that throughout our history we have had a natural racial bias toward other races and we are still fighting that bias to this day.

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Racial Discrepancy 

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Racial Disparities 

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Racial Disparities in Children

Sources: 
Washington Post  
Sentencing Project 
US Sentencing Commission 
EJI