DBQ

In the early 20th century, American foreign policy was changing dramatically. America was beginning to be seen as a leader on the world stage and was being looked upon more and more to help in world conflicts. America had to decide which conflicts to assist in and which to remain neutral in for the best for their allies, their economy, and the entire world.

FTC?

The goal of the Federal Trade Commission has cahnged over the years. When it was founded in 1914, its main purpose was to act as a trustbuster and break up unfair corporations. Now they help set standards for many commercial industries. It is their job to make sure that corruption does not happen in American industries. They make sure that frauds and other scams are controlled, and report to Congress regularly about their findings. They also strive to help the consumer through plain-english directions, ad regulation, and many more useful tools. It is a critical organization and very beneficial to America.

Wilson's Inaug!

Wilson says that his inauguration is not a day of success but a day of dedication because he treated his inaguration as the start of his career as president, a career that he found full of challenges that he was willing to tackle. In this statement, he was telling the American people that although inauguration was a time when most presidents-elect celebrate their victories, he was going to be willing and ready to get cracking on work and start solving the problems that he promised he would solve: a great public relations move on his part.

Dawes Act - Wow, I'm motivated to do this early!

The Dawes Severalty Act was a detailed act that described how to regulate land use and organization of Native Americans in reservations. It gave certain amounts of land to certain groups of Native Americans - the most going to the head of a family. It also basically gave all control over the land on the reservation to the government.

Another interesting thing about it was that if for any reason a Native American was not living on a reservation yet wanted some land on the frontier, they had to be given the land in the same manner as if they were on the reservation.

The Dawes Severalty Act went on to narrow down more and more specifically the terms of use for the land and who exactly had the right to regulate it (usually the Secretary of the Interior). It concluded by saying that even though these lands were being given to the Native Americans, Congress still had the power (and the 'right') to use these lands for telegraphs, railroads, or whatever they saw fit.

Reconstruction Questions...

1. I think that Congress should be responsible for Reconstruction rather than the President. Congress has more of a widespread influence, and by placing Reconstruction solely in the hands of the President allows for only HIS opinion to shine through. With Congress taking control, more voices would be heard and more states and people would have a hand in Reconstruction.

2. The Southern states that seceded needed to be dealt sort of like a misbehaving child. They needed to be handled gently (to not anger them into staying away from the Union) yet firmly (to not give them so much power that they feel that they could rebel again). This balance of treating them fairly and harshly would prevent further rebellion and entice the states to rejoin without much struggle.

3. The government secured and protected the interests of ex-slaves in many ways. Most apparent, they passed the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, guaranteeing many rights for blacks that they did not have before. Many blacks gained their freedom during the Civil War era and were turned out to fend for themselves. Because of this, the Freedmen's Bureau was formed and started to dispense aid to many former slaves. This was only some of the many laws that were passed by Congress to help African Americans.

Senor Lincoln vs. los Confederates

In AI 13.7, where Lincoln was giving his first Inaugural Address, there was quite a bit of talk about the union and holding it together in the face of secessionist threats. However, the union had already broken and was at Civil War in the time of the 2nd Address. In his second, Lincoln talks about the importance of sticking with the cause and slanders the Confederacy and makes them out - rightfully - to be the cause of the war because they were the ones to break the union. In both he mentions the rebels of the south being anarchists and having no right to leave the union.

Is our children learning? Oops, wrong speech.

So yesterday I took a break from math homework to watch the president give his speech to the country. I thought that he seemed rather nervous and pale at the beginning, but got a bit more relaxed as it went on. In the speech, he discussed his plan of bringing 21,500 more troops into Iraq, mainly the Baghdad area, to help quell sectarian violence. The entire speech focused on this idea, but some standout moments in my mind were when President Bush said that mistakes had been made and he took responsibility for them, which I really appreciated, and when he mentioned Iran and Syria, which sort of threw me for a loop as I wasn't expecting them to be mentioned.

I also kept the channel on to watch the democratic response, which was just what I had expected: against the plan.

Nullify THIS.

Andrew Jackson did not violate states’ rights by declaring nullification an act of treason. By asserting the power of the government over the states, he set a precedent that could be followed in many cases for years to come. He dealt with South Carolina in a firm yet peaceful manner. He proclaimed the true fact that South Carolina was one of the United States of America, and in order to be the United States, the states must be united! When they ratified the constitution, they agreed to follow the laws of the states. If states had the power to make their own decisions about following federal laws, they would be going against the will of their country, which would be treasonous in ways, like Andrew Jackson said it would be.