History - Semester Essay

Dakota Bush

History Speech

Evolution

“Ah, so this is the class of the ever-so ferocious Mrs. Lawson,” Dakota thought to himself as he stumbled into the unfamiliar classroom. “Here I am to begin my great journey on the conquest of knowledge through the examination of history over the United States, and may it hopefully be a fascinating and joyous adventure.”

After his first history class had come to an end, Dakota understood the difficulties that this class would bring him to encounter. The first issue was the rule of “no talking,” which he had discovered while in his first few history classes. In these classes was one of his friends by the name of John. Initially, Dakota would sit by John in every history class and continue speaking to him throughout the class, despite many warnings to stop the repeated dialogue. Should these conversations between them not cease, the chattering students would be separated and assigned seats. Of course, just little over a week into the school year, this warning had finally come true, as the two students were promptly moved. However, through this isolation (more specifically being the corner of the room for which he was assigned to be seated), Dakota had reached a state of tranquility, as he discovered a foresight towards historical education while also proving to show a development within class involvement.

The first topic that was studied in class was based around the Reconstruction Era, following the Civil War. This period after the Civil War was focused on attempting to reunite the nation and its people, while it was also revolving around the controversial subject of slavery. However, this topic came and went quite hastily as, seeing as it was only the beginning of the year, Dakota had typically been “zoned-out,” per se.

The following topic was that of the West and the Native Americans. This topic Dakota had perceived as the most compelling, as it was one for which, upon further inspection, revealed many concealed facts about the United States, and ones that point to the nation that is regarded as the “land of opportunity” (being the most advanced and diverse nation), as none other than a civilization born from the genocide of one race and upon the shackles of another. It was only after he chose and researched the assigned topic for his project (with that topic being the Concentration Policy), that Dakota saw the true and dark nature of humans through their wretched campaign for land. Through his research, he was quite disgusted to find out that up to 100 million Native Americans had been killed in North America since the arrival of Europeans, whether it was from disease that was carried over to the America’s, or from the pure decimation and near annihilation of their race by the hands of our “founding fathers.” However, despite all of this bloodshed brought by the founding Europeans, none of this had been mentioned in the history textbook for which Dakota was reading. As for Dakota’s opinion, the reason for this was that America needed to be portrayed as a near-perfect society, instead of one that committed the largest holocaust throughout history.

His research about the Native American Genocide revealed to Dakota as something that would surely be remembered for many years, and something for which he could easily discuss again in the late future. Having such a strong opinion on the matter, he doubted the thought that it would be simply forgotten and erased from his mind, as not only was this topic discussed when the idea of our “founding fathers” had been brought to people’s attention (as people would differ opinions on early Europeans being the founding fathers, or the Native Americans which had been there for many centuries preceding their arrival), but every year, the problem has been reminded to a multitude of Americans by the celebration of Columbus Day, an event that is based upon the anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ arrival to the “New World” (as he named it) and how to many Americans, it proves to be a day of remembrance of our founding fathers and how we began as a nation, while to others, it depicts how, in reality, we walked into someone else’s home and called it our own.

The topic that was studied after this was the focus of industrialization of the American nation, leading into the next chapter that explained more specifically the assimilation of the foreign individuals which led the industrial system. Through this topic, Dakota had found it to be quite remarkable to learn about the persistence of female individuals throughout their crusade for equal rights and opportunities, socially and economically. He never fully understood the extent that they had went through to fulfill their promise at attaining a more equalized pay for all women across the nation. Through these several campaigns towards an equal society and a more modernized nation (even though a seemingly endless process), one word may fit: Evolution. Through many failures and successes (specifically during the time period of 1865-1920), it is evolution that strives for the betterment of people as an entire entity, creating the American nation. Through the attempts at abolishing child labor, or the battles towards a better pay for workers, or even the dispute over equality between genders and races, whether they fail or succeed, for better or for worse, they progress the nation through learning from their mistakes, thus creating a failsafe against that same mistake and a better knowledge of overcoming similar adversity and hardship in the future, all in an effort to lead the nation through the process of evolution.

Thinking About Success

Opportunity
Hard Work
Skill
Luck

I've prioritized these words in this order because luck and hard work are mere factors leading to opportunity, which is at the top of the economic chain of success. Though skill and some luck can take you a long way, it is the hard work committed and the opportunities presented to you through your hard work that causes you to achieve success. Luck is just a system of random occurrences that may help you along the way towards your goals in life, and is something that is impossible to be economically dependent on. However, skill is something that all people are perhaps born with (referring to "talent"), or gain through hard work. It can get you through part of the way in life, but without hard work put in, your skills and talents are useless. Through hard work, which is the consistent and central moneymaker in life, you can do practically anything. Also, the hard work and effort you put into something is a part and piece of everything you do. The opportunities presented by the hard work that you commit can be the biggest life-changers, such as a promotion or having a job opportunity brought before you.

What I have learned about the business/consumer world - 11/19/2014

Learned Today:

• I never fully realized that there was a dedicated and unique invention of the "Ocean Shipping Container" during the 1950's, as I had figured that it had been a common and standardized way of shipping goods for a very long time.

• I didn't know about the "Toyota Production System," which is a system that breaks the production process of vehicles into two concepts, one of them being a safeguard to preventing unwanted defections, and the other with machines that only produce the necessary parts required to move to the next process during production.

Questions:

• How does the Toyota Production System work, and what are the specific details of each process? How does the system flow consistently without constant flaws?

• Who designed the Ocean Shipping Container, and how did companies react to the new invention?

Letter to Carlos

Dear Carlos,

My new life here in the city, New York, is anything but equal to the rural life we grew up to. Here there are grand buildings scattered throughout the city that they call "sky scrapers," with a park in the middle that is full of well-dressed people. There are also some sports that people often come to watch, and it seems that the people here have plenty of time to themselves throughout the day, specifically for leisure. Though, currently, I don't have that much time to spend for leisure around the city, as I'm usually helping with the construction. But I suppose those activities are for the people with a bit more money in their pockets, anyways.

The only real troubles that I've ran into here in the city are the living conditions of the houses that us poor folk are provided, which they call tenements, and the racial discrimination that I have to face daily. I can get used to the slums which I have to live in, but it's quite difficult to go about the city while constantly being looked down upon for my ethnicity. It was hard enough to find a job, as the city folk seem to only let white people get decent-paying work. Also, it seems that they are trying to assimilate immigrants to their ideals, as I noticed that they required me to speak English if I was to be getting my job. Though, I suppose that's the price we've got to pay for living here. But it is sure worth it! It's better than the rural life back home, and I'd be glad to accept any prerequisites to living here to have a taste of the "American dream" (as they call it) that is shown throughout the city.

-Pedro

Portrait of the city life here in New York

The Concentration Policy of 1851

Portrait describing one of the many battles fought during the Sioux Wars

Treaty established between the Sioux and the United States Government, known as the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851)

Poster created in response to the Treaty of Fort Laramie being broken

Portrait depicting Custer's Last Stand at Little Bighorn

Picture created to depict the lasting effect of American's on Native American society

Sources:

Confrontations with Native Americans

Native American Policy

Sioux Wars

Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 - Articles

Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 - Information

Black Hills Expedition of 1874

Trail of Tears

Custer's Last Stand

Dakota Bush

10/28/2014

History – Essay

            In most history textbooks, (when referring to the westward expansion) there are only stories beginning with the “great Christopher Columbus” and his discovery of America, and how we had several wars with Native Americans over land upon settling in America, and the tales about cowboys and the Wild West. However, the untold stories are the devastation that we caused to the Native American society, and the genocide we brought upon their people. This all truly began with the system we call the concentration policy. The concentration policy was a broad term used to describe the many policies, treaties, and systems enacted in an effort to move all of the Native Americans in the east into the west, and then later force them into small, defined reservations throughout the west. The intentions for doing this were not only to “protect white settlers,” (as stated by the U.S. Government) but also to make it simpler for Americans to divide and conquer the Native Americans, in hopes of eradicating their ideals, their culture, and their race.

It all began with the assimilation and removal policies of 1830 which forced Native Americans to assimilate to European-American ideals (such as having a written alphabet, knowing how to farm, and having a set system for education) and move from their eastern homelands to the west (more commonly known as the Trail of Tears). After most Native Americans had fled the east and moved into the west, white settlers were still unhappy about the situation, as they were continually under a threat of attack while crossing Native American lands. Less than twenty years later, another “treaty” was formed, called the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851. This policy forced the remaining Native Americans living in the west to move into defined boundaries, or “reservations,” throughout the west. This was claimed to have been enacted in an effort to protect white settlers and end intertribal rivalry and conflict. Though, as proven by later acts of war against the Native Americans, this policy was mostly created to make it easier to destroy the remaining tribes while they were scattered throughout the west.

After moving the Native Americans who were living in the west into reservations, and promising a safe treaty between the two (referring to the tribes and the United States), both continued to break the treaty, with the majority of the fault leaning towards the United States. The breaching of the treaty began with many Lakota and Dakota natives who never knew about the treaty, and thus they continued their intertribal raiding. Also, white settlers continued to traverse across the defined Indian territories and upon the discovery of gold near the Missouri river ten years later, the amount of white travelers across the Indian lands greatly increased. Both sides were at a breaking point until the United States finally broke the treaty and started a war just a little more than ten years later.

In 1874, gold was discovered in the Black Hills (which were owned by the Sioux at the time), causing a widespread movement of white settlers into the Native American lands. General George Custer and his army were sent to the area to “investigate the area’s resources,” finally pushing the Native Americans to the brink of war, and causing the gruesome battle known as the Sioux War two years later. The most famous and devastating skirmish of the many battles that took place during the war was Custer’s Last Stand, at Little Bighorn. This is where General George Custer and his army of 300 men were slaughtered at the hands of a Sioux and Cheyenne war party. Though, the Native Americans later realized that they may have won the battle, but they surely lost the war.

While history textbooks won’t truly explain all of the bloodshed between the Native Americans and the United States, it is easily the largest carnage in history, and one that we can never forget. It began with the concentration policy which was a system composed of several treaties set upon the Native Americans in an attempt to bring order and peace between them and the people of the United States, and it ended with the many wars that followed the attempted imprisonment of the Native American culture and their people. While many can claim the United States is based on freedom and equality, others can claim that no matter what we are based on, we were created by the genocide and ethnocide of one race, and built on the enslavement of another. History can be spoken from many different righteous perspectives, but history is only truly told and heard by the victors of war.

Dakota Bush

History – Film Essay

          Certain movies, although some may be irrelevant to education, can teach us about history and greatly improve our understanding of historical events. This is shown in movies such as Glory, or 12 Years a Slave, both of which our class had watched while at Randolph. People may argue that movies cannot teach students about history, that movies contain altered information, resulting in an incorrect understanding of the given historical events. But while historical movies may contain a slight difference or alteration of specific events, overall, they teach us about the big picture that the movie is based upon.

          In the movie Glory, a white male by the name of Colonel Shaw instructs a group of black men, all of which voluntarily joined the military, to prepare for their roles in the Civil War. Colonel Shaw takes responsibility for these soldiers, and accepts his fate that if he is captured, he will be executed for commanding a unit of black soldiers. After everyone accepts the fact that they would rather die on their feet than die on their knees, they take the fight to the enemy, where they end up losing the battle with all of the soldiers being killed, including Colonel Shaw. Through this movie, I discovered that even though these men understood that they were either going to win the battle or die trying, none of them fled the regiment, and no one backed down. Grand displays of courage and bravery are depicted throughout the entire movie, beginning with the black men joining the military, and ending with them in the final fight against the enemy. Even throughout the final scenes of the movie, when the flag bearer in the battle is shot and killed, another man takes the flag while rallying his troops to move forward, as he is also shot and killed. This movie taught me a great deal about courage and bravery, showing me that even though the odds may be against you and the obstacles that you must overcome may seem too difficult for you to cross, you must be strong and persistent in your battles against fear and eventually you will win them.

          In the movie 12 Years a Slave, a violinist by the name of Solomon Northup is sold into slavery by two of his friends. Through the long journey of being a slave, he realizes that he can barely trust anyone, and that he must do and say as he is told. He must not say his real name, where he came from, or that he was originally a free man. He may only act as a slave, for that is the only thing that he is allowed to be. Through this movie, I learned many things, varying from Solomon’s fight for freedom, to the harshness and cruelty of America’s original sin; slavery. I never understood exactly how rough and terrible it was to be a slave until I saw this movie. But through Solomon’s terrible turn of events, and after 12 years of being a slave and being constantly beaten, harassed, and patronized, he eventually wins his fight for freedom, where he returns to his family and lives the next several years as a free man.

          Throughout many historical movies, with these two just being a small percentile of the hundreds that are out there, historical education is taught to the audience. Whether or not specific events may be differentiated or changed, the big picture is always understood, and it can teach us many new and different aspects of historical events.