The Depressing Times

"Bringing the latest news of our falling government to your households"

Thursday, March 5, 2009 Vol.# 1776

A First Constitution

by Ashlie Christie

The Articles of Confederation was the first American Consitution that was completed in 1777. All of the 13 states agreed to send delegates to congress and each stste had one vote. The congress was able to declare war, appoint military officers, and coin money. Also they were responsible for foreign affairs. This limited the powers of the congress by giving the states final authority. Even though the congress can pass laws at least 9 of the 13 states had to approve it before it went into effect. Congress can regulate trade between states and foreign countries. They counldn't pass laws about taxes. For the congress to get money they had to ask each state for money. The states were not forced to pay the congress.

Weak Government Calls for Change

by Zane Geist

When the Articles were written, people knew right away what was going to bring down the country; a weak national government. Once countries found out about the struggling government, they took complete advantage of this. Britain would refuse to withdraw their troops fromj the Ohio River Valley, because they knew the government couldn't pull together a powerful enough army to make them leave. Spain gained knowledge of this, and shut off all American access to the port of New Orleans. Not only did countries put America to shame, but its own states were abusing their power towards the government. Since the government wasn't organized enough to have a surpreme court to settle disputes between states, New Hampshire and New York fought for the territory of Vermont.

Farmers Angered: Causing Rebellion by Ashley Sample After the economis depression caused the prices of farm goods to drop, the farmers were unable to pay off their loans. This angered the farmers and caused a rebellion to emerge. In 1786, Captain Daniel Shays, and about 1,000 other angry farmers gathered as a force. Shays was a farmer from Massachusettes who fought in the Revolution.

This rebellion became known as "Shays' Rebellion." The farmers attacked courthouses and tried to take a warehouse full of rifles and gunpowder. The state of Massachusettes then quickly needed to raise an army to try and end the rebellion. They did just that. Shays' Rebellion was over. However, the rebellion worried many Americans because it was a sign that the Articles of Confederation were not working. Because they weren't working, leaders of several states called for a convention. They planned to dicuss ways of reforming the Articles. The leaders met in Philadelphia in May, 1787.

Article 2 cont. The Congress was so weak that it couldn't pass laws against its own states. The government attempted to produce paper money to raise money. They didn't have enough gold or silver to back the Continental dollars. So states decided to print their own money, each a different value. This caused state trade to become very difficult. This showed that if the government wanted to make a comeback, then someone would have to step in and take charge.

The Boston Times

No More Tea!

For the past few years, the British East India Company was in financial trouble. Having over fifteen million pounds of tea unsold, Britain passed a new law that would lower the tax on tea. The Tea Act let the company sell directly to the colonists. However, colonists are protesting the Tea Act because it cut them from the tea trade. This means that merchants would not be able to sell tea. Because they couldn't sell tea, many businesses could be destroyed. Not even are businesses a problem, many colonists think that the Tea Act promotes the right for Britain to tax the colonies. One colonist had a few words to discuss with Britain. He said, "Just last night on December 16, 1773, colonists swarmed English ships throwing immense amounts of tea into the Boston Harbor! Dressed as Indians, these colonists marked a bold beginning of independence. Could this be the start to victory of becoming an independent nation? For now it seems as if Britain is up to their eyes in shock!"

Britain Strikes Back!

"The Boston Tea Party was pretty gutsy", said one small business owner. "And it sure seemed to end all that detestable nonsense." Nevertheless, England is infuriated and insists on punishment that enforces a stronger tax on colonists customs. These are the Intolerable Acts. Within these Acts, Britain plans to shut down the Boston Harbor, restrict town meetings to once a year, allow soldiers to live in colonist's homes, and make crime cases be held in England. Although Britain has complete power over the colonies, the Boston Tea Party was a mark in history showing what colonist stand for. Who knows, this could be the start of a revolution.

John Adams

A Colonist's Opinion

After this event, we exchanged a few words with a great colonial leader, John Adams. He responded to our question on how he felt about the Sons of Liberty dumping the tea into the harbor with these words, "The people should never have rise without doing something to be remembered, something notable and striking. This destruction of the tea is so bold, so daring, so firm... it must have such important and lasting consequences that I can't help considering it a turning point in history." We can only guess that Britain will make us pay for this some way.

" Boston Tea Party"

"Chaos in Boston"

A bold statement against the Tea Act was made last night, December 16, 1773. The Sons of Liberty, led by Samuel Adams had sent a message to the governor, Thomas Hutchinson. The message demanded the ships leave the harbor. When the governor refused, the Boston Tea Party began. About fifty people dressed as Indians boarded the three tea ships in Boston Harbor. In approximately three hours, ALL the tea on the ships were tossed overboard into the harbor.

By Danielle

"Turning Point"

This was an important even in history. I believe that the people should never rise without doing something to be remembered. The Tea Party was not a mistake, the Tea Act should have never been passed and there ARE various reasons for our actions. Our actions were terribly courageous and daring. This is a memorable turning point in history.
-John Adams

By Danielle

How Will Britain React to the Tea Party?

We are anticipating a harsh reaction from Britain. Parliament and King George III will more than likely feel that the people of Boston should, and will, be punished. Laws may be passed until colonist pay for the tea and show that they are sorry for what they had done. Be aware that the port of Boston will be shut down, and ships, big or small, can come through. Also, no meetings will be held more than once a year, unless given permission by the governor to do so. A warning to all citizens: you may have to house Red Coats under your will. These acts will change life for the colonists. Will these acts make colonists want to break away from Britain even more? Could there be another protest in our future? These are very good possibilities for the future of the colonists.

By Ariana

Maryland GoogleDoc Presentation

Colony Podcasts

Here are the colony advertisement links for the podcasts. Feel free to post comments at the end of the post.

http://www.switchpod.com/users/clint/feed.xml

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

This slide show covered the early events of the American Revolution that coincides with Chapter 8 Section 1 of the book. Ft. Ticonderoga, Bunker Hill, the Second Continental Congress, Advantages of each side, and the Invasion of Canada are covered here.

Club Blog

What are your ideas for a Social Studies Club Blog?

We could create a blog in which you can post on different club related topics.

Book, movie, and video game reviews are options on topics ranging from history to Star Wars.

Post a comment with your ideas.

Conflict in the Gaza Strip

Within the last week violence has erupted in the Gaza Strip. The cause of the violence is linked to a long conflict exsisting between Israel and the terrorist group/political party Hamas. Hamas has for many years supported the use of launching mortar shells and suicide bombings in Israeli cities as a way to retaliate against what they feel is unjust treatment of the Palestinian peoples by Israel. Within the last decade Hamas has also become a leading political party in Palestinian (click here for an explanation of what Palestine is)controlled areas of Israel.

Israel has launched military strikes into Palestinian areas for many years to combat terrorism. In the most recent military strikes Israeli planes and tanks bombed the Gaza Strip, which is a Palestinian controlled area) killing some terror leaders and many civilians.

The United States is considering getting involved to bring about peace. Is this a good idea?

Colony Video Adverstisement

Instructions for Google Docs Presentation

1. Go to Google.com and sign in using the account that you set up.
2. Once signed in click on the more drop down menu.
3. Select documents.
4. Click new and select presentation.

The presentation is very similar to power point, just not as fancy.

To include pictures off of the internet you can copy and past or drag the picture from window to window.

There is no option to include music.

You can share this with another group member by clicking share and then selecting share with others. Send this to the email that your group member registered their google account with - it should then show up in their documents.

Instructions for podcasting

1. Research content to include about colony. (book chapters 5 and 6 or internet)
2. Create a story map generally explaining how the podcast will go.
3. Write a script saying exactly what will be said in the podcast.
4. Open audacity folder on desktop; open audacity application (headphones icon)
5. Click yeas to make audacity program for .aud files.
6. Click OK to make English the preferred language.
7. To record hit the red button on the top.
- hit pause to take a break from reading
- sounds can be edited by stopping and highlighting parts of track and then using
effects.
8. When finished select file.
- save project as (this will allow you to edit the audacity project file)
THEN select file again.
- export as mp3.
- name file.
- yes to locate lame.
- open lame encoder.
- click ok on ID tags.

If you have questions make sure that you ask Mr. Crowell

Slavery in America (11/13)

Presentation from class on Thursday 11/13.

Middle Passage Presentation

Below you will find the Middle Passage Google presentation for class on Tuesday 11/11. There are links to click on throughout the presentation to see more illustrations.

2008 Election

Super Tuesday (1 extra credit point)

Today 24 states will have their Democratic or Republican primaries. This is the day that could make or break a run at the White House. Among the candidates for the Democrats are Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. The Republican candidates are Mitt Romney, John McCain, and Mike Hucakbee. No matter which candidate we are talking about this day is of the utmost importance. (the New York Times has great primary coverage)

Some states are winner take all states and some states award delegates proportionally. In a winner take all scenario, if the candidate wins the popular vote in a state then they get ALL of the delegates for that state. In a proportional scenario candidates receive delegates based on the percentage of the popular vote they have received. In a hypothetical world let's say the state of Alderan (Star Wars planet for those of you without the knowledge) has 24 total delegates. This means that if candidate Crowell wins 60% of the vote compared with candidate Dempster's 40% then Crowell will get 14 delegates and Dempster will get 10 delegates. This is complicated I know.

The Democratic race is extremely close. So much so that every delegate counts. The battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton is becoming more and more intense as time goes on. Both candidates have focused heavily on California because of the 370 delegates at stake in the state. Both candidates have received endorsements from a number of people. Even if one candidate wins the majority of delegates today the Democratic nomination will still be up in the air.

The Republican race is between John McCain, Mitt Romney, and Mike Huckabee. John McCain has slowly pulled away from the other candidates. With impressive victories today McCain could make his lead large enough to where he practically locks up the nomination.

In any case, this is an exciting day for our country as many citizens exercise their rights in choosing their leaders. What are your thoughts on the day and the candidates?

Chapter 9 Project Discussion

The Chapter 9 Project is due on Thursday, February 07, 2008. Post here if you have any questions for myself or your classmates.

Some reminders:

1. We will only have 2 days of class to work on this project with some time at the ends of periods
2. Computer time will only be provided on these days so if you are doing a movie or power point you will need to do the majority of work at home.
3. The test for Chapter 9 will also be on Feb. 07 so do not procrastinate!!
   

Chapter 8 Test

If you have any last minute questions on the upcoming Chapter 8 Test on the Revolutionary War post a comment to ask your question. Questions must be posted by 7:30 PM Tuesday.

Remember for the battles the information that is vital for you to know would be the result of the battle (who won) and the battles significance. This means that you need to understand how the battle impacted the entire war, not just who won that single battle.

New Hampshire Primary Extra Credit (3 points)

The New Hampshire Primary was held on Tuesday January 08 with different candidates winning than had won in the Iowa Caucuses. Read one of the two articles linked below and then post a comment. The comment should address the following things.

1. Which parties' primary did you read about?
2. Who were the first, second, and third place candidates in the party's primary.
3. What state will hold the next primary, and when will it be?

Democratic Primary - http://www.postgazette.com/pg/08009/847775-176.stm

Republican Primary - http://www.postgazette.com/pg/08009/847795-176.stm

Cortes and Pizzaro

Along with some other Europeans, Hernan Cortes and Francisco Pizzaro changed the world of the Americas forever. Cortes and Pizzaro each led expeditions into the heart of the Americas and conquered some of the most impressive empires that the world has known. You task is to answer some questions regarding the expeditions led by these two men. The directions are as follows.

1. Follow this link to the PBS:Conquistadors website http://www.pbs.org/conquistadors/index.html
2. On the compass click on Cortes and read the story of the Conquest of Mexico. While doing so jot down some of the following information.
   
• Why was Cortes leading the expedition into Mexico?
  
• What advantages did the Spanish have over the Aztecs?
• What were the main factors that led to the Spanish defeat of the Aztecs?
3. On the compass click on Pizzaro and read the story of the Conquest of South America. While doing so jot down some of the following information.
   
• Why was Pizzaro leading the expedition into South America?
  
• What advantages did the Spanish have over the Inca?
• What were the main factors that led to the Spanish defeat of the Inca?
4. Choose one of the following writing prompts and post a comment to the post. Write your first name and last initial on the post so I know who you are.
   
• What are two similarities between the two conquests and what is one difference?
  
• Describe how Cortes and Pizzaro had similar reasons for leading their expeditions.
• Evaluate how Cortes and Pizzaro achieved success on their expeditions (what were factors that led to their success, what were strategic moves they made)
  

Good Luck! This will count as 5 extra credit points, the points you receive will be based on the quality of your answer. Comments are due by the end of the day Friday 09/28

-Mr. Crowell