Our latest conversations in Mrs. G class has been about Western Migration. Many people went west for multiple reasons. People of all different races and size made the trip with their families and animals, of the hopes of starting a new and better economic life. One of the main reasons people left was because of agriculture and the gold rush.
African Americans were a large group of people that went west. Mainly because of the fact that many African Americans didn't want to wait for the government to start making conditions better for them in the south, so they decided to move west in the hopes of beginning a farm and a agricultural life or striking gold in the gold rush.
Another group of people that left was poor white young men in the South. Young poor white men had nothing going for them in the south after Reconstruction so they did like many and moved west. They really wasn't looking for the land that the west offered but the gold it did. The young white men thought that if they moved west they would become rich.
Other people went west strictly to make money. These types of people were called speculators. Speculators are people who buy land and then sell it later on for more than they bought it for to make profit. This was widely done during western migration because the price of buying land was cheap , $10, and affordable.
I think that western migration was good during that time period because it gave people that was poor a chance for a new start that could possibly lead to making money. Though the trip for many was hard, long, and for some lonely, they all new one thing, that there life could change for the better. That was the motivation that each person had and if it wasn't for that many wouldn't of last the grueling trip.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Enrollment in South Africa in 1982
During the past couple classes, we , our class, have been talking a lot about South Africa. Mainly our discussions has been about Apartheid and how it affected that region. Recently we have took a glance at a 1982 survey that was taken in South Africa. The survey showed the enrollment rates between blacks and whites from the lowest level grade to the highest. Not to our amazement, it showed how the numbers were drastically different between the two races. This set of information had lead our class to the group discussion on how the whites outnumbered the blacks in the number of enrolled students in all grades.
When I first read the survey, I wasn't startled by the information that i read just as everyone else wasn't either. We all know that in South Africa theres still a major gap between the whites and blacks that still exist today, so theres no reason to act like its not happening. It just amazes me how the United States have come a long way since the end of slavery in the 1800's, and how far the U.S. has come since the end of segregation in the 1900's but in South Africa, they still haven't made the huge step into equality yet. It just seems to me that if this part of the world is changing, how come other parts of the world is not.
The 1982 Enrollment in South Africa between blacks and whites clearly shows that more white people were enrolled in school in every single grade than blacks. First of all, whites and blacks didn't even attend the same school, so it wasn't like one group didn't enroll in school because they were intimidated by the other group, so this wasn't the case at all for the difference in numbers. Whites and blacks went to two separate schools in two separate areas. Thats another thing, whites and blacks don't even live in the same neighborhood! This background information is what lead me to be confused about how the number of students enrolled in school could be so different when the two racial groups never interacted with one another. This made me pay attention even more in class to get to the bottom of this dispute.
In South Africa, the majority of the good jobs were obtained by the white people. This meant that the better your parents job was, the less concern for the students to get a job to help support the family. Vise versa, the worst your parent job was, the more concern there was for the student to get a job to help support their family. Well in South Africa most blacks had bad jobs, so this was one of the leading factors for blacks dropping out of school or not enrolling at all. Another major contributor to the drop in enrollments for blacks, were the number of disease and STD's that blacks were unfortunately acquiring. Since whites had money, the could afford medicine and STD preventing products, unlike the blacks who were too poor to afford those kinds of things. These two causes were the main factors that made the drop in enrollment so drastic between blacks and whites in South Africa in 1982.
Its very hard for me to relate to not only the schools but the overall environment in South Africa in 1982 to the United States today in 2008 but I just can't imagine the numbers of dropouts being that big. I'm not saying that theres no dropouts that exist today in Christiana because there is, but the reason for students dropping out here is different from student dropping out in South Africa. If you asked a recent drop out of Christiana, I bet there answer will never be, "I'm dropping out of school because I'm about to die soon because I have AIDS not because I chose to get it but because I was too poor from preventing it". That answer alone just makes me think how lucky I am for the situation I'm in now. A junior in high school and a year from graduating not a year from dying.
When I first read the survey, I wasn't startled by the information that i read just as everyone else wasn't either. We all know that in South Africa theres still a major gap between the whites and blacks that still exist today, so theres no reason to act like its not happening. It just amazes me how the United States have come a long way since the end of slavery in the 1800's, and how far the U.S. has come since the end of segregation in the 1900's but in South Africa, they still haven't made the huge step into equality yet. It just seems to me that if this part of the world is changing, how come other parts of the world is not.
The 1982 Enrollment in South Africa between blacks and whites clearly shows that more white people were enrolled in school in every single grade than blacks. First of all, whites and blacks didn't even attend the same school, so it wasn't like one group didn't enroll in school because they were intimidated by the other group, so this wasn't the case at all for the difference in numbers. Whites and blacks went to two separate schools in two separate areas. Thats another thing, whites and blacks don't even live in the same neighborhood! This background information is what lead me to be confused about how the number of students enrolled in school could be so different when the two racial groups never interacted with one another. This made me pay attention even more in class to get to the bottom of this dispute.
In South Africa, the majority of the good jobs were obtained by the white people. This meant that the better your parents job was, the less concern for the students to get a job to help support the family. Vise versa, the worst your parent job was, the more concern there was for the student to get a job to help support their family. Well in South Africa most blacks had bad jobs, so this was one of the leading factors for blacks dropping out of school or not enrolling at all. Another major contributor to the drop in enrollments for blacks, were the number of disease and STD's that blacks were unfortunately acquiring. Since whites had money, the could afford medicine and STD preventing products, unlike the blacks who were too poor to afford those kinds of things. These two causes were the main factors that made the drop in enrollment so drastic between blacks and whites in South Africa in 1982.
Its very hard for me to relate to not only the schools but the overall environment in South Africa in 1982 to the United States today in 2008 but I just can't imagine the numbers of dropouts being that big. I'm not saying that theres no dropouts that exist today in Christiana because there is, but the reason for students dropping out here is different from student dropping out in South Africa. If you asked a recent drop out of Christiana, I bet there answer will never be, "I'm dropping out of school because I'm about to die soon because I have AIDS not because I chose to get it but because I was too poor from preventing it". That answer alone just makes me think how lucky I am for the situation I'm in now. A junior in high school and a year from graduating not a year from dying.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Civil War Battles
During the late 1800's we all know that the Civil War took place. What most people don't know about the Civil War is all the different battles that took place during it. There were numerous battles such as Fort Sumpter, 1st Bull Run, Fort Henry, Fredricksburg, Gettysburg, and Sherman's March, just to name a few. Out of all 14 battles, there were 4 to me that stood out above the rest. There were Fort Sumpter, Fredricksburg, Gettysburg, and Appomattox.
Fort Sumpter was one of the battles that stood out because it was the first battle in the Civil War. On April 12, 1861 the Union states and Confederate states meet at Fort Sumpter where the first battle took place. It was recorded that there were no casualties during the battle of Fort Sumpter. There was only one death at Sumpter and that was the death of a horse, which is not considered an actually casualty. My overall inference about the first battle was that it was short, quick and important since it was the first battle.
Another battle that stood out was Fredricksburg. The importance of this battle was that it was a turning point for the Confederates. Before Fredricksburg, the Union was in strong control of the war. During this particular battle, General Lee of the Confederates, developed a plan which went on to helping the Confederates win the battle. 6x Union fighters were thrown back during this battle due to Lee's plan.
Of all the battles, Gettysburg was the one with the most deaths. This helped make the battle of Gettysburg so important in the War. The Union ended up winning the battle because the Union put a strong defence against the Confederates. Even though the Union put up a strong defense, they lost the most amount of people during this battle. There were so many casualties that at the end of the war, people just dug up huge holes and started dumping bodies in them. Till this day, if you go to Gettysburg you will see hills but what you are really looking at are dead people with dirt and grass thrown over them.
The last important battle was Appomattox. If you didn't know by now, Appomattox was the last battle of the Civil War. The battle ended by the South finally surrendering to the North. The war lasted from 1861 to 1865. There was a death total of 365,000 for the North and 260,000 deaths for the South at the end of the Civil War.
Fort Sumpter was one of the battles that stood out because it was the first battle in the Civil War. On April 12, 1861 the Union states and Confederate states meet at Fort Sumpter where the first battle took place. It was recorded that there were no casualties during the battle of Fort Sumpter. There was only one death at Sumpter and that was the death of a horse, which is not considered an actually casualty. My overall inference about the first battle was that it was short, quick and important since it was the first battle.
Another battle that stood out was Fredricksburg. The importance of this battle was that it was a turning point for the Confederates. Before Fredricksburg, the Union was in strong control of the war. During this particular battle, General Lee of the Confederates, developed a plan which went on to helping the Confederates win the battle. 6x Union fighters were thrown back during this battle due to Lee's plan.
Of all the battles, Gettysburg was the one with the most deaths. This helped make the battle of Gettysburg so important in the War. The Union ended up winning the battle because the Union put a strong defence against the Confederates. Even though the Union put up a strong defense, they lost the most amount of people during this battle. There were so many casualties that at the end of the war, people just dug up huge holes and started dumping bodies in them. Till this day, if you go to Gettysburg you will see hills but what you are really looking at are dead people with dirt and grass thrown over them.
The last important battle was Appomattox. If you didn't know by now, Appomattox was the last battle of the Civil War. The battle ended by the South finally surrendering to the North. The war lasted from 1861 to 1865. There was a death total of 365,000 for the North and 260,000 deaths for the South at the end of the Civil War.
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