Year: 2011

02/12/11

Free Land For Everyone!


Back in May 1862, President Abraham Lincoln passed the first law that granted land to most people, the Homestead Act. The Homestead Act entitled immigrants, freed slaves and Americans to 160 acres of undeveloped land to increase the expansion to the west. In order to gain access to 160 acres of federal land, Settlers had to follow three steps. Those interested in the new law needed to file an application in order to obtain a homestead title. Next, applicants needed to improve and cultivate the land. Although the first two steps seemed fairly easy to fulfill, there was one other requirement. All applicants needed to remain on the granted land for a minimum of five years in order to file for a deed of title which completed step 3.

Despite the promise of the Homestead Act, many applicants were unable to seize the opportunity the new law offered. Only about 40% of applicants who started the process were able to obtain titles to their homestead land. That 40% amounted to 270,000,000 acres of land which equaled 10% of all the land in the United States.

The Homestead Act was also greatly abused as many individuals committed fraud. Instead of building farms and using the land for agriculture, owners used the land to gain access to water and other minerals. A few owners used the land to gather timber and oil. Eventually the Homestead Act was discontinued in 1976 when the government decided to take control of public land and passed the Federal Land Policy and Management Act.

02/12/11

Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

On February 24, 1868, the House of Representatives voted impeachment to President Andrew Johnson on vote of 126-47. There were eleven articles of impeachment proving his “high crimes and misdemeanors”.

The reason the Radical Republicans wanted to impeach President Andrew Johnson was because in February, 1868, he removed Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, an ally of the Radicals, and replaced him with John McAllister Schofield. This action violated the Tenure of Office Act, which was adopted by Congress in March 1867.

On March 2, the House agreed to the articles of impeachment to him. On May 16, 1868, Andrew Johnson was acquitted on the removal trial by one vote short (35-19) of the two-thirds necessary to remove him. Johnson completed his Presidential term and left office in March, 1869.

02/12/11

The Emancipation Proclamation

Emancipation Proclamation (1863)Emancipation Proclamation (1863)

President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation declared “that all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious states “are, and henceforward shall be free.”  It proclaimed the freedom of 3.1 million of the nation’s 4 million slaves. The declaration highlighted freedom of all slaves within any state that did not submit to Union control and specified the states where the proclamation was to be unconditionally applied. The freedom it promised depended upon Union military victory.

The Emancipation Proclamation enjoined emancipated slaves to “labor faithfully for reasonable wages” in the United States. For the first time, it authorized the enrollment of black soldiers into the Union Army. The proclamation set in motion the process by which 200,000 black men in the last two years of the war fought for the Union. This added to the much needed manpower for winning the war against the Confederacy. Putting black men into the military implied a very different vision of their future place in American society than earlier plans for settling freed slaves overseas.

Source: http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=34

02/11/11

A Letter from a Member of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment

The letter below was written by a soldier, who refers to himself as E.D.W., of 54th Massachusetts Regiment to a newspaper editor. The letter informs the editor about the regiment’s last battle, which took place in Olustee. The 54th Massachusetts were the first regiment to support the 8th U.S., which is the first colored regiment and the first Union force in the Olustee battle field. The 8th U.S. regiment already suffered many damages, and the battle field was still very intense. Another regiment entered the battlefield afterward, but they soon left. “Things were too warm for them,” as E.D.W. had commented.

While E.D.W. has given us some details about the battle, he also complained about how his colored regiment has not receive salary for nearly a year. The white troops would receive their pay every 2 months. There is no reason to discriminate, commented E.D.W.. The black soldiers fought as bravely, if not more bravely, than the white soldiers. Yet the 54th Massachusetts did not receive the same wage or ration at the same interval. Although this letter was meant to be a report of a battle, it is also a request to make the media report the inequalities that black soldiers suffered. This letter is a critical, primary evidence that displays the racial injustice that black people suffered during the Civil War.

———————————————————————–

April 2, 1864
THE CHRISTIAN RECORDER
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

For the Christian Recorder.

MR. EDITOR: – Sir: – It is with pleasure that I now seat myself to inform you concerning our last battle: thus we were in Co. B, on the 20th of Feb. Mr. Editor, I am not sitting down to inform about this battle without knowing something about it.

The battle took place in a grove called Olustee, with the different regiments as follows: First was the 8th U.S.; they were cut up badly, and they were the first colored regiment in the battle. The next were the 54th Mass., which I belong to; the next were the 1st N.C. In they went and fired a few rounds, but they soon danced out, things were too warm for them. The firing was very warm, and it continued for about three hours and a half. The 54th was the last off the field. When the 1st N.C. found out it was so warm they soon left, and then there was none left to cover the retreat. But captain J. Walton, of the 54th, of our company, with shouts and cheers, cried, “Give it to them my brave boys! Give it to them!” As I turned around, I observed Col. E.N. Holowell standing with a smile upon his countenance, as though the boys were playing a small game of ball.

There was none left but the above named, and Lieut. Col. Hooper, and also Col. Montgomery; those were the only field officers that were left with us. If we had been like those regiments that were ahead, I think not only in my own mind, but in the minds of the field officers, such as Col. Hooper and Col. Montgomery, that we would have suffered much loss, is plain to be seen, for the enemy had taken some three of four of their pieces.

When we got there we rushed in double-quick, with a command from the General, “Right into line.” We commenced with a severe firing, and the enemy soon gave way for some two hundred yards. Our forces were light, and we were compelled to fall back with much dissatisfaction.

Now it seems strange to me that we do not receive the same pay and rations as the white soldiers. Do we not fill the same ranks? Do we not cover the same space of ground? Do we not take up the same length of ground in the grave-yard that others do? The ball does not miss the black man and strike the white, nor the white and strike the black. But, sir, at that time there is no distinction made, they strike one as much as another. The black men have to go through the same hurling of musketry, and the same belching of cannonading as white soldiers do.

It has been nearly a year since we have received any pay; but the white soldiers get their pay every two months; ($13.00 per month,) but when it comes to the poor negro he gets none. The 54th left Boston on the 28th of May, 1863. In time of enlisting members for the regiment, they were promised the same pay, and the same rations as other soldiers. Since that time the government must have charged them more for clothing than any other regiment; for those who died in a month or two after their enlistment, it was actually said that they were in debt to the government. Those who bled and died on James’ Island and Wagner, are the same. Why is it not so with other soldiers? Because our faces are black. We are put beneath the very lowest rioters of New York. We have never brought any disgrace by cowardice, on the State we left.

E.D.W.
Co. B, 54th Mass., Vol.
Jacksonville, Fla., March 13th, 1864.

This is ITEM #60542 from the Accessible Archives, Inc. Database and Web site at http://www.accessible.com/. You or your organization must be a licensed subscriber to access the databases on its site. This letter is posted here with the kind permission of Mr. John Nagy, Accessible Archives, Inc.

02/11/11

The Fourteenth Amendment – 1868

According to “Give Me Liberty!”, the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified on July 9th, 1868. It is the principle of citizenship for all persons born in the United States, and which empowered the federal government to protect the rights of all Americans. This includes the former slaves that were recently freed. It also forbids states from denying any person “life, liberty or property, without due process of law” or to “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Section 1 states that all persons born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States. No state can make or enforce any law that will abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.

Section 2 states that representatives shall be apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed.

Section 3 states that no person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elctor of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state.

Sources:
http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/primarysources/fourteenth-amendment.html
http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=43#

02/11/11

The Interstate Commerce Act of 1887

On February 4, 1887, the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 is passed by the Congress to prevent unfair practices in the railroad industry such as railroad monopolies. Before the Interstate Commerce Act was passed, railroads were privately owned and unregulated thus letting railroad companies take advantage of their power of charging high fees in places they enforced monopoly control. These monopolies were harmful to farmers who either lacked the shipment volume or money. Railroads back then greatly influenced people and businesses because it was an important form of transportation for people and goods.

The Interstate Commerce of 1887 targeted problems of railroad monopolies by setting guidelines for railroads and stopping railroad abuse. The law required railroad rates to be reasonable.

02/10/11

Fifteenth Amendment: Voting Rights(1870)

http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=44

                     Above picture is the primary document of the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, in which it prohibits any state and federal governments from denying any citizen the right to vote based on their “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” According to the textbook “Give Me Liberty”, this amendment was first approved  in February 1869.  It was ratified on February 3, 1870. Fifteenth Amendment not only gives every citizen in the United States a right to vote but also it ended the segregation of blacks. “With the Fifteenth Amendment, the American Anti-Slavery Society disbanded, its work, its members believed, now complete.” (Give Me Liberty: 540)

                        However, this amendment did not give the voting rights to women, it only granted African American the right to vote. Fifteenth Amendment is the third of the Reconstruction Amendments. It contains two sections:

Section 1.
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude–

Section 2.
The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

 Sources:

http://www.archives.gov/national_archives_experience/charters/constitution_amendments_11-27.html

02/9/11

Jack Kennedy

To me, John F. Kennedy represents the ideal American President. A man loved by all, who achieved what everyone said was not possible at the age that he did it. A man who had the ability to not only persuade people to do what he needed, but to influence them to his way of thinking; and he did it all with style, class, and true charisma.
02/9/11

Ford Introduces the Model T

The Model T set 1908 as the historic year that the automobile became popular. It is considered  as the first affordable automobile and  enter into the common middle-class American’s family.The Unite States has becomes a “nation on wheels”.

02/9/11

Assignment due 2/14

1) Read Foner, chapter 16
2) Locate a UNIQUE (to the blog) primary document (text or image) online that relates to the reading of chapter 15 or 16.  Write a post describing the document.  Write 2-3 paragraphs explaining any information about the document that helps contextualize it (who, what, where, when).  For help finding primary documents online, I recommend consulting http://guides.newman.baruch.cuny.edu/content.php?pid=88593&sid=662703
3) Include an image if possible and a link to the document
4) If you haven’t already, add tags and categories on all previous posts
02/9/11

Propaganda loves history

The  “Race and Reunion” by D. Blight  does seem quite interesting to me for several reasons. Firstly, it would be very informative, as not much do I know about the Civil War, and, according to Foner, this is “is the most comprehensive and insightful study of the memory of the Civil War”. Secondly, the book is touching upon the subject that is very relevant to me. As a person who grew up in Russia and now lives in the US, the two opposite poles of the Cold War World, I have been exposed to the two interpretations of history, at times completely different. So I am particularly interested in the subject of information wars, as I have witnessed and felt its consequences.  One great example would be the World War II and the controversy over the question “who won the war?”, or who contributed the most to the victory over Hitler. Most Americans think that undoubtedly U.S.A did, and every single Russian believes it was the USSR, including myself. I also think that the memories about the WWII in the US have undergone similar “treatment” to which the reconciliationists subjected the memories about the Civil War. In particular omissions and underplays of important facts and events. And off course informational wars in one way or another are always tied up to the political battle for electorate, and the first and foremost subject of any propaganda is history.

02/9/11

Obese We Stand

In recnet years, Americans have been engulfed in another  ‘Battle of The Bulge.’  School’s cafeteria menus have changed along with new laws being passed to take out excessive fats and salts from processed  foods.  US First Lady Michelle Obama has just had her first year anniversary of her own Anit-Obesity campain.

02/9/11

Capitalist Vs. Communist

After the World War II, the world entered a period of peace.  However, wars has never stopped since the end of WWII.  Cold War between United States and Soviet Unions leads to many mini wars around the global.  The Korean War is one of the example of Capitalist Vs. Communist war.  After the WWII, Korea is divided into two parts with two different political system.  North Korea is a communist country while South Korea follows democratic ideology.  After suffering great causality, the war ends three years after the first battle.

I learned about this war when i was back in China.  In Chinese Government’s perspective, Korean War was a defense war to repel the Capitalism aggression.  Chinese Military’s involvement of Korean War was to aid North Korean in war to stop United States’ Capitalism influence in Asia.  On the other hand, I also learned about the war in United States and the story is different.  In US text book, the war is view as Communist aggression.  North Korea invaded South Korea and attempted to unify Korea under Communist rule.  United States send troops to fight the war under the name of preserving democracy.  The War ended without any significant benefit for neither sides.  The border line was restored and mini battles continuous even until modern days.

02/9/11

Black Sister Sit Down and Rest Your Weary Legs and Heart!

The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a turning point in history. Rosa Parks was a Black Woman and she was standing up for her rights (or rather sititng down). I feel like that she  empowered other black women to continue fighting for their rights during the Civil Rights Movement.

02/9/11

“Memory is a complicated thing, a relative to truth, but not its twin. “

The David Blight book sound very interesting because it sound like a different book that’s not only expressing different views but also questioning them. Its a book about the story behind a story. I think that anyone reading the book will benefit from it because they might learn something new and change their perspective on what really happened during the Civil war. From the reading the book review I realized that memory is a very important part of history. For example, before books history was passed down from generation to generation through stories that were  told from memory.

I believe that all shared experiences are remembered in different ways. For example, the war in Vietnam. Some people might say that the war was justified but others will say that it was  not only a waste of money and time but many lives were lost unnecessarily. Also, one can say that the war in Vietnam was worth it because it showed that the US was not a force to be reckoned with.  The war in Vietnam was politically motivated because it was during the time of the Cold War. During that time there was a lot of political tension between the communist and democratic countries.

Afterthoughts:One of the main points of the book review is there are different memories of the Civil War. In these memories some facts were suppressed and others facts were turned simply into something that couldn’t be further from the truth. Since “memory is a product of history” is history just simply a figment of our imagination since its building blocks are made up?

Citations:
Title is a quote from Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams.

02/9/11

Roe vs Wade

Roe vs Wade (1973) was a controversial case on the issue of abortion in the United States. The U.S. Supreme Court decided that a right to privacy under the due process clause in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution extends to a woman’s decision to have an abortion. This was one of the many steps towards women’s rights.

02/9/11

Fall of Berlin Wall

Erected in 1961, the Berlin wall seperated eastern and western Berlin. The main purpose of the wall was to prevent any radical idea’s from entering and corrupting the socialist society that dominated the easern side of Berlin. After the Soviet Union fell in 1991, the Berlin fell as well, marking the end of the cold war.