Veronika’s posterous

1. http://www.flowgram.com/fg/yedxxim2zaw64d/

2. I liked learning about Salem because it's an interesting sotry about people being suspected of witchcraft, so many inocent people died because people didn't like them and wanted to get rid of them.

I liked learning about the Alamo because it always surprises me and makes me think when people die for something they think is right, those people were brave and they fought until the last minute. The story reminded me about the movies that I saw about Texas.

3. I did not like learning about slavery because slaves did nothing except work and were treated unequal and with a lot of violence.

I did not like learning about Thomas Jefferson because when I learned about his secret life it made me change my view about him.

4. I liked working in Flowgram, especially it was fun to record.

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6. I want to learn more about history and learn how to better use computer.

7.  I learned interesting facts from Thomas Jefferson's life. I never knew or heard about his secret life before.

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5)THE CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH

7)On January 24, 1848, James Marshall spotted glittering flakes of gold in the American River. At the time he was working on helping to build a saw mill for John Sutter. He quickly took the gold to show Mr. Sutter and to get it tested. Sutter asked Marshall to keep the discovery of gold a secret until the construction of his mill was completed. However, that was one secret that was impossible to keep because gold is a valuable metal.

6)On May 12, 1848, when word of the discovery reached San Francisco, the town's male population was about 600. On May 15, only about 200 men remained.

1)Then on December 5, 1848, President Polk announced that gold was discovered. This announcement caused one of the largest migrations to the west coast. Over 100,000 people made their way to California. These gold seekers were known as the "forty-niners."

2)Today it might be hard to understand why men left their homes and loved ones and traveled thousands of miles to look for gold. But in 1849, a prosperous farmer might make about two or three hundred dollars a year. A factory worker made about a dollar for working a twelve hour day. A skilled craftsmen made a dollar and a half a day.

3)Eventually, much of the gold that could be mined by hand had been found. Heavy machinery was needed to dig out the rest. Many miners went home penniless--or nearly so. John Sutter left California in 1851, heavily in debt. Miners had invaded his house and trampled his fields.. James W. Marshall, the man who first found the gold, had little success as a miner.

4)Still, many miners stayed. They started businesses in cities and towns or became farmers.. By 1856, San Francisco had more than 50,000 citizens and was the largest and most important city in the West. On its streets walked people from every corner of the world. 

Manifest Destiny
By Cathy Pearl (modified by Larry Ferlazzo)

¹     In the 1800s, the country started to grow quickly. Some people started to believe that the country should go from one ocean to another. They used this idea as a reason to go to war or take land from other countries. This idea was called Manifest Destiny.
 
²     The term was used for the first time in 1845. The person who used it did not think the country should go to war to get land. He didn't think the government should have any part of it. He thought that people should just move west. When enough people lived in an area, they would apply to become a state. This is how the country should grow.
 
³     It wasn't that easy. Other countries owned the land in the West. Thomas Jefferson helped with this problem in 1803. He bought land from France. This land went from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. He doubled the size of the country.
 
⁴     People quickly began to move onto this land. But some people wanted to go farther west. They went into Texas. This land was owned by Mexico. In 1836, they declared their freedom. Texas applied to become a state. The two countries went to war over the land. Mexico lost.
 
⁵     After the war, there were some that wanted all of land to become part of the country. Not everyone agreed. The treaty helped end this talk. Mexico lost land - a lot of land. The land would become many states in the West.

The Mexican-American War

The Mexican-American War began in 1846.  There were many events that led up to this war.  For example, Mexico and the United States argued over where the official border between the countries should be.  The United States was also unhappy because Mexico refused to sell California and New Mexico to the United States.  People in the United States at that time wanted to make the country bigger so they wanted to buy California and New Mexico from Mexico.  Mexico’s refusal to sell the territories was one of the reasons the United States went to war.  Mexico had many problems throughout the war.  The biggest  problem was that the Mexican government was weak and divided.  The United States also had a better army and weapons.  After two years of fighting the American army invaded Mexico and won the war.  Mexico had to give the United States California, New Mexico, and other territories to end the war.

All the defenders of the Alamo chose to die instead of surrendering. Do you think there might be times that you would rather die than give-up and live? What might those times be, and why do you think you would choose to die instead?

When I think about dying and not giving up, I think about persecution. I think that dying for something that you believe is right is honor. People around the world are being persecuted for their faith but they do not give-up, and they even become stronger and want to keep going to show others example.

The Alamo is in Texas. It was first used as a mission. Missionaries and Native Americans who became Christians lived in the mission for almost seventy years  In the early 1800s, Spanish soldiers used the mission.
 
     In Mexico, Santa Anna had become a dictator. Settlers in Texas were worried about what he would do. The settlers felt it was time to take action. They had the support of many Tejanos. These were Mexican people who had been born in Texas. The Tejanos didn't always care if Texas became free. They did want to get rid of Santa Anna.
 
     In 1835, some people in Texas fought Mexican troops. Santa Anna was not happy. He marched north from Mexico with his army.
 
     Texas volunteers worked to make the defenses stronger. They knew that Santa Anna would be coming to attack the city.
 
     The Texans did not have a lot of equipment. They did not have a lot of ammunition. There was not a lot of food or water in the mission, either. If the Texans were trapped in the mission for a long time, they would run out of things to eat and die.
 
    In February of 1836, Santa Anna's army got to the Alamo. There were 6,000 men in his army. There were about 150 men in the mission.
 
      Santa Anna surrounded the Alamo and began a siege. This is where an army tries to capture a fort by attacking it over and over again. Santa Anna wanted the fighters in the Alamo to surrender. They would not.
 
      On the twelfth day of the siege Santa Anna attacked. At first the Texans kept the Mexicans back, but they were badly outnumbered. Soon the Mexican army had made it inside the Alamo. They killed most of the people inside. The assault had only lasted about ninety minutes.
 
    There were about seven men that survived the battle. These people were brought to Santa Anna. He ordered them executed. The women and children were allowed to live. Santa Anna wanted them to tell other Texans what had happened at the Alamo.
 
     The Mexican victory came at a high cost. Almost 1,500 Mexicans were dead. The Texans lost 189 men.

 
     The fall of the Alamo had Americans calling for revenge. New volunteers joined the Army. Santa Anna was defeated in 1836.
 

     Today the Alamo is a historic site. Millions of people visit every year to witness the bravery of men who would not give up even though the odds were against them.

Why do you think these people tried to change things?  Is there anything in our school, neighborhood, country or world that you would like to change?  Why?

People were getting tired of working hard, they wanted to improve things, and be more educated. Women didn't wanted to be lower than men, so they tryed to do everything that would help them to get the same right's as men had. There are so many things that I would change in the world. I don't want any wars and conflicts, because people get hurt and die because of them. I would wanted more people to have medical treatment, poor people to have food and shelter. I would wanted to improve my neighborhood and my school. I would want all the people to feel safe in it, and so many other things.

2. Abolitionists
By Mary L. Bushong (modified from “Edhelper” by Larry Ferlazzo)

6. What does it mean to abolish something? It means to get rid of it or destroy it. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, a movement began among people from all walks of life. They were the Abolitionists, and they wanted to get rid of slavery.

1. One of the first groups of people to talk about the plight of slaves and the need to abolish slavery was the Quakers. Many were already involved in helping every slave who asked. They would provide food, shelter, and education, teaching them skills like reading and writing.

5. Former slaves, like Frederick Douglass, toured the Northern states telling about their personal experiences as slaves. Their stories opened the eyes of many people, and membership in the Anti-Slavery Society swelled. In two years, there were 400 chapters. In five years, it had grown to 1,350 with at least 250,000 members.

3. Abolitionists tried to educate the public. They produced a steady stream of published material. This included speeches, sermons, memoirs of former slaves, newspapers, children's materials, and books. The most well known book was Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. She wrote it in 1852 after listening to the stories told her by Josiah Henson, her model of Uncle Tom.

 Where did abolitionists found money, food, and other stuff to help slaves who askeed for it?

http://www.wearemulticolored.com/stage3.php?id=41398

Blue represents loyalty, honesty and wisdom.

White represents generosity, frankness.

Red represents love and courage.

The eagle holding a bison’s head. The bison represents power, independence and pride.

Slavery and Sally Hemings

4.     In 1998, a DNA test proved that Jefferson was the father of Sally Hemings children.

6.     Jefferson owned a slave by the name of Sally Hemings and had an affair with her that lasted nearly 26 years.

8.     Jefferson had slaves at his home in Virginia.

Jefferson Life

2.     After his presidency, Jefferson founded and built the University of Virginia.

 5.     Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence that “all men were created equal.”

7.     At age twenty-six, Jefferson began to built his home Monticello which means little mountain in Italian

 Jefferson as President

3.     The Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the United States.

10. Jefferson was elected president in 1800.

12. Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark on an expedition to explore and map the American West.

Jefferson Jobs

1.     Jefferson became the ambassador of France and lived there with his daughter Maria and Sally Hemings.

 9.     Jefferson was considered a renaissance man; he was an architect, farmer, writer, and inventor.

11. George Washington selected Jefferson to be his Secretary of State.