History Now and Then

Apples and Oranges

2012-02-14T23:00:00.000-05:00

I just tweeted Sean Hannity some thing like this, "Rick Santorum has the same experience that Barack Obama had when he became president of the United States." To be fair I researched the senator to compare the candidates for this coming presidential election and this is what I found, "Santorum was elected to U.S. House of Representatives on behalf of Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district in 1991 and became of a member of what became known as the "Gang of Seven". Santorum was elected a United States Senator for Pennsylvania in 1994 and served there until losing re-election to the position in 2006." He does have more a little more experience the candidate Obama. Santorum is searching in the pole after the triple victories in Minnesota, Missouri, and Colorado. Santorum is a social conservative with positions that includes opposition to same-sex marriage. "On fiscal issues, he voted for tax cuts and a balanced budget amendment, and played a leading role in enacting welfare reform. He also advanced issues and causes important to his state and supported programs in education and transportation, positions that are closed to our current president stands.

On the other hand his main Santorum rival Mitt Romney "entered the management consulting business, which led to a position at Bain & Company. Eventually serving as CEO, Romney brought the company out of crisis. He was co-founder and head of the spin-off company Bain Capital, a private equity investment firm that became highly profitable and one of the largest such firms in the nation . . . He ran as the Republican candidate in the 1994 U.S. Senate election in Massachusetts, losing to long-time incumbent Ted Kennedy. Romney organized and steered the 2002 Winter Olympics as head of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, and helped turn the troubled games into a financial success. Romney was elected Governor of Massachusetts in 2002 but did not seek re-election in 2006. He presided over a series of spending cuts and increases in fees that eliminated a projected $3 billion deficit." Romney's leadership and managerial experience resume that frightens the Obama campaign, they know that if a match-up between Romney and Obama happens, Romney might win the independence vote, which is the vote that wins presidential elections. Coincidentally, Obama's administration had been involve in two social issues in the past two weeks; women birth control pills cover by the Catholic facilities employees and the defunding of the Plan Parenthood.

Some radio heads are crediting these two incidents with Santorum search in the polls, some are even saying that these two controversies were engineered by the Obama White House because they prefer to run against Santorum, and they are trying to manipulate the GOP primaries in favor of the none Romney alternative. That conservatives are throwing sand in their eyes by looking for a true social conservative. That true alternative search, Santorum, Gingrich or whoever, is a dangerous game. The risk they are taking is giving Obama the White House four more years in a silver platter. Romney is the candidate that they fear the most because is the alternative to the misgovernment we had have in the past four years.

What A Wonderful World With David Attenborough -- BBC One [FULL HD]

2012-02-13T20:16:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to Adele 2012 G.W. Rolling In The Deep - Adele

2012-02-13T11:07:00.000-05:00

Chapter 14 - Age of Reform

2012-02-12T16:01:00.001-05:00

Middle Class Reforms

Between 1800 & 1850, the economic growth, geographic expansion, & the increase in population: They brought the growing pains: 1) Urban poverty, 2)Widespread drinking, & 3)Calls for a system of basic education. Disturbed by this & other social problems, some Americans (mainly urban, middle-class northerners) set out to do something about them. The evangelical ministers preached that humans have the power to choose & to accept Jesus Christ as their savior.They did not believe that the world was a rigid order & rank. They believed that God allowed humans to choose their own destiny. Successful people have "character," or the ability to exercise control & follow God's laws. The Transcendentalists believed that the most important truths in life went beyond human understanding. They rejected traditional religion, but believe that humans have control over their fate & have a responsibility to have meaningful life. They prized individual intuition, self-reliance, & the questioning of authority. Example Henry David Thoreau, published in 1854, the book Walden Pond.

Middle-class reformers opposed anything that weakened self-control. In their eyes, drinking alcohol meant losing control. They started a campaign against alcohol, known as the temperance movement. Abraham Lincoln illustrated this viewpoint dearly when he spoke in Springfield, Illinois, in 1842. Reformers argued that Public Education was necessary to improve democracy. In the 1820s, many working-class & middle-class citizens began demanding tax-supported schools in order to improve the quality of their children's lives. Families that depended on their children's labor did not want compulsory education that required children to attend school. Horace Mann becomes the first superintended of schools in Massachusetts.

Utopian Communities - Small societies that would achieve perfection in social & political conditions. Reformers became increasingly aware of the gap between the nation's democratic ideals & the reality of American life. Nowhere was that gap wider than over the issue of slavery. Dorothea Dix visited some Massachusetts jails in 1841. She discovered men & women, young & old, sane & insane, first-time offenders & hardened criminals all crowded together in deplorable conditions. She convinced Massachusetts lawmakers to pass legislation to improve conditions in prisons & poorhouses.

The Anti-slavery Movement

The anti-slavery movement contributed to increasing tensions between North & South.During the late 1700s, several anti-slavery societies formed in the North, Abolitionist newspapers appeared in the North & the South. Northern states – starting with Vermont in 1777– passed laws that gradually abolished slavery. Early abolitionists' Benjamin Lundy, a Quaker, founded an anti-slavery newspaper in Ohio in the 1820s. He advocated for universal Emancipation, but gradual.Abolitionists began a program to return free blacks to Africa and established the country of Liberia in 1822.

As of 1831, only about 1,400 free and once- enslaved African Americans had migrated to Liberia. During the 1830s, many African American and white members of the movement embraced this more militant form of abolitionism, Ex. William Lloyd Garrison, who in 1831 began publishing The Liberator, an anti-slavery newspaper. By 1835 the American Anti-Slavery Society had some 1,000 local chapters with roughly 150,000 members.The most influential members of the American Anti-slavery Society was Frederick Douglass. He condemned slavery in eloquent speeches that he delivered in both the U.S. & Great Britain. He published the North Star anti-slavery newspaper

The Underground Railroad helped runaway enslaved persons escape to the North and then into Canada. The most famous of the railroad's many "conductors" was a courageous former enslaved woman named Harriet Tubman. She enraged southern slave owners, who offered a $40,000 reward for her capture.

Women in the Public Sphere: A Turning Point in History

In the 19-century Middle-class women were expected to raise & educate their children, & serve their husbands. Women did not enjoy the right to vote, & could not own property, make a will, or keep their wages. In the 1840s they began to turn their attention to the struggle for women's rights. Catharine Beecher (Harriet Beecher-Stowe's sister) She tried to win respect for women's contributions as wives, mothers, & teachers. She lobbied for the education of females. Her most influential work was A Treatise on Domestic Economy. She helped to establish today’s notions about the role of American women.

Middle-class women became involved in political: they joined temperance & abolitionism movements,. they marched in parades to support their causes & participated in economic boycotts. They gave lectures at public assemblies. By participating in reform movements, many northern middle- class women became more conscious of their inferior position in American society. Women saw obvious parallels between the conditions of enslaved African Americans & their status. Neither group could vote, or hold office, & both were denied the full rights of American citizens.By 1840, Lucretia Mott & Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized the first convention in History for women's rights. It was held at Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848. The Seneca Falls Convention marked the beginning of the organized movement for women's right in the United States. Three African-American women speaks out for women: Sojourner Truth. (Isabelle Baumfree) became a powerful spokesperson in the anti-slavery cause & for women's rights. Harriet Tubman, famous for her activities in the underground railroad and Harriet Brent Jacob author of the 1861 book Incidents in the Life a Slave Girl.

Pioneers of Television. Science Fiction. 1080i

2012-02-12T14:49:00.000-05:00

Chapter 16 – People and Empires in the Americas

2012-02-12T12:20:00.002-05:00

Section 1 – North American Society
Section 2 – Maya Kings and Cities
Section 3 – The Aztecs Control Central Mexico
Section 4 – The Incas Create a Mountain Empire

North American Society

Between 40,000 & 12,000 years ago, hunter-gatherers (or first Americans) moved from Asia to North America through a land bridge. They spread throughout North & South America having many different ways of life, while suiting to the place they lived. In the Pacific Northwest (Oregon to Alaska) this peoples used the rich resources of the region; they hunted whales & gathered food from the forests on the coast. They developed societies with social classes, which performed potlatch or ceremony --wealthy families showed their rank & prosperity by giving food, drink, & gifts to the community. In the Southwest, the Hohokam people lived in a harsh environment. But they irrigated, or watered, their crops. Their use of pottery & baskets showed that they had contact with the Mesoamerican people to the south.

The Anasazi lived in Utah, Arizona, Colorado, & New Mexico meet. They built cities the rocky walls of deep canyons. .By the 900s, they lived in pueblos or villages with more than 600 apartments that housed about 1,000 people. The Anasazi pueblos were abandoned by the 1200. Near the Mississippi River the Mound Builders built large mounds of earth, in the shapes of animals, filled with copper & stone artwork. The Mississippians built thriving villages, such as Cahokia or flat-topped pyramid. In the Northeastern Woodlands many different cultures arose. which often fought for control of land. But in 1500s , they formed the Iroquois League (5 tribes in upper New York). They had common features & trade linked all North America regions while they shared the following: 1.Their religions were similar, honor spirits & rituals, 2.They respected the land, they believed that it could not be owned, and 3.The family as the most important social unit or clans.

The Maya Civilizations
The Mayas established their great civilization in southern Mexico & northern Central America around A.D. 250. Around 900 BC the Mayas built the cities of Tikal & Copán. Each city was independent, ruled by a god-king, & were religious & trade center. Cities (close 50) were large; population 10,000. with palaces, temples, & pyramids. Trade consisted of salt, flint, feathers, shells, cotton cloth, & ornaments made of jade. Cacao beans, to make chocolate, were used as money. Maize, beans, & squash were the main foods. Maya society was divided into social classes. 1)Warriors & priests were at the top, 2)The merchants & craft workers were at the next level, and
3)Peasant farmers—the majority of the people— were at the bottom.

Their religion was the center of society, they believed in many gods. The Maya offered their blood to the gods in sacrifice, by killing enemies in sacrifices. They development of mathematics (including the # zero), calendars, & astronomy. Their calendar had 18 months consisting of 20 days each. Maya astronomy observed the sun, moon, and stars to make their calendars as accurate as possible. The Maya writing system was the most advanced in the ancient Americas --made up of about 800 symbols, or glyphs. They used their writing to carve in stone & record events in a bark-paper book known as a codex. Three of these ancient books still survive. A famous Maya book called the Popul Vuh records a Maya story of the creation of the world. In the late 800s, the Maya civilization began to decline. Historians do not know why. One explanation may be that warfare between the different city-states disrupted Maya society.

The Aztecs Control
The Valley of Mexico is a mile above sea level was a good place to settle because it has lakes & fertile soil. An early city-state called Teotihuacán (“City of the Gods”) arose in this area in the first century A.D. The city had close to 200,000 people at its peak. It was a center of trading obsidian (volcanic glass was used to make sharp weapons). A huge Pyramid of the Sun, (200 ft. high & 3,000 ft around its base), dominated the city. By 750, Teotihuacán was abandoned for unclear reasons. Toltecs rose to power around 900 & ruled over central Mexico for about 300 years. They were warlike & based their empire on conquest, & worshiped a warlike god. One Toltec king, Topiltzin, tried to replace the warlike god with a peaceful one, Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent. Followers of the warlike god rebelled & chased Topiltzin away. Over time, they became one in Toltec legends. Someday, Quetzalcoatl would return & bring a new reign of peace. This legend lived on in central Mexico for centuries & had important consequences.

Around 1200, the Aztecs began to gain power & founded a city, in 1428, they joined with two other city-states to form the Triple Alliance. The Triple Alliance gained control over neighboring regions. By the1500s, the Aztecs controlled a large empire of 15 million people, based on military conquest & collecting tribute from conquered peoples. Military leaders held great power, along with government officials & priests, they made up a noble class. Below them were commoners -merchants, craft workers, soldiers, & farmers who owned their land. At the bottom of society were the slaves taken as captives in battle. At the top was the emperor, god, & ruler. The capital city—Tenochtitlán—was built on an island in a lake, connected by long causeways to the mainland. 400,000 people lived in the city. Religion played a major role in their society. They believed in many gods. Priests led religious ritual for the sun god, with sacrifice of human blood to make sure that the sun god was happy, and the sun would rise every day. People taken captive in war were sacrificed. By 1502, when Montezuma II became emperor, the Empire began to have problems. They ordered conquered tribes to hand over even more people to sacrifice making them to rebel against the Aztecs. It is then that the Spanish arrived.

The Inca Empire

The Inca civilization arose in the Andes of South America. They first settled in the Valley of Cuzco, in modern Peru.  The Inca united the Andes under their rule, building a kingdom there by the 1200s.
b.They believed that their ruler was related to the sun god, who would bring wealth & power to them.  Only men from one of 11 noble families believed to be descendants of the sun god could serve as king. In 1438, Pachacuti became their ruler, he made conquest after conquest.  By 1500, the Inca ruled an empire that stretched along the Andes from modern Ecuador all the way south to Chile and Argentina. It held about 16 million people.  The empire did not grow only through military conquest. Often the Inca offered new peoples the chance to join the empire peacefully as long as they swore loyalty to the emperor.

The Inca had a highly organized system to govern their empire. Small groups of people known as ayllu worked together for the common good.  Inca families were placed in groups of 10, 100, 1,000, and so on while a chief led each group. The Inca usually let local rulers stay in place as long as the conquered people met any Incan demands.  The Inca built government buildings & a complex network of roads that linked all parts of the empire. This created a common identity the empire where all people speak a common language, called Quechua. The Inca controlled the economy by telling people what to grow or make and how it would be distributed.  The government also took care of people old & ill.  The Inca never developed a system of writing, records were kept by memories. They did have a device for counting called a quipu. The Inca also had day and night calendars. The Inca believed in fewer gods, the most important of the Incas gods were the creator god and the sun god. Cuzco, the capital, was the most important religious center.

Whitney Houston Dead At 48

2012-02-11T23:57:00.000-05:00

FDR's Affairs

2012-02-07T22:38:00.000-05:00

Franklin D. Roosevelt was President from 1933-1945. Contrary to popular belief, Eleanor was not the love of his life. Lucy Mercer, Eleanor's social secretary at one point. Lucy was a tall and beautiful young women with thick blonde hair. Eleanor discovered the affair when she found some love letters that Lucy had sent to her husband. She confronted her husband with the letters and told him that she wanted a divorce. FDR in no way wanted to sacrifice his political standing or career with a divorce, so he promised Eleanor that he would never see Lucy Mercer again. Unknown to Eleanor though, whenever he was in the Washington D.C. area, FDR continued to see Mercer on the sly. Lucy Mercer was with him when he died, almost 30 years after the affair was started.

Despite this auspicious beginning, the 23-year-old FDR and his 20-year-old wife ran into difficulties almost immediately. The 1st problem was Franklin's mother, an intelligent, strong-willed widow who wasn't about to give up her hold on her only child. She had moved to Boston to be close to Franklin during his years at Harvard, and now she insisted on setting up house with the young couple. She easily dominated the unassuming Eleanor and made all crucial decisions concerning the Roosevelt home.

There were also deeper tensions in the marriage: Family papers, made public for the 1st time in 1971, show that Eleanor always considered sex an ordeal, while Franklin had an unusually vigorous sexual appetite. In the early years of the marriage, FDR usually got his way, but in 1916, after the birth of her 6th child, Eleanor put her foot down. During the 29 years of marriage that remained to them, the Roosevelts never slept together again. They maintained separate bedrooms and in the White House actually took over different wings of the mansion.

Not surprisingly, FDR looked for consolation outside his marriage. His 1st and most serious affair involved Lucy Mercer, his wife's beautiful and sophisticated social secretary. By the time Eleanor discovered a batch of love letters and found out about the affair, Franklin and Lucy were deeply in love. There was talk of a divorce and remarriage, but Roosevelt's mother squelched all such plans by threatening to cut off her boy's generous financial allowance. Franklin was forced to give up Lucy Mercer, but his interest in her continued from a distance for the rest of his life.

In a sense, Roosevelt's paralysis probably strengthened his bond with Eleanor, but their relationship was one of mutual respect and dependence rather than personal intimacy. Medical reports prove that FDR's sexual prowess was unimpaired by polio, and rumors continued to link him with other women. Wartime gossip centered on a supposed romantic involvement between the President and the glamorous young Princess Martha of Norway. Then in 1973, FDR's son Elliott published a book in which he declared that Missy LeHand, his father's tall, slim, gray-eyed private secretary, was Roosevelt's mistress for 20 years. Elliott also asserts that Eleanor not only knew about the relationship, but approved of it-allowing Missy and Franklin to occupy adjoining bedrooms.

Though some Roosevelt intimates have doubted the accuracy of this account, there can be no question that as the years went by, Eleanor became more and more her own woman. In the White House, she was without a doubt the most active and most controversial First Lady in American history. She wrote a daily newspaper column, held regular press conferences, chaired public works committees, and earned the nickname "Public Energy Number One." She also made countless far-flung inspection tours for her husband and filed the reports of her travels, in writing, in a small basket by FDR's bed. Roosevelt called her his "eyes and ears," and would often answer department heads by saying, "Yes, but, my missus tells me . . ." He was obviously proud of his brilliant wife, and she was no doubt devoted to him. The public knew nothing of the persistent problems in their marriage.

In 1944, Missy LeHand died of a stroke, and in his loneliness FDR turned once again to Lucy Mercer, now an aging but attractive widow. On several occasions, he risked exposure to spend time with her; he once ordered an unscheduled stop on a presidential train so that he could spend half a day at Lucy's New Jersey home. Privileged observers noted a romantic, somewhat melancholy aspect in this "lonely hearts" relationship. Lucy was with Roosevelt in Warm Springs on the day that he died, but after his collapse she left hurriedly, before Eleanor and the press had arrived on the scene.

Lincoln-Kennedy Coincidences

2012-02-07T22:14:00.000-05:00

Readers are invited to add to this developing and evolving compilation of coincidences:

- Lincoln's name has 7 letters
- Kennedy's name has 7 letters

- In Lincoln's & Kennedy's names the vowels & consonants fall in exactly the same place;***
in the order c, v, c, c, v, c, c

- Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846


Bill Clinton at age 14 visited the White House and met	JFK

- Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946

- Lincoln was elected president in 1860
- Kennedy was elected president in 1960

- Kennedy had a secretary named Lincoln

- War was thrust upon Lincoln almost immediately after inauguration
- War was thrust upon Kennedy almost immediately after inauguration

- Lincoln ordered the Treasury to print its own money
- Kennedy ordered the Treasury to print its own money

- International bankers may have arranged the assassinations of Lincoln and Kennedy

- Lincoln gave negroes freedom and legalized equality
- Kennedy enforced equality for negroes

- Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863
- Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963

- Lincoln was loved by the common people and hated by the establishment
- Kennedy was loved by the common people and hated by the establishment

- Lincoln was succeeded, after assassination, by vice-president Johnson
- Kennedy was succeeded, after assassination, by vice-president Johnson

- Andrew Johnson was born in 1808
- Lyndon Johnson was born in 1908

- Andrew Johnson's name has 13 letters
- Lyndon Johnson's name has 13 letters

- Andrew Johnson had a pug nose and slicked-back hair
- Lyndon Johnson had a pug nose and slicked-back hair

- Lincoln was sitting beside his wife when he was shot
- Kennedy was sitting beside his wife when he was shot

- Rathbone, who was with Lincoln when he was shot, was injured (by being stabbed)
- Connally, who was with Kennedy when he was shot, was injured (by being shot)
- Rathbone's name has 8 letters
- Connally's name has 8 letters

- Lincoln's wife held his head in her lap after he was shot
- Kennedy's wife held his head in her lap after he was shot

- Lincoln was shot on a Friday
- Kennedy was shot on a Friday

- Lincoln was shot in a theatre named Ford
- Kennedy was shot in a car made by Ford

- Kennedy was shot in a car named Lincoln

- Lincoln's bodyguard was away from his post at the door of the President's box at the theatre
- Kennedy's bodyguards were away from their posts on the running-boards of the President's car

- Lincoln was shot in a theatre and his assassin ran to a warehouse
- JFK was shot from a warehouse and his alleged assassin ran to a theatre

- Lincoln's assassin had a three-worded name, John Wilkes Booth
- Kennedy's alleged assassin had a three-worded name, Lee Harvey Oswald

- John Wilkes Booth has 15 letters
- Lee Harvey Oswald has 15 letters

- John Wilkes Boothe was born in 1839 (s/b 1838)
- Lee Harvey Oswald was born in 1939

- Lincoln didn't die immediately after being shot
- Kennedy didn't die immediately after being shot

- Lincoln and Kennedy died in places beginning with the initials P and H
- Lincoln died in Petersen's house
- Kennedy died in Parkland Hospital

- Booth was shot and killed* in police custody before going to trial
- Oswald was shot and killed in police custody before going to trial

- Kennedy's funeral was modelled on Lincoln's funeral

- Andrew Johnson was a heavy drinker with crude behaviour
- Lyndon Johnson was a heavy drinker with crude behaviour

- There were conspiracy theories that Johnson was knowledgeable about Lincoln's assassination
- There were conspiracy theories that Johnson was knowledgeable about Kennedy's assassination**

- Days before it happened Lincoln told his wife and friends about a dream he'd had of being shot by an assassin
- Hours before it happened Kennedy told his wife and friends it would be easy for an assassin to shoot him from a crowd

- Shortly after Lincoln was shot the telegraph system went down
- Shortly after Kennedy was shot the telephone system went down

- Kennedy's father had been the Ambassador to England at the Court of St James
- Lincoln's son became the Ambassador to England at the Court of St James
- Lincoln and Kennedy were 2 of the greatest presidents of the nation
- Lincoln's wife tastefully and expensively re-decorated the White House
- Kennedy's wife tastefully and expensively re-decorated the White House
- Lincoln loved great literature and could recite poetry by heart
- Kennedy loved great literature and could recite poetry by heart
- Lincoln had young children while living at the White House
- Kennedy had young children while living at the White House
- Lincoln's sons had ponies they rode on the White House grounds
- Kennedy's daughter had a pony she rode on the White House grounds
- Lincoln lost a child (12 year old son) to death while President
- Kennedy lost a child (newly born son) to death while President
- Lincoln had 2 sons named Robert and Edward. Edward died young and Robert lived on.
- Kennedy had 2 brothers named Robert and Edward. Robert died young and Edward lived on
- Lincoln let his children run and play in his office
- Kennedy let his children run and play in his office
- After Lincoln's assassination the nation experienced an emotional convulsion
- After Kennedy's assassination the nation experienced an emotional convulsion
- the whole world cried when Lincoln died
- the whole world cried when Kennedy died
- Lincoln's funeral train travelled from Washington-DC to New York
- Kennedy's brother's funeral train travelled from New York to Washington-DC

- Lincoln Assassination conspiracy theories are believed these ~~140~~ 141 years later
- Kennedy Assassination conspiracy theories are believed these 42 43 years later
- Abraham was the first name of the man who filmed Kennedy's murder in the Lincoln
- The man running alongside Kennedy's car snapping pictures with his 35mm camera was a salesman of Lincoln cars
- Kennedy bought a Virginia home that was the 1861 Civil War headquarters of Lincoln's first general-in-chief, McClellan
- Jefferson Davis was the name of the president of the Confederate states while Lincoln was president of the Union states
- Jefferson Davis Tippit was the name of the police officer killed allegedly by Kennedy's alleged assassin
- Lincoln was famous for his wit and for telling hilarious stories and anecdotes
- Kennedy was famous for his wit and for telling hilarious stories and anecdotes
- Lincoln was sitting in a rocking chair at Ford's Theater when he was shot
- Kennedy had a special rocking chair he sat in at the White House
- Henry Ford bought the rocking chair Lincoln died in and put it in his museum in Dearborn
- Kennedy's seat in the Lincoln he was sitting in when he was shot is in Ford's museum
- Lincoln's seat in the Ford he was sitting in when he was shot is in Ford's museum
- John Kennedy is the name of a character in a 1951 movie about a detective travelling by train
  to thwart the assassination of President Lincoln
- John Kennedy is the name of the real-life detective who travelled in the train with President Lincoln in 1860
  to thwart his assassination
- In 1863, the Tsar sent the war fleet of the Russian empire to assist President Lincoln during the American civil war
- In 1962, during the Kennedy presidency, a fleet of Russian ships transporting instruments of war
  were steaming towards America with less benign intent ------NEW

U.S. Presidents Who Were Related to Each Other

2012-02-07T21:58:00.000-05:00

George W. Bush (the 43rd president) is the son of George Bush (the 41st president)

John Quincy Adams (the 6th president) was the son of John Adams (the 2nd president).
Benjamin Harrison (the 23rd president) was the grandson of William Henry Harrison (the 9th president).
James Madison (the 4th president) and Zachary Taylor (the 12th president) were second cousins.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (the 32nd president) was a fifth cousin of Theodore Roosevelt (the 26th president). Genealogists have determined that FDR was distantly related to a total of 11 U.S. presidents, 5 by blood and 6 by marriage: John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Ulysses Grant, William Henry Harrison, Benjamin Harrison, James Madison, Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, Zachary Taylor, Martin Van Buren, and George Washington.

All of these are related by blood:

FDR (17) - Washington, J.Q. Adams, Van Buren, Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Cleveland, T. Roosevelt, Taft, Coolidge, Nixon, Ford, both Bushes.

Both Bushes (16) - Washington, Fillmore, Pierce, Lincoln, Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Cleveland, T. Roosevelt, Taft, Coolidge, Hoover, FDR, Nixon, Ford, each other.

Taft (15) - both Adamses, Fillmore, Hayes, Garfield, Cleveland, B. Harrison, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, FDR, Nixon, Ford, both Bushes

Coolidge(15) - Washington, both Adamses, Fillmore, Pierce, Grant, Cleveland, B. Harrison, Taft, Hoover, FDR, Nixon, Ford, both Bushes

Ford (15) - Fillmore, Lincoln, Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Cleveland, B.Harrison, Taft, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, FDR, Nixon, both Bushes.

Fillmore (12) - both Adamses, Grant, Cleveland, Taft, Coolidge, Hoover, FDR, Nixon, Ford, both Bushes

Nixon (11) - Fillmore, Hayes, Taft, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, FDR, Ford, Carter, both Bushes.

Kennedy's Affairs

2012-02-07T20:20:00.001-05:00

John F. Kennedy was President from 1961-1963. JFK chased women like a man possessed. His numerous sexual encounters are so plentiful, there are just too many to mention them all. He has had affairs with White House workers, Gangsters girlfriends, staff members, reporters, and Movie stars. There was always a swarm of girls being secretly admited into the White House for Jack's personal pleasures. And he used the Secret Service to cover his tracks and make sure there was no "evidence" of the affair left behind for his wife Jackie to find. It is even said that he had often participated in 3-somes as well with 2 women at the same time. Kennedy had the type of penetrating life style that any man would be jealous over.

Some of his more famous affairs were with Angie Dickinson, Kim Novak, and the most famous of all, Marilyn Monroe. JFK also had a suite on the 8th floor of Washington's Mayflower Hotel always on his beck and call for any of his extramarital affairs.

During his Presidential race with Nixon, Jack inquired if there were any girls waiting for him before one of their debates. An hour and a half before they were supposed to go on the air, Kennedy was in a hotel room with a hooker. He was also involved with a woman who was suspected of being a German spy at the time, named Inga Arvad who was being watched by the FBI.

In February, 2008, newspaper reports came forward about an illegitimate son of JFK found living in Canada. Allegedly the outcome of an affair he had had with a Texas woman. Supposedly, the child was conceived in February 1961, about one month after Kennedy's innaguration as President. The mother was introduced to the President by Vice-President Lyndon Johnson..

The Real Edward de Vere - Part 1: Childhood and Youth

2012-02-06T22:01:00.000-05:00

I Finally Did It!

2012-02-06T18:51:00.000-05:00


I had my hand surgery today, finally.

Well this morning I had my hand surgery. To tell you the truth, I did not give to many thoughts to this procedure until I got to the OR today. The Halifax Hospital Outpatient OR staff was wonderful. This group of nurses were professional and, the best of all, pleasant. But, the truth is that when they started to put all the equipment out for it began to look that these people were taking this surgery more serious than what I was doing myself. I began to feel a little scare by the whole process. If was not for my wife that stood by me the entire time I would have the valor to go through. The doctor was very emphatic to me about in keep right hand up and above the shoulder 24/7 until it heals completely. For me that I am righty this is going to be a challenge. Wish me luck.

The Aftermat of the Nevada Caucus

2012-02-05T22:04:00.000-05:00

Last night as I watch the Nevada Caucasus returns and the candidates' acceptance speeches, Mitt Romney, the winner of the contest, to me looks a lot more presidential than the rest of pack. Senator Santurum finished last, Ron Paul, finished 3rd or maybe 2nd in a virtual tie with Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House. As I watched these people trying to put a spin their defeats on the hands of a better organized candidate, Romney in this case, I found it difficult to believe how these people reacted to their lost.

Senator Santurum talks about how he is the only that can defeat President Obama, and how he is the only conservative in the race. My question for him is how is that until this moment he only manage to win, in a closed finish with Governor Romney, in Iowa, where he visited all the state counties. Santurum's strategy was to win Iowa and then pull a Jimmy Carter, snowball effect. But that had not happened, if he can win a primary how can we expect to beat Obama, who has the presidential machinery behind him, a close to a billion dollars to spend in his reelection. Santurum sounded whining, and at time as too serious for my like, as he made the rounds in the Sunday talk show the next morning after finishing last in the Nevada caucus. Santurum should save face, if he wants people to take him serious in the next election cycle, and bow out while giving his support to the former governor of Massachusetts.

Gingrich, put one of the worst performance I had seen since I started observing politic back in 1976. The former Speaker of the House sounded vindictive, caddy, angry and revengeful as if he could not accept that there is a better man than him for the job. That attitude is going to re-elect President Obama if he is not stop before the Tampa convention. What make me believe that Gingrich is not qualified to be the Republican nominee for the 2012 election, is how he complained against Romney's Super-pack adds. However, Gingrich, who denies the adds as untrue, can't escape from the true reality of these adds. Gingrich's baggage is overwhelming, from lobbing for Freddie Mac to being the first and only Speaker of the House been reprehended by the august body, while, he called Romney lair and dishonest. The sad thing is that he talks that from then on he will conduct a positive campaign.

Ron Paul is another story, I like this man. Congressman Paul talks the true, he says what is necessary to say. The country is broke, and we need to cut the Federal Budget as soon as possible, or we are risking to lose our statue of super power by the middle of the century. What drags this man candidacy are his foreign policy views, naive if I may say.

In contrast, Mitt Romney sounds presidential, looks presidential and the GOP machinery will back him all the way to the White House.

The Age of Jackson

2012-01-28T20:23:00.006-05:00

Like Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson tried not to do much as President. He used his veto power to keep the government as inactive as possible, rejecting more acts of Congress than the six previous Presidents combined. Typical to this was the Maysville Road Veto of 1830. Congress had voted money to build a road from the Ohio River at Maysville across Kentucky to Lexington, but President Jackson vetoed the bill. He did not object to the road; he just thought the state of Kentucky, not the national government, should build it.

For many years, victorious office seekers had appointed their friends and supporters to public office in their administrations. This practice, known as patronage, became official when Andrew Jackson took office. He dismissed more than two hundred previous presidential appointees and nearly two thousand other officeholders and replaced them with Jacksonian Democrats. Patronage under Jackson became known as the spoils system. In this case, the spoils, or booty taken from a conquered enemy, were government jobs for party supporters. Jackson defended the system on the grounds that any intelligent person could perform the duties required and that "rotation in office" would prevent a small group from controlling the government. His support for the spoils system contributed to ~Jackson's image as the champion of the common man.

The defining moment of Jackson's presidency came in 1832. The President had a deep personal hatred of the Bank of the United States. He had lost money to the first bank in the 1790s, and he had never agreed with the establishment of the second bank in 1816. Like many Americans, Jackson believed the Bank of the United States was a "monster" institution. He held it responsible for the Panic of1819 and the hard times that had followed. Under law, the Bank of the United States could only operate until 1836, unless Congress extended the life of the bank by issuing it a new charter. Supporters of the bank, including Senator Henry Clay, Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, and the president of the bank, Nicholas Riddle, decided to recharter it four years early, partly to embarrass Jackson. They expected that he would offend his followers by allowing the bank to continue.

The Bank of the United States already had survived one challenge. In a complicated scheme to hinder the bank, the state of Maryland had tried unsuccessfully to make the bank pay a tax, and then imposed a large penalty when it failed to do so. The national government claimed the fine was illegal, and the dispute reached the Supreme Court in 1819. In McCulloch v. Maryland, Chief Justice John Marshall went to the heart of the issue by declaring the fine illegal and the bank itself constitutional. The powers of the federal government were greater than those spelled out in the Constitution, Marshall said. He based his argument on Article I, Section 8, which states that Congress has the right "to make all laws necessary and proper" for carrying out the powers granted it under the Constitution. Thus Congress had the power to create such a bank if it wished. Furthermore, Chief Justice Marshall stressed that because the national government had created the bank, no state had the power to tax it. "The power to tax is the power to destroy:' he pointed out. No state could destroy by taxes what the federal government under the Constitution had created.

In 1832 the supporters of the Bank of the United States acted though understanding the popularity of the President or the unpopularity of the bank. Jackson vetoed the act of Congress that rechartered the bank, dooming it to close in 1836. The President justified his action as a Protection of the rights of ordinary citizens. In a lengthy veto message, he attacked the bank as a tool of greedy aristocrats: The National Republicans thought they could use the issue of Jackson's veto against him in the election of 1832. They changed their name to the Whigs, after the party in the British Parliament that had opposed the king during the 1700s, and ran Henry Clay for President. Criticizing Jackson's veto, however, was a mistaken strategy. As in 1828, Jackson won the election by a huge margin.

During his second administration, Jackson proved equal to yet another challenge. Supporters of the American System had passed the Tariff of 1828, which put a high tax on imports in order to encourage manufacturing within the United States. Most manufacturers, however, were in the North, and southerners did not like paying higher prices for goods to help northerners make a profit. They called the Tariff of 1828 the Tariff of Abominations, after the term abomination used in the Bible for something especially horrible or monstrous. In 1832, after passage of yet another tariff act, South Carolina declared the tariffs "null, void, and no law, nor binding upon this State, its officers or citizens." In doing so, it raised the question of nullification: did a state have the right to nullify, or declare illegal, a law passed by Congress' South Carolina also went further by threatening to secede, or withdraw, from the United States if its nullification was not respected.

You might expect that Jackson would be sympathetic to South Carolina. After all, he was a supporter of"negative" government, or using government power to protect the people from the government itself. He had put federal power to work attacking politicians he considered corrupt and laws that he thought would prevent the people from fully enjoying their liberty. Thus he had acted to destroy the Bank of the United States. Furthermore, he understood southern issues; he was a slaveholder himself. Yet South Carolina's nullification outraged him.

Why would a believer in negative government take offense when a state asserted its rights? The explanation of this seeming contradiction is simple. President Jackson believed that in defying the laws of the United States, South Carolina was defying the will of the people. That he would never allow. At Jackson's urging, Congress passed the Force Bill in 1833, which compelled the state of South Carolina to collect the Tariff Act duties. The President threatened to send 50,000 troops to the defiant state. But Henry Clay engineered a compromise that ended the crisis. Congress reduced some of the import duties, and South Carolina canceled its Nullification Act, although as an act of continued defiance it nullified the Force Bill at the same time.

President Jackson also used federal power negatively to support the relocation of the Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw, and Seminole peoples to what is now Oklahoma. He had a deep prejudice against Native Americans and believed that they would prevent white people from moving west and opening up land for cotton production. Many Americans shared Jackson's prejudice against Native Americans. In 1829 Georgia seized Cherokee land for cotton growers. After appealing to the United States Senate with little result, the Cherokee appealed directly to the American people in 1830. In that appeal, the Cherokee said: Two years later, Chief Justice Marshall, in the case Worcester v. Georgia, ruled that Georgia's action was unconstitutional and should not be allowed. But Jackson and Georgia ignored the Supreme Court, which had no power to enforce its decision. In 1837 and 1838, the United States Army gathered about fifteen thousand Cherokee and forced them to migrate west.

On this nightmare journey, which the Cherokee called the Trail of Tears, about one out of every four Cherokees died of exposure or disease. In an added outrage, the $6 million spent by the federal government to relocate the Cherokee was charged against the $9 million that the Cherokee had been forced to accept for their lands.

Jackson's presidency was marked by his strong personality, unsinkable courage--and his quick temper. To many Americans, he seemed a larger-than-life figure, a tough, stubborn man who embodied the spirit of the frontier. After two terms, Andrew Jackson left the presidency. The next President, Martin Van Buren, whom Jackson had supported as a candidate, was not as popular as the general. The Panic of 1837 struck during his term. In this severe depression, caused in part by the end of the national bank, thousands of people lost their jobs and poverty grew worse in American cities.

When the next election year arrived in 1840, the depression was still dragging on. The Whigs did what they could to imitate the Democrats. They chose William Henry Harrison as their candidate for President, a military hero like Jackson. They boasted that Harrison, too, was a plain man of the people, and that he had lived in a log cabin. In fact, he was the son of an aristocratic family and had grown up in a mansion. It was a fierce campaign, and over 80 percent of eligible voters cast ballots. Many voted in hopes that a change might end the depression.

Harrison defeated President Van Buren, only to be defeated in turn by illness. He caught a cold while giving a lengthy inaugural speech and died of pneumonia a month later. Vice President John Tyler, who took over as President, was more of a Jacksonian Democrat than a Whig, and his term was largely one of fruitless quarreling between the parties. Much as Whigs and Jacksonian quarreled, however, they almost all agreed that an essential ingredient of American liberty was the right to compete and to make money. Politicians argued about the effects and the course of the Market Revolution. But rare was the political leader who did not believe that it had brought unparalleled economic and social progress to the United States of America.

Chapter 17 – European Renaissance and Reformations

2012-01-28T20:03:00.000-05:00

Section 1 – Italy the Birth of the Renaissance
Section 2 – The North Renaissance
Section 3 – Luther Lead the Reformation
Section 4 – The Reformation Continues

Italy the Birth of the Renaissance

The years 1300 to 1600 saw a rebirth of learning and culture in Europe called the Renaissance. This rebirth began there for three reasons: Italian cities were places where people exchanged ideas. Merchants & bankers became wealthy & powerful. They believed in the idea of individual achievement. Italian artists & scholars got inspired by the ruins of classical Rome.

The interest in the classics led to humanisme, or a deep interest in what people have already achieved as well as what they could achieve in the future without connecting it to Christian teaching, while they tried to understand them on their own terms. Renaissance thinkers stressed secular ideas, or the things of the world. Wealthy patrons paid artists, writers, & musicians to create beautiful works of art. People, like Leonardo da Vinci, tried to show that they could master many fields of study or work. Da Vinci was a painter, a scientist, & an inventor.

Renaissance artists sometimes used new methods. Sculptors made realistic figures while painters used perspective to create the illusion that their paintings were in 3D. .The subject of artwork changed Renaissance artists reproduced other views of life. Michelangelo showed great skill as an architect, a sculptor, & a painter. Renaissance writers also achieved greatness by writing in the vernacular language, or native languages & not in Latin. Writers changed their subject matter by expressing their own thoughts & feelings. Dante & others wrote poetry, letters, & stories that were more realistic. Niccoló Machiavelli took a new approach to understanding government by telling rulers how to expand their power. He believed rulers should do what was politically effective, even if it was not morally right.

The Northern Renaissance

By 1450, the bubonic plague & the Hundred Years’ War between France & England had ended in northern Europe. This allowed new ideas from Italy to spread to northern Europe. Rulers & merchants like in Italy sponsored artists. The ideas of Italian art moved to the north. Major artists appeared in Germany, France, Belgium, & the Netherlands. Albercht Dürer painted religious subjects & realistic landscapes. Han Holbein, Jan Van Eyck, & Peiter Bruegel painted lifelike portraits & scenes of peasant life & revealed much about the times. They began to use oil-based paints.

Writers of the northern Renaissance combined humanism with a deep Christian faith. They urged reforms in the Church. In England, Thomas More wrote a book about Utopia, an imaginary ideal society where greed, war, & conflict do not exist. William Shakespeare --the greatest playwright of all time-- plays showed a brilliant command of the English language & understanding of people & how they interact with one another. In 1440, a German, Johann Gutenberg, used the movible type to invent his printing press & produced his first book—the Gutenberg Bible—in 1455 on this press. By 1500, presses in Europe had printed nearly 10 million books. Books were printed in English, French, Spanish, Italian, or German.

Luther Lead the Reformation

By 1500, the influence of the Church had weakened. People resented paying taxes to support the Church. Popes were more concerned with luxury & political power than with spiritual matters. Priests lacked education. Reformers urged the Church to become more spiritual & humble. In 1517, Martin Luther protested the selling indulgences, or forgiveness by paying money to the Church, to win salvation. Luther posted a written protest on the door of a castle church. His words were printed & spread throughout Germany. The Reformation started, a movement for reforms that led to the founding of new Christian churches.

Pope Leo X punished Luther for his views, but he refused to change them. Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, a strong Catholic, called Luther an outlaw. The Lutheran Church started around 1522. In 1524, German peasants using Luther’s ideas demanded an end to serfdom, or slavery, they revolted. German princes killed thousands in putting the revolt down. Some nobles wanted to weaken the emperor’s power supported Luther’s ideas. Luther’s supporters were called Protestants or non-Catholic Christians. 30 Years War between Catholic & Protestant forces in Germany ended in 1555 with the Peace of Augsburg. This treaty granted each prince the right to decide whether his subjects would be Catholic or Protestant.

The Catholic Church faced another challenge to its power in England. King Henry VIII married Catherine of Aragon, daughter the Spanish monarchs. They had a daughter. Henry feared a civil war would start if he had no son & his wife was too old to give him son. He tried to get a papal annulment, to end his marriage so he could remarry. But the pope refused. To remarry, Henry had to get out of the Catholic church. In 1534, Henry had Parliament pass laws that created the Church of England. The laws made the king head of the Church of England. Henry remarried five times. His only son was from his 3rd wife, however one of Henry’s daughters, Elizabeth I, became queen in 1558. She finished creating a separate English church or Anglican. It was a combination both Protestants & Catholics.

The Reformation Continues
The council issued condemnations on what it defined as Protestant heresies and defined Church teachings in the areas of Scripture and Tradition, Original Sin, Justification, Sacraments, the Eucharist in Holy Mass and the veneration of saints. It issued numerous reform decrees. By specifying Catholic doctrine on salvation, the sacraments, and the Biblical canon, the Council was answering Protestant disputes.

In the 1530s, Protestantism arose under the leadership of John Calvin, he gave structure to Protestant beliefs. Calvinism believed that people are sinful by nature & that God determines beforehand who will be saved. He created a theocracy in Geneva, Switzerland, or a religious gov. with strict rules of behavior & anyone that don’t fallow them might be burned at the stake. John Knox put Calvin’s ideas into practice by starting the Presbyterian Church. Calvin’s followers, the Huguenots, adopted ideas as well In 1572, Catholic mobs killed about 12,000 Huguenots in battle.

The Anabaptists preached that people should be baptized as adults, & that the church & state should be separate & refused to fight in wars. Katherina von Bora, Luther’s wife, supported an equal role for women in marriage. the Catholic Church took steps to change itself & keep their loyal believers or the Catholic Reformation. Ignatius founded the Jesuits, which started schools & missions across Europe to stop the spread of Protestant faiths. In the 1500s, Pope Paul III set the Inquisition Court, to find, try, & punish people who broke the Church rules, & called the Council of Trent. (1545), which passed these doctrines: 1)The Church’s Bible interpretation was final, 2)Good works & faith are needed to win salvation, 3)The Bible & the Church had equal authority, 4)The indulgences were valid expressions of faith. The next pope, Paul IV, put the council ideas in practice, reviving the Church. The Reformation impact western society, the Protestant churches flourished while, the Catholic Church became more unified as a result of the Council of Trent.

UFOTV: UFOs The Best Evidence 2 - The Government Cover-Up

2012-01-25T22:36:00.000-05:00

President Reagan - his humor and wit

2012-01-24T14:59:00.000-05:00

Chapter 10 – Growth and Expansion of the United States in the Early 1800s

2012-01-24T12:39:00.001-05:00

The Nature of Work Change

The U.S. in the 1800s was experiencing changes. Americans purchased goods rather than making it themselves. This change in the way of people bought and sold goods are called the Market Revolution. American Men during this period devoted themselves to make money. The most successful of these men was the industrialist Samuel Slater. By 1814 there were about 240 mills operating in the US, in Pennsylvania, New York & New England. They produced more cotton to meet the needs of the growing population.

An entrepreneur is someone who takes on a business risk for the sake of profit. In Capitalism, manufacturing is controlled by private corporations &/or by individuals competing for profit. Capital is a supply of wealth that can be used to produce goods and make money.

The Household Economy that dominated the North American life in 1800s changed. People labored in workshops, mills, & offices. They work for a number of hours each day. And for a specific amount of money. As time passed, families produce fewer of the things needed.

Centralizing the work dramatically increase production.Making goods in a workshop and factories was the logical development. Banks provided the credit & the cash necessary for the entrepreneurs' buy land or to invest in moneymaking schemes. The U.S. Government didn’t issue money in this period of time. People preferred to deal with coins, mainly silver or gold.The most common form of money was the bank note, a piece of paper that the banks issued to their customers, similar to modern-days checks. In the 1800s, families were defined more by what they bought than what they sold. By the 1830s, different sections of the US were developing in different ways, particularly, the economy and social development of the North & the South, they were growing more distance.

•Post-War Boom & Panic

In 1815 the U.S. entered a period of growth & prosperity. The prevailing mood was now one of national pride. James Monroe easily won election as the fifth President of the U.S. in 1816. Congress dealt with financial problems resulting from the war. They created the Second Bank of the U.S. in 1816.. The U.S. sold hundreds of thousands of acres of land, from Indiana to Louisiana. American ships were busy carrying agricultural products & other goods to Europe.

The first great depression in U.S. history, it’s known as the Panic of 1819. It began when London banks demanded that banks in the U.S. pay money owed to them. Americans had borrowed too much, in those days of easy loans after 1815, were financially ruined. The Panic of 1819 made many to think about ways of reforming the government to improve the performance of the economy.

Missouri Compromise

In 1819, Congress took up the question of Missouri admission. It was established that no state northwest of the Ohio River could be a slave state. But because Missouri was not covered by this definition. The Northern States objected the admission of Missouri as a slave state. .They worried that another slave state might increase the power of the southern states in the national government. Southern States replied that the national government had no business dictating to states what they could & could not do. They were scared that if the U.S. could forbid slavery in Missouri, it could do so elsewhere. Congress signed into law the Missouri Compromise in 1820. Slavery would be permitted in Missouri. Maine would be admitted to the union as a free state. The states north of 36.30 Degree North Latitude would be free states, and the states south of that line would be slave states.

The North

In the early 1800s, Americans became more aware that their nation was divided into sections. The North was made up of two parts. The Northeast: New England, New York, New Jersey, & Pennsylvania. The region north & west of the Ohio River, which is called today the Old Northwest: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, & part of Minnesota.

In the Old Northwest, Farmers produced large quantities of corn, wheat, & other grains. In the early 1800s, farmers sent their products by river to New Orleans. They were to be sold in the islands of the Caribbean Sea, the eastern U.S., & Europe. After the War of 1812, businessmen financed huge new mills with water-driven power. They hired young unmarried women from New England farms. They made about $3.25 for a seventy-three-hour week in the 1830s. Six days a week, twelve hours a day, they tended the grinding, clattering machines.

The Northeast was full of young people looking for work, whom were unable to support their families as farmers so they moved to the cities. The Cities were unable to handle the increase in population. They lacked sewage systems and reliable supplies of fresh water. Police and fire services were primitive. In 1812 & 1833, cholera, a disease carried by contaminated water, swept in the cities leaving thousands dead. The Northeast was increasingly a region of cities' & towns, banks & factories, a place with growing tensions between middle-and working-class people. By the 1840s, factory owners paid little wages their employees. Beyond that they were on their own. They lived in poor housing, had little to eat, and dress in rags. Between 1834 & 1836, there were 168 strikes in the U.S.

The South

The area considered the South consisted of what is now: Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas. Its primary products were staple crops: cotton, tobacco, sugar & rice. Cotton was the most valuable product of the U.S. in the 1800s. Properly cared cotton & tobacco would not spoil before they reached distant markets in the Northeast and Europe. In 1860 cotton made 1/3 of the total value of American. The South produced staple crops and raw materials that were processed and sold elsewhere. Southern cities were fewer in number, smaller in population, and were growing more slowly.

By 1850, of the 3.7 million African Americans in the U.S. were free, but enjoyed almost none of the privileges of American citizenship. A planter had to have three things to make profit: 1st They have to have a land lot, 2nd An easy & inexpensive access to markets, and 3rd An enslaved African Americans that supplied the labor. In 1830, slave holders made up only 36% of the white population. Slaves made more than ½ of the population of the South. Slave holders did possess great influence in politics, society, and of course, the economy.

The typical slaveholder owned only a few slaves. Most enslaved African Americans lived on plantations. Plantation life was harsher. The enslaved woman’s life was difficult, they bearded & cared for their own children, & took care of their households, they cooked & served food, cleaned houses & clothes, & labored in the fields. They also had to endure rape or the threat of rape by slave owners.

Chapter 14 – The Formation of Western Europe

2012-01-24T09:07:00.001-05:00

Section 1 - Church Reform and the Crusade

In the year 1000 AD, the Age of Faith began, leading to many changes..To enforce the Church laws, the Popes made reforms: 1) End the practices of priests’ marriage. 2) End of simony, or the selling of positions in the Church. 3)End the appointment of bishops by kings (Concordat of Worms).In 1200s, a group called friars arose, they moved from place to place spreading their ideas, owning nothing & begging for food. By 1100s, Cathedrals, these huge churches were built an architecture style called Gothic.

In 1093, the Byzantine emperor (Roman Empire of the East) asked for help against Muslim Turks threat to Constantinople. Pope Urban II asked Western Europe leaders to begin a holy war—a Crusade, to control Jerusalem & the Holy Land.Knights & serfs joined the Crusades for deep religious motivations. 1st Crusade, (1095), captured the Holy Land, & Jerusalem. 2nd Crusade, the Muslim leader Saladin recaptured Jerusalem, the English king Richard the Lion-Hearted fought him & reached a truce.

In 1492, a later Crusade took place in Spain. Christian rulers drove the Muslims out of Spain, the Reconquista, lasted for 300 years. 1)Spanish Jews & Muslim were forced to become Christians, & were suspected of heresy, or to hold beliefs against the Church. 2)Queen Isabella & King Ferdinand of Spain conducted the Inquisition, suspects were questioned, tortured & burned at the stake.

Section 2 - Changes in Medieval Society

Between 800 & 1200 AD, the climate in Europe became warmer. Farmers developed better ways to produce crops. The three-field system helped them grow more food. Merchants organized guilds, which lower good prices. Workers formed craft guilds, ex. bakers, tailors, & glassmakers. Goods were traded all over Europe, in towns fairs where merchants sold cloth, food, leather, etc. . . Merchants borrowed money to buy goods & then to sell them. The Church was against loaning money, so Jews became the chief sources of loans. Later, the Church relaxed its rules & Christians began to form banks creating a Commercial Revolution.

By the 1100s, western Europe’s population grew quickly, trade & towns grew larger. Towns were dirty places, with narrow streets, wooden houses, fire hazards. Growing trade & wealth created Universities. Writers made use of their vernacular language to write stories. Ex.1)Dante Alighieri - The Divine Comedy in Italian. 2)Geoffrey Chaucer - The Canterbury Tales in English. Ancient writings influenced Christian thinkers, such as Thomas Aquinos, who reasoned that the most basic religious truths could be proved by logic.

Section 3 -England and France Develop

England was a blend of different cultures: Vikings, Germanic & Anglo-Saxons united under one kingdom. In 1066, William the Conqueror, duke of Normandy, northern France, conquered England after King Edward died. Henry II (1154 to 1189) the strongest of his descendants, married Eleanor of Aquitaine, who once was married to king of France. In England, he began the trial by jury practice, the ruling of the English judges formed the common law, foundation of the English-speaking countries law. Henry’s sons, King John’s harsh rule caused nobles to rebel. In 1215, they forced John to sign the Magna Carta which put limits on the King’s power & protected the Nobles’ power. In the 1200s, Edward I needed to raise taxes, so he called a meeting of representatives from all parts of England, or parliament. In 1295, Parliament met, for the first time bishops, nobles, & common people attended together.

In France, the Capetians, a new dynasty, came to power & ruled from 987 to 1328. France was split into 30 separate small territories ruled by a different lords. The kings held only a small area centered in Paris, but gradually united France. Philip II (1120 to 1223) ruled & tripled the lands under his control under a stronger central government. Louis IX, (1226 to 1270) carried on Philip’s work by setting up royal courts, where people could appeal their lords’ decisions. In 1302, Philip IV called for a meeting of representatives or the Estates General, invited common people.

Section 4 - The Hundred Years’ War and the Plague

In 1300, the pope said he had supreme authority over King Philip IV of France. Philip imprisoned the pope he planned to put him on trial, but the pope was rescued & died soon after. The king then forced an election with the French cardinal as pope. In 1305, the new pope moved to Avignon, France, this action weakened the Church. In 1378, the French pope died the Italians elected their own pope. The French elected their own pope too. Confusion resulted, the Church had two popes, situation called the Great Schism, which lasted 39 years.

A deadly disease—the bubonic plague— struck. It swept across Europe. The plague started in 1347 & lasted for decades. Millions of people died one-third of Europe’s population. The plague affected Europe’s economy. Trade declined, and prices rose. Towns became smaller. Fewer people meant fewer workers. Peasants demanded wages or their freedom. When nobles resisted these demands, peasants often revolted. The Church lost prestige because it could not stop the plague. The plague helped bring an end to the Middle Ages.

In 1328, the last Capetian king of France died, without an heirs. Edward III of England claimed the throne & in 1337, he began the Hundred Years’ War. English forces won more battles in the beginning. By 1429, France was desperate, their army held in Orleans, but England was about to capture it. A teenage peasant girl, Joan of Arc led the French army to victory. Then the French crowned a new king, Charles VII. Later, Joan was captured by allies of the English then tried by the Church as a witch & burned at the stake. The 100 Years’ War finally ended in 1453. Most of the fighting took place in France. The war produced a strong national feeling in both England & France. From then on the king was not just a feudal lord but a leader of a nation.

Monarchy USA Version - Episode 2 Medieval Monarchs

2012-01-24T07:58:00.000-05:00

The Iron Lady

2012-01-22T23:14:00.000-05:00

Iron Lady is directed by Phyllida Lloyd, is a biographical British film about Margaret Thatcher, longest serving Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of the 20th century, portrayed primarily by Meryl Streep,^[5] but also, in her formative and early political years, by Alexandra Roach. Thatcher's husband, Denis Thatcher, is portrayed by Jim Broadbent, and Thatcher's longest-serving cabinet member and eventual deputy, Geoffrey Howe, is portrayed by Anthony Head.^[6]It was met with largely mixed reviews, though critics did give praise to Streep's performance.

For my part I think the Iron Lady is a poor constructed flick. I found it confusing, poor written and too long for the material in hand. Meryl Streep is the only bright spot in this film. The movie starts with Streep as an old Thatcher in a mini mark to buy milk, where the costumer did not recognize their former Prime Mister. Then, we go back in time in a flashback as young Margaret Parson, the daughter of a store owner during World War II London bombing. Why is that film maker do this back and forward with the timeline? Is it because they can't tell a lineal story anymore? In the case of the Iron Lady this style of going back in time and then bring us back makes the movie difficult to follow.

Streep's Thatcher on the other hand is an extraordinary thing to see. She becomes the Iron Lady, at times you totally forget that she is behind the character. Unfortunately director Lloyd used old TV footage from the era and tried to match it with the film, making the movie look funny and cheat. The camera shots as Streep entered Parliament showed that film maker have no imagination.

Romney Over Gingrich

2012-01-22T00:19:00.002-05:00

Gingrich vs. Romney

Newt Gingrich won today the South Carolina primary, congratulation to him, this was a well put together victory for him. The debates helped the Gingrich get a momentum that led him to victory. Speaker Gingrich is a skillful debater and many Republicans were impressed with his performance in the CNN debate. Reporter John King opened the debate with a question that may Republican are dismissing as unimportant.

For my part I cannot support Speaker Gingrich for the same matter I couldn't support former president Bill Clinton. Call me old fashion if you want, but I prefer someone like Mitt Romney, who has practice real values all his life, than someone like Gingrich who had a seven years affair with the woman he wants to make "Firs Lady". This is the man that led President Clinton's impeachment for lying under oath over the Monica Lewinsky's affair while at the same time having his on affair. For me is a question of character, and credibility, my impression of Gingrich is that he will say anything to be elected, in the tradition of Clinton and Obama. I rather support for President someone had have a successful life as a father and husband, as leader in the private sector, as well as a governor of the state. Someone that understand the economy and the free market, that have the necessary experience to take us out of the hole we have put ourselves in the past 12 years.

Ron Paul's 2002 Predictions All Come True - Incredible Video!

2012-01-21T23:17:00.000-05:00

STRANGE OBJECT - U.F.O. seen NASA and SCIENTIST unable to identify it

2012-01-18T21:41:00.000-05:00