...William and Mary where he got his first considerable knowledge in science. After college, Jefferson became involved in government and was elected president of the Virginia House of Burgesses. Jefferson became a philosopher where he successfully practiced and was admitted to the bar in 1767. Jefferson soon found himself a forerunner of the American Revolution, when he was appointed to write the Declaration of Independence. Authoring this important document positioned him as one of the new nation's most important founding fathers equal to Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, James Madison, and John Adams. Where his father was part of the early settlers at that time it was mostly a slave colony. One of the most treacherous things in American history is slavery and how it was common for some blacks and white to be owners. During, Jefferson’s life his father died in 1757, leaving him 60 slaves when he turned 21 he could have charge...
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...Throughout the chapter, Ellis puts great emphasis on the many things that could have gone wrong during the revolution. He points all these negative events and set backs that he felt could easily have brought the developing America down to show just how great of an accomplishment the revolution was. The Founding Fathers were not completely oblivious to the severity of breaking away from Great Britain. Tom Pain states that, “it is only common sense that an island can not rule a continent (pg.3).” Many assumed that it was only natural that the thirteen colonies govern themselves. They figured that it would be a peaceful break such as the gaining of independence for Ghana or Canada. It was not until later on that the colonies realized that Britain would not easily hand over the land. What I find interesting is that only the Founding Fathers seemed to realize the great events taking place during their time. John Adams even instructed his wife to file and keep all of his records. It is as if he knew that hundreds of years from then, we the future Americans would look back at his notes and recognize his greatness. This makes me wonder why they were so sure of themselves. The Americans were at a disadvantage during the beginning of the war. How was it that they seem so certain that the war would end up in their favor? Ellis backs up my point by stating, “Men make history…, but they can never know the history that they are making (pg.4).” Every event in life can go two ways: really good...
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...treaties, and that Britain was well served by letting the situation fester. The term "Federalist" was later applied to the emerging political faction headed by Alexander Hamilton in George Washington's administration. Revolution of 1800: Some observers have regarded Jefferson's election in 1800 as revolutionary. This may be true in a restrained sense of the word, since the change from Federalist leadership to Republican was entirely legal and bloodless. Nevertheless, the changes were profound. The Federalists lost control of both the presidency and the Congress. By 1800, the American people were ready for a change. Under Washington and Adams, the Federalists had established a strong government. They sometimes failed, however, to honor the principle that the American government must be responsive to the will of the people. They had followed policies that alienated large groups. For example, in 1798 they enacted a tax on houses, land and slaves, affecting every property owner in the country. Jefferson had steadily gathered behind him a great mass of small farmers, shopkeepers and other workers; they asserted themselves in the election of 1800. Jefferson enjoyed extraordinary favor because of his appeal to American idealism. In his inaugural address, the first such speech in the new capital of Washington, D.C., he promised "a wise and frugal government" to preserve order...
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...desires will come to you. If your heart is in your dreams, no request is too extreme. . . . —Jiminy Cricket On September 22, 1994, Michael Eisner, CEO of the Walt Disney Company, one of the most powerful and well-known media conglomerates in the world, stared out the window of his Burbank office, contemplating the current situation surrounding the Disney’s America theme park. Ever since November 8, 1993, when the Wall Street Journal first broke the news that Disney was planning to build a theme park near Washington, DC, ongoing national debate over the location and concept of the $650 million park caused tremendous frustration. Eisner thought back over the events of the past year. How could his great idea have run into such formidable resistance? The Controversy Comes to a Head Eisner’s secretary clipped several newspaper articles covering two parades that took place on September 17 in Washington, DC. Several hundred Disney opponents from over 50 anti-Disney organizations marched past the White House and rallied on the National Mall in protest of the park. On the same day in the streets of Haymarket, Virginia near the proposed park site, Mickey Mouse and 101 local children dressed as Dalmatians appeared in a parade that was filled with pro-Disney sentiment. Eisner was particularly struck by the contrast between the two pictures: one showing an anti-Disney display from the National Mall protest and another of Mickey and Minnie Mouse being driven through the streets of Haymarket...
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...desires will come to you. If your heart is in your dreams, no request is too extreme. . . . —Jiminy Cricket On September 22, 1994, Michael Eisner, CEO of the Walt Disney Company, one of the most powerful and well-known media conglomerates in the world, stared out the window of his Burbank office, contemplating the current situation surrounding the Disney’s America theme park. Ever since November 8, 1993, when the Wall Street Journal first broke the news that Disney was planning to build a theme park near Washington, DC, ongoing national debate over the location and concept of the $650 million park caused tremendous frustration. Eisner thought back over the events of the past year. How could his great idea have run into such formidable resistance? The Controversy Comes to a Head Eisner’s secretary clipped several newspaper articles covering two parades that took place on September 17 in Washington, DC. Several hundred Disney opponents from over 50 anti-Disney organizations marched past the White House and rallied on the National Mall in protest of the park. On the same day in the streets of Haymarket, Virginia near the proposed park site, Mickey Mouse and 101 local children dressed as Dalmatians appeared in a parade that was filled with pro-Disney sentiment. Eisner was particularly struck by the contrast between the two pictures: one showing an anti-Disney display from the National Mall protest and another of Mickey and Minnie Mouse being driven through the streets of Haymarket...
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...Before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, segregation in the United States was commonly practiced in many of the Southern and Border States. This segregation while supposed to be separate but equal, was hardly that. Blacks in the South were discriminated against repeatedly while laws did nothing to protect their individual rights. In May 26, 1956, a few Florida A&M students got on the bus to a short trip to downtown Tallahassee, where these two young black woman wanted to seat in front of the bus rather than stand, for the bus was full and no seats were available in the back. When the driver notice that these to black woman were sitting in the front of the bus beside a white woman; he immediately pulled over the bus and told them to get up. When the young ladies kindle said if you refund us we will get off the bus, the driver said no and called the cops, though the white woman they sat next to made no objection. Which further leads to them being arrested and charged with incite a riot, After this story made headlines in the Sunday paper many people such as minster Metz Rollins was hoping for the black community to act with determination and sprit as others did in Montgomery, Alabama a few months prior. (Rabby,10-11) Rev. C. K. Steele and Robert Saunders representing the NAACP began talks while blacks started boycotting the city's buses. This boycott was similar to that in the Montgomery Boycott with Rosa Parks. Former bus patrons began a car pool lasting through May 26 of 1957, several...
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...The British colonists of mainland North America had great hopes for the future in 1763, when the Peace of Paris formally ended the Seven Years’ War. Since the late seventeenth century, their lives had been disrupted by a series of wars between Britain and the “Catholic Powers,” France and Spain. Now, however, a triumphant Britain took title to Spanish Florida, French Canada, and all of Louisiana east of the Mississippi. With the British flag flying over so much of the North American continent, the colonists looked forward to a time of uninterrupted peace, expansion, and prosperity. Deeply proud of the British victory and their own identity as “free Britons,” they neither wanted nor foresaw what the next two decades would bring—independence, revolution, and yet another war. Independence The Seven Years’ War had left Great Britain with a huge debt by the standards of the day. Moreover, thanks in part to Pontiac’s Rebellion, a massive American Indian uprising in the territories won from France, the British decided to keep an army in postwar North America. Surely the colonists could help pay for that army and a few other expenses of administering Britain’s much enlarged American empire. Rather than request help from provincial legislatures, however, Britain decided to raise the necessary money by acts of Parliament. Two laws, the Sugar Act (1764) and the Stamp Act (1765), began the conflict between London and America. The Sugar Act imposed duties on certain imports not, as in the...
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...FAMILY OF SECRETS The Bush Dynasty, America’s Invisible Government, and the Hidden History of the Last Fifty Years RUSS BAKER Contents Foreword by James Moore 1. How Did Bush Happen? 2. Poppy’s Secret 3. Viva Zapata 4. Where Was Poppy? 5. Oswald’s Friend 6. The Hit 7. After Camelot 8. Wings for W. 9. The Nixonian Bushes 10. Downing Nixon, Part I: The Setup 11. Downing Nixon, Part II: The Execution 12. In from the Cold 13. Poppy’s Proxy and the Saudis 14. Poppy’s Web 15. The Handoff 16. The Quacking Duck 17. Playing Hardball 18. Meet the Help 19. The Conversion 20. The Skeleton in W.’s Closet 21. Shock and . . . Oil? 22. Deflection for Reelection 23. Domestic Disturbance 24. Conclusion Afterword Author’s Note Acknowledgments Notes Foreword When a governor or any state official seeks elective national office, his (or her) reputation and what the country knows about the candidate’s background is initially determined by the work of local and regional media. Generally, those journalists do a competent job of reporting on the prospect’s record. In the case of Governor George W. Bush, Texas reporters had written numerous stories about his failed businesses in the oil patch, the dubious land grab and questionable funding behind a new stadium for Bush’s baseball team, the Texas Rangers, and his various political contradictions and hypocrisies while serving in Austin. I was one of those Texas journalists. I spent about a decade...
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...Slavery 2 INTRODUCTION Booker T. Washington’s commanding presence and oratory deeply moved his contemporaries. His writings continue to influence readers today. Although Washington claimed his autobiography was “a simple, straightforward story, with no attempt at embellishment,” readers for nearly a century have found it richly rewarding. Today, Up From Slavery appeals to a wide audience from early adolescence through adulthood. More important, however, is the inspiration his story of hard work and positive goals gives to all readers. His life is an example providing hope to all. The complexity and contradictions of his life make his autobiography intellectually intriguing for advanced readers. To some he was known as the Sage of Tuskegee or the Black Moses. One of his prominent biographers, Louis R. Harlan, called him the “Wizard of the Tuskegee Machine.” Others acknowledged him to be a complicated person and public figure. Students of American social and political history have come to see that Washington lived a double life. Publicly he appeased the white establishment by remaining cautious in his charges and demands. Privately he worked tirelessly to undo the effects of institutional and cultural racism. Although he seemed to have made a grand compromise, first with the white south and then with white America, he worked in deepest secret to undermine the compromise and advance the social and economic position of blacks. No doubt exists as to his greatness....
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...can be broke down, strategic moves dissected, and even personnel moves debated. But individual men are examined on how they influenced armies, battles, and even their leaders. With that mentioned, George B. McClellan, a great military mind and strategist, perhaps is looked as one of the great leaders during the Civil War who could have made better decisions, change certain outcomes, and maybe even retained the confidence of President Lincoln. George B. McClellan came from a very prominent family who lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (1) George was born December 3, 1826 to Dr. George McClellan who had founded Jefferson Medical College. George’s mother was Elizabeth Sophia Steinmetz Brinton McClellan who came from a leading family in the Philadelphia area. George was the third of five children and had a passion for law. At the young age of 13 he attended the University of Pennsylvania. After just two years of studying law, McClellan changed his focus to military service. Now young George B. McClellan was only 15 at the time when he entered the United States Military Academy in 1842. It took a letter from his father to President John Tyler to have George accepted as the minimum age was 16 at this time in history. (2) 1 Golay, Michael, Generals of the Civil War. (New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 1997), 24. 2 Sears, Stephen W., George B. McClellan: The Young Napoleon. (New York: Ticknor and Fields, 1988), 6. 2 McClellan was a dedicated...
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...Sectionalism, Civil War, And Reconstruction. 1853 To 1877 1. Kansas-Nebraska Act, 1854 – A Bill introduced by Steven Douglas to organize the Nebraska territory. He hoped to build a transcontinental railroad making Chicago the terminus, but they could not do this until the Indians were cleared away and the land was in control. Nebraska would presumably become a free state due to the Missouri Compromise but to please the South Douglas argued that the territories should be left open to popular sovereignty. Douglas pushed for the bill and won, therefore the Missouri Compromise was repealed and the North was in an uproar. 2. Birth of the Republican Party- Made up of former Free Soilers, Conscience Whigs, and “Anti-Nebraska” Democrats. Presented themselves as the party of freedom though they were not abolitionist, but they believed that slavery be kept out of the territories. The Republican Party appealed too many to voters who not only disagreed with slavery but also wanted to keep slavery out of their states. 3. Stephan A. Douglas- Known as the “Little Giant,” he was the most prominent spokesman of the Young American movement. He held a series of state offices before being elected for the United States Senate at the age of 29. Douglas wanted to get on with the development of the nation; to build railroads, acquire new territory, and expand trade. This made him suggest and push for the Kansas-Nebraska Act. 4. Popular Sovereignty- Also known as “squatter sovereignty,”...
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...George Eastman He was a high school dropout, judged "not especially gifted" when measured against the academic standards of the day. He was poor, but even as a young man, he took it upon himself to support his widowed mother and two sisters, one of whom was severely handicapped. He began his business career as a 14-year old office boy in an insurance company and followed that with work as a clerk in a local bank.He was George Eastman, and his ability to overcome financial adversity, his gift for organization and management, and his lively and inventive mind made him a successful entrepreneur by his mid-twenties, and enabled him to direct his Eastman Kodak Company to the forefront of American industry. | George Eastman. | But building a multinational corporation and emerging as one of the nation's most important industrialists required dedication and sacrifice. It did not come easily. | To learn more about Eastman and how he helped bring photography and images into our daily lives, read on and also watch this brief history of his life and Kodak's early years. | BoyhoodThe youngest of three children, George Eastman was born to Maria Kilbourn and George Washington Eastman on July 12, 1854 in the village of Waterville, some 20 miles southwest of Utica, in upstate New York. The house on the old Eastman homestead, where his father was born and where George spent his early years, has since been moved to the Genesee Country Museum in Mumford, N.Y., outside of Rochester.When...
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...offers us an abnormal, intriguing and dreadful marvel. Minstrel shows rose up out of preindustrial European conventions of concealing and festival. Be that as it may, in the US they started in the 1830s, with average white working men taking on the appearance of plantation slaves. These men mocked black music and dance, joining brutal parody of black Americans with bona fide affection for African American social structures. By the Common War the minstrel show had gotten to be world popular and respectable. Late in his life Mark Twain affectionately recalled the "outdated nigger appear" with its vivid comic blacks and its stirring tunes and moves.(Lott 68) By the 1840s, the minstrel show had ended up one of the focal occasions in the way of life of the Democratic political party. Of course every beginning has its end, but by 1890 minstrelsy had shaped a little part of American excitement. Blackface minstrelsy was the first particularly US showy structure. In the 1830s and 1840s, it was at the ascent's center of a US music industry, and for a very long while it gave the lens through which the white US saw the clack people of the US. From one perspective, it had solid views; on the other, it managed white Americans a particular and wide attention to what a few whites considered huge parts of dark American society to be. Minstrel shows where massively popular before slavery was abolished. Fredrick Douglass, an abolitionist, believed that the performers themselves were dirty and cruel...
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...to Society Martin Luther King, Jr. Booker T. Washington. Harriet Tubman. These African-Americans have become household names and their contributions to our nation cannot be overestimated. However, there are many other African-Americans who made important contributions to society whose names are often overlooked in the history books. For example, William Wells Brown was an African American writer, reformer, and abolitionist. William Wells Brown was born near Lexington, Kentucky in 1814. His father was George Higgins, a white plantation owner, but his mother was a black slave. "My mother's name was Elizabeth. She had seven children, Solomon, Leander, Benjamin, Joseph, Millford, Elizabeth, and myself. No two of us were children of the same father" (Brown 13). George Higgins was a physician who owned a large farming plantation. His plantation primarily focused on the milling, selling, and farming of hemp and tobacco. Of the forty slaves Higgins owned, twenty-five were field-hands and were overseen by a man named Grove Cook (Farrison 298-314). Brown served his master as a house slave essentially from the time he was born until the day he escaped. As a house slave, he was treated marginally better than the field workers in ways such as being better fed and clothed, not to mention that a house slave did not endure nearly as much grueling physical labor as a field worker (Osofsky 175- 197). William continued his childhood as a house slave but was never fully comfortable with his...
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...pages, most half-filled with earnest scrawl, I described my parents, brothers, pets, house, hobbies, school, sports and plans for the future. Forty-two years later, I began writing another memoir, this one about the eight years I spent in the White House living history with Bill Clinton. I quickly realized that I couldn’t explain my life as First Lady without going back to the beginning―how I became the woman I was that first day I walked into the White House on January 20, 1993, to take on a new role and experiences that would test and transform me in unexpected ways. By the time I crossed the threshold of the White House, I had been shaped by my family upbringing, education, religious faith and all that I had learned before―as the daughter of a staunch conservative father and a more liberal mother, a student activist, an advocate for children, a lawyer, Bill’s wife and Chelsea’s mom. For each chapter, there were more ideas I wanted to discuss than space allowed; more people to include than could be named; more places visited than could be described. If I mentioned everybody who has impressed, inspired, taught, influenced and helped me along the way, this book would be several volumes long. Although I’ve had to be selec- tive, I hope that I’ve conveyed the push and pull of events and relationships that affected me and continue to shape and enrich my world today. Since leaving the White House I have embarked on a new phase of my life...
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