Just A Brief Look

I am going on a mission trip to Mexico tomorrow, so I thought that I would write about the history of the country. The most prominent cultures between 1800 and 300 B.C. were the Olmec, Teotihuacan, Maya, Zapotec, Mixtec, Huatec, Purepecha, Toltec, and Mexica (also known as the Aztec) civilizations. These people began forming complex societies, advancing in mathematics, astronomy, medicine, writing, agriculture, engineering, and theology. These civilizations were mainly known for their construction of pyramids, highly-accurate calendar systems, and the use of the wheel. Copper and gold were also used in these societies, but these were the only forms of metal. Large cities were built and the culture thrived during this time.

The civilizations of early Mexico changed dramatically after the arrival of Spanish colonists. Spain established their colonies after overtaking the area of Mexico in 1521. The Mexicans were never able to free themselves from Spanish rule until 1821. A Mexican revolution began after Napoleon I invaded Spain. The Mexicans took advantage of Spain preoccupation in their own country to initiate a revolution. Their war against Spain lasted eleven years, but finally ended with a Mexican victory.

The Mexicans were able to establish their first independent government at this time after so many years of Spanish rule. They created a Republic, with Guadalupe as the president. This is only an extremely brief history of Mexico, but it gives you a general idea of what happened. I do find it interesting after finishing my Vietnam project that Mexico was also ruled by a European country. Vietnam certainly was not the only country dealing with a European country taking away their independence in their early history.

Ho Chi Minh, The Backbone for North Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh was a very important character in the Vietnam war. Not only was he apart of the war against America and South Vietnam, but he was in the original protests and battles with the French.

Ho was born in 1890, in Hoang Tru Village where he spent the first five years of his life. He spent most of his childhood in Kil Lien Village, living with his parents, brother, and sister. Ho's was given the name, Nguyen Tat Thanh, when he turned ten according to his Confucian traditions. His father was a Confucian scholar and Ho was sure to be brought up with Confucian based education. Ho was also educated at a French-style secondary school.

In 1911, Ho left his home and boarded a ship headed for Marseilles, France. He worked on this ship as a cabin-boy, spending long hours working many jobs around the ship. After arriving at France, he spent most of his free time reading at the public libraries, reading newspapers or listening to conversations about politics and current events. He later moved to England in 1913 through 1917, but then he returned to France until 1923. During his second stay at France, Ho began to pay special attention to the ideas of Communism. He was determined to free Vietnam from French rule so that he could establish a Communist government, but he could not find any country to support him. He became involved in the establishment of the French Communist Party and then moved to Moscow. He did not stay in Moscow for very long but soon moved to Guangzhou, China. While he was in China, he established the Communist Party of Indochina.

Ho returned to Vietnam in 1941, and it was at this time that he adopted the name, Ho Chi Minh. He helped organize rebellions against the Japanese government when they invaded during World War II, but mainly against the French government. He named himself the leader of the new Democratic Republic of Vietnam, forcing the emperor, Boa Dai, out of command. Ho signed a document that allowed his government to be apart of the French Union, but he was incessantly fighting against them. Even after he controlled North Vietnam, he was not satisfied and fought against South Vietnam and America to control all of Vietnam. He was known for his continual fight for his dreams, even when his dreams seemed impossible to achieve.

Ho died on September 2, 1969, on various health problems. He died at the age of 79 and his embalmed body was put on display in a granite tomb in Moscow. He is still idolized by Communist Vietnamese citizens referring to him as "Uncle Ho."

A Not So Happy Subject

Happy Easter everyone! Easter is such a happy holiday that gives hope to all Christians as we are given the opportunity for forgiveness and salvation. Unfortunately, I must turn the subject away from Easter as it is not the subject that I will be discussing. Today, I would like to discuss the concentration camps used by the Nazis during World War II. In class, we are watching Schindler's List, and so, I thought that I would give some historical background to the movie.

Concentration camps got their name as they were camps used to imprison a mass amount of people. These people were not judged individually, but were placed into the camp because of a general involvement. In the case of the Germans, they used concentration camps to imprison Jews. Jews were proclaimed as being weak and behind the Germans, forcing the Germans to be brought to a lower level. Therefore, Jews were discriminated against and forced to leave their homes.

Most concentration camps were not meant to be used as Hitler and Stalin used their camps, but Hitler and Stalin had a different motive for their camps. The British were the first people to establish the concentration camp, using them during the Boer War. Stalin changed the methods used at his camps by either working or starving his prisoners to death, and Hitler used his camps for "medical experiments," using gas chambers and ovens.

These horrible camps first started after the Nazis took control in 1933. Many of the camps did not remain in use after World War II, but some did continue its work. The Germans also established extermination camps for the mass murdering of Jewish people. These camps were established in 1941, and became known as the Holocaust. Over three million Jews were killed in these camps by the end of the war.

Both the concentration and extermination camps were famous for their horrible treatment of their prisoners and for the terrible conditions. The prisoners were worked under small food rations and very poor sanitary conditions until they could work no longer. At this point the prisoner was killed if he provided no more useful labor. Prisoners were killed either through gas chambers, mass shootings, or severe starvation. The guards at these camps were encouraged to practice their shooting, using humans as targets. Many times we try to forget the awful events that transpired at these camps, not being able to understand how one man could treat another man so terribly.

On This Day in History

On April 7, 1862, the battle of Shiloh in the Civil War was ended. The Union army was able to defeat the Confederates, but only after paying a high price in deaths and wounded men.

The battle began on April 6, lasting two days. General Johnston led his troops to west Tennessee to reorganize after his failures at Forts Henry and Donelson. Johnston was able to pull his troops together with the plan of a surprise attack on the Union army. His plan almost worked, but the Union army discovered that he was advancing with his 55, 000 men just before he was about to attack. The two armies collided and the fighting lasted the entire day. By the end of the day, the Confederate army was able to push the Union army towards the river, but they were unsuccessful of pushing them entirely away from the river.

The fighting continued the following day but to the Union army's advantage. General Grant was able to send for reinforcements and 22,500 more soldiers arrived to fight with the exhausted troops. Unfortunately for the Confederate side, General Johnston was shot in the middle of the afternoon on the second day by a stray bullet. The Confederate army then became weak and unorganized especially as they were now outnumbered. The Union army was able to advance and push the Confederates back to where they began the battle. By the end of the evening, the remaining Confederate soldiers retreated to Corinth.

The numbers of deaths and wounded soldiers was astonishing to both armies as the causality rate was 23,741 men. Out of Grant's original 62, 000 men, 1,754 were killed, 8,408 were wounded, and 2,885 were captured or missing for a total of 13,047 casualties. The Confederate army started out with 45, 000 men and ended with 1,723 killed, 8,012 wounded, and 959 missing for a total of 10,694 casualties. This shocked many people as this was still close to the beginning of the war. Many people were hoping for a short war with very few deaths, but both armies were forced to see reality by the end of this battle.

Amistad- The Facts Behind the Film

The movie, Amistad, is based on the story of African Americans apart of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. This slave trade was an awful business that run by Portugal for two hundred years. The trade began in 1440, and was finally ended in 1640. Europeans were in need of laborers as they desired to expand to the extent that unemployed laborers were sparse. African Americans proved to be perfect for labor as they were strongly built and were familiar with building and tending cattle. Slaves were bought from Africa at the exchange of beads, horses, shells, textile, brandy, and guns. However, many slaves were men and women captured in war.

The slave trade ships were converted from cargo boats for the specific purpose of transporting slaves. The conditions on the ships were horrendous. Disease and malnutrition were extremely common and the death rate was 13% more than for the sailors on the same ship. Proper hygene was not an issue to those who controlled the ships, but provided the least amount of food, clothing, and shelter as possible. The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was characterized by degradation and dehumanization of the slaves. Slaves were not viewed as human beings, but as labor units.

The slaves were usually chained together and then forced into an extremely confined and overcrowded deck. Ships transported hundreds of slaves, squeezing all of them into two decks, and keeping the slaves in the same room for an entire week. These ships were a tragic site that demonstrated man's disregard of human decency simply due to the color of another man's skin. We should all be thankful that such slave trades were abolished and hope that mankind will respect the common human rights of all people, no matter their race or origins.

Franklin D. Roosevelt and His 100 Days

Franklin Delano Roosevelt shocked the American public during his first one hundred days of office as he wielded his political power as no other president had before him. Americans became accustomed to President Hoover's unaffectedness and viewed Roosevelt as a savior. Roosevelt knew that he needed to act quickly to fight against the depression and to maintain the American morale and trust in the government.

In his first one hundred days, Roosevelt launched his New Deal, an effort to quickly counteract the effects of the depression. He established the Utilities Act and the Social Security Act to protect workers in large industries and providing retirement insurance. He declared a "bank holiday" on his first day of office, closing down all banks to provide them with money and regain control of the situation. The Emergency Banking Bill was passed so as to help banks reorganize and be able to reopen. A number of other bills were passed that caused the creation of new organizations, including the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, and the Tennessee Valley Authority. Additional power was given to the Federal Trade Commission and Congress abated many mortgages of farmers and homeowners. Other useful organizations that were put into effect were the Agricultural Adjustment Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps, organizations to help farming prices and provide jobs for young men.

Roosevelt's strategy in facing the Great Depression was to bring relief to those who needed it most. Sometimes this did mean "taking from the rich to give to the poor," but this was the strategy that would succeed. His second strategy was to reform the economy so as to prevent a future catastrophe. He did this through reorganization and the creation of new agencies. He was sure not to increase the debt even more by giving to others only when it could be taken from another part of the country.

The New Deal was not finished after the end of Roosevelt's first one hundred days. He had a second one hundred days in 1935, famous for the creation of the Works Progress Administration. This new program provided jobs for numerous people, putting them to work building roads, planting trees, and constructing paths for tourists. These jobs may seem insignificant, but it put many unemployed men to work, providing them with at least a small amount of money which they desperately needed.

The actions that Roosevelt took in his first one hundred days of office have proven to still affect Americans today. Some of the organizations that he established are still thriving and providing relief and support to the public. For example, Social Security is still used nation-wide in America today. Roosevelt restored the public's trust in banks and the government. He was said to have saved capitalism and the way of the American people through his actions. Although many historians now see that Roosevelt was slightly illegal in his actions, they still support his actions and recognize that it was the only way to compensate for the depression.

I believe that at least one bad consequence of his actions was that he taught the American people to rely almost completely on the government when they cannot support themselves. I think that it is a good idea that American citizens can trust their government, but they should not become lazy and then believe that the government should take care of them. Many Americans now have the sense that it is their "right" to be taken care of and supported without any work on their part. Despite this, I do believe that Roosevelt took the right course of action. As he took office after Hoover, he had to demonstrate that the president of the United States could be trusted. He showed that he understood the problems that Americans faced and that he was working his hardest to resolve them.