Thursday, October 28, 2010

Free Responses:Chapter 9 & 11


(2010b)
Compare and contrast the experience of slaves on tobacco plantations in the early 17th century Chesapeake region with that of the slaves on 19th century cotton plantations in the Deep South. What forces transformed the institution of slavery from the early 17th century to the 19th century.

(2009 DBQ)
From 1775 to 1830, many African Americans gained freedom from slavery, yet during the same period the institution of slavery expanded. Explain why BOTH of those changes took place. Analyze the ways that BOTH free African Americans and enslaved African Americans responded to the challenges confronting them.

(2008b)
Use TWO of the following categories to analyze the ways in which African Americans created a distinctive culture in slavery.
                Family
                Music
                Oral traditions
                Religion

(2007)
In what ways did the Second Great Awakening in the North influence TWO of the following?
                Abolitionism
                Temperance
                The cult of domesticity
                Utopian communities

(2006DBQ)
Discuss the changing ideals of American womanhood between the American Revolution (1770s) and the outbreak of the Civil War. What factors fostered the emergence of “republican motherhood” and the “cult of domesticity”? Assess the extent to which these ideals influenced the lives of women during this period. In your answer be sure to consider issues of class and race.

(2002 DBQ)
“Reform movements in the United States sought to expand democratic ideals.” Assess the validity of this statement with specific reference to the years 1825-1850. Use the following documents and your knowledge of the period 1825-1850 in constructing your answer.

(1981 DBQ)
How and why did the lives and status of Northern middle-class women change between 1776 and 1876?

(2001)
How did economic, geographic, and social factors encourage the growth of slavery as an important part of the economy of the southern colonies between 1607 and 1775?

(2004b)
To what extent and in what ways did the roles of women change in American society between 1790 and 1860? Respond with reference to TWO of the following areas:
                Domestic
                Economic
                Political
                Social


(1993)
In what ways did the early 19th century reform movements for abolition and women’s rights illustrate both the strengths and the weaknesses of democracy in the early American republic?

(1994)
Analyze the ways in which TWO of the following influenced the development of American society.
                Puritanism in the 17th century
                The Great Awakening in the 18th century
                The Second Great Awakening in the 19th century

(1995)
Analyze the ways in which supporters of slavery in the 19th century used legal, religious, and economic arguments to defend the institution of slavery.

The One Dollar Bill

http://www.hometownhutchinson.com/33?article_id=337

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Religion, Reform, and Renaissance in Antebellum America (Very Important

Religion, Reform, and Renaissance in Antebellum America
Evangelical Protestant revivalism
-Second Great Awakening of the 1820s and 1830s (Finney and Cartwright), empowered the individual in finding religion, rise of new sects (Methodists and Baptists), Millennialism (end of times), Mormons, the South gained religion, linked with Jacksonian Democracy (empowering the common man)
Social Reforms
-Temperance (women involved), Prison Reform (Dix), Public Education (Horace Mann), Higher Education, Abolitionists, Women’s Movement (Seneca Falls)
Ideals of domesticity
-role of women moved from Republican Mothers to Cult of Domesticity (men responsible for economic and political affairs, separation of spheres, and women concentrated on the care of the home and children as well as moral leaders of the home and educators of children, domestic feminism led to involvement in social reforms
Transcendentalism
Ralph Waldo Emerson (lyceums), Henry David Thoreau (Walden, On Civil Disobedience) Brook Farm, believed in individualism and abolition
Utopian Communities (Perfectionism
)
-Shakers, New Harmony, Mormons, Oneida Community, Fourier Phalanxes
American Renaissance: literary and artistic expression
-Painting (George Caleb Bingham drew common man experiences, Hudson River School (landscapes)
-Architecture (Greek Revival)
-Literature: James Fenimore Cooper (American writing about American experiences, Hawthorne (The Scarlet Letter), Melville (Moby Dick), Transcendentalists (Emerson and Thoreau), writings became more nationalistic

Chapter 11: Society, Culture, and Reform, 1820-1860

Antebellum Period
First Great Awakening
Unitarians
Charles Finney
Peter Cartwright
Circuit riders
Revival “camp meetings”
New Protestant sects
Millennialism
Mormons
Joseph Smith
Brigham Young
New Zion
Polygamy
Second Great Awakening
Social Reform
Romantic Movement
Transcendentalists
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Henry David Thoreau
Nonviolent protest
George Ripley/Brook Farm
Margaret Fuller
Utopian communities
Perfectionism
Shakers
Robert Owen/New Harmony
Noyes/Oneida Community
Fourier Phalanxes
George Caleb Bingham
Hudson River School
John J. Audubon
Greek Revival architecture
Washington Irving
James Fenimore Cooper
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Herman Melville
Walt Whitman
Temperance Movement
American Temperance Society
Washingtonians
Demon Rum
Teetotalism/Abstinence
Maine Law of 1851
Asylum movement
Dorothea Dix
Thomas Gallaudet
Dr. Samuel Howe
Penitentiaries
Horace Mann
Public School movement
Tax-supported schools
Moral education
McGuffey Readers
Noah Webster
Private colleges
Mary Lyon
Lyceums
Birth control
Cult of Domesticity
Separation of spheres
Child-centered families
Domestic Feminism
Grimke Sisters
Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony
Seneca Falls Convention (1848)
Women’s Rights movement
“Sisterhood”
American Colonization Society
William Lloyd Garrison (The Liberator)
Abolitionist movement
American Antislavery Society
Liberty Party
Black Abolitionists
Frederick Douglas (The North Star)
Sojourner Truth
Violent abolitionists
David Walker/The Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World
Denmark Vessey Conspiracy
Nat Turner’s Rebellion
American Peace Society
Southern reforms v. Northern/western reforms

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

This Date in History: October 13

1792 : White House cornerstone laid

The cornerstone is laid for a presidential residence in the newly designated capital city of Washington. In 1800, President John Adams became the first president to reside in the executive mansion, which soon became known as the "White House" because its white-gray Virginia freestone contrasted strikingly with the red brick of nearby buildings.

The city of Washington was created to replace Philadelphia as the nation's capital because of its geographical position in the center of the existing new republic. The states of Maryland and Virginia ceded land around the Potomac River to form the District of Columbia, and work began on Washington in 1791. French architect Charles L'Enfant designed the area's radical layout, full of dozens of circles, crisscross avenues, and plentiful parks. In 1792, work began on the neoclassical White House building at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue under the guidance of Irish American architect James Hoban, whose design was influenced by Leinster House in Dublin and by a building sketch in James Gibbs' Book of Architecture. President George Washington chose the site.

On November 1, President John Adams was welcomed into the executive mansion. His wife, Abigail, wrote about their new home: "I pray heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house, and on all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but wise men ever rule under this roof!"

In 1814, during the War of 1812, the White House was set on fire along with the U.S. Capitol by British soldiers in retaliation for the burning of government buildings in Canada by U.S. troops. The burned-out building was subsequently rebuilt and enlarged under the direction of James Hoban, who added east and west terraces to the main building, along with a semicircular south portico and a colonnaded north portico. The smoke-stained stone walls were painted white. Work was completed on the White House in the 1820s.

Major restoration occurred during the administration of President Harry Truman, and Truman lived across the street for several years in Blair House. Since 1995, Pennsylvania Avenue between the White House and Lafayette Square has been closed to vehicular traffic for security reasons. Today, more than a million tourists visit the White House annually. It is the oldest federal building in the nation's capital.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Free Responses:Chapter 6-10

(2008)
Analyze the impact of the market revolution (1815-1860) on the economies of TWO of the following regions.
The Northeast
The Midwest
The South

(2002B DBQ)
Historians have traditionally labeled the period after the War of 1812 the “Era of Good Feelings”. Evaluate the accuracy of this label, considering the emergence of nationalism and sectionalism. Use the documents and your knowledge of the period 1815-1825 to construct your answer.

(1998 DBQ)
With the respect to the federal Constitution, the Jeffersonian Republicans are usually characterized as strict constructionists who were opposed to the broad constructionism of the Federalists. To what extent was this characterization of the two parties accurate during the presidencies of Jefferson and Madison? In your writing, use the documents and your knowledge of the period 1801-1817.

(1990 DBQ)
Jacksonian Democrats viewed themselves as the guardians of the United State Constitution, political democracy, individual liberty, and equality of economic opportunity. In light of the following documents and your knowledge of the 1820’s and 1830s, to what extent do you agree with the Jacksonians’ view of themselves?

(2007)
Settlers in the 18th century American backcountry sometimes resorted to violent protest to express their grievances. Analyze the causes and significance of TWO of the following:
March of the Paxton Boys
Regulator Movement
Shays’ Rebellion
Whiskey Rebellion

(1994)
Evaluate the relative importance of domestic and foreign affairs in shaping politics in the 1790s.

(2002)
Analyze the contributions of TWO of the following in helping establish a stable government after the adoption of the Constitution.
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
George Washington

(2003b)
Although the power of the national government increased during the early republic, this development often faced serious opposition. Compare the motives and effectiveness of those opposed to the growing power of the national government in TWO of the following.
Whiskey Rebellion (1794)
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, 1798-1799
Hartford Convention, 1814-1815
Nullification Crisis, 1832-1833

(2004b)
To what extent was the election of 1800 aptly name the “Revolution of 1800”? Respond with reference to TWO of the following areas:
Economics
Foreign policy
Judiciary
Politics

(1997)
Discuss the impact of territorial expansion on national unity between 1800 and 1850.

(1999)
How did TWO of the following contribute to the reemergence of a two party system in the period 1820 to 1840?
Major political personalities
States’ rights
Economic issues

(1996)
Analyze the extent in which TWO of the following influenced the development of democracy between 1820 and 1840.
Jacksonian economic policy
Changes in electoral politics
Second Great Awakening
Westward Movement

(2001)
The Jacksonian Period (1824-1848) has been celebrated as the era of the “common man..” To what extent did the period live up to its characterization? Consider TWO of the following in your response.
Economic development
Politics
Reform movements

(1991)
Although historically represented as distinct parties, the Federalists and the Whigs in fact shared common political ideology, represented many of the same interest groups and purposed similar programs and policies. Assess the validity of this statement.

(1989)
Developments in transportation, rather than in manufacturing and agriculture, sparked American economic growth in the first half of the 19th century. Assess the validity of this statement.

(2003)
In what ways did developments in transportation bring about economic and social change in the US in the period 1820 to 1860?

Friday, October 8, 2010

The Transformation of Politics in Antebellum America (Very Important)

The Transformation of Politics in Antebellum America
Emergence of the Two-Party System
-Democrats: states’ rights, limited govt., universal white male suffrage, southerners, westerners, small farmers, urban workers, immigrants
-Whigs: Favored Clay’s American System (national bank, federal funding of internal improvements, protective tariff), opposed immorality and vice (blamed old immigrants from Germany and Ireland), New Englanders, Mid-Atlantic and upper-Middle-Western states, Protestants of English stock, middle-class urban professionals
Federal Authority and its opponents
-Judicial Federalism: Jackson opposed the Federalist Marshall Court decisions such as Worchester v. Georgia (believed in states’ rights), opposed federal funding of internal improvements (Clay’s Maysville Road), Jackson lived up to Democratic ideals
-The Bank War: “King Andrew” Jackson vetoed the recharter bill to spite Clay/Nicholas Biddle claiming to help the common man against business interests (placed federal money in pet/state banks leading to Panic of 1837 under Martin Van Buren (Ruin), Specie Circular (hoped to stop inflationary trend), Jackson lived up to Democratic ideals, helped him win second term, vetoed more laws than all the previous presidents
-Tariff Controversy: Opposed Calhoun’s nullification theory, placed Union above states’ rights, Jackson didn’t live up to Democratic ideals, Force Bill (gave Jackson authority to send troops into South Carolina but conflict was resolved with the Tariff Compromise of 1833 (Clay)
-States’ rights debates: Webster-Hayne Debates of 1830, fought over the idea of states leaving the Union
-Other: Peggy Eaton Affair (hurt relations with VP John C. Calhoun)
Jacksonian Democracy and its successes
-Universal male suffrage, nomination conventions (replaced King Caucus), popular election of electoral college members, reemergence of two-party system (from the one-party rule under the Era of Good Feelings), Rise of third parties (Anti-Masons), More elected offices, popular campaigning (politics a form of entertainment), Spoils system, rotation of office
Jackson Democracy and its limitations (not part of the common man equation)
-Indian Removal Act, stopped abolition literature from being sent through US mails (upheld slavery), no new rights for women, Jackson often used the presidency against rivals, not ruling by political ideology

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Andrew Jackson Outline

Andrew Jackson 
Andrew Jackson (1829-1837)
Old Hickory
Champion of the “common man”

-Gained fame following victory at New Orleans, two weeks after the signing of the Treaty of Ghent that ended the War of 1812.
-Also, victorious at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend (AL), ending the power of an important British ally, the Creeks.
-Led a military force into Florida in 1818 to stop groups of Seminoles, runaway slaves, and white outlaws.
-This led to the Spanish selling Florida to the US in 1819
-Ran for president in 1824 but was defeated following the “corrupt bargain” where Henry Clay used his influence in the House to provide John Quincy Adams the presidency in exchange for the Speaker of the House. (The House of Representatives choose the presidency because no presidential candidate received a majority in the Electoral College).
-Defeated Quincy Adams in 1828, carrying southern and western votes and led to Jacksonian Democracy.

Politics of the “common man” (not including blacks, Indians, nor women)
1. Universal manhood suffrage- more people could now vote and hold political office
2. Nominating Conventions- closed the door on “King Caucus” where the “common man” had no opportunity to participate. With nominating conventions, more people could now participate in choosing presidential candidates.
3. Popular election of the president- voters could now choose a state’s slate of presidential electors. This basically allowed the popular vote in states to choose the state’s electors.
4. Two-party system- presidential candidates had to be more national and had to organize these campaigns. Larger parties and more members were needed for effectiveness.
5. More elected offices- a much larger number of state and local officials were now elected to office by the people instead of being appointed, giving the “common man” more voice and interest in government.
6. Popular campaigning- candidates directed their campaigns to the interests of the people, becoming a form of popular entertainment. In trying the appeal to the masses, candidates with aristocratic airs might be attacked as an opponent and seen as unfriendly to the “common man”.
7. Spoils system- appointment of people and party members who helped win elections If a Democrat won the presidency from a Republican, then they would replace the Republicans with Democrats who helped them win the election.
8. Rotation of Office- to maximize the number of Democrats holding office, officeholders from the spoils system would be removed after one term, affirming one man was as good as another in holding public office



Jackson’s Presidency
-President of the dirt farmer
-Role of Presidency (King Andrew)- strong executive power
-Advised by his Kitchen Cabinet
-Presented himself as a representative of the people and the protector of the “common man” against the abuses of the rich
-Opposed increased federal spending and the national debt (like Jefferson)
-Jackson often, but not always, interpreted the Constitution narrowly (like the Jeffersonian ideal) by vetoing the use of federal money to construct the Maysville Road because it was wholly within Clay’s state of Kentucky, his archrival

Peggy Eaton Affair
-Jackson tried to force his cabinet member’s wives to accept Peggy Eaton socially. When this failed to happen, most cabinet members resigned, later including his Vice President, John C. Calhoun

Indian Removal Act (1830)
-Jackson sympathized with land-hungry westerners forcing the Five Civilized Tribes (not part of the “common man” west to the Indian Territory (later to become Oklahoma in 1890, leading to the Trail of Tears
-Despite Marshall’s decision (not let him enforce it) favoring the Cherokees, Jackson simply ignored it.

Nullification Crisis
-Jackson favored states’ rights (like Jefferson) but not if it would led to disunion.
-In 1828, Calhoun led a theory of nullification movement to counter the 1828 Tariff of Abomination.
In 1832, SC nullified a new 1832 tariff (remember tariffs hurt the South and helped the North), causing Congress to pass the Force Bill. This gave the president authority to send troops to SC.
-While Jackson did not send in troops due to a compromise tariff of 1833 led by the Great Compromiser Henry Clay, he did win support of southerners with his resentment against the growing abolitionist movement as blacks were not seen as the “common man”.

Bank Veto
-Believing the Bank of the US unconstitutional due to his strict interpretation of the Constitution and his hatred toward this abusive “hydra of corruption”, Jackson vetoed a bank-recharter bill allowing federal bank deposits to be placed in state or “pet banks”.
-With inflation and overspeculation in western lands, Jackson ordered the Specie Circular, requiring federal purchase to land to be made in gold and silver rather than paper money.
His actions led to the Panic of 1837, severely hurting his hand-picked successor, Martin Van Buren (Ruin).
Rise of the Whigs- see chart on page 191 on the Amsco
A Very OLD Hickory 

Chapter 10 Terms

The Age of Jackson, 1824-1844
Alexis de Tocqueville
Equality
The Common Man
Jacksonian Democracy/Common Man Politics
Universal manhood suffrage
King Caucus
National nominating conventions
Popular election of the president
Two-Party system
Third parties
More elected offices
Popular campaigning
Spoils System (Patronage)
Rotation of Office
Election of 1824
Corrupt Bargain
John Q. Adams
Election/Revolution of 1828
Andrew Jackson (Old Hickory)
Rachel Donelson
Role of the President
Maysville Rd.
Kitchen Cabinet
Five Civilized Tribes
Indian Removal Act (1830)
Cherokee Nation v. GA (1831)
Worchester v. GA (1832)
Trail of Tears
States’ Rights
Tariff of 1828/Tariff of Abominations
John C. Calhoun
SC Exposition & Protest (1828)
Nullification theory
Hayne-Webster Debates
Jefferson Day Dinner Toast
Tariff of 1832
Nullification Crisis
Force Bill
Abolitionist/Anti-Slavery literature
Second Bank of the US
Nicholas Biddle
Henry Clay
Bank Recharter Bill
Bank Veto Message
King Andrew
“Moneyed Monster” & “Hydra of Corruption”
Democrats v. Whigs (See page 191)
Election of 1832
Pet Banks
Runaway inflation
Specie Circular
Election of 1836
Martin Van Buren (Little Magician)
Panic of 1837
Laissez-faire Economics
Independent Treasury
Election of 1840
Tippecanoe and Tyler Too!
Log Cabin & Hard Cider
William Henry Harrison
John Tyler
George Caleb Bingham

Chapter 9 Terms

Chapter 9: Sectionalism
Sectionalism
Industrial NE
Labor Unions
Commonwealth v. Hunt (1842)
Urban Life
African Americans in the NE
The Old NW
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
John Deere
Cyrus McCormick
Agriculture in the Old NW
New Cities
Immigration (Old Immigrants)
Irish
Germans
Nativism
Know-Nothing Party
The South
Eli Whitney
Short staple v. long staple cotton
King Cotton
Cotton Belt
Peculiar institution
Positive good v. necessary evil
Internal slave trade
Slave auctions
Principle of fear
Plantation slaves v. House slaves
Paternalism
Passive resistance
Slave codes
Free blacks in the North
Free blacks in the South
Mulattos
Manumission
Racism
Antebellum (Old ) South
Planter Aristocracy
Small slaveowners
Yeoman farmers
Planter women
Poor whites
Mountain whites
Southern cities
Chivalry
Dueling
Southern education
Religion
The West
Native Americans
Great Plains
Horses/ Buffalo
The Frontier
Mountain men
White setters in the West
Western women
Environmental damage

This Date in History: October 7

Battle of Kings Mountain

During the American Revolution, Patriot irregulars under Colonel William Campbell defeat Tories under Major Patrick Ferguson at the Battle of King's Mountain in South Carolina.

Major Ferguson's Tory force, made up mostly of American Loyalists from South Carolina and elsewhere, was the western wing of General Lord Cornwallis' North Carolina invasion force. One thousand American frontiersmen under Colonel Campbell of Virginia gathered in the backcountry to resist Ferguson's advance. Pursued by the Patriots, Ferguson positioned his Tory force in defense of a rocky, treeless ridge named King's Mountain. The Patriots charged the hillside multiple times, demonstrating lethal marksmanship against the surrounded Loyalists.

Unwilling to surrender to a "band of banditti," Ferguson led a suicidal charge down the mountain and was cut down in a hail of bullets. After his death, some of his men tried to surrender, but they were slaughtered in cold blood by the frontiersmen, who were bitter over British excesses in the Carolinas. The Tories suffered 157 killed, 163 wounded, and 698 captured. Colonel Campbell's force suffered just 28 killed and 60 wounded.

Monday, October 4, 2010

This Date in History: October 4

October 4: General Interest
1957 : Sputnik launched

The Soviet Union inaugurates the "Space Age" with its launch of Sputnik, the world's first artificial satellite. The spacecraft, named Sputnik after the Russian word for "satellite," was launched at 10:29 p.m. Moscow time from the Tyuratam launch base in the Kazakh Republic. Sputnik had a diameter of 22 inches and weighed 184 pounds and circled Earth once every hour and 36 minutes. Traveling at 18,000 miles an hour, its elliptical orbit had an apogee (farthest point from Earth) of 584 miles and a perigee (nearest point) of 143 miles. Visible with binoculars before sunrise or after sunset, Sputnik transmitted radio signals back to Earth strong enough to be picked up by amateur radio operators. Those in the United States with access to such equipment tuned in and listened in awe as the beeping Soviet spacecraft passed over America several times a day. In January 1958, Sputnik's orbit deteriorated, as expected, and the spacecraft burned up in the atmosphere.

Officially, Sputnik was launched to correspond with the International Geophysical Year, a solar period that the International Council of Scientific Unions declared would be ideal for the launching of artificial satellites to study Earth and the solar system. However, many Americans feared more sinister uses of the Soviets' new rocket and satellite technology, which was apparently strides ahead of the U.S. space effort. Sputnik was some 10 times the size of the first planned U.S. satellite, which was not scheduled to be launched until the next year. The U.S. government, military, and scientific community were caught off guard by the Soviet technological achievement, and their united efforts to catch up with the Soviets heralded the beginning of the "space race."

The first U.S. satellite, Explorer, was launched on January 31, 1958. By then, the Soviets had already achieved another ideological victory when they launched a dog into orbit aboard Sputnik 2. The Soviet space program went on to achieve a series of other space firsts in the late 1950s and early 1960s: first man in space, first woman, first three men, first space walk, first spacecraft to impact the moon, first to orbit the moon, first to impact Venus, and first craft to soft-land on the moon. However, the United States took a giant leap ahead in the space race in the late '60s with the Apollo lunar-landing program, which successfully landed two Apollo 11 astronauts on the surface of the moon in July 1969.

Germany Ends World War One Reparations

Germany ends World War One reparations after 92 years with £59m final payment
By Allan Hall


Germany will finally clear its First World War debt by repaying nearly £60million this weekend.

The £22billion reparations were set by the Allied victors – mostly Britain, France and America – as compensation and punishment for the 1914-18 war.

The reparations were set at the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919, by the Allied victors - mostly Britain, France and America.

Most of the money was intended to go to Belgium and France, whose land, towns and villages were devastated by the war, and to pay the Allies some of the costs of waging it.

The initial sum agreed upon for war damages in 1919 was 226billion Reichsmarks, a sum later reduced to 132billion. In sterling at the time this was the equivalent of some £22billion.

The German Federal Budget for 2010 shows the remaining portion of the debt that will be cleared on Sunday, October 3.

The bill would have been settled much earlier had not one Adolf Hitler reneged on reparations during his reign.

Hatred of the settlement agreed at Versailles, France, which crippled Germany as it tried to shape itself into a democracy following defeat in the war, was of significant importance in propelling the Nazis to power.

West Germany, formed after defeat in 1945, took on responsibility for most of the outstanding principle and interest, settling the bill in 1983.

But there was a clause in the so-called London Debt Agreement of 1953 that interest on multi-million pound foreign loans taken out in the Weimar Republic era, to pay off the reparations bill, should themselves be repaid if Germany were ever reunited.
WAR FACTS
● World War One lasted four years, three months and 14 days.

● It took the lives of an estimated 9.7million military personnel and 6.8million civilians.

● In today‘s money the war cost Great Britain alone £22,368,229,004.07 to fight.

● A British Tommy‘s basic pay in the war was one shilling a day, equivalent to 35 pence a week.

● The biggest war reparations demanded before the Versailles Treaty was 5.5billion in gold francs demanded by Prussia from France after its victory over it in the war of 1870-71. France paid if off within five years.

● In 1917, one year before the end of the war, Britain manufactured 186,000 tons of explosives compared to 144,000 tons by Germany.

● An estimated 40 million horses, dogs, carrier pigeons and other animals in the service of the armies of the Great War died in battle.

● The only British First World War veteran still alive is Claude Choules, 108, who served in the Royal Navy and lives in Perth, Australia. Harry Patch, the last foot soldier to survive, died aged 111 in July last year.

Payments on this interest began again in 1996.

'On Sunday the last bill is due and the First World War finally, financially at least, terminates for Germany,' said Bild, the country’s biggest selling newspaper.

Most of the money goes to private individuals, pension funds and corporations holding debenture bonds as agreed under the Treaty of Versailles.

The German government did not reveal how the money will be disbursed but it is understood that it is transferred to a holding account before being sent to the relevant bond and debt holders.

Most of these are American and French.

With the signing of the Versailles accord Germany accepted blame for the war which cost almost ten million men their lives.

Article 231 of the peace treaty - the so-called 'war guilt' clause - declared Germany and Austria-Hungary responsible for all 'loss and damage' suffered by the Allies during the war and provided the basis for reparations.

France, which had been ravaged by war - its farmlands devastated by battles, industries laid waste and some three million men dead - pushed hardest for the steepest possible fiscal punishment for Germany.

The principal representative of the British Treasury at the Paris Peace Conference, John Maynard Keynes, resigned in 1919 in protest at the scale of the demands, warning correctly that it was stoking the fires for another war in the future.

'Germany will not be able to formulate correct policy if it cannot finance itself,' he warned.

When the Wall Street Crash came in 1929, the Weimar Republic spiralled into debt.

What the Bank of England calls ‘quantitative easing’ now was started in Germany with the printing of money to pay off the war debt, triggering inflation to the point where ten billion marks would not even buy a loaf of bread.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Transportation of the Economy and Society in Antebellum America (Very Important)

The transportation revolution
-Turnpikes (Lancaster and National Roads), (Erie) Canals (linked east and west), Steamboats, Rise of Railroads, Pony Express, Overland Trails (all moved people, ideas, and goods more easily)
Creation of a national market economy
-Manufacturing in the north (Samuel Slater’s Factory System), Mechanical inventions (Whitney’s interchangeable parts and COTTON GIN), Raise Capital of Investment (corporations), Labor in mills and factories (Lowell System), Rise of labor unions, King Cotton in the South (cotton gin)
-Rise in cities (Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, Cincy, St. Louis, all on major rives) , Lower cost of goods, people move westward, country became smaller, specialization of jobs, single and young women sought jobs (Lowell System), increased need for slaves, difficulty in finding labor (later use old “Irish” immigrants), Agriculture in the Old Northwest (King Wheat & King Corn)
Beginnings of industrialization (South and North began to look different, Rise of Sectionalism)
-Factory System, better transportation system, rise in investment banking, people moved from farms to cities, rise of organized labor unions (Commonwealth v. Hunt)
Changes in social and class structures
-South more dependent of slaves, women increase role in economy and the home, women married for love and had fewer children, real wages improved, upward mobility came generationally, Native Americans moved west of the Mississippi after Indian Removal Act, Mountain Men of the West (traders and trappers), White Settlers on the Western Frontier (faced difficult life)
-Free American Americans (250,000 in the South and 250,000 in the North), faced prejudice and discrimination, Slaves (increased from forced immigrants and natural reproduction, worked on plantations, resisted through work slowdowns and Revolt: Stono Rebellion, Denmark Vesey), slaves sold “down the river” from Upper South (VA) to Deep South (Cotton Belt)
White Society in the South: Aristocracy (wealthy landowners owning many slaves), Farmers (some owned a few slaves, worked side by side with slaves), Poor white/Yeoman Farmers (lived in hills, didn’t own slaves, subsistent farmers, hoped to obtain slaves one day), Mountain people (disliked planters and slavery), Limited number of cities, Slaves at the bottom of the social hierarchy
Immigration and Nativist Reaction
-Old Immigrants: dramatic increase from better ocean transportation, famines and revolutions in Europe, growing reputation of the US
Irish: Moved to Northeastern cities, Drank alcohol, Catholic, worked in the lowest paying jobs (took jobs away from others), voted Democratic
Germans: faced less discrimination than the Irish, moved to mid-western farm lands, farmers and artisans
Nativism: Know-Nothing Party, strong reaction to foreigners who were Catholic, drank, and held different traditions, eventually assimilated making the US more diverse