Why America?

America in the 19^th -20^th was known as the land of opportunity. Many countries at that time were underdeveloped and America had the most stable economy. We were the most advanced in that time essentially. Now around the world there were many great conflicts, whether dealing with poverty, running from the government as a criminal or for safety, or just for a new start. Most of the immigrants were European, mainly Jews, Slavs; Irish, Russian etc. many Jews were seeking their “homeland”. During that time the holocaust was occurring in Germany. As we all know about the holocaust, it was genocide for any non-Arians. 6million Jews were killed, while the survivors fled to either neighboring countries. But it got to a point where the Nazis would retrieve these run away Jews and Germany took over most of the other countries by violent actions. Many countries didn’t let the Jews come into their own homes due to that reason. It was destroying the land of others who didn’t get involved. Now otherwise many other Europeans were seeking a new beginning or at least to give their children a new chance a new way of life. Many called America the land where money was on the floor. However that wasn’t the case, once immigrants came and started to settle they found themselves in tenement homes that were shared with another family. The only benefit of that is that they were with others who spoke their language or from their countries. They also faced health issues due to the lack of hygiene created by the conditions of their life style. Companies wanted to basically own the employees. The expectations of the employees and of the employers didn’t agree always. It was a melting pot, but nothing was melting.

lets talk about Thanksgiving

Happy thanksgiving to everyone first of all. Thanksgiving is a holiday that has been commercialized in America. Today we don’t think about it origin or it’s true meaning, but a day where families reunite, have a dinner that includes turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy, and many other traditional foods. Sometimes people like to incorporate their own culture into the food. However, not many of us know about its true origin and are against this national holiday. My question is “should thanksgiving be seen as a day where families reunite and be thankful, or as a memorial for the genocide of the Native Americans?” As we have been learning about the relations between the Natives and the settlers, their relationship was quiet full of hate and the opposite of harmony.  The Native Americans were mistreated and killed by the hundreds. Society in America makes it hard for us to not celebrate this holiday because it has a new meaning to it. Everywhere you go there are little turkeys and pumpkins, with a banner that says happy thanksgiving. Celebrities wishing our families and us a happy thanksgiving, influencing our perspectives on the holiday itself. However, I personally like to think of the holiday as a day where our families get to come together and be thankful for each other. For me thanksgiving is everyday. Even though the Native Americans were killed by the hundreds, its important that we know about it and acknowledge the fact that it was wrong. But I think that we shouldn’t turn a day that everyone is happy on to a day where anger and grief is shown.

Was the Civil War necessary?

Was the civil war even necessary? Honestly, it wasn’t. Personally, I think there are other ways to resolve a dispute. I feel that when it comes to resolving disputes one must first identify all of the options, and then according to the effects of each option, then decide on the best solution. However, there are times when you can’t control that, because the other party is attacking you. In that case I believe it’s the only appropriate time to go to war because one must defend him and what ever he/she is representing. But if the Civil War didn’t occur then our lives today would be very different. That would mean that emancipation would have already happened and that congress came to an agreement. It would also mean that our country would be more advanced, because if congress didn’t feel that war was the answer then that means that our country was stable and we wouldn’t have to rush towards war. However, since that wasn’t the case, we went to war and the Civil War is known as the bloodiest war. It was really unnecessary especially for something that could be resolved with civil communication, and  a compensation over coffee.

why do people write poetry?

Poetry is a form of art. Poetry is unique. Poetry became popular during and after the American revolutionary war. Poetry during the war was used as an escape or a stress reliever for the soldiers on both sides of the war. It was a way for them to express their feelings about the war, what they miss, or just to put themselves to sleep. As a soldier during that time, they faced harsher weather conditions that today’s soldiers so the winters were really tough of them. Poetry was created to describe the weather. Also the soldiers had to experience the act of killing and fighting over dead soldiers. Soldiers are human like us, they create friendships and became close with the other soldiers because of the amount of time they spent together. Losing the soldiers were harsh times for the living soldiers. They used poetry to describe the experience, which creates a graphic image. Poetry is special, if done correctly one can feel, imagine, smell, or taste what the author wants you to taste. Poetry can be short but it can take one to a whole different world for just a couple of minutes. That is what makes poetry magical.

do we really need to spend so much time studying?

Studying is an action done by every student in the world. Is a human thing to do. We all know what it is and we have so much experience doing it. A lot of us hate it; some of us don’t mind it because they don’t find it as dreadful as other people do. So what’s the difference? What are we doing wrong that others are doing right? Is there even a right way to study? As a student going to a school with a prestigious program I had some trouble finding the “right” way to study. I’ve tried many ways to study, flash cards, friends testing me on vocabs, re-writing notes down for memory purposes. But if you notice, it’s the memorization that we work on. People tend to study hard instead of studying smart. I’ve tried this technique and it really works. By studying smart you save time and stress. My classes are an hour and a half long. Therefore, giving the teachers all the time they need to thoroughly explain the material. If you pay attention in class and take good notes, ask good questions, you wont have to “study”. Maybe review some notes before a test, but really, we don’t study unless you fell asleep in class or missed class. 

what does it mean to be given a right but not the freedom to fully exercise it?

We are now in the twentieth century and slavery has been “eradicated” and the Negros are now known as freed men. However, there is a catch. Remember how in the Declaration of Independence there is an excerpt that says, “we hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal. That they are endowed by certain unalienable rights…liberty life and the pursuit of happiness”? I would like to submit the link to the website containing the excerpt from the Declaration of Independence as exhibit A. http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html So yay the black freed men are recognized as men. But wait what? They don’t get to exercise the rights the declaration of independence provides for all men. Clearly they are declared free, however the whites decided that they still have control over them as if they were pets and their manual book is the black codes. As Mr. Hoffman said once in class, “what do you call a place where you sell enslaved black men?...an auction. What do you call a place where you sell free black men?...a court house”. Clearly there hasn’t been a change. Just because you change the name of something doesn’t mean you changed everything. It’s exactly what large corporations do. When they get sued and have to shut down, instead they change the company name. They are still the same company. So why bother? The answer is to not create another war. Just coat it with what people want to hear, make it look like you edited your rough draft to make the final draft, but really all you did was change a couple sentences. The blacks weren’t treated like free men, and faced discrimination. Although they still reserved the right to live, right? The only freedom they had was to live.