12/17/12 & 12/18/12

Yesterday we did a scavanger hunt of th er codes. It was so much fun. I didn't really learn tat much about the battles becasue I just wanted to win. We didn't even finish though. Mike decided to keep his ipod in his pocket adn not take it out until we only had like 3 more to go. Rennie was just being Rennie and had no idea what she was doing. We were just a mess but you can tell that it always brings out the best in people(: Today we did work sheets on abeas corpus. We got into a heated discussion about whether or not Abraham Lincoln was justified in suspeneding it or not. I thought he did but it's hard to explain why so everyone kept going back and forth.

12/10/12 & 12/11/12

Yesterday we discussed Lincoln and his theory for the United States of America. He thinks that the Declaration of Independence is the most important government in the history of the US. He says that natural rights and "liberty to all" is made first. Without it, there would be no Union or Constitution. The Union and the Constitution are the "picture of silver", of the frame. They are made around and for the Declaration of Independence, "the apple of gold". Today we talked about how the constitution is the highest governmental authority and the president must enforce the laws. Therefore, the president (Lincoln) cannot abolish slavery where it already exists because it is legal there. Also, we found that the south felt that republicans were hostile to the South by electing Lincoln. The south believes that it's not the time for democrats to rest because they have to fight for what they want and believe is right for the country. They are arguing that they are seceding as a means of self-defense because the government is not protecting their rights.

12/3/12 & 12/4/12

Yesterday we went into even more detail about Lincoln and Douglas. We interpreted a political cartoon with those two and the two other candidates, Bell and Bignerwick (?). There was a map of the U.S. hanging on the wall. Lincoln and Douglas were fighting over the west side of the country because they were really fighting over the votes. Bignerwick was grabbing the south because he was all pro-slavery. Bell was standing on a high chair used by babies and was trying to glue the map back together. This is because he never mentioned slavery and tried to avoid the issue. he just wanted the country to come together. People said he was acting like a baby. Today we did an Ed-cafe about important people during this time period. I thought the most important person was John Brown because he started the fighting. He was the first person to actually do something about slavery instead of just stand around and say things.

12/29/12 & 12/30/12

Yesterday we compared Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. We found that Abraham was only for ending slavery but not for equality of blacks. He never believed that blacks would be equal to whites. They were only equal in the facts that they had natural rights and deserved to own what they worked for. Stephen Douglas said that he wanted what the people wanted. He never said what he wanted slavery. Today I was not in class. I went on a field trip to Wolf Hollow in Ipswich. It was so cool. I saw a pack of wolves. The Alpha male was old and fat. They were just like dogs because they ate treats out of the women's hands. They didn't remind me of wolves at all and it was said because they are suppose to be wild animals. The only way someone could tell they were wolves was because of their size or their eyes. They were either red or yellow. My favorite wolf was a half dog half wolf. His name was bear. He looked like he had the playfulness of a dog but the wildness of a wolf. The most beautiful wolf was a young girl. She had black fur that turned red in the sunlight. he eyes were the same red as her sun-turned hair. She was very shy so she wasn't very high on the ranking order but I really liked her. It was a lot of fun to see them.

11/27/12 & 11/28/12

Yesterday we read an article on the case of Dred Scott. He was said to be property while he was a slave so when he and his owners crossed boarders in to a free state, it did not matter. he was still considered a slave because owners are allowed to bring their "property" any where. Dred tried to fight the "once free, always free" point but that did not work. This shows that even if the people do vote for a free state, it doesn't matter because slaves can still come into the state without the slaveholders being penalized. Today we watched a clip of a movie and read multiple articles about the debates between Stephen Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was pretty out right in saying he was against slavery. Douglass takes a different route and doesn't come out right and say he is for slavery. He always recalls what Lincoln said to make it seem like he is the opposite of him, but it can never be proved that he is. He believes in popular sovereignty, so he says that whatever the states want, they can have. But there is still the issue that it doesn't matter if the state is free because slavery can still come into those states. It was also weird to see that Abe said he never thought that blacks would be equal at all. He only believed they were entitled to their natural rights. Everyone always makes out that Abe was so against slavery and wanted blacks to be equal with men but he says in his speech that they never will be.

11/16/12 &11/19/12

On friday we read a long, long, long chapter from the book "Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriet Beetrice Stowe. It was hard to understand with the old language adn the slang. The men that are talking don't sound that educated so I found it difficult to read it. We ended class with this and didn't get the chance to talk about it until today. The story was about a women slave who ran away. The slave owner wants her back becasue she can work, she is capable of bearing children, and she is pretty. The men don't want to use dogs to find her becasue they are afraid that the dogs will tear her apart as they saw them do to another runaway. It was clear that this chapter was to show the evils of slavery adn slaveholders. Mrs. Stowe wanted to make people into Abolitions or have them support the anti-slavery. I'm sure she did just that. Some days I don't even tell a joke. I think my three day challenge has changed from talling a joke to making people laugh and laughing myself. I don't feel the need to tell a joke anymore because I find everything funny. Sometimes I just laugh at nothing. Sometimes I laugh when I see peoples faces becasue i'm just so happy to see them. I'm always laughing and I find that I'm so happy all the time.

11/14/12 &11/15/12

On November 14th we talked about the Mexican War. Mexico and the US fought over land. America claimed the land in texas as their own and when they entered and we attacked by mexico they caled it American bloodshed on American soil. It was weird to hear that America had just easily claimed land that didn't even belong to them. On November 15th we went even further into detail of the Mexican War. States were becoming part of the Union as either slave states on free states. They ended up evening each other out so that in the Senate it the ideas were equal. I told my jokes and they make me happier. I actually find that I am in a better mood all the time and it is hard for other people to change that.

William Lloyd Garrison (recorded)