The Cotton Gin

He was my best friend. We wanted to know a faster way of doing some of the jobs and in 1793 there was not a lot of fast paced ways of doing anything. Everything we had to do was by hand and very slow. The one job that was the slowest and very painful was picking cotton. When you would pick cotton you had to remove all the seeds by hand and it took more time than anyone had in a day. But my good friend Eli was working on a way to simplify the job of picking cotton. Eli did it to, the following year he got a patent for a machine he designed. It was a machine he called the cotton gin. The machine helped us by taking the cotton we picked and pulling the seeds out. That way we don't have to pick them out by hand. Most of the seeds that were saved from separating were planted and reused. The cotton gin was a great invention. This allowed the south to produce more cotton. While it caused a little more work for the slaves it also helped them. If they had the machine the slaves did not have to pull the seeds out by hand. It also helps the north by supplying them with more cotton at a lower price. So the way I see it is that you make a nation by suppurting the north and the south. The southerners support the north by making the cotton.The south supports the north by selling them the cotton for a low price. This helped the south by being able to make more supplies but it also helped the north by selling to them for less. so they can buy more.

Bill of Rights

It's great that we have gotten a new constitution in the past few years.The problem is that it doesn't address our rights. Right now there is no guidelines saying what rights the we have as individuals. Having rights is very important to us because it will limit the power of the government. So now we are working on the Bill of Rights. Mr. James Madison first drafted the amendments on 1789.But now it is December 15, 1795 and the amendments are coming into effect after ratification by three-fourths of the states. Now we are guaranteed the right to freedom of speech, press, and religion. A long with many other rights such as the right to keep and bear arms, and also the rights to be free from search and seizure, cruel and unusual punishment, and compelled self-incrimination. As an individual of this time I am so grateful that we got the Bill of Rights because now we actually have "freedom".
It's not easy for you to make a unified nation out of people who are very diverse. But during the time of the Bill of Rights they didn't have much of a choice. The government didn't really think that their people needed a list of their own rights. But as individuals the people felt like that if they didn't have a list than the government wouldn't really acknowledge that the poeple had their rights.That is when they decided to make the Bill of Rights. That is how you make a united nation out of diverse people with different opinions. You have to compromise in order to make anything unified weither it be a nation or a family or a realationship.

Indian Removal Act

The day that Andrew Jackson ordered us to move the Native Americans was one of the darkest days of my life. We Hauled them away from their homes without so much as a stitch of clothing. We pushed so many of them together in a single wagon that they had to sit and lay on top of one another. Many of them were sick and we put them together with the healthy Native Americans, which in turn got sick as well. More than half of the Native Americans died and because we were trying to get up to the north west faster, we didn't give them proper Native American funerals. Because of this the surviving Native Americans were furious with us. Many of the deceased Native Americans we just dropped off on the side of the trail. When we finally made it to the north west, we basically shoved them out of the wagons and left them there with absolutely nothing.

As a nation we must acknowledge others feelings about their property. Instead of forcing the Native Americans off their land we could have compromised with them and shared it. As a nation we should stand together and stick up for the people who are being bullied because of our wrong-doing.

How can a government build a unified nation out of a people with diverse interest and concerns?

The first and most important thing to establish a government when diversity is an issue is compromise. In The Constitution compromises were made. These included the Three-Fifth's Compromise and the Connecticut Compromise. Also, you must give the people what they want. Otherwise a government cannot last. They failed to preserve the rights of humans in The Constitution and some states refused because of that. The Bill of Rights was written as soon as the government truly came into being to please the people. Finally, a government must be given the power to override the citizens if the need arises. Without this, emergencies could arise and without these overrides, the government would be powerless to aid it's citizens. One of these overrides is the warrants that the police and higher offices of justice and national security use to search houses and arrest citizens.

To be a nation

To be a nation, you need a way to live in between all needs. For example, two people have a decision, you meet in the middle. Back in the day, when congress was beginning, there were many decisions to make. How things were going to be done, who was going to rule, and who has power? Different people had different ideas. Nullification was tried, which is when someone can nullify any act of Congress that is unconstitutional. No one should go against any act of congress, but congress should acknowledge the fact others are not agreeing with them. Also, how we have the three branches. This gives us a form of guidance to how we run our government. When you have a plan and your organized you can run more smoothly. Within the three branches, you have other people to help out with duties that are to be done. Also, we have what is called checks and balances, which is where no one receives too much power. When you have a person with all the power, who knows what is to happen. When everyone has a part and keeps an eye on each other and makes sure no one gains too much power, we're all equally happy.

In my house hold, neither my mom nor my dad has more say then the other. When theirs a decision to be made, they make together. It's like they're a team. To have a good family, you work together and help one another. To be a good nation, we all as one need to come together and work as a team. We may not all agree with decisions, but we can all meet in the middle and support each other. Some disagree with Bush's decision to go to war; therefore, wouldn't they be against us? If your against us, we're not a nation. We all come together and make a decision with no one better then someone else.

Balancing Nationalism and Sectionalism-Cotton Gin

Hey yall. My Name is Sarah Jo. Yall probably don't know who I am, but I am a slave. I'm just here to tell you a little bit about life back then. My tipical day was very busy. I always had jobs to finish. Most of the time I had to work with the Cotton Gin. The Cotton Gin was my time saver. It helped me pick the seeds out of the cotton.

I'm so thankful that Eli Whitney invented the Cotton Gin. Now that he invented it, I dont have to worry about my fingers bleeding eveyrday and hurting myself, trying to get my work done because I'm afraid of getting whipped by my owner. A lot of people in the south are using the cotton gin. Since us southerners are big on our cotton, the cotton gin helps us get more work done and getting it done faster.

The War of 1812!!!

It all started out after the revolutionary war. The nation hadn't yet reestablished a good govt just yet and we were struggling a bit. The govt wasn't the biggest problem we were having though. France and England were at war with each other and they were trying to pull us into the conflict. George Washington had said to not go into any major foreign affairs before we had established a good nation but we didn't listen to him.

The war between France and England had been on for quite a while and they were trying to pull us into it with their "Impressment". At first we tried to ignore what Brittan was doing to us, but we just couldn't. It was hurting American trade in Europe and we couldn't stand it. We tried an "Embargo" against the English goods, but all that did was hurt us much more than it hurt them. To make matters worse the British even provided arms for the Native Americans so that they could effectively fight against us.

Eventually we just couldn't take it anymore, and congress declared war on England,but it didn't start off too well. The English quickly took New Orleans, thus completely taking away the advantage of the Ohio River valley that we had fought so hard for in earlier wars. Not only that, but our navy only had 3 ships that could effectively fight against the English, while the English had quite a few under their command. With their massive Navy, they easily blockaded our major ports.

As for ground forces, it was practically America vs Canada. American forces at one point went up to Canada and took York, burning some of the major constructs. In retaliation, the Brittish came down and burned Washington. Another major battle was when Jackson went to New Orleans after the treaty was signed and killed the Brittish soldiers.

When the treaty of Ghent was actually signed, they didn't really address the major problems, it was actually more like an Armistice. They did however come back later and negotiate the problems.

Impressment - when the Brittish and French would capture American ships and force them into their navies
Embargo - when the Americans stopped trading with the Brittish.

The Indian Removal Act

I am a soldier in the US Army. I was one of the soldiers that were assigned to the removal of the Indians. I was there when the indians were dragged from thier homes and taken away, just to be crammed into wagons and hauled to the other side of the country. They were forced to leave all of the thier possesions and belongings behing. Just because the white men wanted more land. I was forced to watch them suffer as we travelled over the country. Many of them didnt have shoes to wear, or jackets to keep them warm. When they were finally dropped off out west, they had nothing left. Many of the indians died on this trip. They were not allowed to conduct popular barials and often the bodies were thrown on the side of the road. It was a shameful part of our history.