5/28-5/29

Yesterday in history we went to the media lab and looked at American influence in Latin America and Haiti and wrote a couple paragraphs about either how the Haitians responded to the U.S Marines in their country or what Americans in Haiti thought of the Haitians.
Today in history we split up into groups and filled out a paper saying how the U.S acted as and imperial power and a good neighbor in various situations.

United States Intervention in Haiti

What do many Americans in Haiti think of  Haitians, and how do they treat them?

        As was typical with Americans, those living in Haiti thought that they were better than the Haitians. Throughout history, Americans have held themselves and European whites above all other races. Americans consistently have viewed themselves as more intelligent, more civilized, and more capable than other races. It was this way with Amerindians, whose country the white Americans had no trouble taking over and monopolizing, and with African Americans, who were kept in slavery for hundreds of years. When Americans came to Haiti, the natives were seen as unable to govern themselves, lazy, ignorant, and uneducated. Therefore, it was the United States' job to come in and set things straight. Americans did not make these ideas up on their own though, they were told these things by books and pamphlets filled with propaganda on the matter. They had heard lectures and read articles saying that Haitians were unable to advance their society and were slowly regressing to "barbarism". Thusly, before even going to Haiti, people had the wrong idea. They were going into a new society already with an idea of what things were like there. They were fed lies about Haiti and went there feeling better than and more relevant than the people there.
       Americans in Haiti were in general not very friendly with the Haitians, especially the U.S Marines. The Haitians hated and feared the Marines for their brutality. Marines killed innocent natives and some put notches on their rifles for everyone they killed. The Marines also used unnecessarily brutal police force against the Haitians, such as the one Marine who caught a boy stealing sugar and "battered his brains out" instead of arresting him. The U.S Marines were also known for raping Haitian women.

5/22-5/23

Yesterday in history we finished going over the rest of Roosevelt's Corollary speech and combined our information from the parts to get a retelling of it in our own words. Today in history we went to the computer lab to work on our Smithsonian badges.

5/20-5/21

Yesterday in history we talked about Theodore Roosevelt and the Panama Canal. We talked about how the canal land came into U.S hands after the U.S bought of the French and invited a revolution in Panama. Then we read a speech Roosevelt had given about the canal and discussed whether he was justified in his actions or not.

Today in history we sat in groups of four and read two different documents, picking out important words, summarizing it, and rewriting it in our own words.

5/16-5/17

On Thursday in history we wrote Yellow Journalism newspaper article titles for different events related to the Spanish-American War. On Friday, we voted on which title was the most appealing to us.

5/13-5/14

Yesterday and today in history we worked on our integrated projects and whatever other homework we had.

5/9-5/10

On Thursday in history we did a similar activity as we did on Wednesday, this time reading documents about the Native American tribe leader Crazy Horse. Mr. Boyle also read to us about another tribe leader who, unlike Red Cloud and Crazy Horse, surrendered to the whites because he knew there was no point in fighting.
Friday was a half-day and I was not in school.

5/7-5/8

Yesterday in history we did a fishbowl activity. The different groups people represented were the Cherokee Indians, Christian missionaries, the Judicial Branch, and my group the Executive Branch. We had Sam represent our group as President Andrew Jackson and he argued in favor of the Trail of Tears and relocating the Cherokee while we passed him notes on things to say.
Today in history we read two different documents about Red Cloud's fight to keep his tribe safe from the white people. We read a primary source document of a speech Red Cloud gave in New York and a secondary document.

5/2-5/3

Yesterday in history we read the poem "A White Man's Burden" about how the U.S should imperialize other nations. Then we split into groups of two and read poems about with the poor man's burden or the colored man's burden.
Today in class we went to the library and worked on earning our Smithsonian badges.

Oregon Trail Adventure

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/laurelwhite510/3307896