Andrew Jackson

The essential question for this week was "Is Andrew Jackson's long-standing reputation as a "the people's president" deserved? Why? Why not?" I believe that it was deserved. Jackson was set on pleasing everyone. He wanted the poor and the rich to be equal. Jackson thought that the bank had too much power so he tried to even it out with the Bank War. Also he came up with her spoils system, that is when a political party gives government jobs to voters / supporters after an election victory. Also called rotation in office. Some people didn't like this approach so Jackson sent s letter. Jackson's letter to congress was basically saying there is nothing wrong with change and just because someone's been doing a job for very long doesn't mean you have to keep them at that job, you need to shake things up.

This is a message from Andrew Jackson to Congress. Jackson is saying that it is wrong to remove the Indians because it was their land first. He thinks that they should move voluntarily not by force. He wants to have a designated area for each tribe to use in anyway they want. Jackson is a people person from the point of view of the Indians they probably like him because he isn't persuading them or forcing them in anyway to leave their home.

Congress of Vienna

This week the essential question was "What should people in power do when their power is threatened?" In class we learned about the members of the congress. We learned about the motives and decisions of each person. Kelmens Von Metternich of Austria was the host of the Congress. Napoleon wanted peace with Metternich because he lost all his troops in Russia. Metternich agreed on having peace between them. There was just one catch, Napoleon had to give up his conquest and return to the original boundaries of France. Napoleon refused. He even threatened to destroy Vienna if Austria   Started a war against France. And when he escaped exile he kept to his word. So he continued his conquest until his final defeat on June 8, 1815 at the battle of Waterloo. In class we pretended to be the people of the congress and made decisions about how we would handle things. We were given many options and we were trusted to choose the option we would have carried out if we were in charge. Then we had to explain our reasoning as to why we picked that one. After the class guessed and explained he found out which really took place during the real Congress of Vieena.

Another key concept was The Holy Alliance was initiated by Czar Alexander of Russia. During this time Monarchs had divine right of rule. Also they believed that any revoution was treason and was taken as you fighting against God. All countries involved with Congress of Vienns participated but the only one that didn't was England. During this they ensured everyone that the next ruler of France would not be "another Napoleon." Also that they would not be able to access that much power like Napoleon. 

The Congress of Vienna in the end did do the right thing by everyone. They helped everyone rebalance and calm back down after the chaos of Napoleon. The representatives of the congress did a good job at separating their personal feeling toward what they were doing and just got things done. 

Social Reform: Public Education

This letter is written by Horace Mann. Horace Mann was know as the "father of public education" because he was just that. He was the man who made it possible for not only wealthy children but poor children to get an education for free. Horace wrote this letter to the Massachusetts legislature to get the point across hat all children should be born with the right to an education. This source is trustworthy because I read about the website and they are well recommended and reliable. Also it is from 1846 and Mann was alive during that time so it is believable that he wrote this. During the time in which Mann wrote this not a lot of children were being educated, just the wealthy ones. So, he felt the need to make it so all children could have education no matter their economic state. The document taught me that Mann was dead set on getting an education for everyone that wanted one and that he would stop at nothing even if he had to do it all on his own. This letter only gives you Mann's perspective on the event. As support to Mann's opinions he states that "Massachusetts is parental in their government." Mann's letter to the legislator is meant to open up the eyes of the government to what is going on with the future of the world.   

URL Link: http://unveilinghistory.org/wp-content/lessons/2013/donohue/B_document-set.pdf

Citation: "Horace Mann, 1846 to the Massachusetts Legislator." Letter to Massachusetts Legislator. 1846. MS. N.p.