A gold rush leads to war
The American Civil War (1861-1865) and the Reconstruction period that followed were the bloodiest chapters of American history to date. Brother fought brother as the population was split along sectional lines. The issue of slavery divided the nation's people and the political parties that represented them in Washington. The tension which snapped the uneasy truce between north and south began building over slavery and statehood debates in California. In 1848, settlers discovered gold at Sutter's Mill, starting a mass migration. By 1849, California had enough citizens to apply for statehood. However, the debate over whether the large western state would or would not allow slavery delayed its admittance. Delegates from the south threatened to secede if California was admitted as a free state. Meanwhile, tempers also flared in New Mexico and Texas over border disputes, and abolitionists fought pro-slavery advocates over the issue of slave trading within the District of Columbia. Southern political leaders, mostly Democrats, proposed a convention in Nashville to discuss secession. In 1850, Henry Clay proposed the Compromise of 1850 to Congress. The Compromise contained the following provisions: California would enter the union as free state. New Mexico territory would be divided into New Mexico and Utah, and offered popular sovereignty. Texas must yield disputed territory to New Mexico in return for federal assumption of its state debt. Trading, but not possession, of slaves would be banned from the District of Columbia. Fugitive slave laws would be enhanced. Zachary Taylor, who was president at the time, was prepared to veto the bills, but died suddenly. His successor, Millard Fillmore, allowed the provisions to pass one at a time with the help of Stephen Douglas. The Nashville Convention met soon afterwards and denounced the plan, but took no decisive action. This uneasy truce would last for only four years. In 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act makes further compromise practically impossible. It granted popular sovereignty to both states, in the hopes that they would split on the slavery issue and continue the shaky equality between slave and free states. Nebraska quickly adopted an free-soil constitution and was admitted as a free state. Kansas, however, was badly split along sectional lines, and opposing political forces ratified both a free and a slave constitution in 1855. Riots broke out everywhere, and "Bleeding Kansas" fell into chaos. John Brown, an infamous and rebellious abolitionist, killed five pro-slavery activists in 1856 in retaliation for the murder of five abolitionists.
After the end of WW2, two major governmental institutions, the USA and the USSR, with conflicting political ideologies and agendas, set forth to dominate each other in international politics. This period of time, also known as the Cold War, initiated an era of crazed hysteria in the United States as these two governments frequently clashed and bitterly fought. As a result, the frightened public grew delirious as the world grew dangerously close to a calamitous nuclear war, which ultimately prompted the Eisenhower administration to hinder the spread of communism and encourage the U.S. population to rapidly pursue higher education for the future welfare of this nation.
Bang, I think hear a hurricane! According to “weatherwizkids.com”,, “a hurricane is an enormous storm! It can be up to 600 miles across and have strong winds spiraling inward and upward at speeds of 75 to 200 mph. Each hurricane usually lasts for over a week, moving 10-20 miles per hour over the open ocean Hurricanes gather heat and energy through contact with warm ocean waters” (Weather Wiz). Scientists can usually predict a hurricane 's path 3-5 days in advance. However President Bush did warn the citizens of New Orleans about the disaster that was heading in their direction. Did you know, “Hurricane Katrina was the fifth hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, also a costliest natural disaster, and the dead...
By 1820 differences between the North and South grew eminent. The majority of the northern states were rapidly industrializing and anti-slavery. The opposite was true for most Southern states, which were pro-slavery and had more agriculture and plantations than factories and industry. Between 1820 and 1861 many compromises were introduced to America in order to reduce sectional tensions between the North and South. Compromises such as the Missouri Compromise, the Compromise of 1850, and the Kansas-Nebraska act of 1854 were ineffective in diffusing sectional tensions leading up to the Civil War.
What do you think of when you hear the term “Gold Rush”? The 1849 gold rush in California?
The Gold Rush in California was simmering down and the area’s population had grown immensely. This influx of population led to California’s application for statehood. But California being admitted into the union would severely unbalance congress. And the south realized that California, New Mexico, Oregon, and Utah were all territories becoming states and none were willing to lend themselves to slavery. Debate over these territories raged on in congress until 1850 when a compromise was proposed by Henry Clay. The compromise passed by Senator Stephen A. Douglas, allowed California to be admitted as a free state and abolished the slave trade in the District of Columbia. As a concession to the south, congress also passed the Fugitive Slave Law and gave the New Mexico Territory the ability to determine their status on slavery. Through the compromise of 1850, America was able to temporarily solve the divisive issues taking place.
Other states also struggled with the issue of slavery in the West. California and the territories of New Mexico, Utah, Kansas, and Nebraska all were under dispute of being admitted as free or slave states. These areas were above the line separating free and slave states, so according to the Missouri Compromise, they should be admitted as free states. However, with the nullification of the Missouri Compromise as a result of the Dred Scott case, the territories did not need to be admitted as free states. Settlers of these territories were conflicted in their views on slavery and whether enslavement of blacks should be permitted in the area. California was eventually admitted as a free state and the territories of New Mexico, Utah, Kansas, and Nebraska would decide on slavery by popular sovereignty.
There have been many discoveries that have shaped our nation as a whole. Discoveries have allowed our country to thrive and become one of the most powerful nations in the world. When we look back at our nation's rich history, it is clear to see that there was one discovery in particular that had a vast impact on the United States; the discovery was gold in California. It was in this vastly unoccupied territory that the American dream was forever changed and California emerged as a powerful state busting at the seams. The California Gold Rush shaped California into the state that it is today. California is defined by its promise of entrepreneurial success and its acceptance and encouragement of obtaining the American Dream.
In his book Cold War: The American Crusade against World Communism, James Warren discusses the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union, its causes, its consequences, and its future. Warren also analyzes why the United States was so afraid of communism and how this fear controlled both U.S. domestic and foreign policy. In George Washington’s Farewell Address, he warned future leaders to avoid foreign entanglements. However, the United States strayed away from this policy in 1941 after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. From then on, the United States realized that with its great power came great responsibility. The U.S. felt the responsibility to develop a strategy to combat the spread of world communism, which was viewed as the “Red menace.” The U.S. believed that communism would spread from the Soviet Union, across all of Europe; the U.S. understood that the spread of communism would not be very difficult because the destruction caused by World War II left many nations vulnerable to communism. Also, the Soviet Union had a highly-trained army, a ruthless leader, and a nation committed to Marxist-Leninism, which was a belief that human progress is the destruction of Western democracy and capitalism. The Cold War was a military, diplomatic, economic, and scientific struggle between the Soviet Union and the United States. The rivalry between these two nations also affected places such as Korea, Ethiopia, Nicaragua, Malaya, and Vietnam. The Cold War controlled many of the crises that occurred the last half of the 20th century. The major conflict of course was the threat of nuclear weapons. Thomas Larson wrote that “the vulnerability to weapons that could destroy entire countries...heightened fears and antagonisms and made th...
"Gold! Gold! Gold from the American River!" said Samuel Brannan, as he ran through the streets of San Francisco waving a bottle of gold dust in the air that he purchased from John Sutter’s Fort. The encounter of gold nuggets in the Sacramento Valley in early 1848 triggered one of the most crucial occurrences to influence American history during the beginning of the 19th century, the Gold Rush. The Gold Rush of 1849 (1848–1855), also known as the California Gold Rush, was one of the most captivating happenings during westward expansion. The Gold Rush of 1849 is also a fundamental event that not only impacted California but the United States as a whole and individuals from throughout the world. Thus, despite laborious toilers and their small chance to improve their lifestyle, California is defined by its promise of industrial success and its acceptance and inspiration of obtaining the American Dream.
According to “weatherwizkids.com”, “A hurricane is an enormous storm! It can be up to 600 miles across and have strong winds spiraling inward and upward at speeds of 75 to 200 mph. Each hurricane usually lasts for over a week, moving 10-20 miles per hour over the open ocean Hurricanes gather heat and energy through contact with warm ocean waters” (Weather Wiz). Scientists can usually predict a hurricane 's path 3-5 days in advance. Why didn’t President Bush warn the citizens of New Orleans about the disaster that was heading in their direction? Hurricane Katrina was the fifth hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the costliest natural disaster, and the deadliest hurricane in the history of the United States. The final death toll was at 1,833, primarily from Louisiana (1,577) and Mississippi (266). More than half of these victims were senior citizens. Millions of citizens were left homeless along the Gulf Coast and in New Orleans. Katrina was the most catastrophic storm to strike the United States and the costliest storm in U.S. history, causing $108 billion in damage. Who is to blame for the mass destruction of the city of New
Milkman’s name is bestowed upon the child due to him still being breastfed at an older age. The child grows up a spoiled and egotistical man. The author sets up our expectations of Milkman by introducing him feeding off of what others produce. He has no empathy for other characters, women especially. This is further seen with his relationship with Hagar, another woman whom he just takes from without ever giving back. His mother wants him to go to medical school, Hagar wants marriage, but Milkman only wants to use these women to his advantage. Hagar becomes a sex object while his mother is simply present. Playing into this sexism he is becoming more and more like the man he wishes to separate himself from, his father. Milkman chooses not to
During the 1850’s, disputes over whether a newly admitted state would be a free or slave territory and the procedure of doing so had risen to dangerous levels, namely because the Constitution did not proclaim anything on slavery until later on. Previously, when the United States annexed a new state, northern and southern leaders had to maintain the sectional balance to avoid upsetting the equally distributed regional power. When California, New Mexico, and Utah applied to be admitted as states in 1849, the perplexity of preserving equilibrium baffled the government and its people. According to southerners and those who were pro-slavery, the Constitution had, in fact, recognized slavery. Since Southern men had aided in the acquirement of the new lands, they also believed ...
Confucianism is a philosophy and way of life formed in China by Confucius, an early Chinese philosopher. It began as a simple concept with ideals of personal virtue, simple filial piety, and basic gender distinctions and social inequalities. But, over time with the emergence of Neo-Confucianism it began to transform into a way of life that was degrading towards women with certain hostilities towards rivaling religions. In its early period, from around 500 B.C.E to the Common Era, Confucianism changed in that it became the leading belief system and a major part of Chinese tradition. From the transition into the Common Era to the end of the Classical time period, Confucianism was altered because of a loss of popularity following the collapse of the Han dynasty and the corruption in the governing political system. In its ending period, the post-classical era, Confucianism underwent perhaps its biggest adjustments with the emergence of Neo-Confucianism. The ideas and virtues presented in the “rebirth of Confucian philosophies” of intolerance of foreign religions and extreme filial piety...
Many scientists have accepted that people’s genetic makeup shape both their physical and mental capabilities. Thus, their characteristics such as eye color and hair color are mainly determined by specific genes which are nested in each human cell. Moreover, the nature theory conceptualizes on traits such as intelligence, aggression; personality and sexual orientation are also embedded in a person’s DNA.
It began in the 1945-1948 timeframe and ended in 1989, having been a dispute over the division of Europe. By another account, the Cold War began in 1917 with the Bolshevik Revolution, and ended in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union, having been a conflict between Bolshevism and Democracy. The Cold war got its name because both sides were afraid of fighting each other in such a “hot war”, nuclear weapons might destroy everything. So, instead they fought each other indirectly. They played havoc with conflicts in different parts of the world. They used words as weapons. They threatened and denounced each other, or the two countries tried to make each other look foolish.