War, Peace, the Homefront, and Uncle Sam
I.
In our house when I was growing up, there were three WWI posters that my great aunt had saved in her attic. My father rescued and framed them, hanging the posters in the hallway at the top of the stairs. I walked past them on the way to my room which was at the end of this hallway. There was no way I could avoid Uncle Sam trying to recruit me every time I went up the stairs. He never budged, determined to enlist me before I could even read. I had the sense that he was measuring every ounce of my patriotism: I Want YOU for US Army, he called out, pointing and glaring straight at me as I made my way up the stairs. I always continued forward, nearing closer to that long, protruding finger as though responding to his beckoning, feigning my conscription, only to turn the corner to my room.
There is some speculation as to whether Uncle Sam was a real person. (Many historians point their fingers to Samuel Wilson, a meat packer from Troy, New York, who during the War of 1812 provided large supplies of meat to the US Army. Soldiers noticed that the crates of meat were marked with the letters "U.S." and it was then said that the meat was from "Uncle Sam" Wilson.) I knew he was real because Uncle Sam appeared before me in many forms. At night, if the hall lights were not on, Uncle Sam’s white stars would stand out, glowing softly. When I was sick the red YOU became demonic, hurting me if I looked at it for too long. In the late afternoon when the sun had drifted into the hallway and hit the walls in a slant, half of the poster would be cast in shadow, sometimes leaving Uncle Sam’s face concealed in darkness, yet his hand would be exposed, dangling in the sun. In the morning if it wasn’t overcast, if the light filtering inside the house was bright enough, I could see my reflection in the glass as I came up the stairs, my face on top of his.
II.
Uncle Sam has disappeared. He no longer urges civilians to enlist in the military. Today, Uncle Sam has been replaced with slick, sensational ads, often enhanced with computer graphics. At the end of these commercials, the slogan "Be all that you can be" is sung, the last "be" drawn out so it lingers in your head after the commercial break is over.
Tim O’Brien finds himself staring at his draft notice on June 17, 1968. He was confused and flustered. O’Brien does not know how or why he got selected for the draft. All he knew was that he was above the war itself, “A million things all at once—I was too good for this war. Too smart, too compassionate, to everything. It couldn’t happen” (41). He was also demented on the fact that he, a war hater, was being drafted. He felt if anyone were to be drafted it should be the people who supported the war. “If you support a war, if you think it’s worth the price, that’s fine, but you have to put your own precious fluids on the line” (42). His draft notice was when he first carried his thought of embarrassment. He instantly thought if he does not support the war he should not have to go to war. The only way not to go to war was to flee the country so the draft council could not find him. He had a moral split. “I feared the war, yes, but I also feared exile” (44). This quote is so true in young adults, not only then, but also now. Peer pressure, the thought of being embarrassed if we do not do something, pushes many young adults to do things they do not want to such as pushing Tim O’Brien to enter the draft. The thought of being judged ...
Although short, it is a diving board leading me to deeper source materials. The main argument of his book is that it wasn’t necessarily spies the won the war, but that American spies were better at their job than their British counterparts, allowing them to win. The book follows a simplistic outline going through each aspect in which the American spies were either more intelligent, better trained, or just plain luckier than the British agents of espionage. It then continues to explain the various techniques used by the spies. Most importantly, it gives the credit to George Washington as a “spymaster” who skillfully organized the entire operation due to his previous experiences dating as far back as the French and Indian War. Allen argues that without General Washington, the spies and rings would have never existed as we know them to have had
Since the beginning of the Market Revolution, the institution of slavery became the leading factor that intensified the relations between the North and the South. Regarding the geographic differences between the North and South, the South was primarily agrarian and the North was mainly urban. Therefore, the North rapidly industrialized while the South remained relatively rural and cotton-slave based. As a result, the Market Revolution economically separated the North and the South and created a second party system. Thus, the issues of pro-slavery and anti-slavery arose between the Southern Democrats and Northern Republicans in the 1850s. The North desired to halt the expansion of slavery into western territories while the South strongly opposed. These two opposing parties led to radical abolitionism in the North, William Henry Seward and John Brown, and extreme secessionism in the South, James Henry Hammond, and South Carolina Ordinance of Secession. Due to their strict ideologies regarding slavery, both parties could not compromise on the issue of the expansion of slavery. Therefore, according to Americans in the years prior to the Civil War, conflict was inevitable.
Christopher Columbus was a renaissance explorer in 1492. he was sent by queen Isabelle and king Ferdinand of Spain to look for a trade route to east Asia
In 1484, Christopher Columbus attempted to interest King John II of Portugal in his voyage to explore the West. His attempt was a fail, but that did not make him lose his hope. About eight years later he went to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, attempting his service in leading such an extraordinary voyage. After the death of the last Muslim Spain agreed to finance the voyage and named Columbus as the admiral and governor of any lands he should find. In 1492 Columbus received his approval; he started his voyage to explode the west on August 3, 1492. Columbus first landing was in the Bahamas, later he discovered the Northeast coast of Cuba, eastward to the islands of Hispaniola, which now is known as Haiti and Dominican Republic. When discovering the eastward islands of Hispaniola, Columbus lost his flagship name Santa Maria, one of his famous three shi...
Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy in 1451, who was the son of a wool merchant. As a teenager, Columbus first went out to sea participating in several trading expeditions around the Mediterranean and Aegean seas. For example, one specific expedition was to the “island of Khios, now known as modern day Greece, this expedition brought him the closest he would come to Asia or so they say. His first expedition into the Atlantic Ocean in 1476 was one that Columbus wouldn't forget, he was sailing with a commercial
Kennedy, C. Robert. “How To Escape The Draft.” New York Times: On This Day. accessed September 12, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0801.html.
Christopher Columbus, an Italian explorer for Spain, began his European exploration in 1492. During this journey, he discovered three voyages to the New World. This event was significant because it not only opened doors to a New World, but created more opportunities, trade and business wise. Christopher Columbus created vast experiences for those who followed behind him in exploring the New World.
Reynolds, Larry. “Patriot and Criminals, Criminal and Patriots.” South Central Review. Vol 9, No. 1.
Stiggins, R. J. (2006, November/December). Assessment for learning: A key to motivation and achievement. Edge, 2, 3-19.
William, D., & Thompson, M. (2007). Integrating assessment with instruction: What will it take to
Statistical local measures space-time clustering can be achieved using space-time scan statistic; while global space-time clustering is possible using algorithms like the Knox index, mantel test and space-time K-function.
Domestic violence is the act of being angry and taking the wrong actions about the anger. “Violence and neglect are a part of many families’ everyday lives” which should not be considered a normal thing. Physical neglect is just one portion of domestic violence. “Failure to provide food, medical care, or shelter” is described as physical neglect. “Abuse can be a whole range of physical behavior—slapping, hitting, beating, or using weapons to hurt someone. Abuse includes verbal and emotional abuse, where someone is constantly insulted [and beaten down] to feel sad and worthless.” This can also cause one to have mental issues, like depression. Is it worth it to hurt an innocent child of yours, or even someone else’s child? Domestic abuse “can also include rape and sexual abuse.” The mistreatment of children “takes many forms… that at times lead to death.” Many parents do not know how to correctly discipline their child and may accidentally abuse their child. “The purpose of discipline is to correct [the child’s] behavior” without harming them. An example would be, if one day two brothers were wrestling on the floor and one hits his head. He begins to cry, as he is the younger brother. The father runs into the room and sees what happened. The father lets his older son know it was wrong of him to be wrestling with his little brother and accidently hurt him, so he gave him a small spanking on the bottom to let him know not to do it again. It makes him cry as well, but he soon forgets about what happened. This is not child abuse, but simply discipline. If the father were to slap the child across the face, give him a bump, bruise or draw blood, that would be considered child abuse. “At the heart of the problem lies the question of...
Christopher Columbus, born in 1451, was the oldest son of Domenico Colombo. A controversial figure blamed for the eradication of the natives in the island he “discovered”, Columbus nonetheless should be credited with opening Europe’s eyes and ears to the Caribbean. Throughout his lifetime Columbus made 4 pilgrimages to the New World.
[Actually,] I had so many reasons for wanting to do this. The first was for money. The military was willing to train me, feed me, house me, and when I was back home give me cash for college, "up to" forty thousand dollars. At that time I thought that was an incredible deal. Where else in the world could I find an opportunity like this one? [Yet t]he price I would pay wouldn't be worth "up to" forty thousand. Another great reason for joining the Army was to get in shape. I had visions about this ultra lean and strong body I would get from running five miles a day. I was also looking forward to the overall experience of inner strength, confidence, and pride in my country. As much as I was excited about doing something different and brave, I was also full of fear.