Yo!

C.A.'s dad here.  I have been invited to post here so.

  POST!

Representative Ryan's Plan

I just went over what Representative Paul Ryan is planning to propose for the 2012 budget. I think it is great. It starts to reform: medicare, medicaid, taxes, social security, and get rid of $3 trillion dollars.  Don't take my word for it, as I would imagine no one ever does seeing as I'm just 18, see his website about it for yourself. I think it is a pretty good way to start heading in the right direction.

http://www.roadmap.republicans.budget.house.gov/

Progressive Era Essay

We recently learned about the progressive era in AP History and it was interesting to see that it wasn't just government reforming things it was private people, who were classified as progressives. What confuses me with the progressive era is when it was right for what reforms (i.e. Woman's Right to Vote) and when it was destructive reform such as in Government (i.e. Teddy Roosevelt's Square Deal)? I can tell with major reforms (such as the ones previously mentioned) if it was good or not but others, such as meatpacking plant reforms which involved creating bureaucracies,  are sometimes a gray area for me to figure out if it was right or wrong. Anyway here is the essay I wrote.  The question was something like, What and Who were the major reforms that benefited a majority of Americans during the progressive era:

The Progressive Era: A Period of Reform

            The early years of the Twentieth Century brought with them major social changes and reforms.  These changes took time and many hours to implement in order to produce beneficial results.  Men and women of the Progressive Era such as Jane Adams, Upton Sinclair, and Theodore Roosevelt all contributed to this large reform movement in their various ways.  Social critics, women's advancement reformers, and even two of our first presidents in the nineteen hundreds contributed to the reforms and changes which define the Progressive Era.

            "Muck-rakers", as they were called by Theodore Roosevelt, were some of the first to push for reform in society.  (Document G) These social critics which including Upton Sinclair, Lincoln Steffens, Jacob Riis, and Ida Tarbell were essential in bringing about social reform through their propaganda and journalism known as "muckraking".  In McClure's Magazine an editorial was written in 1904 which called for reform because of a "city employing criminals to commit crimes for the profit of the elected officials" (Document A) Reforms against machine politics in cities helped society become less oppressed at the hands of machine politicians.  Lincoln Steffens also wrote of the grievances of the political machine when he said that "the [political] machine controls the whole process of voting, and practices fraud at every stage..." (Document B).  His book, The Shame of Cities, pointed out the criminal and unethical acts of machine politicians in order to spark reform towards benefitting a majority of Americans.

            Social Critics also pointed out workplace issues that needed reform.  A man by the name of Upton Sinclair became critical in the push for better workplace regulations.  In his book, The Jungle, Sinclair pointed out the horrible conditions and many disturbing images specifically about meat processing plants.  Sinclair noted that beef often came from "old and crippled and diseased cattle...[who] had become what the men called "steerly"- which means covered in boils." (Document D) The Jungle, and its description of meat processing plants helped enact the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act.  These acts created better conditions for both the majority of food service workers and consumers in America.

            Another important aspect of the Progressive Era was that of women's suffrage and the idea of the Settlement House. The generation of women at the beginning of the twentieth century were some of the first to attend college.  However, there was not much a woman with a college degree could do professionally.  So, in order to help women advance in working options, Jane Adams began the Settlement Houses in Chicago.  With the help of Florence Kelly, Jane Adams assembled women to work in Settlement houses were they provided relief for the poor, taught personal hygiene, and essentially became America's first social workers.  The Settlement House Movement not only helped many women, but many poor people were aided as well.

            Shortly into the nineteen hundreds the movement for a women's right to vote picked up speed and momentum as women such as Jane Adams, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony realized the need for reform in society and the possibility of creating reform through voting.  It was portrayed in one poster in nineteen-fifteen that by giving women the right to vote a person would "give [their] children equal rights." (Document J)  Jane Adams contended that America's "electorate should be made up of those who bear a valiant part in...[caring]  for children." (Document E). When Women's suffrage was granted by the Nineteenth Amendment, woman benefited by being allowed to have their voice heard.  Also, much of future social reform relied on women voter's support.

            Many progressive reforms were enacted and pushed by United States Presidents.  In the Progressive Party Platform of 1912 the idea that America's "resources, it's business, its institutions, and its laws should be utilized, maintained, or altered in whatever manner will best promote the general interest" was established (Document F).  When the founder of the Progressive Party, Theodore Roosevelt, was president he pushed for and helped achieve legislation that altered business and the countries resources.  This was known as the Square Deal and through it Roosevelt became "the trustbuster" of many large corporations that he felt were taking away competition, thus destroying common interest (Document C). Woodrow Wilson, another progressive president, clarified Theodore Roosevelt's trust-busting policy by adding that he "had been dreading all along the time when the combined power of high finance would be greater than the power of the government." (Document H).  To progressives like Roosevelt and Wilson, government could and should enact reform that would benefit American society.

            Politics also became reformed through Theodore Roosevelt.  When Roosevelt established the Progressive Party he did so because he felt that "[o]ld  He felt that his Progressive Republicanism would "uphold the interests of popular government against a foolish and ill judged mock-radicalism." (Document I).  Thus, Roosevelt used government to help get rid of corruption and reform politics as well as large corporations.

            The Progressive Era was a period of reform.  Both politician and journalist, women and men, were involved in producing change that benefited many Americans in their cities, factories, and working environments.  Our way of life as Americans today has been greatly affected by the reformers of the Progressive Era.    

Envy: A Good Thing

     

 "...[I]n the hands of someone who beleives in themselves, envy can also be one of life's greatest motivators.  Jealous of the guy who's dating the girl you like?  You're motivated to lose those last ten pounds.  Jealous of your co-worker who makes more money? You're motivated to work harder and longer.  Jealous of your teammate who hits more home runs?  You're motivated to get stronger and spend more time at practice.  A distinction has to be made, however, between envy and another one of the deadly sins: greed.  Envy for the sake of simply accumulating more stuff is not what this country is all about. But envy for the sake of the reward it brings, for the chance to reap the fruits of your own labor and ideas, is exactly what this country is about."   -Glenn Beck, Broke: The Plan to Restore Our Trust, Truth and Treasure

Of Studies by Francis Bacon

We read this today in English.  After I figured out what it means, I really liked it.

OF STUDIES by Francis Bacon

      STUDIES serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. Their chief use for delight, is in privateness and retiring; for ornament, is in discourse; and for ability, is in the judgment, and disposition of business. For expert men can execute, and perhaps judge of particulars, one by one; but the general counsels, and the plots and marshalling of affairs, come best, from those that are learned. To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament, is affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules, is the humor of a scholar. They perfect nature, and are perfected by experience: for natural abilities are like natural plants, that need proyning, by study; and studies themselves, do give forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience. Crafty men contemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them; for they teach not their own use; but that is a wisdom without them, and above them, won by observation. Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention. Some books also may be read by deputy, and extracts made of them by others; but that would be only in the less important arguments, and the meaner sort of books, else distilled books are like common distilled waters, flashy things. Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man. And therefore, if a man write little, he had need have a great memory; if he confer little, he had need have a present wit: and if he read little, he had need have much cunning, to seem to know, that he doth not. Histories make men wise; poets witty; the mathematics subtile; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logic and rhetoric able to contend. Abeunt studia in mores. Nay, there is no stond or impediment in the wit, but may be wrought out by fit studies; like as diseases of the body, may have appropriate exercises. Bowling is good for the stone and reins; shooting for the lungs and breast; gentle walking for the stomach; riding for the head; and the like. So if a man’s wit be wandering, let him study the mathematics; for in demonstrations, if his wit be called away never so little, he must begin again. If his wit be not apt to distinguish or find differences, let him study the Schoolmen; for they are cymini sectores. If he be not apt to beat over matters, and to call up one thing to prove and illustrate another, let him study 197 the lawyers’ cases. So every defect of the mind, may have a special receipt.

Social Security and Immigration-The Lincoln Plan

       Here are some suggestions of mine (with some input from my dad especially with Immigration) on how to solve a couple of America's biggest problems:

Social Security

       This program created by one of our most progressive presidents, FDR, is likely to be the biggest wormhole for our economy.  What I think the U. S. should do to solve Social Security is this.  First, go to a plan, similar to the one proposed by George W. Bush, were Social Security starts being payed into your own personal government account.  This would last for about ten years and part of the social security would still go to the elderly so as not to completely cut them off immediately.  Second, all money taken out of Social Security would go to your own government account for you.  This would go on for another ten years. Third, less and less money would be taken out of income for Social Security and people would be encouraged (not required or forced) to put money into their own private retirement fund. This process would last for about five years.  Last of all, the whole Social Security program will be taken away and people will have to save for their own retirement.  In the end people might not save for retirement, but that is their choice, to work the rest of their lives.  Although it would take years, my idea would get rid of Social Security in a gradual way, rather than completely dropping it altogether.

Immigration

      My plan for immigration would be as follows.  First of all, make the process of obtaining citizenship easier.  Make the cost of citizenship minimal and give no excuse for illegals to say it's too hard to come legally.  On the other hand, tighten border security to maximum capacity. Allow law enforcement to use force to stop illegals from crossing the border.  It sounds almost inhuman, but after a few examples, illegals will be more willing to come legally.  Last of all, increase the penalty for hiring an illegal immigrant to a detrimental height, such as 20,000 per illegal immigrant.  Without a job what would illegals want to come to the U. S. illegally for?


      Well these are just some of my opinions on how to deal with immigration and Social Security.  And as always things sound so good on paper, but a lot of times never really work well.

English Creative Writing Story

Here is a story I wrote for English.  My teacher had us use a story to fulfil the researce benchmark for our state.  Hopefully you'll enjoy:

From Potato Field to Battle Field

The story of the human race is war (Churchill, 102). And now the story of my life had become war, war, and more war. Every single day since January 6th 1942 had been hell, pure hell on earth. Today was no exception.

Driving through the jungles of Okinawa in my Sherman tank was like driving a tin can through an oven. Battles were even worse because of the heat coming from my tank’s 75 mm gun as it fired off rounds at Japanese bunkers (Hickman). Today we were trying to destroy a ring of bunkers, but to get into firing range we had to cross an open area that had been clear-cut by artillery. I could hardly hear my commander over the noise of battle, so I relied heavily on his feet taping my shoulders for direction. Tap left, two taps—stop, three taps—go, tap right and the tank continued on at 24 miles per hour with machine guns blaring all the way (Hickman). Bang, one shell into the hillside…a minute later another. All were sounds I had heard before. Screams of horror and pain rang out all over the place, but no one cared. Along with the ping of bullets ringing in my head, I had become numb when it came to that horrible sound of human screaming.

My commander tapped my shoulder to stop, so I obeyed. My fellow tank crew members began to unload shells and machine gun bullets at one of the Jap bunkers. When we typically stopped all I did was wait until I felt the tap of the commander’s foot and then I would drive on. Waiting there with nothing to do was torture. Deaf as I was from the canons, I could still hear screams of men dying all around my tank.

Oftentimes I would think back on my life before I was sent to this hell they call war. Now, as I sat in the driver’s seat of my Sherman I recalled the life I had before this one. I could remember the summer days in Idaho picking potatoes and sugar beets. At the time I had hated those days, but now I looked back on them with fondness. There was no shooting, dying, or screaming. There were only those potatoes and beets. Potatoes and beets, boy, did that sound good. Of course while in high school I wouldn’t have wanted to ever see another potato again, but here in the jungle canned food was the only thing to be had. A nice hot potato, it was almost too much to bear, sitting here in this hellish place.

Three taps. I awoke from my dream and faced reality, as I pushed the Sherman closer to the enemy entrenchments. Now it would really get ugly. Our tanks and men were now within one thousand yards of the bunkers.

We had been firing at one particular bunker for the past half hour and it appeared invincible. The fire coming out of that Japanese stronghold was mind blowing. I swiveled my periscope over just as the tank on our left flank was covered with dirt and smoke from a near miss. The explosion caused a tower of debris to shoot up above the tank, perhaps seventy-five feet in the air (Dick, 149). I didn’t receive the order, but I immediately backed up as I saw the closeness of the shells.

Not three minutes had passed before I saw a Japanese shell land right in the place where I had just parked the tank. We could have been dead men. I was not going to be in trouble with the commander for driving without his orders, rather he would most likely thank me for moving. I had just saved the lives of myself and my fellow crew-members. It was time to head back to a safer area for some rest.



In my tent back at camp, after I had eaten a can of beans from my K-rations, I wrote one of my usual daily letters to my younger brother:

Dear Robert,


Today, was hot. Real hot. Regarding your question as to whether you should join the army when you graduate, I will now answer.


First I want you know that this is no bed of Roses. The signs you see may sound and read good but they are nothing like the army. The minute you sign your name to that piece of paper you are no longer your own boss. Anytime someone of a higher rank tells you to do something you have got to do it no matter how it hurts you. So gets on your nerve and sometimes you get so mad that you could knock them all down and give up and quit but you know it won’t do you any good because they can court martial you and if they want then can send you to prison for the rest of your life (A. Sorenson). If at all possible don’t join the military. It controls your life and if you saw half the stuff I see here you would understand.


Anyway, I hope life at home is going well. I wish I could be there just for one meal to taste mothers baked chicken, but I’m here on this mass grave they call an island instead. Write soon.


Your Brother,


Raymond

After finishing my letter I went into my usual restless sleep just waiting to hear the sound of a Japanese night attack. Luckily the night it never came and I made it through to fight another day.

Today our mission was different. Convoy duty. My tank was to be the lead tank of a convoy of fifteen supply trucks. This was stressful driving. As the lead escort, orders were to never stop until reaching the destination. Twenty miles through a mountain pass just to take some Marines a few letters and some smokes? It didn’t make sense to me, but then again I wasn’t the smartest man. Heck, I joined this army voluntarily. How smart was that?

As I drove along the mountain rode I looked for any sign of a Japanese ambush. Then I saw it. There was a large wooden spool blocking the road. I had two options run it over and go on or stop and have some men move it. Since orders were to stop for nothing I figured I’d run it over and continue leading the convoy.

As I drove the tank closer to the spool I began to feel a little nervous. Was this a Japanese trap? I guess I would find out.

About three feet away from the spool I heard an explosion right underneath the tracks of my tank. It was an ambush! The Sherman immediately halted as its tracks were disabled. Then came the unnerving scream of Japanese soldiers, most likely drunk with false courage. This would end up being a fight for survival.

As we couldn’t go on because the tank wouldn’t move, the commander ordered us out to fight before a Japanese soldier had the opportunity to open the hatch and toss down a grenade. I grabbed my .45 ACP M3 submachine gun and took of out the hatch (Military Factory). This type of fighting was the most unnerving. The first thing I saw when I jumped out of the tank was about fifteen Japanese soldiers attacking my tank crew. The commander was in hand to hand combat with one of the soldiers and he ended up winning by stabbing him in the chest with his knife. I lifted the submachine gun and began firing at a rate of 350 rounds per minute at the remaining Japanese soldiers (Military Factory). One went down, shot through the heart, another wounded in the leg.

The gunner caught a Japanese bayonet to the right of me and without hesitation I shot his attacker. Killing was no big deal when it meant survival. I no longer thought of the Japanese as humans, but mere animals. It made killing them a little easier to do. Deaths were happening so often now that it was impossible to muster much emotion (Hughes, 3).

I continued fighting. The Japanese wouldn’t surrender. Death was all over the place. I turned and shot another Japanese soldier as he ran at me with a knife. Did they ever stop coming? I spun around and noticed a Jap climbing the tank. He began opening the hatch and in his hand I noticed a grenade. If he got into the tank to its 400 hp Continental R 975-C1 engine and blew it up, that would be the end of the Sherman and there would be no way out of the mountains but to walk fifteen miles through enemy held jungle (Hickman). I needed that tank. Tracks could be put back on, but repair a blown up engine? It wouldn’t happen. I needed to stop that Jap. I fired a shot hitting him in the shoulder. He winced in pain, but continued to raise the hatch. I jumped up onto the turret and went after him pulling out my knife. He was inside already and as I jumped down into the Sherman I felt the scream of a bullet fly past my ear. This was battle.

The Jap swung at me with a fist, but I quickly dodged the blow. Then it was my turn. I punched him right in the stomach. He bent over in pain. It was just enough time to kill him with my knife.

As he died he pulled the pin of the grenade in his hand. I quickly grabbed it and through it out the hatch, but it was almost too late. It blew up five feet in the air knocking me unconscious.



I awoke in a medical tent with a strange feeling in my head. I was alive with only a large chunk of flesh missing from my arm. I could feel the wound under its bandages. I looked around the tent and noticed a few other people were there. My commander lay in the cot next to me and I noticed he had lost an arm. He was headed home. We had survived.

Today, I was lucky to get away with what I did, only a large hole in my arm. Others were not so lucky. I had made it and I hoped I could just hold on in this hellish war until I was shipped home to Idaho for a nice home cooked meal.

Works Cited

Churchill, Winston, and James C. Humes. The Wit & Wisdom of Winston Churchill: a Treasury of More than 1,000 Quotations and Anecdotes. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. Print.

Dick, Robert C. Cutthroats: the Adventures of a Sherman Tank Driver in the Pacific. New York: Presidio / Ballentine, 2006. Print.

Hickman, Kennedy. "M4 Sherman - World War II M4 Sherman Tank." Military History - Warfare through the Ages - Battles and Conflicts - Weapons of War - Military Leaders in History. Web. 10 Nov. 2010. <http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/vehiclesarmor/p/M4Sherman.htm>.

Hughes, Dean. Since You Went Away. Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 2005. Print.

Sorenson, Alfred. Personal Letter. 28 November 1942

Writer, Staff. "M3A1 (Grease Gun) - Submachine Gun - History, Specs and Pictures - Military, Security, Civilian, Law Enforcement and Sporting Small Arms, Weapons and Equipment." Military Factory - Military Weapons: Cataloging Aircraft, Tanks, Vehicles, Artillery, Ships and Guns through History. Web. 10 Nov. 2010. <http://militaryfactory.com/smallarms/detail.asp?smallarms_id=65> .

Question with Boldness

"Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion.  Question with boldness even the existence of a God;  because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear." -Thomas Jefferson to nephew Peter Carr

This is one of the coolest quotes I have ever read.  "Question with boldness"--in this instance Jefferson applied it to knowing if there is a God.  I have thought about it many times as I go to school and read the news.  I hope that, unlike many people, I will always question everything and not just take other people's word for it.  Whenever a historic statement is made I do my best to go to the source and find out for myself what was said.  With religion I try to do the same thing and find it in the scriptures. (It makes a lot of people made when so many questions are asked, but it is essential for knowing things for yourself.) It would be great if more people in this world would "Question with boldness".  

Gunning Bedford Jr.-Signer of the Constitution

Gunning Bedford Jr., a descendant of the first settlers of Jamestown, was born in the year 1747 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and he died on March 30, 1812 in Wilmington, Delaware.  Not much is known about Bedford, but he was still a key player in the forming of the Constitution and the United States.

Bedford attended the College of New Jersey (which is now known as Princeton), graduating in 1771.  While at the college, he became acquainted with the most key figure in forming of the Constitution, James Madison.  They were classmates as well as roommates in New Jersey.

After graduating from college, Bedford studied law under Joseph Read.  In the later years of the Revolution, he started a law practice in Dover, Delaware.  He also began his political participation as a representative to the Continental Congress between the years of 1783 and 1785.  Bedford also served as the Delaware state Attorney General from 1774-1789.  As one of Delaware's great statesman, he was selected to attend the Annapolis Convention which led to the Constitutional Convention.  He, like many other delegates, did not end up making it to Annapolis.

At the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Bedford was a strong advocate of the small states.  He was concerned that small states, such as Delaware, would be pushed around by the larger states.  As a delegate from Delaware, he was instructed to stick with the New Jersey Plan.  He ended up helping hammer out the Great Compromise between the large state plans and the small state plans as he sat on the Committee which drafted the compromise.  William Pierce wrote that Gunning Bedford was, "Bold...[with] a very commanding and striking manner [but] warm and impetuous in his temper and precipitate in his judgement".

 Bedford was a key figure, along with John Dickinson and William Basset, in getting Delaware to be the first state to ratify the Constitution.  Without the help of Gunning Bedford Jr., the United States would not be the great nation it was formed to be.

Thomas Jefferson the Christian

Was Thomas Jefferson a deist? Many historians today would say that, yes our third President and writer of the Declaration of Independence was a deist. Perhaps one of our most well known founding fathers, Jefferson was a man of great talent ranging from the creation of new farming techniques to various inventions, and most notably, his talent as a statesman. Among this man’s talents was not that of being a deist. Through his own words, Thomas Jefferson made it quite clear that he was not a deist. By his words, one can find for themselves the falsie to the claims made by many historians concerning Jefferson’s beliefs.
First, of all what is this belief Jefferson is claimed to be a part of? What is deism and what is a deist? Well, here are the following definitions to aid in understanding this belief:

1. Deism: n. [Fr. Deisme; Sp. Deismo; It. Id.; from L. dues, [God]. The doctrine or creed of a Deist; the belief or system of religious opinions of those who acknowledge the existence of one God, but deny revelation: or deism is the belief in natural religion only, or those truths, in doctrine and practice, which man is to discover by the light of reason, independent and exclusive of any revelation from God. Hence deism implies infidelity or a disbelief in the divine origin of the scriptures.

2. Deist: n. [Fr. Deiste, It. Deista.] One who believes in the existence of a God, but denies revealed religion; one who professes no form of religion, but follows the light of nature and reason, as his only guides in doctrine and practice; a free thinker. (1)

It is not extremely hard to make Thomas Jefferson a deist, because frankly he fits parts of the above definitions. Jefferson was indeed “[o]ne who believed in the existence of a God”, “one who profess[ed] no form of religion”, and he was a “free thinker” (1). Still, Jefferson was not a deist because of the fact that while deists believed that God created the earth and left it to natural laws without any intervention, thus also disclaiming the divinity of Jesus Christ as God’s son and discrediting God’s intervention, through the Atonement of his son, Thomas Jefferson did believe in God’s intervention through Jesus Christ. Jefferson was opposed to the corruptions of the religion of his day, but he himself considered himself to be a Christian, when he said the following in a letter to Benjamin Rush:

My views of [the Christian religion] are the result of a life of inquiry and reflection, and very different from that anti-Christian system imputed to me by those who know nothing of my opinions. To the corruptions of Christianity I am indeed opposed; but not to the genuine precepts of Jesus himself. I am a Christian, in the only sense in which he wished anyone to be—sincerely attached to his doctrines in preference to all others. (2)

Jefferson indeed was a true Christian. As another proof to his belief in Christ, he took the New Testament and copied the words he believed to be the actual words of Christ. These words were copied, in his hand, into a book in several languages to allow Jefferson the fullest understanding of Christ’s words as he could possibly find. In Jefferson’s mind he held the “precepts of Jesus, as delivered by himself, to be the most pure, benevolent, and sublime which have ever been preached to man.” (3) Those words from Jefferson don’t appear to be congruent to a man who’s belief held that God did not intervene in the lives of man.

Jefferson did not seem to be a conforming Christian by historians because he simply felt the doctrines of Christ were corrupted by man. Our third president, however, felt and firmly believed that there would be a restoration of true Christianity. He once said in a letter to Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse that he was happy “in the prospect of a restoration of primitive Christianity.” (4) He noted of both a restoring of truth and the corruptness of the present religions, in his time, when he said:

If freedom of religion guaranteed to us by law in theory can ever rise in practice under the overbearing inquisition of public opinion, truth will prevail over fanaticism, and the genuine doctrines of Jesus, so long perverted by his pseudo-priests, will again be restored to their original purity. This reformation will advance with the other improvements of the human mind, but too late for me to witness it. (5)

Jefferson, if a deist, would never have even wanted a reformation or restoration of true Christianity. The fact that he does, easily denounces any claim to him holding any beliefs others than that of a Christian.

As is evident, Jefferson was no deist; neither was he anything other that a Christian. He may well have been more of a Christian than the average church-goer in his day. Jefferson is easily dismissed as being a deist through his own words and also through his belief in a restoration of true Christianity.


References


1. Webster, Noah. First Edition of an American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). San Francisco: Foundation for American Christian Education, 1967.


2. Thomas Jefferson to Dr. Benjamin Rush (21 Apr. 1803), Bergh 10:379-80.


3. Thomas Jefferson to Jared Sparks (4 Nov. 1820), Bergh 15: 288.


4. Thomas Jefferson to Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse (19 July 1822), Bergh 15:391


5. Thomas Jefferson to Jared Sparks (4 Nov. 1820), Bergh 15: 288

The Real Thomas Jefferson (American Classic Series)


George Washington's Sacred Fire

Words From a Former Slave

I recently came across some interesting words from Frederick Douglas, a former slave and later the first African-American to hold a position in the white house, that I found very interesting.  You would think, after listening to our president and any liberal for that matter, that the Constitution made it harder to end slavery.  However, the following words from a famous African-American prove otherwise:

"[T]he Constitution is a glorious liberty document.  Read its preamble; consider its purposes.  Is slavery amoung them?  Is it a gateway?  Or is it in the temple?  It is neither.... [I]f the Constitution were intended to be, by its framers and adopters, a slaveholding instrument, why neither slavery, slaveholder, nor slave can anywhere be found in it? ... Now, take the Constitution according to its plain reading and I defy the presentation of a single pro-slavery clause in it.  On the other hand, it will be found to contain principles and purposes entirely hostile to the existence of slavery." -Rev. Frederick Douglass, Setting the Record Straight: American History in Black & White

Were are the people like this today? The typical accusation that a conservitive hates President Obama because he is black doesn't apply to this conservative.  I submit that I would vote for any man, black, white, red, green, indigo (actually I wouldn't vote for smurfs), who has the same views as Rev. Fredrick Douglas.  To bad all we have left of many great men are there words and wisdom.

8/28 vs. 10/2

Pictures seem to tell it all.

10/2

8/28

George Read-Signer of the Constitution

"[H]is legal abilities are said to be very great, but powers of Oratory are fatiguing and tiresome to the last degree." -William Pierce


George Read was born September 18, 1733 in North East, Maryland and he died September 21, 1798 in New Castle, Delaware.  Read was the son of a wealthy landowner who immigrated from Dublin, Ireland.

George Read studied law under John Moland of Philadelphia before marrying Gertrude (Ross) Till, the daughter of George Ross, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.  Read established a law practice in New Castle, Delaware in 1754.  Throughout the colonies he was known as a very good and honest lawyer. 

Read served as Attorney General between 1763 and 1774, by appointment of the Royal Governor of Delaware.  Concerning the Stamp Act Read said, "the colonists will entertain an opinion that they are to become the slaves [of Great Britain and will desire] to live as independently of the mother country as possible."  As a colonist, George Read was very wary of extremism.  On the issue of independence he first disagreed, believing that reconciliation between the mother country was still possible.  By the time the Declaration of Independence was approved on July 4, 1776, however, he approved wholeheartedly with the idea of independence as he signed the Declaration.

Read presided over his states Constitutional Convention in 1776.  He then became the Speaker of the Legislative Council of Delaware which made him the assistant governor.  Between 1777 and 1778, Read served as the President (Governor) of Delaware, after a close escape from the hands of the British in 1777.  He was back in the Legislative Council of Delaware just in time to authorize the ratification of the Articles of Confederation.

At the Constitutional Convention of 1787, George Read served with four other delegates from his small state.  In Philadelphia, Read immediately began a push for a new national government, because as he put it, "to amend the Articles was simply putting old cloth on a new garment."  George Read felt that a national government was needed so badly that he proposed that all the states be abolished and put under a national government.  With no support for that idea, Read became an adamant defender of the rights of the small states.  He did not want his state to be pushed around by states much larger than his.  He believed larger states would "probably combine to swallow up the smaller ones by addition, division or impoverishment."  As a result, George Read was a firm supporter of the New Jersey Plan and he threatened to lead Delaware out of the Convention if the small states didn't receive equal representation.

George Read was a lawyer who, at the Constitutional Convention, made certain that small states, like his, would not be pushed aside by larger ones. 

Constitution Day

"On every question of construction, [let us] carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed." -Thomas Jefferson

The Constitution of the United States is the longest lasting constitution in world history. Countries, like France, have had many constitutions in the same time that we have had ours.  Why?  The U. S. Constitution is the only document of its kind which establishes liberties and a republican government with balance and order.  No other country has ever been as prosperous and well of than the United States.  America is the example, that until recent years, has been viewed by countries around the world as a "city on a hill".  What has happened to America? Do we know what the Constitution stands for?  I would submit the Americans don't know this law which governs our land.  Knowing the principles of republican government found in the constitution is essential for a free people.  I don't know if Americans know there Constitution.  They must not, because if they did they would not vote for the leaders the way they do.  Here is a video showing the backstabbing of our Constitution by our leaders:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36PFlvh97Lc

"[E]very citizen of a republic. . . .must watch for the state as if its liberties depended upon his vigilance alone."  -Benjamin Rush

"[P]ublic character... is no evidence of true greatness, for a public character is often an artificial one." -M. L. Weems, The Life of George Washington, 1800

Gouverneur Morris- Writer and Signer of the Constitution

"In adopting a republican form of government, I not only took it as a man does his wife, for better for worse, but what few men do with their wives, I took it knowing all its bad qualities."

Those words were penned by the main author of the Constitution, Gouverneur Morris.  He was born January 31, 1752 in Morrisania, New York and he died November 6, 1816 in the same place.

Gouverneur Morris was a member of the prominent, even aristocratic, Morris family of New York.  Morris was the only son of his father's second marriage.  He enrolled at King's College (present Columbia University) at the age of twelve.  He graduated from King's College in 1768 after which he went on to study law under William Smith.  Because of Smith, Morris was introduced to John Jay and Alexander Hamilton who became his friends in the Patriot cause. 

Gouverneur Morris was elected to the New York Provincial Congress in 1775.  He was known for his bluntness and sarcasm in dealing with other legislators.  As the Revolutionary War began, Morris joined the militia and started two complete regiments.  He didn't have to serve because of his legislative duties and a disability he had, but he felt it was his duty to serve in the cause for independence.  In 1777 he served as a member of the New York Committee of Safety.  He also served in Continental Congress and, after visiting Valley Forge, he became the Continental Army's spokesperson in congress.  In 1779, Morris moved to Pennsylvania after he felt he was being treated poorly by New York.  He worked in Pennsylvania as a lawyer and merchant until being called to public service once again.  He worked as a financial assistant to Robert Morris (no relation) and in 1782 he developed the idea of decimal coinage and he invented the term "cent".

It came as a great surprise to Gouverneur Morris when Pennsylvania asked him to be a delegate to the Constitutional Convention.  He considered himself "in some degree as a representative of the whole human race". He had a completely different demeanor at the convention as he helped smooth over issues that would have divided delegates.  Like Thomas Jefferson was with the Declaration of Independence so was Gouverneur Morris with the Constitution.  Morris drafted almost the whole Constitution and the words "We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union" were his.  Morris said that "in every society the members have a right to the utmost liberty that can be enjoyed consistent with the general safety".  Morris defended:  freedom of religion,  opposed slavery, held that the right of property was a foundation for society, and agreed with the idea of government having power only by the consent of the governed.  William Pierce wrote the following about Gouverneur Morris:

"One of the geniuses in whom every species of talents combine...No man has more wit... than Mr. Morris" 

Gouverneur Morris was a very important man in forming our country.  Morris, as a founder, contributed greatly to the Constitutional Convention as he was the main draftsman of the Constitution of the United States.

James Wilson-Signer of the Constitution

Considered to be the first Constitutional Lawyer, James Wilson was born September 14, 1742 in Carskerdo, Scotland and he died August 21, 1798 in Edenton, North Carolina.  Wilson was a Scottish Immigrant who came to America in 1765.

James Wilson studied law under John Dickinson, a fellow signer of the Constitution, and he started a law practice in Reading, Pennsylvania.  He was the Chairman of the Carlisle Committee of Correspondence, a pro-patriot organization, in 1774.  Wilson wrote Considerations on the Nature and the Extent of the Legislative Authority of the British Parliament. This work of his gained him a reputation as a great patriot leader.  He served in Continental Congress between 1774 and 1777.  James Wilson also signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776.  He was appointed Colonel in the Cumberland County Associators, but he never saw military action.  After a controversy in which he voted against having a unicameral legislature, which he believed would cause mob rule, he moved to Maryland and lived there from 1777-1778.  When he returned to Pennsylvania in 1779, he and a few other state legislatures were attacked by a mob at his home.  In this attack casualties occurred on both sides and Wilson's home was aptly named "Fort Wilson".  Wilson became the Advocate General in America for France and he served from 1779-1783. As General, he advised France on American Law among other things dealing with French/American relations.  At the same time, he served as the Director of the Bank of North America, which had recently been created by Robert Morris.  Wilson was again elected as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1782 as well as between 1785 and 1787.

James Wilson, as a delegate from Pennsylvania, was a valuable asset to the Constitutional Convention.  William Pierce wrote:

"Mr. Wilson ranks among the foremost in legal and political knowledge.  He has joined to a fine genius all that can set him off and show him to advantage.  He is well acquainted with man, and understands all the passions that influence him...No man is more clear, copious, and comprehensive than Mr. Wilson."

Wilson, a very accomplished lawyer, argued for representation based on a free population.  He also worked with James Madison in promoting the ideal of Popular Sovereignty.  Wilson opposed those delegates at the convention who sought for special privileges given to the rich and well born.  He considered the idea of election by the people as "not only the cornerstone, but the foundation of the fabric".  In speaking of his fellow delegates and himself he wrote:

"We kept steadily in our View that which appears to us the greatest Interest of every true American, the consolidation of our Union . . . . And thus the Constitution which we now present is the result of a Spirit of Amity, and of that mutual Deference and Concession which the Peculiarity of our political Situation rendered indispensible."

James Wilson was indeed a great founder and through his skills as a legislator and lawyer he was a major part in the forming of the Greatest Law of Our Country, The Constitution.

Jared Ingersoll-Signer of the Constitution

Born October 27, 1749 in New Haven, Connecticut and dieing October 13, 1822 in Philadelphia, Jared Ingersoll was one of Americas patriots.  He had a loyalist father who was a British official.  At one point his father was even tarred and feather by patriots for his loyalty to the crown.  Ingersoll did not, however, share his fathers beliefs.

Ingersoll graduated from Yale College in 1766.  He then went on to study law and later he became a lawyer in 1773.  Because of his father and his desire to please him, Ingersoll left the colonies to London between 1773 and 1776.  After renouncing his families political views, Ingersoll returned to Philadelphia where he started a respectable law practice in 1778.  Ingersoll served in the Continental Congress between 1780 and 1781.

At the Constitutional Convention Ingersoll represented Pennsylvania with seven other delegates.  He didn't approve of the weakness of the Articles of Confederation and so he pushed for a reform of those articles.  After a while, Ingersoll and many others realized the need for a completely new system of federal government.  Ingersoll, although being a prominent attorney, seldom participated in debate at the Constitutional Convention.  However, he was in attendance to all meetings.  Jared Ingersoll is one of those founders who little is know about, but he definatly was part of the forming of our great nation.

AP US Government Assignment

Best System-Locke


John Locke’s form of government would both be legitimate as well as beneficial to the masses through its use of a select group of representatives. Much like how the United States government in the late seventeen-hundreds functioned, Locke proposed that an elite class would represent the masses in their best interests. This, in my opinion, was a very good system at the time that it was used. By having the educated represent the people as a whole, Locke’s form of government, would in perfection, provide for the voice of the people. Those, in any society, who don’t know about the issues facing them, are more likely to make poor decisions and in the early days of America, where this type of representation took place, not everyone had the chance at an education. Only those individuals who had wealth could afford to learn about issues and rules dealing with governments. Today Locke’s ideas could work effectively because we would have leaders who understand government rather than those who have no clue as to how our country should work. John Locke’s from of government, a true republic, would be the best of the four political theories we have discussed in class based on my current knowledge.


Locke vs. Rousseau

John Locke, an English enlightenment figure, and Jean Jacques Rousseau, a French philosopher, have ideas that have similarities as well as differences. With Locke and Rousseau the underlying ideas for their forms of government are similar in the fact that the power is meant to go to the people. However, in a republic, like with Locke, the people vote for others to represent them while with Rousseau’s true democracy the people vote on every issue and are in essence part of legislature. With Locke, government ideally runs better because of the fact that it doesn’t become a popularity contest on every issue. Also because everyone can vote on every issue, a pure democracy has no stability as it is more a government of whim than principals. In a pure democracy, government is not stable and can change depending on immediate feelings rather than previously established laws. In contrast of a republic a democracy turns political decisions into more of an American Idol contest. Locke and Rousseau both had political ideas that reflected a need for the people to be in charge, but they differ in their methods.