After WWII there were many developments being made in America and one of those was the Hollywood movie industry. One of the greatest producers and businessmen was Walt Disney. Walt and his brother Roy created an animation studio called Walt Disney Animation Studios. This became the birthing place of Mickey mouse, Donald Duck, and many other famous characters. He had great success in animation earning 22 Academy Awards and 59 Academy Nominations in his life time. Along with cartoons Disney founded multiple theme parks that we all know and love. His first park was Disney Land which opened in 1955 and since has expanded a great measure. About 10 years later in 1965 the announcement for the second park Disney World which was a lot bigger than Disney Land would be opened in Orlando Florida. Sadly the next year Walt Disney passed away but is company has continued to grow into one of the biggest entertainment company’s. The first cartoon that helped pioneer Disney Studios was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs which even with inflation is still in the top 10 best movies to ever be released to theaters.
The Great Depression
The Great Depression began in 1929 and ended in 1939. It hit right after the time of the roaring 20s when the world was at its peak. In 1929 banks started handing out more money then they could afford and the optimism of the roaring 20s meant that this was no problem but when that optimism ended it caused a negative chain reaction across the whole world. Also in the 1920’s was when stock markets rose in a fast pace with very high spending levels. It then reached its peak in 1929 then it went plummeting down.
People across the world due to the end of good economic times started pulling what ever they could out of banks causing 3,000 banks around the world to declare bankruptcy. So many people lost their savings and jobs causing them to suffer from extreme poverty. There were multiple long term effects on America such as starvation, psychological strain, and extreme frugality. Probably the worst part of the depression was the unemployment rate. It went for about 3 million unemployed to 12.5 million in the span of three years, and even if you did have a job there were most likely pay cuts because businesses didn’t want to take any risks. If you lost your job you probably lost your home as well and vagrancy numbers shot up. One of the last things that made the depression even worse was the three droughts that happened. People in certain states like Arkansas and Oklahoma were forced to move because of the unbearable conditions. The depression lasted for all of the 1930s up until 1939 around the time when WWII started.
President Calvin Coolidge
Calvin was born in 1872 on Independence Day and was considered as one of the greatest presidents in US history. He was raised in Vermont but decided to move to Massachusetts to pursue a college degree. He got that degree at Amherst College and moved on to law. In order to save money Calvin apprenticed with a local law firm that way he didn’t have to spend money on law school while still learning law. Later in 1998 he opened a small law firm of his own and had a good reputation with local banks as well as businessmen because of his integrity. He met his wife a few years later as a teacher for deaf children, they ended up having two sons John and Calvin Jr.
He got into politics and worked his way up becoming the governor of Massachusetts around the time of the Boston Police Strike of 1919. Calvin criticized the union who led the police men to go on strike and backed up the Boston Police Commissioner in hiring all new police men. This gained him national attention and he was called a man of action, after this he got the role of vice president along side Warren Harding. During his time as VP he was given the nickname ” Silent Cal” because of his quiet manner in social situations, which was a little weird because he was a skilled debater and public speaker. He became president in 1923 when Harding died of a heart attack. Calvin was a wonderful president and was re-elected for a second term because his honesty was like a breath of fresh air. When he left the office he left it in great shape and is known as one of the best presidents to ever serve.
Technology of WWI
In 1914 World War 1 began and with this war new inventions and weapons came with it. First was machine guns, which were technically invented in 1860 but hadn’t really been used in any wars yet. Because of the industrial revolution it was easier to mass produce guns which kept on making the machine gun better and better. These guns were very deadly causing them to become very popular during the war because you didn’t have to reload them after every shot therefore making it quicker then any other traditional weapon and you had a higher chance of killing someone fast when using the machine gun.
Next was the flamethrower which was completely new and was invented during the war unlike the machine gun. Flamethrowers were extremely popular, there main use was to burn their enemies out of hideouts and trenches by covering the area in flames. Along with flamethrowers came the deadliest gun of all during WWI called the Big Bertha. The Big Bertha was an artillery gun capable of accurately shooting a 1700 pound cannon ball over 7 miles.
Last but not least is poison gas, which was first developed by the Germans but both sides did use it. Poison gas was used to suffocate your enemies when they would breath it in which it was successful in doing so, until gas masks came along making the gas harder to use. This didn’t mean that people didn’t those their lives to it many suffered from injuries and permeant disabilities making it a theme around the time of WWI. To try to get through the gas masks stronger gas was made but then others would just make stronger masks and it just continued going on and on.
Constitutional Amendments 16-19
The 16th Amendment
On February 3 1913 the 16th amendment was ratified and stated that the ”Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration”. This meant the government was allowed to collect income tax based on a person’s level of income instead of the representation of their state. This wasn’t completely new because income taxes started in 1862 to pay for the Civil War, although this did make it official.
The 17th Amendment
On April 8 1913 the 17th amendment became ratified and declared
“The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.” [2]
This meant that there were direct elections for U.S. senators in each state instead of group elections.
The 18th Amendment
A year later on January 16 1919 the 18th amendment was ratified and prohibited the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors. There are three sections to this amendments.
”The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.
When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.
This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.”[2]
The 19th Amendment
Last but not least is the 19th amendment which was ratified on August 18 1920. Which provided the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. This helped build equal rights for women all around the world.
How I write
Over the semester I have wrote many essays that weren’t perfect but I have learned a lot from them. Since I have written so many essays I have a plan on how I write them, which I’m going to share with you.
First you need to figure out what the topic of your essay is whatever it may be. For example I’m going to use my favorite book I have read this year 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas which I have written about before. When writing an essay you need material to write about so make sure you do enough research and take notes about your topic.
The next step to writing an essay is to figure out your outline. An outline is where you plan out what order you put all your information to go in without going into to much detail. It can either be written out or just in your head because they take about 5 mins to make. Since I picked a book as my topic I would first introduce the story and characters, then the author, the main events in the story, and the ending. Writing an outline is very helpful because you have all of your information organized. Another way you can plan out your essays is using a mind map. Mind maps are normally for bigger essays but can be used on small ones too. A mind map is where you have your topic in the middle with different branches with all of the info you want to put in your essay.
The final step is to write the essay, it doesn’t have to be perfect that is what rough drafts are for. The goal is just to put your thoughts on paper and to perfect it after. When writing a rough draft all you need to do is write down the information you want in the essay and then you go back to clean up the smaller details. Writing essays can be pretty boring but you learn a lot from them and they make you smarter.
President Andrew Johnson
Andrew was born in North Carolina in 1808 to a poor family. He got married when he was 18 to his wife Eliza McCardle who helped him improve on his math and reading skills. He worked as a tailor and mayor of Tennessee before he was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1835. He then later got elected as a U.S. Representative in 1843. He ran as a Democrat vice president along side president Lincoln. Andrew became president pretty fast and didn’t get along well with the Republican Congress. After the war Congress and Andrew got in a disagreement because they had different reconstruction goals. The tension grew and by 1868 Andrew had replaced the Secretary of War which upset congress and they called to put Andrew on trial. Even after the trial there was still tension between them. Putting a president on trial happens through a process called impeachment , which means it allows a check of power for the government to remain in balance. The trial takes place in the Senate and the president must be found guilty by a two-thirds vote or else is acquitted of the charges. Andrew was the first president to be impeached and barely made it under the two-thirds vote and got to continue with his presidency.
The Battle of Manassas
The Battle of Manassas was fought on July 21st 1861 in Virginia. This was the first major conflict of the civil war and was poorly led by U.S. General McDowell. They were easily defeated in a fight where each side had roughly 18,000 troops that were poorly trained. McDowell made a weak attack on unseasoned troops of C.S. General Beauregard, this plan obviously didn’t work and reinforcements were made by General Johnston. It was a fierce fight with man casualties that sobered the young soldiers into seeing what war was really like. After the battle President Lincoln replaced McDowell with General McClellan. There was a second battle in the same area that had a very similar result to the first battle. The confederates still won but this time there were way more soldiers
California Gold Rush
The first ever gold strike was in 1799 in North Carolina and for a while was the only gold besides a couple of small scale strikes in a few places, but it all started in 1848 when gold accidentally struck California. The region was flooded with people and developments that changed region irreversibly.
Our story all starts with a man named John Sutter who was in the process of building a sawmill on the American river near Coloma California. He hired a group of construction workers and while they were working one of the workers John Marshall saw flakes of gold floating around in the river, first discovering gold on January 24 1848. Marshall immediately told Sutter and they both swore to secrecy. By the end of 1848 the story got out and became so big President Polk made an announcement to the nation that gold had been found in California. It took news a long time to spread so a year later in 1849 when the news had fully spread is when the rush happened. The people who would follow the gold fever in 1849 got the nickname the “Forty-niners”. The men would leave their family’s to find gold by sifting through the dirt to try and get a few gold nuggets, but over time this became very difficult so bigger gold pans were made.
In total there was 750,000 pounds of gold collected despite most people not really getting any and never hit it rich. This resorted to bad behavior like banditry and drunkenness. Rich cities were made around the areas of where the gold was dug up in California and developments like these led to it becoming a state in 1850.
Should you Complain?
Do you know the saying the squeaky wheel gets the grease because no one likes a squeaky wheel, its annoying and hard to deal with so it gets what it needs/wants. Most of the time it goes the same way with people when they complain, because it makes them hard to be around because they get on peoples nerves. Complaining normally gets you what you want in most cases but that doesn’t mean you should. When you complain you think you can get whatever you want which is a entitled way to think. Getting what you want makes you want to complain because you get something out of it but if you want or need something theres better ways to ask. You can always politely ask even if you get a no it was probably for a good reason or even if it wasn’t its good to get told no sometimes so you don’t become entitled or bratty. Another way is asking if you could work for it like for say you want 20 dollars from your parents you can ask to do chores around the house for the money. Theres always a better way to get what you want.
laura verity 