Reconstruction

The Reconstruction Era in the United States was the period of time after the Civil War during which they were ‘reconstructing’ the Southern states. It began at the end of the war in 1865, and ended twelve years later in 1877 with the Compromise of 1877.

After the Civil War, Lincoln’s plan of action was based upon the belief that the states hadn’t actually seceded, and therefore shouldn’t be punished. He thought they ought to pardon Southerners who had participated in the war if they swore allegiance to the United States, and that the states would be reinstated into the Union if 10% of said states population swore allegiance.

The 13^th amendment was passed in 1865, abolishing slavery in the States. Lincoln was assassinated at the Ford’s Theater by John Wilkes Booth, and Andrew Johnson succeeded him as President. He began reconstruction with a plan based upon Lincoln’s.

The last slaves in the United States were emancipated on June 19^th, 1865, but Mississippi created black codes, which limited the rights of freed blacks, and this became common through-out the Southern states.

In 1866, the 14^th amendment was passed, which ensured equal protection to all people, but the majority of Southern States rejected it. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 was passed as well, which granted full citizenship and civil rights to all blacks. The Ku Klux Klan was founded in Tennessee during 1866 as well, and would go on to extend through-out the whole of the South by 1868. The first Transatlantic cable was completed during 66 as well.

In 1867, The Military Reconstruction Act divided the previous Confederacy into five military districts, which were policed by Union generals. The Tenure of Office Act was passed in 67, which made it so that Congress approval was required before the President could remove appointees. Johnson ignored this act, and removed Republican Edwin Stanton from his position as Secretary of War, which very much so irritated Congress, as he had been one of the people the Act had been issued to protect. Also in 67, the US purchased Alaska from Russia in what was named Stewards Folly.

In 1868, Johnson was impeached by the House but acquitted by the Senate. The 14^th amendment was ratified by the states, Ulysses S. Grant became President, and an eight hour workday became law for federal workers.

In 1869, Wyoming became the first state to grant suffrage to women. In 1870, the 15^th amendment was ratified to give black males the right to vote, and the last four states on the Confederate side were readmitted (Texas, Virginia, Mississippi, & Georgia). The first black Senator, Hiram E. Revels, took the seat of Jefferson Davis. The Enforcement Act was passed, allowing for government intervention with the KKK, and a Californian case White vs. Flood got segregation of schools by race started.

In 1871, The Indian Appropriation Act was passed, making all Native Americans wards of the state, the Great Chicago Fire occurred, and England paid 15.5mil in damages from them helping the Confederates during the War.

In 1872, Ulysses S. Grant was reelected as President, Democrats reclaimed control of Southern state governments in a process called Redemption, and the Yellowstone Park was established. In 1873, the Panic of 1873 happened, caused by railroad speculation. In 1874, The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union was founded.

In 75, the Whiskey Ring Scandal occurred during Grants term, and many of his associates were prosecuted. The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was passed, establishing penalties to those who denied equal rights, the usage of hotels, theaters, stores, etc., to any citizen.

In 1876, Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel Tilden (The former republican, the latter democrat) ran against each other in the Presidential election. Tilden won the popularity vote, but the electoral vote was disputed. An electoral commission intervened and gave Hayes all the votes. The democratic party agreed to this, if all federal troops were removed from the Southern states. They agreed upon these terms, troops were removed from the Southern states in 1877, and Hayes became President. This is called the Compromise of 1877, and is was the end of Reconstruction.

For Science 75

I’m not going to be the one to prove exactly how the universe formed or began. I’m not even interested in trying to. BUT I do have an opinion (I’m quite sure everyone does), and I’m being forced to voice it for school.

I’ve been reading all these articles for science, like nebular theory versus biblical creation, and it’s making my head hurt. The articles, they’re biased. Like totally biased, as in they were all written by avid Christian scientists who intensely advocate and endorse that the answer to every question that people haven’t fully figured out is that it was God. It’s like they’re all saying that that is the ONLY explanation. I mean, they do have good arguments, like the universe is only thousands of years old, not billions, and the proof is moons and such being heated internally. If they were billions of years old, their internal fuels would’ve burnt out long ago.

My issue is that they just assume they’re right, and that there is no other explanation. I swear, that is the most irritating character trait in existence. Like, I think that the smartest people are those who accept that they might be wrong and are open-minded to new ideas, and these guys who wrote all these articles don’t even consider the possibility that they might not be correct. NOTE that I am not saying they are incorrect, only that they should be more broad-minded.

I feel like there isn’t any substantial evidence to prove that God (or any other deity or religion or anything) exists and created the universe. It’s much easier to think that the Big Bang Theory is true, or even to think that we just ARE, without an explanation. Besides, why do religion and science have to get all mixed up like that? It’s confusing. Like why can’t we have evolved into humans as we are now, but there be a god/gods watching over us, without them having anything to do with the creation, them being created as well, but them being created higher and being tasked with watching over us?

I see these articles trying to prove that God exists. They do have good arguments to disprove nebular theory, but they don’t necessarily prove God. They don’t at all, really. They simply prove that we don’t know how the solar system and the galaxy and the universe as a whole actually came to be as it is, but they still try and shove God in there, but just because we don’t know the answer doesn’t mean there isn’t one. 😀

The Life Cycle Of A Butterfly

We’re going to talk about the life cycle of butterflies. All four stages of the butterflies’ life; egg, larva, pupa and butterfly. The Red Admiral butterfly will be the focus; the main butterfly here.

Butterflies are oviparous (which means they lay eggs that will hatch later on), and there are many variants as to how the eggs will look, such as color, size, and texture, all depending upon which species laid it. Eggs will be laid on the leaves or stems of plants, or on the bark of trees, depending on what the host plant of species is. One to three weeks will be taken up until the egg hatches into a caterpillar.

Once the embryo has developed fully, the caterpillar on the inside begins to eat its way out of the egg. Finally on the outside, it simply eats. It eats leaves and plants and such, usually whatever it happens to be walking on. They do this until they hit the pupal stage.

The pupal stage consists of the caterpillar spinning itself into a cocoon, in which they stay for a few weeks all the way up to a few months, depending on the species. They change drastically while inside this cocoon, although its practically undetectable from the outside.

The last stage is the butterfly stage. Butterflies still have a caterpillar-like body, wormy with tiny hairs and thin, prickly legs, along with the large, colorful, hard-to-miss wings. The majority of butterfly species only live a few weeks.

I chose to research the Red Admiral butterfly, not for any particular reason other than I like the scientific name, which is Vanessa Atalanta. It’s quite attractive, with its under-wings a mottled brown and the top is brown/black with a curved red streak.

Pellitory and False Nettle are the host plants of the Red Admiral. They lay their eggs, which are green with pale vertical lines, on these plants. When the caterpillars hatch, they make nests out of the leaves to hide inside of.

After the pupal stage, the butterfly emerges and pumps its wings, getting then circulation going and making itself stronger. After this, it expels liquid meconium (waste from the pupal stages, do not google it as the photos are a bit gross) which is red and is mistaken for blood quite often, although it isn’t at all.

The Red Admiral doesn’t feed on flowers so much as over-ripened fruit and animal waste.

Butterflies go through a life cycle consisting of the egg stage, the larva stage, the pupal stage, and the butterfly stage. The Red Admiral butterfly is a curious one, with odd feeding habits and attractive wings. Butterflies are literally childhood and laughter drifting on air, and researching them and writing about them wasn’t to terrible a task.

BIBS:

Smith, Edith. “Red Admiral Butterfly.” Butterflyfunfacts.com. Stephen & Edith Smith. Accessed 2/27/2015.

“Butterfly Life Cycle.” Butterflylifecycle.org. Accessed 2/27/2015

“Red Admiral.” Gardenswithwings.com. Accessed 2/27/2015

The Gold Rush

During the California Gold Rush, miners extracted more than seven hundred fifty thousand pounds of gold. That’s about twelve million ounces, and currently an ounce is about one thousand two hundred sixty USD, which, if my math is right, means that the gold from the Gold Rush is worth $15,120,000,00. Yeah, soak that in.

The whole thing starts in January, on the 24^th of the year 1848. Close to what is now Coloma, CA, John Sutter had hired men to construct a saw mill. One man, James Marshall, noticed gold bits in the runoff water. He immediately told Sutter, and they swore an oath of secrecy.

In spite of this promise, news of the gold got out. The first to arrive were those from San Francisco (Thanks to one Samuel Brannon parading the streets with a jar of gold from Sutter’s Creek), Oregon, and Hawaii(then known as the Sandwich Islands). While it did take a while (NO INTERNET) to get to the East, it did. Eventually. The New York Herald published an article on the discovery in August. The story became so large that President James Polk announced the positive results of a report by Colonel Richard Mason in his inaugural address, causing the knowledge of the gold to spread to practically everyone.

Now, it’s 1849. Tens of thousands of 49ers (as in the year they set out) left for California, borrowing money and mortgaging their properties to pay for the journey. Migrants from ’49 numbered close to eighty thousand.

At first, gold was found real easy like. Nuggets could be found practically anywhere you stepped, if you sifted through a few inches of dirt. Panning in streams and creek-beds was a preferred method, as the gold would drift along in the current and basically come to you.

Many mining towns popped up in California, filled with stores carrying mining equipment, provisions, ropes, picks, shovels… Anything that might have been needed. Many schools, churches, and stores started to show up. Bars, hotels, warehouses and such things would be built around mining areas. Business was good.

Now, the amount of gold has started dwindling. It’s harder and harder to find. New prospectors are still showing up. They have to work harder, longer hours to acquire as much gold as they had been before, but even so, what they were finding was greatly decreased form what it had been at the start. Needing places to settle, many miners displaced, or even killed, many Native Americans. Many spent much money in the hopes of becoming rich off gold, but never found any, and drifted off into debt or poverty.

As The Treaty Of Guadalupe Hidalgo (which officially ended the war) didn’t go into effect until Feb 2^nd, after the gold was discovered, technically for a bit it was legally Mexico’s property. After, the area was under control of the US Military, although no troops ever actually walked the gold fields. The areas were self policed, meaning any rules might as well have been crap. Violent, drunken bandit men assaulted many, stole from many, and killed many.

Gold mining reached peak in 1852, when close to $81mil was mined. Afterwards was when the decline began. Many ex-miners, still miners, farmers, and other such people continued settling the area. By 1860, the population was about 380,000 people.

G.A. Henty

George Alfred Henty (AKA G.A. Henty) was a demiurgic and innovative writer, his novels and short stories stimulating. He was born at Trumpington, UK (A village on the outskirts of Cambridge) in 1832. He attended the Westminster School, and then College in Cambridge, where he studied classics. When the Crimean War began in 1854, Henty and his brother joined the British Army, though his brother died of cholera while they were in service.

Henty would send letters of his adventures in the war home, where a newspaper would publish them, though he wasn’t set upon becoming an author at the time. Instead he continued his service in the war, until he decided to resign his commission, afterwhich he got a job assisting his father in running mines. His heart wasn’t in this, and he decided to become a bona-fide writer.

He was married to a woman named Elizabeth Finucane, with whom he had four children. (Unfortunately, Elizabeth and their two daughters died of tuberculosis)

In 1868, he wrote his first childrens book, titled “Out On The Pampas.” He named the main characters after his children, Charley, Hubert, Maud, and Ethel. I suppose he based the wife in the story off of his own, who had died a few years previous, which must’ve been a sort of remembrance of her, and quite painful for him.

G.A. Henty wrote some 120 other books, the majority of which were historical fiction, although some were non-fiction as well. Some of these works are: “Held Fast For England”, “In Greek Waters”, “Through The Fray”, “The Lion Of The North”, and “Wulf The Saxon.”

While he was, without a doubt, a great author, he was quite racist and prejudicial. “By Sheer Pluck: A Tale of the Ashanti War” and “A Roving Commission, or, Through the Black Insurrection at Hayti” are examples of novels which display this. Here is a quote from “By Sheer Luck: A Tale of the Ashanti War” :

“They [negroes] are just like children … They are always either laughing or quarrelling. They are good-natured and passionate, indolent, but will work hard for a time; clever up to a certain point, densely stupid beyond. The intelligence of an average negro is about equal to that of a European child of ten years old. … They are fluent talkers, but their ideas are borrowed. They are absolutely without originality, absolutely without inventive power. Living among white men, their imitative faculties enable them to attain a considerable amount of civilization. Left alone to their own devices they retrograde into a state little above their native savagery”

He believed any person who was not a British white was inferior, more like an annoying thing that must be dealt with before they become more ‘savage’ and ‘destructive’.

According to multiple journalists, his racism is often ignored by Christians, made to look more like patriotism or something of that sort. He is considered a great role-model for male children, (Which I find slightly irritating, as females are just as capable as males and that sort of medieval thinking makes me want to break things :D) because of his courage and pluck in the war, his manliness, and how he strived to become more studious afterwards.

G.A. Henty is indubitably a great author, -even with his superior attitude- with intriguing, adventurous stories that still captivate young minds today.

The War of 1812

The war of 1812 was America’s first war as a nation. They fought hard in many battles, and although they war ended in a “status quo antebellum” (state existing before war) , meaning that all territory won in battles was given back and it was as if the war didn’t happen, America still considered it a victory because it showed Britain that they were serious and could stand their ground.

This war decided how much pull America would have in foreign affairs and trade. President Jefferson wanted to find a way to keep shipping goods to foreign countries, but not be involved in foreign wars. As Britain and France were at war with eachother, neither wanted American ships to bring goods to the other country, and both sides would stop American cargo ships to search them. These encounters could get violent, so in 1807 Jefferson issued the Embargo Act, restricting American goods to America only. Goods weren’t to be sent to any foreign country at all. This was done in an effort to make Britain and France realize that they needed American shipments and that they couldn’t just seize cargo ships and attack sailors.

The plan backfired. America lost money, and goods rotted in ships on the docks. Before Jefferson left the office, he signed a bill that canceled the Embargo Act. James Madison, Jefferson’s successor in Presidency, tried to continue shipments to Britain and France without being involved in the war, but the encounters on the ships became more and more violent, and the American people got angrier and angrier. Something had to be done.

War Hawks were those in favor of engaging in the war. The War Hawks were the new, younger generation of America, wanting to fight for their freedom like their forefathers did in the Revolutionary War. This group was led by people such as Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, who persuaded Madison to ask Congress for a Declaration of War in June 1812.

In 1813, the majority of battles won were won by America, until August when the British stormed DC and burned the White House, The War Office, And the Treasury. They retreated soon after.

In September, there were two American victories. One at Lake Champlain, which cut British interference off to North, and the other in Baltimore at Fort McHenry, which was bombed and attacked for a whole 25 hours, and which also was what inspired Francis Scott Henry to write what is now our country’s national anthem, “The Star Spangled Banner.”

It is now 1814. Talk of peace begins around August in Europe, as American victories at Plattsburg and in Baltimore had convinced Britain that peace was best. On Christmas Eve, 1814, The Treaty of Ghent was signed, ending the war. Except the war didn’t end.

People had to sail across the ocean to get word to both American and British troops in America that a treaty had been signed, and that the war was over. This took weeks, weeks during which the unofficial last battle of the war was going on.

This last battle was The Battle of New Orleans, in which American troops were led by Andrew Jackson. They were led well, with British casualties amounting to 2,000 compared to America’s 13 dead.

While the war was officially over, it was still tense between America and Britain. But America had established that it was a force to be reckoned with, and that they won’t back down.

Does working with others lead to better results than acting as an individual?

Working alone allows the you to leak out. You don’t worry as much about what others think, so you express yourself more freely. Restrictions on the imagination fade away, and you want to create something more.

In a group situation, you’re more likely to just ‘go with the flow’ and not voice your opinion. The ‘Flow’ might not be the best route to go along though, as it might just be a vague, generalized stereotype-ish idea. You’re going to mess around with your friends in the group, and you won’t be as efficient.

It’s different if you don’t know the people in the group. If it was a random pairing then you won’t know each other well and will be uncomfortable and scared to share your ideas because you’re scared of ridicule.

I think that if there’s only two people in the group, I think you have an advantage. If you guys are comfortable around each other, and you both want to succeed, then you will excel greatly. If you guys can mess around just a bit, work together well, throw out every idea that pops into your head, and encourage each other, then you’ll be virtually unstoppable.

I’m not the best at having a definite answer to these questions. I think I argue both sides and then kind of lean towards one a bit more. On this, I have to go with working alone. I mean… You are YOU, your mind has the ability to see things different from all others and if you’re by yourself then you don’t have people holding you back. You have to break all your boundaries, stop worrying what anyone else says, and spit your ideas out onto paper. Gag them and spew them everywhere. You’re unique. You can do it all.

BUT don’t forget everyone else. You DO need support and a hug never hurts, just know you can do it yourself and that you don’t need to immobilize someone else with everything you’re trying to do. They have their own stuff. Accomplish your own things, and they’ll accomplish theirs. 😀

Should we complain to get what we want?

Pessimists tend to live longer because they’re disappointed less. 😀

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Should we complain to get what we want? Does it get us what we want faster? Does it make getting it easier? Does it create a sense of understanding with people around you? Can it make you feel better? Does it make you a better person? Does it make you annoying?

I believe it’s a natural thing to complain. Go on ahead and try not to, it will cause you so much mental strain that you’ll get a migraine. You cannot live life without complaining, as there is so much to complain about, there is so much wrong with this world, and the minds of many are twisted so we have sick views of things, making it worse.

Can you get what you want faster when you complain? It’s quite possible if you’re annoying enough and people want to shut you up. You most likely won’t get what you envisioned, and you’ll be disappointed with it, resulting in more complaining. Does it make getting what we want easier? Sure, if you’re cool with it not living up to your expectations and with people being severely irritated with you.

There is a fine line between complaining a reasonable amount and complaining so much that people would love to slap you. If you so it reasonably, then I think that it DOES create a sense of understanding with those around you. Many people have similar problems, and can relate to you greatly. The thing is, there’s only so much people can do about YOUR problems. (This is why you might be disappointed after receiving what you want after complaining- nobody thinks what you think, so it won’t be exactly what you want) DO something about your problems, don’t expect other people to fix them for you.

Can it make you feel better? Yes, to an extent. People literally make a living listening to other people talk about their problems and then giving them their two cents. Venting is therapy, and getting it out is like dropping a big bag of bricks you’ve been carrying on your back.

As to complaining making you a better person, I think the answer is yes, but only in some cases. Technically, it’s not complaining, but it counts. Take hunger activists as an example. They are “complaining” about something very important to bring attention to it. They are making a difference, and making the world a better place by calling attention to those in need. They “complain” for a good cause.

Yes, complaining can make you very annoying. There is no doubt there. Let’s say your ENTIRE social media page is, “OMG I’m so lonely”, “Wish I had friends”, “Wish someone liked me”, and all that jazz. Shut up, go out in public and don’t be a jerk to people. Somebody will like you.

Complaining can get you what you want, give you what you don’t want, make people dislike you, can call attention to important matters, and many other things. Don’t complain to much, but speak what’s on your mind, & live life to the fullest.

What gives us more pleasure and satisfaction: the pursuit of our desires or the attainment of them?

What gives us more pleasure and satisfaction: the pursuit of our desires or the attainment of them? It is the pursuit. It’s what gets your adrenaline pumping, like when a cop is chasing the suspect. It’s exiting and sweaty and decisions are made without time to think and hearts beat loud, but when it’s over, things get calm and boring. The chaos leaves. The cop misses it. The suspect of course misses it, back when he had a chance to get away. But, now the cop has attained what he was aiming for, and he’s congratulated for it, everyone thinks the best of what he did, when truthfully, he wishes he hadn’t, because he liked it.

Our deepest, most intense desires usually take the longest to achieve, and we grow so used to the chase, it’s become so routine, that we feel lost when it’s done. We feel pleasure from gaining it, but we have nothing to strive for anymore. We’ll just replace it with a new goal, and another and another. Without desires to motivate us to DO something, we’d be nothing. We’d do nothing.
We don’t always desire things that gives us pleasure. Cigarettes, for example. People have the most intense cravings for them, and get quite antsy without them, even though they can cause them cancer, make their food tasteless, and cause them coughing fits. We also pursue things that we don’t truly desire, sometimes just to be doing something, because being in the pursuit of something, even if we don’t really want it, is better than doing nothing.
Say you’re trying to lose thirty pounds. You’re so excited and proud of yourself with each pound you lose. You work out, eat kale and blueberries, quit eating french fries, stand rather than sit, and eat more celery than you can stand. Finally you reach that thirty, and after a brief bout of exited jumping and squealing, you’re back to wanting to lose weight. The more the better. You can’t get enough. You want to lose it all, because it is human nature to want what we don’t have.
If you’ve ever watched an interview with a cancer patient, you’ve probably noticed that they tend to be happy and giddy, and full of inspiration. I think it’s because they have such a big goal; to keep living. They put their everything into it, because they want to prove they are stronger than what hurts them, and they want to prove that they can be happy despite the fact that they have a major health problem. They are proof you can do anything you want, no matter what.