What it Means to be an American Final Project

Smithsonian Badge Overview

I chose to do the "symbol spotter"  badge because I was interested in learning about the analysis behind paintings and pictures. I liked learning about the hidden symbols and details that represented certain things, like wealth or power and these details that defined who the painting was about. I had to do a few activities on finding the hidden details and their meanings, and an activities on defining the symbols in different pictures. This badge taught me to look at paintings in a different view, to try and find the hidden message or meaning and to really understand that their is a purpose to a lot of paintings.

Last two days of class 5/28 and 5/29

Yesterday in class we went to the computer lab and did a worksheet on the revolutions and problems in Haiti and the Spanish-American War. We figured out some of the problems the Haitians faced during the war and how most of them were forced to flee the country. Today in class we talked about the United States and whether they were a "friendly neighbor" or a imperial power based on the amendments and acts passed during the time period. A lot of the time we classified the U.S as an imperial power because most of the situations we were mostly aiming to gain power and a lot of that came with "protecting" other smaller countries.

American News Correspondent in Haiti

The Haitians have recently began to feel as the U.S has become not a protector of their country, but a threat. the Haitians have started to organize revolutions, mainly led by Charlemagne Peralte to try and force the U.S. out of their country."We were ready to accept this rule and follow its obligations, despite the threat to our autonomy and the dignity of our free and independent people" says Charlemagne. But what threats are we impossing? We can only wonder what destruction and force we are pressuring onto the Haitians that makes them this disgraced with our presence. The question stands as what can we do to protect this country without sending the impression of interferring with their freedom. Clearly our tactics so far have been unsuccessful so what can now be done to fix this problem accordingly to their regards.
As of lately news has spread that the Haitians once again are planning another revolution against the United States troops. The ongoing war seems as if each month it seems to get riskier and riskier and all we can do is wonder when we will pull out our troops or when they will finally come to realize that we are only there for good. So far that's all we have on this escalating topic and we will keep you posted.

Last two days of class 5/7 and 5/8

Yesterday in class we had a discussion about how it was wrong of the U.S government to force the Indians to pack up and leave their land. We had groups and each group had a representative to go in the middle and work out a debate between the leaders of the Government and the Indians. It ended up being pretty funny and thought it was a unique way to get across some of the main points about the removal of the indians on the eastern coast. Today in class we started a worksheet that talked about Red Cloud, the Indian leader who basically became quite famous because he was one of the leaders who stood up and fought for the Indians against the U.S.

Scratch History Game

History Game

Last two days of class 4/23 and 4/24

yesterday in class we a little taste of what it was actually like to live back then in the west and in a soddie house. There was a stand, sit and smell station. At the stand, we got to go into a space about as big as the soddies back then and actually experience what it would be like, and how little of space you had to work with. At the sit station, you had to sit for a minute straight without moving while your picture was taken to represent what they had to do back in the early 1900's in order to get a picture, which is probably why most people didn't smile. At the smell station there were two bags full of grass and soil and we each smelled it and wrote what we thought. It was pretty distinct, not necessarily a bad smell, just very strong. Today in class, we worked on our presentations which we will present friday to the entrepreneurs who we will try to sell our product too. My product is the steel plow. I learned that it was very different from the old wooden one, and actually 10,000 of them were sold in a matter of two or three years.