Fredrick Douglass, an American Slave questions

Ben Howson

APUSH per. 6

11/13/15

1. Is Douglass treated consistently by his various masters? What factors affected the relative kindness or brutality of the masters?

Douglass had many master throughout his life, and they were all very different from one another. Some were extremely kind and loving, never wanting to hurt a fly, but there was also many on the other side of the spectrum, and they were just horrible people. From Douglass's experience, the woman were the sweetest and most kind to the slaves, and treated them like human beings, but there was the accessional bad one. It was the religious masters that Douglass said were the worst, and most cruel. But in terms of location, slaveholders that were in the cities were far better than those who owned plantations. Douglass said that they were pretty much two entirely different places. In the cities, the people were much nicer, they gave them food, clothes, shoes, and cared for them, where on the plantations, they were barely fed, and were just a number that could easily be replaces by another.    

2. According to Douglass, what were some of the affects of slavery upon the enslaved? Upon the slaveholder?

Slavery was and still is a very powerful thing, and it changes people, manipulating them to be different than they once were. For those that were enslaved, slavery gave them a life in constant fear with anxiety, no trust upon others, and it made pretty much made slaves not human, and not living a life. For the slaveholders, slavery brought out peoples dark side. For example Douglass said that slavery changed his mistress, taking all of her heavenly values and the good person that she was, and just changing her, also taking away her life, and what it is to be human.  

3. What behaviors and actions did the slaveholders use Christianity to justify and how does Douglass effectively point out their hypocrisy?

You would think that the Christian slaveholders would be one of the nicest slaveholders because their religion is about equality, and the fairness of equality between people. But this was definitely not the case, because from reading what Douglass wrote, Christian Slaveholders were the worst. They believed that they needed to fix the slaves and really just the blacks in general, because they believed that the devil was in them, and that they pretty much needed to beat the devil out of them. Douglass points out their hypocrisy, and that is that what they were doing was not apart of their religion, in fact it was close to being against their religion, because they believed in equality and what they were ding was far from that.  

4. What would white northerners have found most shocking when reading Douglass's autobiography? What do you find shocking about it?

I truly believe that the white northerners would just be completely shocked by the whole thing, but mostly about how poorly they were treated. Just that these people were being starved to death, worked to death, and along with those things, that the slaveholders had high expectations for them to do good work and do it fast, even though they found it hard to simply stand up. Although simple and not seeming like a super huge and big deal, the thing that shocked me the most was the simple fact they they had no idea when they were born, how old they are, and not even remembering their mother, the very person that brought them into this world. I couldn't agree more with Douglass, that the fact that they take them away from their mother, is completely dehumanizing and wrong. To me, I think that it would just be so weird not even knowing the simple things about your self, that everyone has a right to know, but I guess not then.

5. Based on what Douglass was able to accomplish, especially given his birth into enslavement, how would you characterize him?

Due to what Douglass was able to accomplish during his life, I would characterize him as an extremely intelligent man, who was very luck and fortunate enough to have been able to read and write as a slave. He was very open minded, and was able to look from other peoples perspectives, even his owners, and that must meen that he was mentally very strong and was able to understand the position that other people were in. He devoted his life to make a change, because he didn't want to just stand there, he was a doer.  

DBQ Essay

Ben Howson
AP Us History
10/13/2015


           1750 to 1776 was a very important time period in American History. During this time, the people of the new world will have to decide wether or not they want to be free from England, and if they want to become Americans. Many speeches will take place to try and make the people pick a side, and things like political cartoons, the First Continental Congress, the battle of lexington and concord, the Second Continental congress, and more will force the American colonists to pick a side. The people of America would have this entire time period (1750-1776) to take their side, and on the eve of the Revolution and during it, they will have to stand by their decision or die for it. There was no in the middle, you were either for the revolution, or against it, American or British, for freedom or against it. Before the Eve of the Revolution, the majority of the colonists had taken the identity of proud Americans, yet there were many others who did not embrace this identity, due to doubt and being scared, so they would take their place by their king.
          Events were taking place in early 1750 which really started to make an impact on people's ideas and beliefs about government, as well as possibly separating from their mother land. This all started in 1754, when Benjamin Franklin created the first ever political cartoon, and it was created for the Albany Plan of Union. The Albany Plan was a plan to place British North American colonies under a more centralized form of government. Seven of the North American British colonies adopted this idea, and their was an eighth, but they pulled out hence why the snake is cut up into eight pieces. Although this plan didn't work, it was the first attempt at putting colonies as a whole under one government, and it was the first big step forward for America, opening the eyes of many people, giving them a taste of what could be possible for America in the near future. But this was only the beginning, the starting point of an idea, a dream that over time would grow to become the dream of many people, and soon no longer it will be a dream, but reality and the impossible. But a lot would have to happen before then such as the First Continental Congress.
         The First Continental congress took place in 1774 in Philadelphia. Here, 12 of the 13 colonies would come together, all but Georgia. Georgia didn't take place in this, because they didn't want to up set the British, and because they were needing British help to solve some problems with the Native Americans. Here at Carpenters' Hall, the delegates discussed what they want to do about England, due to some of the events that have accord in the past, such as the Boston Massacre, The French and Indian war, and the passing of the intolerable acts, and other forms of taxation against the colonies, which eventually lead to The Boston Tea Party. The people of America were truly fed up with the British, and they knew that something had to be done. Many of the Colonists had already begun to revolt at this point, and everyone was thinking about doing the unthinkable, but no one had the guts to even say it out loud, just because it was a suicide mission. But then Massachusetts stood up, and said the unthinkable, the thing that no one else would say. They came up with the idea that the colonies should to begin arming them selfs, and to take them up against the British. No one could believe what they had just heard. They all agreed that they should start to gather weapons, but were not ready to take up against the British yet, because they wished to try some other ways before going into all out war, so later they settled on the boycott of British goods, and so all of the delegates signed the Continental Association.  In Short it worked, they were able to boycott the British goods, and dropped the British imports by 97 percent, but unfortunately, but The Intolerable Acts were still in play, which meant that their jobs was not over yet. This was a huge part in history which truly lead the Americans in to a revolution. The First Continental Congress gave people hope, and they saw that it is possible to get what they want, but they would just have to fight for it. They were no starting to believe the impossible. This eventually lead to the Battle of Lexington and Concord.
      The Battle of lexington and Concord took both place in 1775 in Massachusetts. This was the first ever battle between the colonies and the British. What happened was the British heard that the colonist had begun to buy weapons, arms, and had even begun to train people how to fight, and they did not like this one bit. So the British sent out soldiers to confiscate their arms, but they had no idea what they were about to get them selfs into. After a lot of fighting, retreating, and masses amounts of death on both sides, The American militia had lead the British into a narrow area where they blockaded the British army and took up Gorilla war fare, and the American Militia won. This came as such a large surprise to everyone, they had actually just won a battle against the British. This was a huge confidence boost for the Americans, and it would definitely help them out in the near future. It showed many people that they could do the impossible, and that they could be a proud American. This battle brought many people that were scared of the British to see that they shouldn't be scared, and so that night many people all around the colonies in America took the proud identity of an American. With the success of defeating the British, the Colonies decided it best to hold the Second Continental Congress, so that they could decide on what their next move should be.
     The Second Continental took place in 1775 in Philadelphia, and here again 12 of the 13 delegates would discuss what they should do next. Many of the same people were at this meeting, but also some new people joined the discussion. The conversation was many ruled by the wanting of independence from England, as well as adopting the Declaration of Independence, but this would not be put into place by 1776. Also during this meeting, they discussed gathering more arms, raising an army, creating strategies, and more such as creating formal treaties. During the Second Continental Congress, they appointed George Washington as the leader of the Continental Army, the army which he would soon take to war against the British. They all had just agreed upon going to war with the British, their mother land, but from now until then, they would have to really step it up, and fortunately they had something to fight for; their Freedom! Later the Battle of Bunker Hill would take place, and this was the point of no going back, but this didn't matter, because America was holding their own against the British, and at that time, America knew that they could win. This was the moment in time, where the people would be forced to choose a side, and because of the recent battles won by America, lots of the colonists had faith, and stood by America, making them as a whole stronger than ever. They wanted their freedom so bad, that they were willing to do anything for it. It was official, the American Revolution had just begun, and history was about to be made.
     Before the eve of the American Revolution, the colonist in America had pick which side they would fight for, either they would embrace the American identity willing to fight for their freedom which many of the colonist did, or they coward in the shadows of the British. Many events would take place between the time of 1750 to 1776 leading up to the revolution, which would eventually force the colonists of America to choose their side. In around 1750, the colonists were not entirely bothered by the British, but sure there were a few things that got on their nerves, but nothing catastrophic. But towards 1760, the colonists had begun to have enough of the British, and started to revolt when things like the Boston Tea Party happened, and other events alike, along with quite a lot of taxing. This really started to build a fire inside of the colonists, which led to the start of picking sides. Later, The British would begin to really breath down the necks of the colonists, and this type of thing led to the Continental Congress, where the colonists would for the first time ever, come together and discuss about what actions to take. When Britain found out about this, they were definitely not happy, and ended up going into battle with the colonists in the Battles of Lexington and Concord. To everyones surprise, the colonists actually ended up winning the battles, which was a huge turing point  for America, because after this happened, this made many people pick up the American identity, and now many wanted to be free from Britain. This led to the Second Continental Congress, where they discussed what their options were, and in the end, agreed upon creating a revolution, by taking up arms against the British. Soon came the eve of the revolution, and by this time the majority of the colonists had picked their side, but the American identity greatly out weighed that of the British identity in America.          
 
                                               

Colonial Life in Virginia

Ben Howson
09/17/15
Us History

Question: "What does this evidence tell us about life in colonial Virginia?"

The York Country records of 1648 shows us that life at that time completely revolved around tobacco. The economy was all about tobacco, so much so, that tobacco pretty much became the currency. Every slave owner wanted the most amount of tobacco, so that they could make a lot of money. By looking at the records, most men are European indentured servants, and next to their name, they have the amount of time they have worked for, and to the right, it says how many pounds of tobacco they have collected. But this is actually what they are worth, and if they were to be sold, this is the amount of money that they would be sold for. But on the list there are also two black males, but next to their names, there is no amount of time, and to the right it says that they have both collected 2000 pounds of tobacco. Like I said, this number is actually their value, and because there is no time, in which they will have to stop working they are more expensive than the european indentured servants. They will work for ever, and who ever, being sold back and forth between owners. This really shows us that life in colonial Virginia was very hard for those who were indentured servants and slaves.  

Link To Website on the History of tea

For All The Tea In China Project

Tea is a huge part of our history. In my opinion I love tea, but never really thought much about where it came from, how it became such a huge commodity, and so on. So I decided that I would look into it, and what I found amazed me. I had no idea how much tea has impacted history, and has made it what it is today. For All the Tea In China by Sarah Rose, is a step by step story about "How England Stole the World's favorite drink and changed history." This book is packed full of information, but not like what you would find in a text book, instead an incredible story about one man, an idea, and Europe's love for tea.  

Middle East Project: Israel and Iran's Nuclear Programs

Thoughts and Reflections on: Maps in the Middle East

Ben Howson
World History 2 per.2
Thoughts and Reflections
05/06/15

Continuation of The Israeli - Arab Conflict
This video starts off with the defeat of the Arabs in 1948, and then goes on to talk about Nasa gaining arms from the Soviet Union, and how he became the new power in Egypt, and all the conflict that it created with other countries, such as the Israel, France, and Great Britain. It then moves on to the the wars that this created, and how it was all ended with the USSR, USA, and UN getting envolved. Israel and Egypt had a peace agreement in 1978. It then gets back to the wars between the Israelis and Arabs, and how they had lots of wars due to the disagreements between the two, but came to a time of no war between the two, while discussing things, but in 2000 Israel disengaged.

Continuation of the Israeli - Palestinian Conflict
This conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians was due something that had happened during the conflict of Israelis and Arabs. 1987 was the beginning of the Intifada, which lead to the negotiations and Oslo Acause between Israel and the Palestinians in 1993, which lead to the peace process. It then talks about how every thing was going well, because they hadn't covered any of the sensitive topics, which they eventually got to, and that caused the second outbreak to happen, which gave the Israeli army an excuse for a violent recuperation of the Palestinian towns. This forced the USA, and other big powers to intervine, which ended out straitening up both the Israelis and Palestinians.      

From watching the videos on the different maps in the Middle East, I have noticed a trend. Basically, there is a country that has conflict with another, they try to work it out multiple times, but they all end up in war. Then while they are solving their problems, and have done so, another country decides to pick a fight with one of them, and then like before, they try to work it out, but it just ends up with both of them going to war. Then later they finally solve their problems with another. This same trend continues on, and on, their is basically never a time, when one country isn't fighting with one other country or multiple. They go to war, or fight a couple of times, but then finally find a thing in which they could agree upon. All of these fights are always on the same topics, and a lot of the time, fights between the same countries, fighting for the same thing that they were last time. But for something to finally stop, other countries in the world, like the USA, would become involved and force the two to come to an agreement, in which both would be able to work with.

   

Thoughts and Reflections on: A Leader Tries to Shape a Master Race.

Ben Howson
World History 2 Per. 2
5/04/15

The Holocaust 

It is possible for a modern society to carry out a systematic murder of a people for no other reason other than they are Jewish, and this exact thing happened during the Holocaust. Germany was in an economic crisis, but then Hitler stood up and got everyone's attention. He blamed the Jewish for what had happened, and he truly got people to believe that he was right, so they went along with it. Even when the killings started to happen, Hitler had just engraved in people's minds, that what they were doing was right. He stood up when people were down, and he got them to do what he wanted with no questions. There is always a reason why some people resist and other's obey authority. Many people obeyed Hitler, because they were scared to stand up against him, but some people, despite the fear, really knew that what he was doing was wrong, and that it would have to stop. They basically thought that giving up their life trying to help others was worth it, because they looked at it as one life for a hundred. For the people that obeyed Hitler, they could of had something really important to them, like a family, and just didn't want to leave them, so they chose fear, and to obey him. Many people stood by and did nothing when the Holocaust happened, for really three reasons. Either

the people whom worker for Hitler were truly convinced that what they were doing was the right thing. The people that were against him, they were treated like Jews the moment they stood up, there for couldn't do really anything. Also, basically anyone that was outside of Germany had no idea what was happening for the longest time, because they would show them fake videos of the camps, to make people believe that every thing that they were doing was good. I am sure that an event like this could happen today under the right circumstances, it is just that we would be better prepared for it, so it probably wouldn't get to the same point of extremity. Today, the situation in North Korea is pretty simular to what happened in the Holocaust, but with just a few minor differences. The thing that sets apart the Holocaust from other events in history, is that during that time, basically an entire group of people was wiped out; exterminated due to the vision of one man in power.