Black Indians: An American Story

       Today I was assigned a video to watch and blog about. It was about Black Indians and their experience with their racial identities. A lot of the stories were about how if they told people they were Indians, that no one believed them or people said they were just black. I thought the video was really cool, because I didn't know about black Indians until today. It was cool to learn about how these people identify themselves and that they're very proud of the fact that they are both African American and Indian.

Samuel Slater and the American Industrial Revolution.

       In this blog post we will learn about Samuel Slater. When Samuel was young his father apprenticed him to a cotton mill guy named Jedediah Strutt. (Doesn't sound like some one I would apprentice my son to...) The apprenticeship was part of a deal in which Samuel's father sold some land to Strutt so that Strutt could build a textile mill. Strutt was partnered with a man who invented a lot of machines that improved the textile mill industry. Working with machines for Strutt would prove to be a very valuable experience for Samuel Slater.
       After his years of apprenticeship were done, Samuel Slater wanted to take his expertise in the cotton mill business to somewhere it was needed more. That place was America, however Samuel Slater wasn't allowed to go to America due to the fact that England wanted to keep it's cotton success in England. But, Slater disguised himself as a agricultural worker and made it to America. Once he was there, with the help of a Quaker named Moses Brown, he quickly became a very successful businessman.

Calling Someone a Luditte

       The Luddite's were an interesting group of people. They were active in the early 1800s, they actively opposed machines and would attack places that had them with the purpose of smashing the machines. The Luddites saw machines as a threat the their jobs and their welfare. Now a person with out a cell phone or any such technology might be called a Luddite. However I don't think this is an accurate nickname. Luddites didn't just not have technology, they went around destroying it. If people were to go around smashing someone else's phonel, then it would be appropriate to lable them a Luddite.

Between 1830 and 1845 there was a war to decide the boundaries of Texas. Americans thought that the border should be at Rio Grande. While the Mexicans didn't want the line to go past the Nueces River. After a few battles the Mexicans were driven back past the Rio Grande line. But the Mexicans would not make peace. In Rio Grande, General Taylor took up a strong position at Buena Vista. The Mexicans attacked him with roughly 20,000 warriors. General Taylor's small army fought for their lives for two days straight and ended up with a very important victory.

Steamboat, Railroad, and Telegraph

       In early 1800s the way that people traveled was completely different than they are today. Some of the ways that men got around was jogging from place to place. Pack horses, wagons, and carriages were also common ways to get around on land. As for getting around on water, boats that were rowed or poled along were the only way to get up and down a river, and they were very slow. Some ships even had sails and this was considered a fast way to get around.
       Soon improvements started to be made in the boating world. A schooner named the "Baltimore Clipper" was famous for it's speed, due to a new design of masts called raking masts. Raking masts slanted backwards and propelled the boat forward and a much faster speed. With this new type of boats the United States soon had the fastest navy in the world. Another innovation of the seafaring world was Robert Fulton's steamboat. This new invention completely changed the way people transported merchandise and got around the United States. The Erie Canal was used by steamboats a lot to get from the Hudson River to Lake Erie.
       As for land travel, there was a lot of improvements made there as well.  The National Road was built and used as a main highway for travel. But it quickly became less important with the introduction of railroads. The first railway was only two miles long, was pulled by horses, and was only used to transport rocks. However, in 1830 the first passenger train was run on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
      The methods of communication were a little behind to say the least. Smoke signals were used until around 1830. But in 1835 Morse created the first telegraphic wire. However, it was nine years before congress to appropriate money to set up the first line. And in 1844 the first message was sent from Washington to Baltimore.

Whigs Vs. Democrats

       In politics, there have always been divisions between the different parties. During the time that Andrew Jackson was in office there was a new split of the political parties. The people who supported Jackson fell into the category of Democrats, and those who opposed him were called Whigs. There were a lot of differences, but I will just go over a few of the main differences.

1. The Whigs advocated the reestablishment of the United States Bank, The Democrats were against it.

2. The Whigs wanted to build roads and canals at the expense of the United States. The Democrats didn't think that the government should help with the "internal improvements" as roads and canals were then called.

3. Whigs were all for increasing the power of the government while the Democrats were in favor of states' rights.

Samuel Silas Jack

Last week I did some reaserach on my Great Great Great Great Grandfather, Samuel Silas Jack. I wasn't able to find too much about his life. But I a few dates and records of interest.
    Samuel Silas Jack was born September 11th 1782. On October 3rd in 1805 (23 years old) he married Rebeckah Paxton. Samuel Silas Jack was one of the first people to settle in Warren Coutny, Ohio. In April of 1812 he volontereed in the revolutinary war for one year. He served under Capt. John Sheets. I don't really know what else happened in his life except that he died March 3rd, 1855 (72 years old)