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  • Founding of Washington D.C.

    Washington DC is one of the most unique American cities due to the fact that it was designated as the nation’s capital by the Constitution of the United States when it was founded on July 16, 1790. There has been a long history of political maneuvering, sectional conflicts, issues of race, national identity, compromises, and power struggles that have surrounded the city from the very beginning. Washington’s site along the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers was selected by a compromise between Alexander Hamilton and northern states, who wanted the federal government to assume Revolutionary War debts, and Thomas Jefferson and southern states, who preferred a location that favored slave-holding agricultural interests. 

    To prepare for the arrival of the new government in 1800, the first president and the namesake of the city, George Washington chose the site and appointed three commissioners. In his native France, Pierre Charles L’Enfant designed the city as a bold new capital with sweeping boulevards and ceremonial spaces. Benjamin Banneker, an African American mathematical prodigy who was self-taught, contributed the astronomical computations for the surveying and design of the city. The transformation of Washington into a grand city, though, was not realized until a century later, when the McMillan Commission revised its blueprint to create the National Mall and iconic monuments that define Washington for present-day visitors.

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  • Vice President Arthur.

    It is difficult to imagine Chester Arthur serving as vice president. It is likely that we have never seen a vice president assume office, even just in theory, with such a lack of readiness for national leadership. The most prominent role he had previously held was as Collector of Customs of the Port of New York. He had never been elected to a position of great importance. His entire history was quite unremarkable, indeed. Arthur’s career trajectory was not particularly impressive prior to his role as vice president. He had faced termination from his previous position as Collector of Customs due to a corruption probe. However, he did benefit from a strong ally in Senator Roscoe Conkling.1 

    Conkling, a key figure in New York politics and a close associate of Ulysses S. Grant, wielded significant influence within the New York Republican party. As the one who determined political candidates, job placements, and financial obligations, Conkling was displeased that Garfield, an outsider from Ohio with no ties to him, emerged as the Republican Candidate. In order to appease the Conkling wing of the party, known as the Stalwarts, who were loyal to President Grant, Garfield had to make efforts to win over New York and secure its electoral votes. New York was a crucial swing state at the time. Garfield’s team approached New York and assured them that regardless of their choice for vice president, Ohio would fully support it. This strategy proved successful, leading to the selection of Arthur as Garfield’s running mate. 

    Arthur, when approached about the vice presidency, gladly accepted the offer, never anticipating the immense honor that awaited him. Arthur was chosen as the vice presidential candidate, serving as a unifying figure between the two opposing factions within the party. Following the convention, he and Garfield pursued separate paths. Garfield returned to his farm in Ohio, while Arthur returned to New York City to fundraise and mobilize support for the Garfield campaign, fulfilling his duties as a loyal vice president. It is probable that without Arthur’s contributions, Garfield would not have been elected president. The election marked the closest popular vote in U.S. history, with a slim margin of just a few thousand votes out of more than 9 million cast. 

    Arthur’s loyalty to Roscoe Conkling was unquestionable, despite his instrumental role in helping Garfield secure the presidency. Prior to his inauguration, Arthur resided in Conkling’s residence. Additionally, Conkling tasked Arthur with persuading Republicans who had been selected to serve in Garfield’s cabinet to decline the offer. Conkling’s persistence often led to these individuals eventually agreeing to send a letter of polite refusal to Garfield. Shortly after assuming the role of Vice President, Arthur began pressuring Garfield to allocate patronage jobs and government positions to Conkling and other Stalwarts, even as the president was actively working to reform the Civil Service and diminish the influence of the patronage system. 

    Newspaper articles popped up about how worrying it was that Arthur was only a heartbeat away from the presidency. But though the thought of him becoming president was terrible, it wasn’t really going to happen. The president was a hale and hearty war hero in his late forties, the type of guy who did backflips and wrestled with his teenage sons. And although Lincoln’s assassination was just sixteen years before, it was seen as a tragedy that could have only happened in wartime.2

    Work Cited:  https://exchange.prx.org/pieces/89626/transcripts/202802.

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  • Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce.

    Chief Joseph was born in Wallowa Valley, Oregon Territory on March 3, 1840. In 1877, when the United States tried to relocate the Nez Percé to a reservation, he reluctantly complied. After a group of white settlers was killed, tensions rose once more, prompting Chief Joseph to attempt leading his people to Canada, a move now recognized as a significant retreat in military history. Chief Joseph, born Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt, was the leader of a Nez Percé band. His Native American name, Thunder Rolling Down a Mountain, was later known as Joseph, the name his father, Joseph the Elder, had adopted after his baptism in 1838.

    Joseph the Elder had an extraordinary connection with the white settlers. He was among the first Nez Percé leaders to embrace Christianity, and his impact played a significant role in fostering harmony with the white community. In 1855, he skillfully negotiated a fresh treaty, resulting in the establishment of a brand-new reservation exclusively for the Nez Percé people. However, the tranquility was delicate. Following the discovery of gold in the Nez Percé region, Caucasian prospectors started to flood their territories. The dynamics swiftly shifted when the US government reclaimed numerous acres that were initially pledged to Joseph the Elder and his community. The furious leader condemned his previous American acquaintances and obliterated his holy book. Moreover, he declined to endorse the limits of this “new” reservation and left the Wallowa Valley. 

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  • Gold Rush!

    The events unfolded on January 24, 1848, at the South Fork of the American River, close to present-day Coloma, California. John Sutter had enlisted several individuals to construct a sawmill in the vicinity, with James Marshall being one of the workers. It was on that significant day that Marshall spotted small specks of gold in the water flowing from the mill. After gathering some of the gold specks, he shared his discovery with Sutter, who made Marshall promise to keep it a secret. Despite the agreement, the news spread, possibly due to others also noticing the gold in the mill water. However, the story quickly gained popularity, with a publisher named Samuel Brannan walking the streets of San Francisco holding a jar of gold. The New York Herald was the first major East Coast newspaper to report Marshall’s discovery on August 19. President James K. Polk informed the nation about the gold find in a speech to Congress on December 5. Soon after, the rush began, with ’49ers, as they were known (after the year they set out, 1849), flocking to California in the thousands. In 1849, the number of gold-seeking migrants reached 80,000. While most were Americans in 1849, the following years saw gold-seekers arriving from all corners of the globe. By 1856, over 300,000 individuals had pursued their gold dreams in the California gold fields. Initially, prospectors could easily find gold nuggets by sifting through the top layers of dirt or in streams and riverbeds using methods like panning. However, as the gold supply decreased and the demand for gold rose, prospectors began using more advanced techniques. 

    Development of California

    The influx of ’49ers and other prospectors who migrated to California in pursuit of their dreams discovered a fondness for the region that led them to settle down. San Francisco’s population skyrocketed from 200 in 1846 to 36,000 in 1852. Similar growth was witnessed in other cities and towns across California. Consequently, California achieved statehood in 1850, with its infrastructure rapidly expanding: Schools, churches, roads, and businesses emerged from previously barren land, as individuals capitalized on the opportunity to provide goods and services to prospectors. Supply stores, warehouses, taverns, and hotels sprang up in the vicinity of known gold-rich areas, transforming the landscape.

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  • The “Indian Problem”.

    A total of 125,000 Native Americans lived on vast expanses of land in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina, and Florida during the early 1830s – territories their forefathers had inhabited and farmed for generations. However, by the close of the decade, only a small number of indigenous people remained in the southeastern region of the United States. Acting in the interests of white settlers eager to cultivate cotton on Native Americans’ territories, the federal government compelled them to abandon their ancestral lands and embark on a grueling trek spanning thousands of miles to a designated “Indian territory” situated beyond the Mississippi River. This arduous and at times fatal expedition is now remembered as the Trail of Tears.1 

    White Americans, especially those residing on the western frontier, often harbored fear and animosity towards the Native Americans they encountered. American Indians were viewed as unfamiliar and alien individuals who inhabited land covered by white settlers. In the American republics earlier years, only certain officials, In order to resolve the “Indian problem,” many people, including George Washington, believed that “civilizing” Native Americans would be the most effective solution. The goal of this civilization’s capability was to work the Native Americans into white American culture by promoting their conversion to Christianity, English language acquisition, and adoption of European economic practices such as private land ownership and, in some cases in the South, ownership of African slaves. In the southeastern United States, numerous Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, Creek, and Cherokee individuals embraced these customs and were collectively referred to as the “Five Civilized Tribes.”2

    Indian removal also occurred in the Northern states. In Illinois and Wisconsin, the violent Black Hawk War of 1832 resulted in the opening of millions of acres of land to white settlement that had previously belonged to the Sauk, Fox, and other indigenous nations. The land in Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, Florida, and Tennessee was highly valuable and became increasingly desired as more white settlers arrived in the region. Many of these settlers were eager to profit from cotton cultivation and were willing to take the land by any means necessary, regardless of the level of “civilization” of the native inhabitants. They engaged in theft of livestock, arson, looting, and squatting on land that did not rightfully belong to them. State governments actively participated in the expulsion of Native Americans from the South by passing laws that restricted their sovereignty and rights, encroaching on their territories. Despite objections from the U.S. Supreme Court in cases like Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831) and Worcester v. Georgia (1832), the mistreatment of native nations persisted. President Andrew Jackson, in 1832, made it clear that he had no intention of enforcing the Supreme Court’s decisions, allowing Southern states to continue their efforts to claim Indian lands through any means necessary.3

    Work Cited

    1. History.com Editors, “Trail of Tears,” HISTORY, Last modified September 26, 2023. Accessed March 22, 2024. https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/trail-of-tears.

    2. History.com Editors, “Trail of Tears.”

    3. Ibid.

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  • Andrew Jackson!

    About Andrew Jackson.

    Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in Waxhaw’s, a region between South Carolina and North Carolina. He was a lawyer and landowner who became a war hero when he defeated the British in New Orleans in 1812. In 1828, Jackson was elected seventh president of the United States. In addition to destroying the National Bank and founding the Democratic Party, Jackson was known for his support of individual liberty. June 8, 1845, was the date of his death.

    Andrew Jackson’s parents were Andrew and Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson. Jackson’s mother was making her way across the Appalachian Mountains after burying her husband, who died three weeks before his son was born. Thus, the exact location of his birth was unknown. He is presumed to have been born at one of his uncles’ houses in the Waxhaws region, which straddles North Carolina and South Carolina.

     As Jackson was growing up in that area, he received an erratic education. Andrew joined the local militia and served as a courier during the Revolutionary War, at age 13. His older brother died in the Battle of Stono Ferry in 1779 wherein Andrew and his brother Robert were captured by the British. While the two brothers were in captivity, they developed the disease smallpox, Robert, unfortunately, did not recover from it. A few days after they got released from the British authorities, Robert died. It wasn’t long after his brother’s death that his mother also passed away from cholera. Andrew was orphaned at the young age of 14. 

    In his late teens, Andrew was raised by his uncles and from there he started studying law in Salisbury, North Carolina. Only eight months after Andrew was elected to the Senate, he resigned from his job. In 1798, Jackson was elected a judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court, serving in that position until 1804. Along with being a lawyer, politician, and judge, he was also a landowner and a merchant. 

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  • Don’t follow her dream!

    The snake dream.

    In the book Agamemnon, Clytemnestra killed her husband, who is Orestes’ father. Naturally, in the subsequent play, the Libation-Bearers, he is mad at his mother, and he’s looking for a reason to murder her. Clytemnestra had a dream that she gave birth to a snake to later torment her. Orestes (Clytemnestra’s son) immediately comes to the conclusion that she was dreaming of him, that he was the snake. To get revenge for his father’s murder, he believes he must do the same to his mother as the snake did to her in her dream. Orestes wants the snake to be him, he wants a reason or a sign that is telling him to kill his mom. The snake isn’t necessarily him but he wants it to be him. The snake could be Orestes just not in the way he thinks it is. Let me explain before I tell you what I think. 

    First of all, Orestes thinks this dream is a sign from the gods. He wants to kill his mom, but he doesn’t just want to do it without a bigger reason than just revenge. So, he is searching for a sign and thinks he finally gets one. Obviously, Orestes has a right to be mad at his mom for killing his dad, but I don’t think even more murder has ever solved anything. So, what I think the dream might symbolize is, Orestes is the snake, because in the dream his mother gave birth to a snake just like she gave birth to him. The snake later torments her, just like Orestes is trying to find a way to do the same. So maybe the snake dream had a double meaning, the first meaning is, what Orestes originally thought it was, that he needs to murder his mother. It could also be telling the future. This dream could have been given to her by the gods so he could hear it and follow it, but it could also be telling the future since he ended up killing his mother because of the dream. The gods probably knew he would hear the dream and kill his mom, so they made it the future at the same time. The dream was the present and the future.

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  • French Estates, Turmoil and Unrest in France.

    In the late 1700’s nowhere in Europe was the gap between the affluent and the impoverished as pronounced as in France. The French nobility stood out as some of the most prosperous individuals on the continent, commanding extensive land holdings, substantial wealth, and wielding unchecked authority without the oversight of a parliamentary system like that of Great Britain. The impoverished population in France was enduring immense hardships. They were subjected to mistreatment, neglect, and exploitation. Compelled to labor on the affluents’ estates for minimal wages under deplorable circumstances, they were plagued by hunger, illness, filth, fatigue, and escalating bitterness year after year. 

    French society was structured into three distinct social classes referred to as estates. The initial estate was comprised of priests and religious figures, who held the highest position in French society. The second estate consisted of the nobility, while the third and lowest estate encompassed the remaining population, which accounted for over 97% of France’s inhabitants. 

    In 1774, Louis XVI ascended to the throne of France at the age of 19, with his 18-year-old wife, Marie Antoinette. The new King inherited a significant amount of debt from his predecessors, which was further exacerbated by his support for the American Revolution against Great Britain. Desperate to address France’s financial woes, Louis XVI attempted to levy taxes on the first and second estates, which had previously been exempt from such obligations. However, these estates refused to comply with the new tax measures. 

    In 1789, King Louis XVI convened the Estates-General in Versailles to address the issue of taxes. Comprised of representatives from the three social estates in France, this assembly had not been assembled since 1610. King Louis XVI convened the Estates-General with the expectation that they would address the nation’s debt issues. Contrary to his hopes, the Estates-General aimed to seize power from the King and tackle the societal problems they believed were afflicting the population.

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  • Slavery.

    Until very recently, British involvement in the transatlantic slave trade was often overlooked. Thousands of African slaves passed through British ports in abject conditions in the 18th century, and the idea remains unpalatable to most. However, according to James Walvin, professor emeritus of history at York University, the slave trade was essentially a British invention during the 18th century. There will probably never be an exact number of British ships that traded slaves for sugar and other commodities, but historians, such as David Richardson of Hull University, estimate that at least 3.4 million Africans were transported to the Americas on British vessels. As the slave trade grew, profits went into British pockets.The transportation of captured slaves from Africa to the Americas was commonly carried out by slavers, who traversed the Atlantic Ocean. This journey, known as the ‘Middle Passage’, formed a crucial part of the ‘triangular trade’ system. During this time, the slave ship often sailed alone for two months. A slave revolt on board was the greatest fear of the small crew. To keep control, they carried pistols and cutlasses, whipping the slaves with a ‘cat o’ nine tails’ for any slight error. It was common to separate the men from the women and children by a high wooden wall, and they were always shackled with iron leg chains.

    Beginning of Abolition movement. 

    Initially, there was limited opposition to the slave trade, as many British people saw it as a profitable business that provided luxury goods, employment, and financial benefits. The issue of abolition was not given much attention due to a mindset of ignoring the problem if it was not visible. However, the situation changed in the early 1780s when freed slaves from America arrived in Britain after the American War of Independence. This brought the issue of slavery into the public and political spotlight, leading to the beginning of the abolition movement. A significant number of black Americans had fought alongside the British during the conflict, and a considerable portion of them were brought to London before being sent to Sierra Leone for a fresh start. The argument for abolition gained momentum in 1781 when the captain of a Liverpool slave vessel tossed over 130 African slaves into the sea and attempted to collect insurance money for them. The insurance company for the ship contested the claim, leading to a court case that exposed the harsh realities of the slave trade. This pivotal moment shifted public opinion against the continuation of the trade.

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  • To close to reach!

    In the Pre-Iliadic stories, prior to the Agamemnon, Tantalus cooked his son and served him to the gods because he was testing them. The gods punished him for it because it was wrong in so many ways. The symbolism behind Tantalus doing this relates to selfish people. I’m not saying that everyone would do this but, a lot of people will put other people in bad situations just to help themselves. Humans are very selfish. We think our lives are more important than anyone else’s. We tend to be the most important person in our lives because we can’t feel other people’s pain and emotions at the time. If we can’t feel other people’s pain, we don’t care. It’s not our problem it’s their’s (as some people think). The Bible says put others before yourself, and we don’t tend to do that. Although we don’t go as far as Tantalus did, we will go to some extreme to make ourselves happy or accomplish our own goals.

     I read something recently and this symbolism reminded me of it. It said, “I wish we hated our sin as much as we hate everyone else’s”. Since our mind is in our own bodies, we know the reason behind why we do the things we do, and so it’s ok, but we just think that when other people do the same thing, they’re doing it just because it’s sin and they don’t care. So, the moral of this symbolism is that some people should relate to Tantalus because he sacrificed what should have been a very important and special person in his life just to try to accomplish his own goals. So, lesson number one in this essay is to never cook anyone, believe me, it’s just wrong:) and don’t be selfish to a point where anyone gets hurt, or their life, and yours, becomes less meaningful.

    The second point of the symbolism is Tantalus’s punishment. He went to Greek hell. His punishment was that he had water at his feet, but when he reached for it, it would disappear, and fruit hanging from a tree above him within reach, but right when he reached for it, it suddenly wasn’t within reach anymore. They were torturing him with things he could see and reach but were not within reach. This reminds me of life goals, we can imagine them, and have it all planned out, and they’re within reach until they are not. The world tortures us with all of these amazing accomplishments and dreams we see other people have, and they make us think we can reach whatever goal we want, but it’s harder than what we see in our minds. We can accomplish goals and dreams, but they are not within reach like we want them to be, and we have to be tortured and struggle before we are even close. We have to work for what we get; it doesn’t just get handed to us. 

    I think specifically the water and the fruit symbolize the essential thing that we need to live, but we still have to work for. We need to accomplish things to feel needed, we want people to want and need us, so we feel like the essential food and water that people want to reach for. I know this is a weird connection, but it’s very true for humans. I kind of thought of the people who (as they say) play hard to get, or the people who do things just to make other people feel bad for them, or put themselves in a situation where they harm themselves just to feel like someone else cares. People who play hard to get, they know the person pursuing them will never be able to achieve them. They torture them just like the gods tortured Tantalus, putting something in front of him knowing he won’t ever get what he wants, because if he gets what he wants, he won’t want it anymore, He’ll be satisfied with it, and that was his punishment. People that play hard to get, never want people to achieve them. In order for them to feel wanted, they want someone to not take them for granted. If you finally achieve them, you won’t want them anymore because you have them, and you’ll be content. As for the people who will do anything for attention, they will go as far as hurting their bodies just to feel wanted. That shows you that attention is important for every human. Studies show that about 17% of people below twenty years of age these days harm themselves for attention, or just so they can feel something, because they feel that the people around them don’t care about them. So, the connection I am trying to make between humans now and Tantalus then is in all our goals we want, whether it be people or things. Getting what we want sometimes is harder than just reaching for it and it being right there. Although Tantalus’s situation is much different than ours, he reached for what he couldn’t achieve. If it wasn’t a punishment from the gods and they just put him there to make him work hard for what he was reaching for, it would be an even more relatable story.

    Works Cited

    Salamon, Maureen. Cutting and self-harm. Maureen Salamon, 2024, http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/cutting-and-self-harm-why-it-happens-and-what-to-do-202305312940#:~:text=About%2017%25%20of%20teenagers%20engage%20in%20self-harm%20at,least%20once%2C%20according%2.

    : Why it happens and what to do – Harvard Health

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