Immigrants come to America

We finished discussing the following questions in class:

1. What were the factors that pushed emigrants out of their country?



2. What were the reasons that pulled immigrants to the United States?



3. How did German immigrants influence American culture?



4. Why did the Irish immigrants leave Ireland? Explain



5. Why did some Americans fear immigrants?

Cotton Gin increases the demand for slavery

We finished our class discussion over the effects of the Cotton Gin in the South. Also, during the last minutes of class, regular classes viewed a political cartoon of Immigration during the 1800s and Pre-AP classes began working on their group skits describing the "Push & Pull Factors" during the 1800s for most of the immigrants.

Slavery & Plantations

Today, all classes began "Cutting out the fat" (a note taking strategy that help students summarize the section(s) they read by writing out the main idea using the number of words given by the teacher). The following questions should be answered after reading pages 332-337:

1. How did the invention of the Cotton Gin affect the south?


2. Why did the demand for slaves in the south increase?


3. How did slaves deal with the harsh conditions of slavery?


4. How did Nat Turner's rebellion affect how African Americans were treated in the south?

so many inventions and so much time

We finished discussing the significance of the many inventions and the results they had on the growth of America.

Do you know Andrew Jackson?

Test today over Andrew Jackson. Afterwards, class discussion over Free Enterprise System and how it affects Americans today.

Industrial Revolution

Students, just a reminder, your Test over Andrew Jackson is tomorrow and if you're missing due to orchestra, make sure that you come by during 7th period and make up your test. Today we began discussing the effects of the Industrial Revolution and how we improved as a nation. Some questions to go over:

• How did the Industrial Revolution affect Americans?


• Why were factories built near water sources and mostly in the North and Northeast?


• How did the invention of the steamboat and telegraph connect the North, South, and West?

Jackson vs. the 2nd National Bank

Students all received their review sheet for their Andrew Jackson Test (on Thursday). They also worked on the next section, Andrew Jackson vs. the 2nd National Bank. Students should be able to answer these questions:

• Why did Jackson hate the 2nd National Bank?



• How did Jackson destroy the 2nd National Bank?



• How did Jackson's actions towards the 2nd National Bank affect the United States?



• Why did the Whig Part form?

Welcome back

Spring Break is over and done with, we must now move on. I enjoyed my trip to Washington D.C. and Philadelphia over Spring Break. I'm pretty sure the others enjoyed it just as much. After hearing about some of the interesting Spring Break stories, we moved on to our review of Andrew Jackson and his presidency. Side Note: Andrew Jackson Test this Thursday March 25th.

Historic Poetry

Students took their 3rd Friday Flashback assessment of the year. Then they analyzed a portion of historic poetry from the Vietnam War along with watching a clip from Forrest Gump.

King Andrew I

Students analyzed 2 Andrew Jackson political cartoons today in class. Andrew Jackson as a king and attempting to destroy the National Bank. Students be ready for some fun stuff tomorrow.

Taxes and Rejection

Students finished reading and discussing Chapter 12 section 3 and the main topic discussed today was the Tariff of Abomination & the Doctrine of Nullification. Why do tariffs effect the South greatly? How would internal improvements encourage financial growth within the U.S.?

Jackson vs. the Vice-President

President Andrew Jackson and his Vice-President John C. Calhoun began to have issues over the rights of states and if they should be allowed to reject Federal laws within the states. Students began their note taking process, "Cutting out the fat" over pages 363-367.

Welcome back....

I found out today that it's not easy trying to making the classroom more positive. Some are reluctant while others embrace it quietly. I hoping that it will help the overall classroom environment for the student as well as the teacher. Change is never an easy thing...ask the Cherokee nation and Andrew Jackson. There was an issue between the two side over power, well namely land and gold. But let's face it President Jackson didn't care to lose any of his power. Should the President be able to tell the citizens within the country that he serves that certain groups of people should not be allowed to live where they have lived most of their life?

So I've got some big news...

Guess who was signed by the Mavericks? Don't worry guys, I've worked out a deal with the owner of the Mavs, he's going to allow me to teach during the school day, as long as I'm able to make it to the games. How many of y'all would like to come to my first game?

President Andrew Jackson

Classes finished up the introduction of Andrew Jackson. We talked about the way Andrew Jackson was raised and what he went through as a child and how that may have affected his Presidency. Jackson faced issues with the Native Americans, the National Bank, & the Vice-President.

Who's that guy on the 20 dollar bill?

Students began reading about the 7th President of the United States. Soon they will see why the Native American population was not a fan of his presidency. Why is Andrew Jackson's presidency celebrated in this country? Was he for the people or did that change once he became President? He was an interesting American figure.