Immigration.

In United States History, as we wrote it, it is mainly immigration. The Native Americans were horribly destroyed and killed, and today tiny fractions of them still live. Upon researching family's genealogy, I found out that my great grandmother might have been half Native American. Interesting! Just about every part of my father's side is German since they came to the Americas pre-Revolution. My mother's side hasn't kept up their records.. so all I know is that they were mainly Scottish, and came to the United States a while after it became the United States. But how did Immigration affect us in the early 1900s?

It redefined what it meant to be an American. Settlers had poured in for centuries, but at this rate? And think about when they came in, right after the Civil War. An American was a person who had fought for what they believed in, from Revolution, to creation of the States, and then the Civil War. America had been defined.

And yet new citizens poured in. Ones who hadn't the last thought or care of the Civil War, who didn't know much of the Revolution. They were, truly, outsiders. They weren't American by that time's standard. That changed the United States. No longer were we a Nation of Settlers who overcame their homeland, brothers and sisters who fought and made peace with one another, we were now foreigners living amoungst each other.

Methods of Running a Country

Taft, Roosevelt, and Wilson all had good ideas when it came to how to run the country.. well kind of. Taft's Dollar Diplomacy had the repercussions of failed investments and appearing greedy, and yet it was still rather wise to value the power of money. Wilson's moral diplomacy served him well, until the apparent needs of his country out-weighed what was best for other nations. Claiming yourself as a moral nation and then doing things specifically for your benefit is hypocritical. Roosevelt's Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick style of presidency worked the best. It proved the nation to be a super power, made the nation prosperous, and protected the nation form others. However it also angered nations like Columbia, the nation in which we forced the Panama Canal on. Personally I view Moral Diplomacy as correct, if you can keep yourself truly moral. This, however, is impossible because as a leader, you can't afford to do things that are morally correct, you need to do what's right for YOUR people. It seems to be a problem most leaders have. Which is why I believe Roosevelt's style is truly the best. As long as you can be honest in what you do, I feel like some things just must be done.

School reform

Today's Education system has several problems which, in my opinion, are only getting worse. While the modern society (of instant knowledge via the internet, the shortening language via texting, and the celebration of stupidity via crazy celebrities) is partially to blame, its the education at the core which is to blame. A new effort in the local grade school is to teach children new methods of mathematics. These lessons are designed to make sure every student has a method they understand and teach children new ways of thinking. In actuality this has created numerous problems, forcing children to use multiple methods which they simply don't understand. 

I have heard and experienced too many cases of teachers not teaching their subjects. Schools lack good, excited, and dedicated teachers who truly wish to teach their subject. In these cases students who wish to learn can not do so. It's a tragedy to see this in schools today needs to be brought to schools' attentions.

Alliances

Without alliances WWI would have never happened. Ironically, the chain of alliances that caused WWI were made to prevent war. It was thought that if you had a large enough alliance, no one would dare start such a large war. It'd be suicidal to declare war on one of the countries in that alliance, think, if you started a war with the Britain, who would come to their rescue? Nowadays, its hard to say. As an American I can almost guarantee the United States would, but back then, France, Britain, and Russia had all promised each-other that they would back each-other up. Three of the biggest world powers of that time. It's a scary thing to rely on, and it almost definitely happens to this day. WWI unleashed the biggest war the world had yet seen, it was a full realization of the drawbacks such alliances held. Unprecedented casualty rates, war costs, and damages. France was torn to pieces. And yet, the war started between Austria-Hungary and Serbia. Alliances spread the war. Europe was in flames.

Zimmerman Telegram is an Outrage

Information intercepted by the Brits proved to be an invaluable push to get the United States into the war. The Zimmerman telegram was a message to Mexico, promising that if Mexico helped Germany conquer the United States, they would recover all territory lost to the United states in the Mexican War. Not only does this push us to war, it forces us into the war. A proof of conspiracy against the United States requires retaliation.  Something like this is IMPOSSIBLE to ignore. Germany was fighting a battle of stalemates, one they possibly could have won. Morale on the Triple Entente's side was dying until the US showed up. Fresh minded and spirited troops easily took out the battered remains of German trench-ees, and raised to morals of the entire Entente. We didn't simply help win someone else's war, we protected our friends, partners, and investments as well.

One of the biggest factors of change in the 1800s was the invention of the cotton gin. So suddenly the southern states in America went from slavery dying out to just about a full revival. It just wasn't profitable.  The southern States had slaves working the cotton fields, and British cotton was cheaper. During this time the importation of slaves became illegal, making a slave a high priced good. The price of a slave increased exponentially during this time.  Slaves were expensive and plantation owners had no money.  The Cotton Gin changed that. Cotton was processed faster, cheaper, and easier than ever before.

                Another new "invention" was the idea of interchangeable parts.  This idea made it easier to create universal goods instead of handmade items.  Production could become faster and cheaper than specialist shops had ever done before.

The Cotton Gin, Interchangeable parts... The North was already the manufacturing side of the States. Now they were giants.

                America split in half because of this.  The major industry in the north and the farming agriculture center in the south spit the nation.  Both sides wanted things and the other side denied its rights.  Both would argue and fester resentment.  The nation was split for good.

Veteran's Day

Today Veterans don't get the type of respect I believe they deserve. People don't really understand what the armed forces do. It's these people (the militants) who protect(ed) the rights of every American. And yet we tend to forget them. Veteran's Day is important for that reason. Despite our ignorance, we need one day to remember these heroes. Often times its because of how good of a job they do that we forget about them. When was the last time you worried about getting your house rocketed, another nation invading, or rebellion? The least we could do is show appreciation. Veterans and those currently deployed have risked their lives over and over again for what they believe in, for their families, and for their nation. It wouldn't be right to forget those people who sacrificed themselves for us.

My local highschool's ceremony had a pretty good turn out. I was pretty excited to see three rangers! Two Red Berets if I remember correctly. We had a few people talk about WWI, many from Afghan, a few from Nam and even WWII. I was impressed at the reverence the highschoolers showed. It was like a church. (Given there's still chit-chatting at my church..) Considering I'm thinking about going into the armed forces, I really think Veteran's Day is important. (Hopefully) I'll be able to share stories with my children and their school. It's good to share with your community, and learn about things from the past. This gives the opportunity for both.