54th Massachusetts Regiment

The 54th Massachusetts Regiment was more important than just being the first all black regiment. They changed the mentality of the entire nation about blacks. Many believe that Southerners were the only people who were prejudiced against black people, but that is not the truth. While it is true that slavery continued in the South after the Emancipation Proclamation, Northerners still viewed blacks as inferior even after they were freed. Many felt that blacks did not possess the ability to fight in what some called a "white man's war". The Governor of Massachusetts felt differently about this. He believed they could fight and possessed the ability to lead themselves. Due to criticism he decided to appoint white officers to lead them. At least half of the 600 man regiment were killed or wounded on their attack on Fort Wagner. During this attack they stood their ground and never retreated. This proved to many that blacks did possess the ability to fight and lead and gained the respect of many. This lead the way to numerous other black regiments to be formed throughout the Union army. Undoubtedly this had many more long term effects for the nations mentality and blacks equality. There were many that believe that the intelligence level and abilities of blacks were inferior to whites. This was a big step in changing that. Today we see the effects of this. Everyone today has the same opportunities despite skin color. This is true for the armed forces as well. General Colin Powell  is a great example of this. During the 1990's he was a four star general in charge of the entire army. Presently we have our first black president.  This just solidifies the great strides our country has made to give everyone equal opportunities despite their ethnicity. This doesn't mean that some people do not still hold prejudices, but as a whole I believe most Americans no longer hold these prejudices. The 54th regiment deserves a lot of respect for taking the step they did and giving their lives to fight for a country they believed in, even though most believed they were incapable of fighting. This is a great video explaining the more about the 54th regiment: http://www.history.com/videos/gilder-lehrman-massachussetts-54th

General Colin Powell

Citations: www.masshist.org, www.historynet.com, www.history.com

Life's Ironic Lessons

We have talked a lot about irony in class lately and I started thinking about some songs that I have heard. The first one I thought of is a song by Damien Rice called "Cannonball". The lyrics of this song made me think really hard about how we sometimes learn things in very peculiar ways. This is the last chorus to the song and the full song to listen to:

Stones taught me to fly                                              

Love taught me to lie

Life taught me to die

So it's not hard to fall

When you float like a cannonball

Stones taught me to fly

Love taught me to cry

So come on courage!

Teach me to be shy

'Cause it's not hard to fall

And I don't WANNA scare her

It's not hard to fall

And I don't wanna lose

It's not hard to grow

When you know that you just don't know

We would usually want to be honest with someone we love and care about. When I thought about it, I realized I have been guilty of this. Lying to someone we love to protect their feelings or from harm. We would not expect to learn lying from love but we really do sometimes. Then the lyric of courage teaching us to be shy is strange. We would not think of being shy and having courage to be related to each other. Sometimes is can be courageous to show a shy side even if others might think it shows us to be weak. "It's not hard to grow when you know that you just don't know," this really is true even though it sounds strange. Sometimes we learn and grow not from studying and reading, but from learning life lessons the hard way. Life experiences and the unexpected can sometimes be the the way we grow up the most. We also all know cannonballs certainly do not float. We think of cannonballs being powerful and destroying things they hit. Isn't that true in life? We can give everything we have and be relentless in life, crashing through thing, and then as a result that can cause us pain and inconvenience. We can "fall" quickly from whatever situation we are in if we are powering our way though life not thinking about the consequences. And how can stones teach us to fly? I mean that just seems silly. Stones are heavy and fall easily. So maybe the writer meant we shouldn't be hard, mean, or emotionless. Maybe stones can teach us how not to fall. We can have a "lighter" side of life and not be so "stone cold". I do not know if my conclusions are anything like what the songwriter meant, but I do know as strange as the chorus sounds it is really true to life if you really think about it. The one thing I really think the songwriter was trying to say is love can cause us to do, say, and think a lot of things we might not ordinarily. It really is ironic the way in which life teaches us these lessons.

Sources:

www.azlyrics.com

Never Satisfied

 
As Americans, it seems as if we are never satisfied with what we have. We are always wanting the newest phone, car, or gadget. Some try every new health and beauty product to come out or look to plastic surgery. When we finally get whatever it is we are after, we are not satisfied for long. We get bored and look for what is next. This attitude also has a positive side. We use it to drive and better ourselves. Scientists look for cures, fail, and keep trying. New technology is invented and immediately improved upon. The advances in medicine and technology has saved lives, made life easier, and more fun. In George Steinbeck's novel, The Pearl, he writes about this very thing by saying, “For it is said that humans are never satisfied, that you give them one thing and they want something more. And this is said in disparagement, whereas it is one of the greatest talents the species has and one that has made it superior to animals that are satisfied with what they have.” This seems to be a way of thinking that we need to keep, but maybe we should be careful not to be greedy with it. Plastic surgery is a good example. It is a wonderful thing for people who have been scarred, burned, or deformed. It allows them to be able to look and feel normal again after accidents. What about all the people having it done to simply look better? Do they really need it or has our culture gotten to a point where we feel like we have to look a certain way or like a particular person. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons website, last year there were 307,000 breast augmentations done on women and 62,000 nose reshapings done on men. 5.3 million women and 363,000 men had botulinum toxin, Bo-Tox, last year. There is a notable difference in the amount of women compared to men having this done. Is it all necessary though?  We spend so much money trying to look better and make ourselves feel better about ourselves. Is it to make us or society happy? We all want to look our best but part of what makes people unique are our differences. Differences are not a bad thing. Then there is technology. We always want the latest thing to entertain us or to be like everybody else. This might come from a sense of wanting to fit in, show superiority, or just plain boredom. Does all this really make us that much happier? We spend a lot of money on these things, but should be learn to be content with what we have? A lot of people are going broke just to be able to have things that do not really matter. For sure all these things have also bettered our society and increased our quality and longevity of life. Maybe we need to take a look at what we are doing and see if it is worth it. This video shows some things to think about if we want to be happy with what we already have.
 There is nothing wrong with having new things, but we going into debt to have them or to look better. People used to accept others however they looked because they did not have a choice to look different. They had to make do with what they had. I think we should look at what people used to do for entertainment. Most people had nothing to do but talk to each other or go outside. Whatever happened to eating together at the table or sitting on the front porch talking? I do not think we should become stagnant as a society and should continue to invent new and great things. Maybe we should also learn to be a little more content with what we have and enjoy on another's company and not have to be constantly entertained by gadgets and media. Can we find a happy medium or just keep on spending all of our money on fitting in and entertainment to please our own idea of what the world wants?



Sources: www.plasticsurgery.org , www.surgery.org

Wall of Separation

In his 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptist Association, Thomas Jefferson wrote, "Believing with you that religion is a matter that lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof thus building a wall of separation between church and state." The meaning of this statement continues to cause controversy today. I doubt Jefferson meant for this statement to be so controversial, so why is it? There are continual debates on various subjects: prayer in school, a nation founded on Christianity, the ways we define our moral values, and many more. So how should American citizens interpret this when there are so many conflicting views? I think we first have to remember the conditions our founding fathers were faced with. Many colonists came from Europe were there was a national religion, The Church of England. This created the religious persecution that led to many colonists coming to the "New World". As Jefferson states in his book, Notes on the State of Virginia, not all persecutions were stopped. There were state established religions in some of the colonies. Some had execution as punishment and others required the belief of God to even run for any office. Going even farther back in history we find that for hundreds of years people have been beaten, burned, imprisoned, tortured, and executed in many terrible ways for not having the same religious beliefs set forth by the governing powers. Our founders truly knew what it meant to fear for their lives because of religious persecution. Today we do not face the same severe consequences. This is because our founding fathers took the time to be careful in making our laws to protect us from these things. The "wall of separation" was intended to protect us as citizens, but surprising to many this statement does not appear in our Constitution. The first amendment does state that, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." The creation of this separation was and continues to be a good thing. The problem today arises because of personal conflicting views. People argue about what is and is not constitutional. Many times these arguments arise because of selfishness and not selflessness. There many Supreme Court cases that have addressed the issue through the years. In 1962, Engel v. Vitale established that it was unconstitutional to require students of a school to recite a school prayer. In the Treaty of Tripoli, ratified in 1797, it says, “As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries."

The first case was in 1878 in Reynolds v. U.S. The outcome of that case was that the constitution does not define religion. These are just a few examples. The point we need to realize is that our culture is changing rapidly in America. There are many different religions now and people who do not believe in religion at all. With that in mind, we have to realize that not all people are going to agree. The separation was created not to keep people from, for example, praying in school, but instead allow people a choice instead. No person should be forced to participate in something they do not believe in or makes them uncomfortable. Just think how you might feel if were a Christian in a dominantly Muslim school, and they required you to pray to Allah or face punishment. Separation is a good thing. It can be hard for some to realize, but the alternative could be horrible. Just look at the history books and other countries that combine the two. The Middle East stays in turmoil mainly over this very thing. As Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said, "Those who would renegotiate the boundaries between church and state must therefore answer a difficult question: why would we trade a system that has served us so well for one that has served others so poorly?" This separation will allow everyone to keep the freedom to do as they please. If there is ever a change to the Constitution on this, we could face a time when we could suffer the same persecution as our founders. We as a nation have to understand that everyone has to be given the same freedom of choice. This is not taking religion out of our country by any means. Instead it insures that religion cannot be forced on or taken from us. Listen to JFK's thoughts on this subject.

 

 

 

Do we "Burn the Boats" ?



There is much speculation on whether or not Hernando Cortes actually burned his ships when he landed in Mexico. Many believe as Hugh Thomas does in his book Conquest: Montezuma, Cortes, and the Fall of Old Mexico. He states in his book that the “action was, as all who observed the thing agree, and as Cortés himself wrote, a grounding, not a burning”. Despite which is the true account of what transpired on that day we still have to give Cortes the credit for the present day expression "burn the boats" or any variation of it. The fact remains that either way there was no quick get-a-way plan for his conquistadors. His plan to motivate was to simply fight or die. We can see through historical accounts of the conquering of the Aztecs that this definitely motivated his men. Some say this is a very foolish way of motivation while others view it as brilliant. I doubt he knew how much impact this action would have hundreds of years later on society whether it be true or a misinterpretation of his account. There are countless ways it is used today as motivation.  Author and  motivational speaker Andy Andrews does an excellent job of telling the story of what Cortes might have said to his men to get them to travel across the ocean and do the unthinkable of burning the boats. He then goes on to make a personal application about how we use different things in our lives to "float" our excuses that hold us back instead of  "burning" our excuses and moving forward. I have posted his video and really encourage you to watch it. He does an excellent job of verbalizing what and how Cortes might have said, and the application is one we can all relate to. He even throws a little humor in to keep it interesting.

 

 

 I found another application that I believe hits home in our present day culture. On the website, www.burningships.com , I found some thoughts that I believe we all should consider. An unknown author states that, " Ladies and Gentlemen, we must Burn Our Ships for Marriage. What ship do we have to burn? The option of divorce!" This is a christian based website for using God and the Bible to deal with obstacles in our lives. Despite the fact that you may or may not be a religious person, I think this is applicable to all people today. Just look at the high divorce rates and we can see the lack of commitment and effort in marriages today. A favorite use of mine is the motivational use in sports. Coach of the New York Jets, Rex Ryan, has used this story with his team emphasizing "no turning back". After telling the story he told his team, “They burned their boats!” he shouted. “I’m only asking you to give me seven weeks!”  In 2011, the UCLA football team had shirts printed for the players to wear that said "BTB" (Burn the Boats).  Coach Rick Neuheisel had the entire story of Cortes read to the team and used this as a motto. Even after they had won he reminds his team, "the boats are still burned." The full story of UCLA's use is at http://www.bruinsnation.com/2011/10/30/2525763/about-burning-down-those-boats and http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeles/ucla/post/_/id/8363/upon-further-review-neuheisel-on-cal.

There are countless examples in our business and political world today of the positive and negative effects of this mentality. If you do not believe me there are many examples just by turning on the T.V. or surfing the Internet. I am sure someone or some party will be verbally praising or bashing a decision made by another without any remorse. On the positive side, our forefathers had this mentality when they wrote the Declaration of Independence but it was also an act of defiance to England. We have to make decisions and move forward with them like we have no other choice. As I stated earlier, I doubt Cortes knew the impact of his actions on the world throughout the decades. We clearly use this in our lives today whether we realize it or not. Maybe we do not use it enough in our society but on the other hand there are other times it has caused chaos and despair. It will lead to good for some and bad for others. If we do not have the courage to use this we could be left with a lot of "what-ifs" in life.  In the end we have Cortes to thank for a wonderful example of motivation, or was it?
 

The Creation

Good Mind and Bad Mind
 

 The Iroquois and Navajo creation stories were very interesting to me in how they were similar to each other but most of all how they had many parallels to the Biblical account. The first observation I made was the Good Mind and the Bad Mind in the Iroquois account. This could be compared to God (good) and Satan(evil). Another is the creation of man. I found this quite interesting as the wording used was much the same. Man was made by the dust of the earth, made in image of the the creator, given souls, life was breathed in his nostrils and were given dominion over the land. In the Navajo account the Nilchi'i Dine'e were forced to leave the world they were living in because they commited adultery. This was unacceptable because the land they lived in was considered holy. This is very similar to Adam and Eve being cast out of Eden for sinning. The fact that we have no account of any the Native Americans having any access to the Bible or teachings of any Christians when these stories were told makes this remarkable.This makes me wonder how people who had no contact with each other on opposite sides of the ocean could have such similar beliefs. These parallels are not unique only to these two stories. As in the Navajo story, there are a plethora of flood stories and accounts from around the world and all cultures. One of the Eskimo stories even mentions Noah inviting animals aboard his ark. For North America alone I was able to find over 50 creation stories. http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/flood-myths.html. It seems that anywhere you go in the world people have a natural desire to know where they came from and search for a divine power. Personally, I am a Christian and believe the Bible to be the true creation account. I also believe there is a natural God given instinct to know that we were created. This is further confirmed by people believing that we have souls and that there is an afterlife. The Iroquois story is once again similar in this way. The Good and Bad Minds wanted equal power over souls after death. The biblical account tells us that we will go to either Heaven or Hell after death where we will either be with God or Satan. Some cultures believe that we can be reborn in the future such as the Aborigines in Australia. http://library.thinkquest.org/16665/afterlifeframe.htm There are some other beliefs of where we go after death, but there are very few that believe that there is no afterlife. Thinking about all of this makes me wonder again how there could be so many similarities not just from North America but from around the world. We will probably never know how they all had so many similar ideas. As for myself, I like to believe that we are born with something God given for us to know we were created by a higher power just by looking around at the world we live in and not by accident.