Syria

Syria is a country that does not have many rights for citizens as the United States does. According to the United Nations, Syria is now considered to be on the verge of a civil war. The citizens of Syria believe that the President, Bashar al-Assad, is not treating the country fairly. The President is killing innocent people only because they are demonstrating against the government. In America we have freedom, and I personally never saw things such as this happen in my lifetime. According to the article, "President Basha al-Assad, who inherited Syria’s harsh dictatorship from his father, Hafez al-Assad, at first wavered between force and hints of reform. But in April, just days after lifting the country’s decades-old state of emergency, he set off the first of what became a series of withering crackdowns, sending tanks into restive cities as security forces opened fire on demonstrators" (1). The citizens of Syria believe that they are being treated unfairly and that all choices are decided for them in advance. Syria reminds me of a communist country, because the citizens don't have any rights. I am lucky enough to live in the United States where we have freedom, rights, and where we can make decisions for ourselves. I cannot imagine how difficult it must be for those people to live in such a country as Syria. After watching the slide show titled "Fighting Intensifies in Syria", I realized how different the lives of people are in Syria compared to the United States. Living in Deerfield, I feel like my community is in a bubble away from the rest of the world. After viewing these images I was able to comprehend how life in Syria and outside our country is. It's not always peaceful and quiet as it seems to be in Deerfield, and in life many unexpected things happen. In the images I could see many people with guns, shootings, screaming, and demonstrations on streets during everyday life. Citizens become hospitalized, and it seems like Syria is never under peace. Citizens in the United States need to realize how lucky they are that they live in such a free country.

Afghanistan

The war in Afghanistan has been going on for many years now. The United States cannot seem to put an end to the war, even though they are continuously trying to. The war began after the United States invaded Afghanistan after the attacks of September 11, 2001. Troops are being killed in the war, with numbers only getting higher. I think this is a devastating war, and to me I feel like this war has been going on for my entire life. When this war began I was six years old, so I barely remember life without being involved in the war. It's a sad thing for a country to be involved in a war this long, and I still wonder when it will come to an end. In the article about Afghanistan it was mentioned that, "On Feb. 21, angry protests broke out and shock rippled through Afghanistan as accounts emerged of NATO personnel setting fire to bags filled with Korans and other sacred books of Koranic interpretation at Bagram Air Base" (1). Afghans felt that Americans were trying to destroy their religion, even though that was not their intention. This incident sparked four days of furious demonstations in which many Afghans were killed. Americans thought they were protecting the country by doing this, when in return they offended the religion of many. If I would live in Afghanistan and if I lived by the Koran, I would also be frustrated if I saw it burning in bags on the streets somewhere. It think it was a good idea that President Obama sent a letter of apology, because that way they were not as angry anymore. The Afghans have done many cruel things to our country, but I don't think that people should mess with relgion, because that is a personal belief of a person. One of the videos which I saw involved American soldiers killing Afghans on the street. The Afghans which were found murdered did commit crimes so American soldiers felt that they did deserve to die. Many Afghans were demonstrating against what happened, and were very upset with the outcome. After reading this article and seeing the video's I wonder if this war will even end, and how soon? I don't think our country can go on fighting this war anymore. We have done all that we could, and we cannot keep sacrificing our own people and watching them die in order to accomplish nothing. Afghanistan so far is still considered to be a terrorist country, and personally I don't think that will change in the near future. Our country needs to end the war, because that is the only way the United States will be able to survive in the future economically, and even socially.

Research Question

I am learning about the Know Nothing party, because I want to find out about one of the ways in which immigrants were discriminated against and not welcome in America, along with the hardships they faced, in order to understand how difficult life was for them during their first years in America, and the ways in which they were able to survive. Did the Know Nothing party have a significant affect on the way in which immigrants were able to survive in the United States?

Day 3 - Journal Entry (homework)

Over these past few days of researching about immigration, I have become a lot more familiar with the Know-Nothing party. This party was an organization which rebelled against immigrants and Catholics. When individuals come to a different country, It is very difficult for them to find jobs, a home, and to set up a new life. Many Americans back in the days did not understand the difficulties of this. They feared that immigrants would destroy their nation, and therefore were not even willing to give them a chance. According to the Ohio History Central, "The majority of Know-Nothings came from middle and working-class backgrounds. These people feared competition for jobs from immigrants coming to the United States" (1). Americans felt that since they were born in this country, they should be the ones who are successful and who are the rulers. They thought of immigrants as low-class people, when in reality those people worked very hard each day in order to make a living for themselves and their families. This Know-Nothing party sub topic tells me that overall immigration was a very difficult thing for American born citizens to accept. They did not want competition with individuals who were not even born in this country. I can understand their viewpoint, but at the same time everyone at one point or another was an immigrant in the United States. I learned that immigrants were not welcome in the United States, and it was very difficult for them to make money in order to have a descent life. The questions which I still have about my topic are: what other events were occurring during the Know-Nothing party? What was the reaction and response of immigrants to the Know-Nothing party? and what other parties existed which were similar to the Know-Nothing party?

Three Journal Entries on Articles

Journal Entry #1
The Know Nothing Party
Ohio History Central
http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=911



The Know Nothing party also held some power in Ohio. Several citities which included Youngstown and Cleveland had newspapers that supported the Know Nothing belief. Ohio's Know Nothings formed an alliance in the 1850's with the Fusionist Party. One of the many reasons as to why the Know Nothing party did not like immigrants and Catholics was because they did not seem to support the American way of life. These groups were only interested in their own lives. According to the Ohio History Center, "Many white Protestants in the state disliked the Catholic Church for opposing taxation to finance public schools. Catholic parents preferred enrolling their sons and daughters in Catholic schools and did not feel that they should financially support schools that their children did not attend" (1). Immigrants and people of different religion had a very hard time in become familiar with the American culture. When individuals moved into this country, they were too bussy trying to make a living and support their own families than caring about the culture around them. This is one of the many reasons why Americans did not appreciate immigrants and stood against them instead.



Journal Entry #2
The Know Nothings in Maryland
http://teachingamericanhistorymd.net/000001/000000/000065/html/t65.html



A nativist movement began to develop throughout the eastern United States. This political party also went on during the Mexican war, but it stalled during that period. Once the Mexican war ended, the party continued on, and even stronger than before. The main focus for this party was to elect native-born men to political offices and to create a 25-year residence restriction for citizenship. Additionally, Maryland members of the American party sided with a growing temperance movement. According to this article, "At the June 1855 convention in Philadelphia, Southern members seized control and adopted a pro-slavery platform" (1). Not only was this party's main concern to stop immigration, reduce the rights to immigrants and Catholics, but it also got a hold of power against the African Americans in slavery. When individuals start to gain power, they only want to gain even more control of it than they already have. The poor actions which were taken by the Know Nothing Party resulted in immigrants losing jobs, not becoming American Citizens, and being discriminated against on a great level.



Journal Entry #3
The Know Nothing Party
Historical Field
http://www.ashfieldhistorical.org/nothing.htm



During the period in which the Know-Nothing Party possessed power in the state legislature, they instituted many reforms for the working class. They attracted many members to their party in response to what they considered a corrupt and inattentive government. According to the Historical Field, "This party was based on nativistic beliefs and its members were native born male protestants who were opposed to immigrants being able to vote or hold political office" (1). Native born citizens of the United States would conform to this party, and follow these beliefs. It was very hard for immigrants to make a living in a new country where they barely spoke the language. Groups such as the Know-Nothing's only made things worse for immigrants. When a group of individuals develop a political party and are in power, they have the ability to convince other individuals to conform to them and follow their ways. Conformity was a huge factor which played during immigration, because  many native American born citizens were against immigration. This only made it more difficult for immigrants to feel accepted and to be successful in their new country.

The Know-Nothing Party (summary)

http://americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Topics/Display/1187766?sid=568167&cid=27&oid=262177&useConcept=False
http://history1800s.about.com/od/immigration/a/knownothing01.htm

The Know-Nothing party was origionally named the American Party, and it was founded around 1850 by members of the Order of the Star Spangled Banner in New York and other secret organizations in the North. The leader of the party was James W. Barker. The Know-Nothing Party was based on anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant feelings of the 1840's. The Know-Nothing's consisted mainly of conservative whigs who were not happy with the growing number of immigrants, and the resulting rise of Catholicism. The party earned its famous name from the determination of its memebers to remain mysterious about their activities. The party had some success in local and state elections. In the 1856 election, the Know-Nothings nominated former president Millard Fillmore as their candidate.

As immigration from Europe increased in the early 1800s, citizens who had been born in the United States began to feel resentment at the new arrivals. Those opposed to immigrants became known as nativists.Violent encounters between immigrants and “native-born Americans” would occasionally occur in American cities in the 1830s and early 1840s. In July 1844, riots broke out in the city of Philadelphia. Nativists battled Irish immigrants, and two Catholic churches and a Catholic school were burned by mobs. Several small political parties espousing nativist doctrine existed, among them the American Republican Party and the Nativist Party. At the same time, secret societies, such as the Order of United Americans and the Order of the Star-Spangled Banner, sprang up in American cities. Their members were sworn to keep immigrants out of America, or at the least, to keep them out of mainstream society once they arrived.

The Know-Nothings and their anti-immigrant fervor became a popular movement for a time. Many Americans, of course, were appalled by the Know-Nothings. Abraham Lincoln expressed his poor feelings with the political party in a letter written in 1855. When asked about the party, the Know-Nothings were instructed to say "I know nothing" in order to keep it a secret. The basic premise of the party was a strong, if not virulent, stand against immigration and immigrants. Know-Nothing candidates had to be born in the United States. There was also an effort to change the laws so that only immigrants who had lived in the US for 25 years could become citizens. If this would occur it would mean that recent arrivals, especially the Irish Catholics coming to the US in great numbers, would not be able to vote for many years.

In the mid-1850s, the American Party, which had been neutral on the slavery issue, came to align itself with the pro-slavery position. As the power base of Know-Nothings was in the northeast, that proved to be the wrong position to take. The stance on slavery probably hastened the decline of the Know-Nothings. By 1860 the party had fractured, and the Know-Nothings joined the list of extinct political parties in America. James W. Barker left the party in the late 1850s and threw his support behind Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln in the election of 1860. The nativist movement in America did not begin with the Know-Nothings, and it certainly didn’t end with them. Prejudice against new immigrants continued throughout the 19th century has still never ended completely.