The Duel - By Joseph J. EllisDuring the election debacle of 1800 in which Thomas Jefferson ran for President and Aaron Burr as his Vice President both ended up having the same amount of electoral votes, because voters put down both Jefferson and Burr on their ballots. To the nation's surprise Burr did not step down to allow Jefferson to become President, forcing the matter to come to the attention of congress. In congress at the one of the major political parties was the Federalist Party led by Alexander Hamilton.Hamilton expressed his thoughts on the matter by saying that Burr should not be granted the office of President because he is a political weasel. These remarks landed the support of the Federalist Party in congress which helped Jefferson become president.
Still angered by Hamilton remarks and loss of the Presidency, Burr challenged Hamilton to a dual. Hamilton accepted Burr's challenge and faced him on a river bank in New Jersey where Burr ended up killing Hamilton. After Hamilton's death Burr soon became a wanted man for treason and the murder. Burr was soon captured and brought to justice in Richmond, Virginia. Overall, the death of Hamilton left his creation of the National Bank and his Federalist Party to their slow destructions.
The Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner's Fierce Rebellion - By Stephen OatesIn 1831, one of the most violent slave revolts was led by man named Nat Turner. This slave rebellion turned out to be the bloodiest slave revolt in American history, causing fear throughout the southern states. Turner created slave support for this rebellion by using his religious visions, religious signs, and speaking abilities. The rebellion started after Turner had seen a black spot during the day on the sun's surface. This phenomenon soon was taken as a sign from god to slaves and Turner to be awakened. Turner then gathered his followers and planed attacks throughout the Virginia and North Carolina border.
Turner's attacks were so successful because the white people so panic-stricken that it lead to swift and bloody attacks. After about a few days of these attacks Turner's band of fighters began to diminish causing Turner to go into hiding. Nearly two months after Turner's attacks, a man named Benjamin Phipps accidentally discovered him and had Turner surrender to him. Turner was then brought to justice by trial and then hanged for his crimes of insurrection, conspiracy, and treason. In the aftermath of Turner's rebellion talk among antislavery and proslavery rang throughout legislation, which added to the building tension between the northern states and southern states.
Andrew Jackson: Flamboyant Hero of the Common Man - By John F. MarszalekAndrew Jackson became a hero in the eyes of the American people because of his wild nature, military persona, and strong ignorance of authority. Jackson gained his fame from the American people because of his victory against the British in the War of 1812 in New Orleans, Louisiana. After the war of 1812, Jackson then went on lead a group of Tennessee militia men to fight against the Indians in the southeast, the British in Florida, and the Spanish in Florida. Even though Jackson was praised as an American hero by many, legislators and John Quincy Adam considered him a liability because Jackson continuously disobeyed their orders. An example of Jackson's disobedience was that he was ordered to fight the Seminole Indians but not follow them into Florida.
Jackson followed the Indians and created a path of destruction in Florida by killing British subjects, Indians, Spaniards, and forcing the Spanish governor to flee for his life. In 1824, Jackson was nominated by his fellow state Tennessee for the Presidency of the United States. Jackson won the election by the popular vote and a decision from House of Representatives. Then in 1828 while Jackson campaigned for a second term, his political rivals attacked his wife Rachael. Rachael became a big controversy during Jackson's reelection because she had never been officially devoiced from her former husband.
These accusations then caused Rachael to become depressed and die. During these eight years of Jackson as President, the two party system was born and corruption flooded the government.The Trail of Tears - By Dee BrownIn our history as Americans many agree that The Trail of Tears is one of the saddest and worst treatments of Indians. This Trail of Tears started in 1838 when the government and President Martin Van Buren told the Cherokee Indians of Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee to relocate to the western lands or face military action.
The Cherokee Indians tried to resist these orders of relocation to the United States Congress but were unsuccessful because of the 1835 treaty and pressure of American citizens.So a small force of about a few thousand soldiers under the command of Brigadier General Winfield Scott force the Cherokee Indians in camps of containment and lead them to Cherokee lands west of the Mississippi River. During the periods of containment and travel many Cherokee Indians lost their lives to disease and stress of the long distance travel. By the end of the relocated the Cherokee Indians estimated that they had lost four thousand members.Let My People Go: Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad - Benjamin QuarlesHarriet Tubman was a slave born in the slave state Maryland who ran away from her masters for the free soil (non-slave state) Pennsylvania for freedom. After she had safely gotten her way to freedom in north she made many trips back to Maryland and other southern states so that she could lead family members and other slaves to freedom.
By returning to the south to help other slaves achieve freedom Tubman became known to slaves as their present day Moses. Tubman helped slaves escape to north by using the Underground Railroad, which was a network of safe houses and trails towards freedom. While on Tubman's Underground Railroad she demanded that once you agreed to come along that there was no turning back, you were either going to run for freedom or die trying.All of Tubman's journeys were successful and that she never lost a single passenger on route to freedom. However, she did have obstacles such as her fight with a head problem that caused her to blackout at random times and the 1850 federal fugitive slave law which made northern states no longer safe for slaves. Tubman over came the 1850 law by relocating slave to Canada.
During the times of the civil war and into the reconstruction Tubman still fought to help former slaves and fight a battle for women's rights.Summary ParagraphOverall, I enjoyed all of the articles that I reported on in the Oates Reader. However I honestly had hard time keeping my interest throughout the articles. I personally do not like to read and then write a report on what I read because I then tend to not enjoy the readings.
Anyways my favorite article was The Duel by Joseph J. Ellis, because I have always been fascinated with the villainous Aaron Burr and his duel with Alexander Hamilton. I just cannot help wondering that if Hamilton had own the duel could he have been a future President (I know what you are thinking, he cannot be president because he was not born in the US, but congress might have made an exception.), if the National Bank would still be around, who would be on the ten dollar bill, and how the political party system would have been affected. My least favorite article was Growth of Technology by Peter L.
Bernstein, because I really felt that I was going to fall asleep. I just did not care to read about or learn about early inventions, canals, and why it was so important.
