US History Blog

I have learned that paraphrasing and quoting is something I need work on. I thought it would be easier and that I had these skills already. I learned from the class that you need to make sure you change up the word choice. I was having trouble thinking of words for things like scarce and battle front, so I need to make sure I don't just put the words down straight off the source. The only thing I do not get is hyperlinking. I am bad at all things computers even though it seems easy to everyone, I need practice. self reflection: I don't think I developed any skills because for me my biggest struggle in history, or any class, is memorizing and remembering the material I just learned or read. I could read a packet and the next day forget that I even read it and not remember a word. So I am hoping to work on developing these skills. 

I really liked the movie Lincoln, by Steven Spielberg, in the review I read from Rolling Stones I agreed when they called Lincoln "brilliant" and "is a great American movie". I also agree with them saying that Kushner and Day-Lewis "dare greatly in giving us this complex, conflicted portrait of a great American leader".

Rolling Stones Review:     "Though Lincoln is seen visiting Union general Ulysses S. Grant (Jared Harris) on the front, battle scenes are scarce. The film begins with soldiers dying in the muck, a sobering sight that gives way to a dialogue between Lincoln and two black Union soldiers who quote his Gettysburg Address back at him and wonder how the proposition that "all men are created equal" will play out in the real world. The sequence is a setup, artificial, perhaps, but a way for us to get our bearings. Even before Reconstruction, Lincoln had to face political skeptics."    - Peter Travers Paraphrase of Review:       Lincoln visits Union general Ulysses S. Grant (Jared Harris) in one of the rare battle scenes in the movie which then leads to Lincoln two black Union soldiers conversing with him. They started quoting the Gettysburg Address questioning why he wrote "all men are created equal" and wondering how it will actually be in reality...

This is a collection of letters written by different soldiers away fighting in the Civil War written between 1861 and 1864. A common theme is that they are all love letters. They provide evidence that war is not only a physical, but an emotional struggle. While some of the soldiers had an optimistic outlook on the war, others had a more pessimistic view. The soldiers with a positive view were just glad to write their families. Where as the negative soldiers were thinking it was their last letter. Normally, when you think of the Civil War you think of numbers, approximately 1 million deaths. With these letters you get a better understanding of their feelings towards the war. Nowadays do you think the soldiers have a more positive attitude about going away to war because our advances in the way we communicate? What are some of the modern ways of communications that soldiers have today? letter 1   date -  July 14, 1861  se...