International Relations: United States and Beyond

Iran:
        Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 Iran's foreign relations have been shaky to say the least, and with the existance of such terrorist organizations as Hamas and Hezbollah within their borders, the possibility of nuclear technologies is a danger the United States and the U.N. don't particularly want to deal with. Iran's government has not been stable, and with that comes protective measures by the United States and others. In an effort to weaken the current Iranian government the United States and the European Union tried to cut Iran off from the international financial system. In order to do this they put in place sanctions, making it difficult for Iran to produce oil biproducts. Oil and petrolium are the largest exports of Iran and these sanctions made it difficult for the large oil companies to produce exports. Along with the sanctions on the oil industry of Iran, there were also sanctions put on their nuclear industry, in an effort to thwart any thoughts of nuclear weapons made by the Iranian government. These actions were successful and they did put significant strain on the economic system of Iran. To make matters worse Iran has been associated with several attacks on Israel.  In an effort to make the sanctions go away, Iran thretened to cut off their oil trade to six european countries, and on February 19th they did in fact cut off trade with Britian and France. The United Nations sent a second team to inspect the nuclear technologies of Iran, and were not allowed into a few sites, and even worse there were thoughts that the Iranians were going to try to use nuclear technology for weapons.
        The fact that the United Nations is cracking down on Iran is a good thing. They have been harboring terrorists for many years. One of the longest relationships that the United States has is with Israel. And as an ally it is our job to keep other countries from attacking them. This means taking whatever actions are neccessary to keep this from happining, and in this case this means keeping Iran from having nuclear weapons that could be used against Israel. International relationships are things that need to be kept, and if there are disagreements between an allied nation and someone else there needs to be some kind of action taken to keep our allys safe.

Syria:
       The riots in Syria started almost a year ago. They were the first real showing of the unrest in the Arab nations of the Middle East. Still after almost a year there is unrest in the nation, between various racial groups and the government. The Sunnis and other groups have had their differences for as long as they have existed, and this came into action in the riots in Syria.
        The United States has long been the police of the world. We have gotten involved in countries that may not have needed our help. Most of the time with good intentions, but most of the time having bad outcomes. As shown in bothVietnam and Iraq and Afghanistan.

Question for research

• I am learning about Women's rights.
• because I want to find out how much Carrie Chapman Catt and the Women Voter's Leauge
• In order to understand just how important they were to the rights of women and the current political system today. I would also like to know how much pull women have in the election today.
• How did Carrie Chapman Catt and the Women Voter's leauge change the face of politics for the modern women? What kind of lasting effect did their actions have on the country and women's rights?

Women Voter's Leauge and Carrie Chapman Catt

      Carrie Chapman Catt was born in Ripon, Wisconsin on January 9, 1859. She finished high school in three years and continued her schooling at Iowa State College and recieved a bachelor's degree. In 1885 she married Leo Chapman, who owned and edited the Mason City Republican. After he died Carrie became active in sufferage work. She married George William Catt who was a supporter of woman sufferage. because of her organization and public speaking skills Carrie quickly rose in the ranks of womens sufferage. She worked with The National American Woman Sufferage Association for a long time and eventually Susan B. Anthony chose Carrie as her successor in 1900. Her term as president was short, because her husband became ill and she resigned in 1904, and chose Anna Shaw as her successor. Soon after her resignation her husband George died. After his death she focused on starting and running the International Woman Sufferage Allience. During World War I she gained President Woodrow Wilson's support by urging women to get involved in the war effort. She was extremely important to the 19th ammendment being passed. She spent two months in Tennesse campaigning to get it ratified. After the ammendment was passed she helped found the League of Women Voters.
       The League of Women Voters was started by Carrie Chapman Catt. It's job was to unite women to vote after the 19th ammendment was ratified. They stressed the importance of women voting, because they could create what is called a voting "bloc" which would make it possible for women to make a bigger difference in elections. If they all formed together and voted the same way, they could even help determine the victor. This would work to their advatntage, and their aproach was one of a feminist nature. They wanted all women to be politically educated, and for them to improve the government overall. For many years they paid a lot of attention to issues of wages/working hours, and child labor instead of other women's rights issues such as: the right to use birth control, divorce law reform, and equal pay. Although most of the members of the Leauge of Women Voters were of the upper or middle class, they wanted to reach out to as many women as they could, making their overall impact greater in the end.

Racism In America. What is considered crossing the line?

In flap over S. Carolina law, old tensions and a campaign issue

        The first article I read was about voter ID laws. It was questioning the state of South Carolina's decision to attempt to pass a law that requires any voter to present a State or Federal ID, before voting. The concern was that this piece of legislation would keep blacks from going to vote. The question that I pose is: If you must be a legal American citizen, and past the age of 18 in order to vote, how would the voting place confirm that the voter has these requirements without seeing an ID? It is reasonable to believe that most United States citizens have government issued identification cards. Why then, is it possible to vote without this card in the first place? Also, why would this prevent only blacks from voting? The most expensive state to purchase an ID in is Oregon, priced at $29, the cheapest is Florida, at $3. If it is such an issue to purchase an ID, I'm sure there is someone willing to donate the $29 to buy a State ID. I simply don't see why this would keep anyone from voting.

Kentucky Church Bans Interracial Couples

        The second article I read was much more blatantly racist. There is a church in Kentucky that banned the marriage of interracial couples. Interracial marriage has been legal in the United States for decades, and the fact that this church made the decision to make it impossible for an interracial couple to marry in their church is awful. Although it is technically the church's decision as to who it wants to marry, it is unfair to the couple. The woman, grew up going to the church, and someday dreamed of being married there, and the race of her Fiance is making that impossible, because of the church's actions. The actions of this church does not really effect anyone other than those in its congregation. However, it can lead to more churches taking this kind of drastic action, causing it to effect more and more people.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Images of Jim

Describing Jim (actions, beliefs, and feelings):
1.) Stubborn
2.) Naive
3.) Loyal
4.) Caring
5.) Strong
6.) Superstitious
7.) Knowledgeable
8.) Independent

Jim's physical appearance:
1.) Black
2.) Big
3.) Strong
4.)Intimidating

These top two pictures combined would be the way I see Jim. He is a strong man, but he is also loyal, and caring. He would follow Huck, and he would help him. He's not a stern as the first picture shows, but he is definitely someone you wouldn't want to mess with. 

This image shows what I would not think of Jim as. This person seems lazy, and disheveled. Jim is not those things. He is a hard worker, and he may have been a slave, and his clothes are probably ripped, but he doesn't look awkward like this.

Jim: A character or caricature?

Honestly I think that Jim is both a character and a caricature. He is funny, and witty, and sometimes a little arrogant, but overall he is a strong, loyal, caring man. I think the best way to explain who Jim is, is that he is a character who at times acts like a caricature of himself. His personality can at times be extreme.

              For class I read George Washington's Farewell Address, and the Virginia & Kentucky Resolutions. They are both documents written in the early years of the United States with similar viewpoints. In the Kentucky and Virgina Resolutions they resolved some issues brought up in the Constitution in their own way. George Washington's Farewell Address in some ways summed up what he had thought as his policy as president. He believed that the only way we should be involved in foreign affairs was to be helpful, and to provide for the betterment of both countries.
            In the Virgina and Kentucky Resolutions it states "that alien friends are under the jurisdiction and protection of the laws of the state wherein they are: that no power over theta has been delegated to the United States, nor prohibited to the individual States, distinct from their power over citizens." This goes along with what George Washington said in his farewell Address when he said " "they have been witnesses to the formation of two treaties, that with Great Britain, and that with Spain, which to secure to them everything they could desire, in respect to our foreign relations, towards confirming their prosperity." These two eloquently written statements go together because they both talk about the fact that the United States should be fair to the countries they hold treaty with. In one it discusses that the people both visiting and living in the United States from other countries should have the same rights as the citizens of those States. In the other it talks about keeping the allies of the United States happy, and  prosperous. I think that George Washington would have liked this aspect of the Virgina and Kentucky Resolutions. It was almost exactly what he stood for during his time in office.
          Much of what we have been studying in class for the past few weeks has to do with making resolutions in order to make agreements. This was very important to the beginning of our nation. They needed to make agreements in order for our country to function as one. Political debate and dissagreement is what fuels both politics then, and today. Resolutions are a part of life. Specifically Government. Without them we would still be a group of unorganized states that do not have any way of efficiently running a country.

Historic Documents. Modern Pictures.

"There is no longer any room for hope." -Patrick Henry - "Speech to the Second Virginia Convention"

This photograph goes with this quote from Patrick Henry, because in this moment, it is what everyone was thinking. Before the towers collapsed no one thought it would happen. They thought that the people would be able to get out and the fire would be put out, and that at the end of the day the buildings would still be there. This was not the case and everyone realized there was no reason for them to hope anymore.



"'Tis surprising to see how rapidly a panic will sometimes run through a country."-Thomas Paine- "The American Crisis"

When we look back at September 11, 2001 we don't only see the events of the day. We see the reactions of the people. There were a lot of pictures taken that day and many of them were of people fleeing for their lives. Panic struck each person who was involved, but not only they were panicked. Everyone watched on TV and as they watched they were in total panic. All anyone wanted to do was to find out where their family was, and to find out what was going on. It's amazing how fast everyone became panicked so quickly.



"These are times that try men's souls." - Thomas Paine- "The American Crisis"

This picture makes me want to cry. It is so sad to see a man in uniform completely unable to contain the sadness that he feels. This quote really shows that the few weeks following 9/11 were extremely hard for people to cope with. Everyone was so distraught, and it was a time when people could just cry.