Today, in class, we got on the computers and did blog discussions.
Mr. Bruns showed us a cartoon of William Seward and some Russian dude, Seward holding a bag saying 7200000, and the Russian chump holding something that is labeled "Russian America." This is depicting the US purchase of alaska. Uncle Sam, who commonly represents the US, can be seen hiding in the background. A British bloke (see what I did there?!) is also looking in the background with a concerned expression on his face. This signifies Great Britain, who controlled Canada at the time, perhaps believed that the US may take over their land as well.
Nicole talked about 'Taking Hawaii.' Many people from China and the East Indies used Hawaii as a mid-way stop between the US and Asia (fuel, supplies). Hawaii had huge sugarcane plantations. In 1890, the McKinley Tariff took rates up, but allowed Hawaii sugar to be imported tax-free. After this, Hawaii was seen more as a US state than another country. Pearl Harbor was built in 1887 as a naval base by the US. During the same year, we forced the King of Hawaii to allow only white rich landowners to vote. In 1898, The Congress said that Hawaii was a state, however it was not pronounced a state until 1959.
Cheryl talked about the causes of the Spanish-American War. From 1868-1878, the Cubans were rebelling towards the US. One basic cause of it is that the Americans felt sorry for the Cubans and wanted them to have independence. Jose Marti is the Cuban equivilant of George Washington. He chose to destroy our sugarcane plantations, although he knew we were trying to help. The main reason we went to War with Spain was the sinking of the Maine. Enrique Dupay de Lome was the guy whose letter was intercepted by the yellow press, in which he called McKinley 'weak and gave into peer pressure.'
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