The military and political forces of many nations is the key to determine whether the nation is going to fall or is going to succeed. Some nations have really strong military forces and have really strong political views and other nations have really weak military and not really strong about their political views. The Emancipation Proclamation was a really important document that would determine where are nation was. After that the Civil War ended the nation was under the rebuilding stages because of all of the battles between the North and the South.

In my opinion the military and political forces of our nation during the Civil War really hurt us because of all of the damages and all of the men losing their lives through this war. In the political part of the nation many people had their own way of doing things and many few people could agree on anything and thats what hurts a nation if they can agree on anything. The aftermath of the Civil War took a tole on some people because some people lost home and livestock over this war and they had no say so about they just had to get up and leave. The military and political forces of a nation are two important keys to a successful nation.

54th of Massachusetts

To My Dearest Mother,

"It's official...last week I volunteered to join an all black infantry. Mama, you don't know how bad I been wanting to fight! I was so happy in January when Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation so us coloreds could fight too!" "Them whites don't know that this war for the Union will be our personal war for our freedom. I hear we gonna' be called the 54th of Massachusetts...ain't that fancy! I know your going to be scared for me mama but I got God in my heart and freedom on my mind so if I get hurt I'll pray for him to ease my pain!"

" I heard from some ol' boys down the way that there's a lot of them whites that don't believe we can fight and they discriminate against us so bad it's almost like they want to be us! They told me we don't get paid as much as them whites either...now ain't that a crying shame? Well I'm tryin' not to assume the worst but by-golly it's gettin' harder every time I hear somethin' else bad about the draft and how they're treating coloreds!"

Well I am gonna' go ahead and get some shut eye so remember to get Leroy to write me back for you. I love you mama and tell lil' Suzan to be good and pray for her daddy every night okay!

Love,

Jackson

E.Q.

I think the use of any force, military or political, can be a good thing and a bad thing. It can be good in that it will keep our nation in order and organized. It can also be bad when the military or political world uses its powers to benefit them and ultimately hurt us. Too much unnecessary force could make a people rebel like the merchants at the Boston Tea Party. Everyone should know if you want your people to truly listen and appreciate your wishes so that they could move on and achieve their goals in life and preserve the nation all forces, political or military, should be just and right decisions.

Preserving The Nation 01-09-08

Even though the war and reconstruction is over, the South is not going to let go of their personal views on how the government should be run. The southern government found ways to work around the laws set by the constitution and also by amendments such as "Black Codes". These put restrictions on African Americans of this time, they almost sent the message of "Yeah, you have a chance to contribute your ideas to the government, but we're going to make sure that you dont meet any requirements to do so." Along with restricted polital rights, the south also organized "sharecropping". In this idea slave would have a small piece of land that they were able to call their own, but the pay was low and would put them in debt. As the years grew the debt became greater, the idea that had once seemed good to many, soon became more of a hassle then slavery itself, people were not able to care for their familys the way they should and were working for money that they were no longer recieving. Besides political and economical views, there were extremist racial views. Although the war was over, the South had not come to any level of peace towards African Americans. Groups such as the Ku-Klux-Klan were created. These extremists made life an everyday nightmare for African Americans using murder as their main weapon. Welcome to the overlook of the obstacels the South set for African Americans up to 1877.

If perhaps the United States had used military or political force towards the South, they would have either found yet another way around the forced rules that were being laid down or maybe even retaliated against the military starting yet another war or even more groups relating to the Ku-Klux-Klan as a target of hatred. These groups would focucs on wipping out the African-American race as a reliever to their problems. The peoples of this time were so single minded that they blamed other races for their sufferage, if they were to do something wrong they would simply shift the blame on an African-American. Forcing anything against their beliefs would not help anything but would just throw more gas into a fire that is already out of control. Contributing to an already single-minded ignorant government (The South) is no way to preserve a nation that has already gone through that much.

SHERMANS MARCH

The Military has come through destroyed our homes, and everything else we had, we came home hoping for the best but got the worst. They say his name was William Sherman he lead a forty mile wide path of destruction through the south. Houses, stored cotton, and whole fields were burned into nothing. The cotton that they burned was our only reserve we have nothing to profit from now. It's going to be a long road to reconstruction and it's not going to be easy. Sherman's march crushed the spirit of our southern soldiers took the last bit of fight right out of them. The north still has the nerve to stay here and tell us what to do. What they did was unnecessary the amount of damage is unbelievable, after all that the northern carpetbaggers are coming down here trying to sell us stuff and take our money. They must be crazy.

The unnecessary amount of force that our military used hurt the south. I don't think that it really fixed the problem, yes we are "one nation", but ignoring part of the nation doesn't make us a whole. The way that the "former slaves" are being treated now is no better than before. They're still doing the same work for basically no pay, if anything they're just being put into debt. We need to work together and rebuild houses, towns, and farms. Getting over our racial differences will be hard for most southerners but it needs to happen. Force ended the war but it didn't fix anything it just made a giant mess out of where we call home. I wish I could fast forward 100 years and see where all this will take us.

Consciprtion

Today the government decided to come up with this brilliant idea called conscription. This is basically forcing men into serving in the military to fight against the enemy. I for once am afraid that I will be called soon. Lucky enough for me I am able to pay for someone to go in my place instead of having to go to war. Hopefully I do not run into one of those scammers that say they will go to war for me and take the money and run. That means that they will probably come for me anyways. I wish that I could just forget about the war and never let it bother me again.

Military force is not the best way to keep a nation together. When using military force it is very hard to keep control of the way the people are treated and it is also very hard to keep all of the rebellions down and supressed. If you decide to use military force it would be a good idea to be ready for numerous rebellions and uprisings. I believe that it would be better to use political force instead because it is more diplomatic and people do not have to die fighting for a cause that could have been settled in pen and paper. Political forces tend to be smaller and are settled usually in a calmer and more fashionable manner than war. War tend to range from a few days to years while political reforms tend to last a year or so.

Preserving a Nation

In preserving a nation there are certain actions that you must take in order to protect your nation. Different events should obtain different matters of dealing with it. Taking force as in military or political actions differ between happenings. During the time of Lincoln's Assasination there should have been more force involved in protecting the president because things can be avoided with the right precautions. During the Cycle of Poverty there could also be more political force involved. Instead of letting citizens keep going through poverty and debt the government should come up with new ways to help them and give them more offers that might help them come of the same cycle.

Using force may not always get you what you want, when people force you to do things sometimes instead of going with it you instead, rebel. Using military force may not preserve and unite a nation constructivly instead you may lose your country's respect for you. Political force may make someone say they want a certain president or law but really its not listening to the citizens. In some cases though, the govenment needs to step up and help there country to make it a better place for everyone. Military action should not be there to scare a country but to defend and help yours or someone. Preserving a nation should not just contain political and military force. It should include respect and concern towards the citizens and nation.

sarah

Amendment 13, 14, and 15

Lately, the country has been a land of utter chaos. But now, the government is finally stepping in and standing up for the foundations of America. Congress recently passed Amendments 13, 14, and 15. The 13th Amendment officially freed all slaves. While the slaves may have considered themselves equal at that time, many Americans still would not give them the rights they deserved, under the argument that the African Americans were not citizens, and therefore were not entitled to the freedoms that other Americans enjoy. Eventually, the 14th Amendment was passed to make slaves official citizens of America. Even though they were now citizens of the United States, African Americans were still being denied the right to vote, which was the basis for Amendment 15, which gave them the right to vote.

These amendments represent how a force can help to preserve a nation. In this case, the force is political. The amendments were passed and settled many conflicts between two of the major groups in America. Under the guise of several amendments, Congress helped to prevent another major conflict between the people of America, and preserved the morals on which the nation was founded.

Amendments 13, 14, and 15

After the Civil War three new amendments to the Constitution were made. The first was the 13th amendment. This amendment to the Constituiton made African-Americans free, even though the Emancipation Proclamation already freed them. The second was the 14th amendment.The 14th amendment made them citizens. The final amendment to the Constitution was the 15th amendment. This amendment to the Constitution gave African-Americans the right to vote. However, in the south Jim Crow laws kept them from doing so.


I think that military and political force can perserve a nation. If a country has a stable government, and strong leaders that put laws into place, the country and it's people won't have to worry about the preservation of their nation. However, the government can't just make laws, they have to enforce them. Also, if a nation has a strong military force, they have protection and someone besides the government to help enforce laws if needed. These two things can perserve a nation.

Black Codes

Today my father was talking about the southern government enforcing laws against the African American community. He kept calling them Black Codes, they were a way for the Southern farm owners to keep slavery secretly. So technically African Americans were not free in the South. Many of these codes or secret laws will not let African Americans into cities of local towns. Other laws were: it prohibits their right to vote,they can't sit on juries, limits them to testify against white men. These laws were being made illegally, not only were they unreasonable but extremely harsh. What is the point of being free when you go to certain places in the country where you are not.





Essential Question: Can the use of force (military, economic, and political) preserve a nation?

I personally think that military takes a great part in preserving the nation. Without the military the country wouldn't be able to defend themselves from other countries and any type of fight.Political enforce also plays a big part in preserving the nation. With out politics our nation wouldn't be organized, and the country would be in huge problems. All of our leaders have been elected to make us better in some sort of way, if we didn't have these people our country wouldn't be where it's getting. Economic force has helped us as well, without the value of our money trade would not exist. The money earned from all the goods we trade would not be valuable. In conclusion, all three of these forces has been a great way our country has been preserved. With out them we could not progress and become a great and powerful country.

The March

It has now been two years since the end of the war which pit brothers against each other. Now today, on the anniversary of its end, we will take a look at one of the worst, yet most important, events of the war. Of course I mean the actions of union general William Sherman. There is no doubt that Sherman's campaign could be noted as a use of excessive force, nonetheless, it was still an important factor in maintaining the union. While Sherman did create an advantage for the Northern troops by capturing Atlanta, he went overboard when he burned reserves of cotton in South Carolina. It may well be because of these reasons that the Southern States had so much trouble recovering after the end of the Civil War. Yet, in the end, this demonstration of power and furry may have helped lead the war to its conclusion.

In my opinion, a use of extreme measures can often be necessary to ensure the well being of a nation. Evidence of this can be found in instances like "Sherman's March." Soon after Sherman's victories the Union was able to bring the war to an end. Though this force is aften considered inhumane or wrong by many, it can often prevent the loss of many more lives than it causes.

Jim Crow Laws

Can the use of force preserve a nation? Well, force can settle or end a problem but it may not be the best action. The Jim Crow Laws was a force that made it almost impossible for African-Americans to vote. It used many tatics such as you must be able to read, be able to pay the fee, and your grandfather must have voted. Still some were able to get past these "laws" which made the rich political men add a new "law" to prevent them again. They were these "laws" in order for the rich republicans to have control and try to keep them in power. The "laws" were never talked about in Congress due to they didn't want another Civil War. Which force was used to preserve a nation but it wasn't a improved but for the rich political men.
Finally I'm a free man that can vote. I was so excited when I got to the build were we would vote. When i got there, I say many outside talking and some yelling that its bull shit what there doing. When i got up to the window to vote the man asked if i could read. I thought thats weird and replied yes and was forced to read a paragraph about this and that. Then they asked for a fine. I dug into my pockets and said I got plum nothing. Then the man said no money then you can't vote and closed the window on me. I went into the crowed and talked to some of my friends and asked what is going on about a fee and everything. They said that it's some new laws that you have to be able to read, pay a fee, and your grandfather had to have vote. I said but my grandfather was a slave. They said well tough luck for you and the same for all of us.

Cycle of Poverty

I help tend the field every single day. My family and I stay poor. It's as if the crops never prosper and the fields are dying themselves. Our crops seem to dry the soil out and we don't know what to do about it. Our landlord, Mr. Smith, laughs at my father when he can't make the rent. My father promises money from the next season of crops. My family knows that the outcome of next seasons crops will be a failure, but we still hope to make some profit off of them. Mr. Smith even doubles the cost of rent each season we don't make enough money on the fields we work. It's hard on everybody.

What I don't understand is; why we don't have some economical support? We should have some one enforcing rules and regulations on how the economy should be set up. I believe if we had a little help from the federal government the South can prosper again. Of course, it won't be as prosperous as when the slaves worked on the Plantation fields. Little farms spread out won't be as prosperous as the big plantatations, but the farms can try. The whole nation will be unified if we had someone telling these landlords, such as Mr. Smith, that they can't overcharge the rent or keep their farmers poor. It's not right to keep the poor people poor.