LAD #10

LAD #10

The Monroe Doctrine:
President Monroe announced this doctrine to congress in 1823. He opened up by saying that the areas in the Americas were no longer allowed to be colonized by European powers. Then, he states that although powers intended to help the people of these lands, they did not meet that anticipation. He then goes on to say that although the US has been interested in colonizing that land, they want to keep the nations of the Americas free. After this, he says that America tries only to interfere with European actions when their rights are violated, but will defend these nations because their rights will be violated if the Europeans imperialize them. However, he does not want to interfere with colonies that have already been planted, as they have not done for their entire existence, and they will continue to stay neutral in the war between Spain and their colonies. He then concludes by once again stating that if the countries colonize in the Americas, we will see it as a threat to our nation.

LAD #9: Jefferson's First Inaugural Address

LAD #9: Jefferson's First Inaugural Address


In Thomas Jefferson's first Inaugural Address, he begins, as many presidents do, by thanking the people of the United States of America for electing him. Furthermore in this part of his speech, he states what a great country the USA is. In the next part, he says that while he will abide by the statements of the Constitution and the will of the majority, the minorities in America will not go unheard. He then addresses some issues that had troubled them in the past and says that they can not let them happen again, like the oppression of certain groups of people or disunity. Continuing, he says that people who do not think that America should stay intact and be a great union should not be hunted because logic will prevail over their ideas, and that people who are patriotic should support the government that helped get them freedom. After that, he states that America is perfectly capable of supporting themselves and will prevail and prosper because of that while still letting people do what they please within the limits of the law. Towards the end of his speech, he begins to state what he thinks will provide for a successful government. These include some of the things that he wrote about in the Declaration of Independence, like equality and the pursuit of happiness, as well as many points straight out of the Constitution. However, he goes deeper than just what they both state to say specifics on things such as a "well-disciplined militia" and "honest payment of our debts." Many of his statements were closely related to amendments of the Constitution. In conclusion, he states that he is aware that he will make some errors as well as doing some things that some people may view as wrong choices, but that he will do the best that he possibly can and is ready for the challenge.

Columbus Blog #8

Columbus Blog #8


Christopher in some ways heroic, but in more ways villainous. Just because a person discovers a new part of the world does not make them a hero. Someone would have discovered it sooner or later had he not. However, it is what the explorer does with the land that he discovers that makes them a hero or not. First of all, he did not even find the land that he was originally looking for, India. Because of this, he called the native people "Indians," a term which is now deemed politically incorrect and offends people of Native American heritage. While he did make friends with the Natives to some extent, he was mainly interested in Europeanizing the people of the Americas. He brutally attempted to weaken the Native culture. Furthermore, he tried to enslave the people who were currently living on the land that he came into and claimed. He and his people were the cause of a great amount of death in the indigenous population because they widely spread diseases from Europe and killed many of the natives themselves. Overall, the few good things he did for his country are undermined greatly by the massive amount of bad things he did to the native people of the New World.