Conservatives and Congress

Last week after our History Class finished learning about Napoleon, we learned about what Europe did after he was defeated.  The former rulers around Europe convened at a meeting known as the Congress of Vienna.  We studied how Europe recovered and restructured after Napoleon, especially Prince Klemens von Metternich of Austria.

Klemens von Metternich of Austria
"Conservative, Sophisticate, Skilled Democrat"
http://www.emersonkent.com/history_notes/klemens_von_metternich.htm

The Congress of Vienna made many important decisions within those long 9 months spent debating and discussing, and one was called The Principle of Intervention.  The Principle of Intervention stated that if a revolution needed to be stopped, the greater powers had the right to send in troops to take down the revolutionaries, and restore the monarchy.  In 1820, Italian Nationals rose up against the Austrian government because they wanted a strong country itself, instead of separate states, but Austrian troops were able to defeat them.  King Louis XVIII also used The Principle of Intervention in his favor when he sent troops into Spain to defeat Spanish Revolutionaries.

I think that the idea of intervention was not the best choice.  It was beneficial to suspend a revolution, but only temporarily.  There was no way to officially stop a revolution from occurring all together, because there was not enough trust.  A better way of going about stopping revolutions might have been coming up with a negotiation system.

Ideologies

Last week in Honors History, we learned about the major political ideologies, or systems of ideas that help people what to decide in a given economical, social, or government situation. The 3 ideologies are conservatism, liberalism, and nationalism. The class split up into 6 different groups, and were assigned 1 of the 3 ideologies. Each group researched their specific ideology, and created a 1-minute presentation.

We used Adam Smith, who is considered to be the father of Liberalism, to "narrate" our haiku video. In only 41 syllables, we explained how laws could be discerned by use of reason, individual liberty was important, and that Liberals wanted to get rid of most traditions. Liberalism also promoted constitutional rights, and meritocracy. Liberalism mostly supported the middle class, but not so much the upper and lower classes.

After listening and watching my classmate's 1-minute projects, I learned about the other 2 ideologies- conservatism and nationalism. Conservatism sought to keep the monarchy and traditions alive, including the aristocracy and the role of the Roman Catholic Church. Nationalism was many individual groups with the same beliefs and language coming together to fight against a sole higher power, uniting to better themselves.

Napoleon was Dynamite

Last week in Honors History, we learned about Napoleon Bonaparte by reading two different articles about him from people with different perspectives.  Napoleon definitely impacted the social, economical, and political systems of Europe, but many people disagree on whether his impact was beneficial or harmful.  One of the two articles we read was by Madame de Stael, who did not admire Napoleon at all, because she was wealthy, and he did what he could to help the poor.  She claimed that Napoleon viewed the intellectual riches of human nature as "the eternal enemies of the continent".  On the other hand, Marshal Michael Ney, a soldier of Napoleon's, looked up to him.  He calls Napoleon their "august emperor", and believes that Napoleon is a great leader of their beautiful country.

Madame de Stael vs. Marshal Michael Key on Napoleon

Whether or not Napoleon's impact was beneficial or harmful, he certainly left his mark on Europe forever.  Napoleon created a meritocracy, which was positive for the poor people because it created an equal playing field in politics.  The nobles and the church were not very happy about this because they had to obey the Napoleonic Code.  In the economy, Napoleon controlled prices, and encouraged the new industry.  He also established the Bank of France, and built roads and canals for trade.  At one point, about 2/3 of Europe was under Napoleon's French control, and he gave his citizens the right to own property and gave them access to education.  He also abolished serfdom and nobility, which made the poor happy and the rich angry.
                                             

(Hershey's) Kisses to Marx and Smith

Last week in Honors History, we had a very exciting lesson on capitalism, socialism and communism.  To begin class, each student received two Hersey's Kisses, but were not allowed to eat them.  Two lucky students were randomly given eight chocolates.  Since most teenagers are chocoholics like myself, we were all pretty upset at the unfair amount of candy being given.  This represented capitalism, then Mrs.Gallagher asked us each to play rock-paper-scissors with one another, and the winner got to take a chocolate from the other.  Representing socialism, many of the "poor" students that only started with two chocolates became the "richest" in the class, while one of the "richer" students ended up being broke.  This left only the "rich" students happy, so Mrs.Gallagher collected all of the chocolates, and tortured us by representing the government, and eating all of the chocolates she desired.  After watching a video and learning about the Invisible Hand, a theory created by Adam Smith to represent a self-regulating market, we learned about communism when Mrs.Gallagher distributed 2 chocolates back to each student.  I really enjoyed this lesson because it was a fun and interactive way to learn about a more complicated subject.

In socialism, a government had ownership of industry, so they regulated distribution and production of products.  The goal of socialism was to create a classless society, but it did not work because the rich people were still very rich, and the poor people were very poor, and could not do anything to change that.  Karl Marx wanted to create a system of capitalism, which would've provided the opportunity for freedom of competition, and private ownership of industry.  The poor people liked the idea of being able to take control of their situations, but the rich did not.  Many of the rich that inherited money were not prepared to have to work, which compromised their wealth, and pushed them to exile Marx.  Adam Smith came up with the idea of the Invisible Hand, a system in which the government did not intervene, and marketeers had the chance to make profit according to the demand of the people.  The biggest benefit of the Invisible Hand was that high quality products and services were able to be sold for less money, but producers would still profit.  The biggest hindrance of Smith's theory was that it took a very long time to fall into place, which could leave a country in a depression for some time.

I support the Invisible Hand the most because it is fair for everyone that wants to be successful, and also for consumers.  I like the fact that people that want and need to make money have the opportunity to, if they get through the tough times, for a great reward.  I also like that the idea of a self-regulating market makes people work together to sell and buy fair products.

Lowell Mills Pay Bills

(Option 2)
This week in History, we learned about The Lowell Experiment, and watched a short film, Daughters of Free Men.

The Lowell Experiment was an industrial project to avoid the negative aspects of industrialization, and to make the mills more appealing.  In the film, a young girl named Lucy was sent, by choice, to work in Lowell.  Lucy was recruited by a mill owner who promised that she would get fair pay, proper education, and the ability to become a nice young lady.  She made the decision to go so she could make her own money, have her own clothes, and experience more freedom and independence from her parents.  Lucy felt very comfortable in her boardinghouse and was able to make friends, and got to have some free time.  Her family liked the opportunity because they wanted Lucy to send home money, and have their daughter taken care of.  Unfortunately, when Lucy was working, her coworkers went on strike twice, because they felt they weren't being paid or treated fairly.  Their first strike did not work, but the second one did and they got what they wanted.

The 'Mill Girl Era' left a lasting impact on the perceptions of women during the 1800s.  The girls worked hard outside of their homes, and made their own money.  They also successfully lived away from their parents, and were educated.  Many women went on to write for the public, and become abolitionists and women's rights activists.

"Daughters of Free Men"
A documentary about a young girl at the Lowell Mills
http://ashp.cuny.edu/ashp-documentaries/daughters-of-free-men/