Time to Nominate!!! :)

TOP 10 Proposals!!

1. Jenny's Proposal (http://jennyliam.blogspot.com/2011/04/my-proposal.html)

I liked Jenny's proposal about voting rights because it is true that everyone from 18 years and up have the right to vote but what about teenagers? I agree that teenagers should have the right to vote since they get to have their driving licenses at the year of 16 and they should get a chance to make important decisions such as voting!

2. Gabriela's Proposal (http://vabiilately.blogspot.com/)

I found Gabriela's proposal very convincing and it really make sense since many elderly people are left or forgotten by their families and left into poverty. With this proposal , the elderly eople will improve their life styles by their family helping them to cover their basic needs and decrease elderly poverty.

3.Ivania's Proposal (http://icolon.blogspot.com/2011/04/my-propooosaaal.html)

Ivania's proposal have to do with problems that are happening lately today with criminals. We all know that there is a reason why a person is in jail but they should have rights too. Many criminals commit sucide and have emotional problems inside jails so her proposal was to give criminals the right to having a "family day" inside jail so that their eomotional "status" increase.

4.Roxanne's Proposal (http://roxi-shore.blogspot.com/)

I agree with Roxanne's proposal not only because I am Puertorrican but because it is something that is really happening in P.R. Many people commit suicide with other people's comments or because they create stereotypes that make a person to be in deppression and with this law it will decrease the number of suicides in P.R.

5. Mariah's proposal (http://mariahcarolina.blogspot.com/2011/04/amendment-proposal-by-mariah-carolina.html)

Mariah's proposal was made to decrease the rate of women abused by making justice and creating some rights for women. I agree with Mariah in which some women take advantage of some men to get revenge of them and it is not fair because women and men are equal.

6. Nicolle's Proposal (http://nicollemarie23.blogspot.com/)

Nicolle's proposal was very convincing because she made a realistic statement of people with disabilities. I liked that she included the right to vote to people with dissabilities, to be equal, to be secured with a good medc aid, and if they want to live by themselves they should have the right to have just a nanny to help them.

7. Randy's Proposal (http://randyeloko.blogspot.com/)

Randy's proposal make sense because some veterans are stiil waiting some benefits that they deserve and for able that all veterans receive money all of the months because of equality they should lower the tariff so that everyone receive a monthly payment. But veterans are veterans no matter how much time they have been out of the army and they deserve benefits such as medical care plans.

8. Bianca's Proposal (http://travelingwithbianca.blogspot.com/)

In P.R. one of the major problems is the fighting of students for scholarships for universities and Bianca's proposal is a scholarship that would help every student to pay in time and it will decrease the fights and problems that there is among students in universities.

9. Tiffany's Blog (http://www.somethingbytiffany.blogspot.com/)

Tiffany's proposal is different of the others because she took into consideration those families that want to become U.S. citizens for good reasons and have a better life and these families should be helped to become a ctizen more rapidly with this proposal.

10. Paola's Proposal (http://mylifeaspaola.blogspot.com/2011/04/womens-right-proposal.html)

The proposal of Paola made the right for women to vote no matter if they are black or white because they are not inferior than anyone. I liked the idea that she added in which women have the right to express themselves and say their opinions just like the men did.

Amendment Proposal!

These pictures represent equality among Native Americans and whites, that means no discrimination!

As a member of the Congress, I would make many changes in the rights of the U.S. citizens. One of the groups that need some changes and other rights are the Native Americans. Most of the people think that only homosexuals, African Americans, immigrants, Catholics and others are discriminated in the U.S. but they leave out the Native Americans, who were the first ones to live in the U.S.
We, the U.S. citizens, forget that the Native Americans had been forced out of their land by the whites and imagine if they were the ones that forced us out of our land. It will not be fair for us and it was definitely not fair for them. Native Americans have had a lot of problems with the whites and they still feel discriminated and we have to stop it. Everyone is equal and is not equal and is not fair that because they have different religion, beliefs and customs does not mean that they should not be treated equal. Although they began rebelling against us, the whites, but they rebelled because we were being unfair taking all of their land. Today, there is a minority of Native Americans in the U.S. because they are not able to success in their land. That's why I want to propose an Amendment for the Native Americans.
This Amendment will include the right for Native Americans to live free in their land and being able to attend schools and have employments without any problems and also to live without any police harassment. I would also like to include that the whites or any U.S. citizens could not use stereotypes to identify Native Americans, because it would make them feel discriminated. So, I hope that YOU, as part of the U.S. Congress vote for this Amendment to be added. With these rights, Native Americans will feel equal and not discriminated for sure!

http://books.google.com.books

Changes in Native Americans Rights

These pictures show what were some moments of the Civil Rights movement for the Native Americans in the U.S.

The Native American culture was one that everyone had the right to be equal. When the American government took control over Native American lands, the Indians had tofollow all of the rules that the whites proposed. When the U.S. Congress passed down the Civil Rights , there were only a few rights for Native Americans, but changes had occurred and the whites startedto recognize that they were part of the U.S. too.

The Indians had many reasons to be angry at the whites and to start battles because the U.S. government was being unfair with this people. All Native Americans born within the territorial limits of the U.S. are by law citizens and are given the rights of the U.S. Native Americans have the privilege of voting in national elections since 1924, but some states prohibited Native Americans from voting in local elections, such as New Mexico. Indians do not receive payments from the federal governmentsimply because they are Indians.

Today,some Native Americans tribes receive benefits from the federal goverment in fulfillment of treaty obligations or for the extraction of tribal natural resources. But still with some benefits that the Native Americans receive from the U.S. government, they have broken promises with the Indians and they are even discriminated still. Indian tribes deserve to have a peaceful life on their own land. Also, the U.S. government must respect the binding agreements spelled out in their own treaties with the Native Americans. The U.S. government has promised the Indians many things, but few had become real.

www.narf.org/pubs/misc/faqs.html

The Struggles of the Native Americans

These pictures shows how the Native Americans struggled against the whites.

Native Americans treated the whites with respect and they even shared their land with them. But the whites wanted their land to make money, in which caused the Native Americans to get angry and fight. Indians could not be freein their land anymore and their form of protest against the whites was fightiing.

The NativeAmericans were very peacefuland treated the whites. After the whites realized that their land was very valuable, they did anything as possible to get it. The American government decided to do a Removal Act for the Indians, in which they were forced to get out of their land and if they didn't, the whites would start fighting and killing Native Americans. Many Native Americans tribe had nochoice than to relocate to reservations, but as the time passed, the Indians realized thuat they were not treated theright way and they were discriminated by the whites.

Later, the Native Americans realized that they did not deserved to live in such conditions in the "white land" and they had to stop obeying "white rules" and start living their normal life since the whites did not respect them. This was when battles broke up between the whites and the Native Americans. These battles were known as savage and violent, and they took place in a small area, and involved few people. Native Americans joined and killed or captured as many whites as possible and often scalped the dead. Most of the wars were little more futile attempts by desperate, poorly equipped Native Americans to keep their land and their way of life. The whites won and often rewrote history to suit themselves. Today, many Native Americans live in reservations with their way of life, religion, and beliefs but are still discriminated by some whites.

//answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=2008062705496AAzRFdg

Oppression of the Native Americans!

This is a picture of a part of the Bill of Rights of the U.S.

Many movies show us that Native Americans were the ones who always treated the whites badly and did not wanted to share their lands. This "mistreatment" towards the whites caused many problems including battles in which Native Americans always used the scalpping methods. But, guess what? These problems were exagerated in movies and it was totally the opposite because the whites were the ones who treated badly the Native Americans

All of the Native Americans were treated badly by the whites in the 1800's. This mistreatments started when the whites realized that the Native American's lands were valuable with many minerals and fertile soil used to crop, in which they could make money. The whites from the U.S. government invaded Native American's land, killed their people,broke some treaties, and send them to reservations. In the past 200 years, Native Americans have been stripped of their land,rights, and dignity and have become a minority in the U.S. today. Native Americans were once proud to live in a nation like the U.S. but sadly today they have the highest suicide rate and lowest life expectancy.

Racism in the U.S. has been a major issue since the colonial era and slave era. Major racially structure institutions included slaves, Indian wars, Native American reservations,segregation, residential schools for Native Americans and internment camps. According to the Bill of Rights, every person should be treated equal no matter the race and they should have the right to be free and there should not be segregation. But, today Indians are still discriminated since they still live in reservations and some whites even try to be far from them because of their beliefs and ways of living. Why can't they live their lifes just as everyone else, with their beliefs? They are humans just like us! Native Americans still have rights in which they can be educated in any public school and they have a higher probability to be successful in their lifes than in earlier years.

(www.docshare.com/doc/131340/Mistreatment-of-Native-Americans)

Native American Rights in the United States...What is their History?

This is a map that shows the routes in which Native Americans immigrated to the U.S. according to genetic evidence. (http://www.google.com.pr/imghp?hl=es&tab=wi)

"All men are created equal", that is what the U.S. Constitution says, but we clearly know that there are still people who are treated unfairly. There are many groups that even though they have rights that are written down in the amendments, they are treated different. One of these groups are the Native Americans, who are treated badly during a period of time by the whites but are still discriminated.

The Native Americans were the first ones to conquer and live in the lands of the United States, even before the European settlers came and discover these lands. Native Americans were and are still scattered all around the U.S. and they are related in culture and genetics. Based on the anthropological and genetic evidence, scientists agreed that most Native Americansdescended from people who migrated from Siberia across the Bering Strait between 12,000 years ago, trying to escape from the ice covers of the last ice age. Native Americans,since then, have adopted the way of living in the U.S. and considered it as their homeland. Many problems such as military defeat,cultural pressure, and confinement on reservations, forced cultural assimilation, outlawing of native languages and culture,and slavery between the 1950's and 1960's had bad effects on Native American's mental and physical health. Since the 1960's Indians were no longer safe in their lands and were dying because of battles they had with the whites.

In the 2010 Census of the U.S., there were 2.5 million Native Americans reported, which represented 0.9% of the population (http://2010.census.gov/2010census/data/). Native Americans were strong but the whites started to take their lands and they bacame weak and their population decreased alot. A few Native Americans became succesful in their lifes with works such as the whites but others refused to have the life of the whites. Today, Native Americans live in resaervations all around the U.S. and still follow their beliefs and customs but I think that they do not have enough rights and they are still not treated equally as they should be, since they were the first ones to live in the U.S.

Taking a look at other blogs!

Jenny's Blog:

http://jennyliam.blogspot.com/

I liked Jennyliam's post because she supported the Indians since they were the first that lived in the United States. I agree with her that it was totally unfair how the Indians were treated by the whites. I also think that the Indian's rights were violated by the whites because of their desire for land.

Katherine's Blog:

http://kathyhistoryblog.blogspot.com/

In Katherine's post she talked about that the best way for Native Americans to succeed in the white lands was to get assimilated. I am against many things that the Native Americans had to do to be assimilated, like changing their real name into a white name. I agree with Kathy in the point that Native Americans passed through many harsh times.

Randy's Blog:

http://randyeloko.blogspot.com/

I agree with Randy in the statement that the whites showed no respect toward no Indians. I liked his blog because he added some of his opinions. One of this opinions was that although the Native Americans were helped by the governement because they gave reservations so they can live but their life would not be the same.

Ivania's Blog:

http://icolon.blogspot.com/

I liked Ivania's post because she was very realistic in the problems that the Native Americans had with the whites. I liked what she wrote that due to the dishonesty, and the things that the government promised to them and they never gave many wars and battles broke out. It was sad to know that many Indians died in this battles because they were not prepared and they did not had their firearms since the white officials took it.

Bianca's Blog:

http://travelingwithbianca.blogspot.com/

Bianca's post was about how the whites tricked the Native Americans. Many whites forced Native Americans to sign many treaties that they couldn't even read or understand. Native Americans were driven out of their land eventhough they didn't do anything bad to the whites. I agree with her because it was totally unneccessary to kill many Native Americans in battles.

Were Native Americans treated fairly?

Sitting Bull,Native American chief, in a South Dakota Reservation with his family.

Native Americans were showed as the “bad ones” according to many movies, they were the ones who were cruel to the whites and did not share their lands with the whites. But according to history, the whites were the ones that were being cruel with the Native Americans and they were treated unfairly. The whites started being unfair when they took the Native American’s lands and they were forced out. Then white troops were sent to reservations and began banning all of the Indian’s firearms. Also, if Indians disobeyed the whites, then the whites would take advantage of them and use their firearms.

The whites knew that the lands of the Indians was one way to gain money. The United State’s government soon forced the Indians to move out of their lands. The whites knew that the Native Americans needed a place to live, so they created reservations. The whites tried to do the reservations so that the Native Americans lived as they did in their land. Some of the reservations had a fenced area where the Indians could “hunt” animals and feed their families. Some of these reservations were Pine Ridge and Rosebud Reservations in South Dakota.

Native Americans practiced the “Ghost Dance Religion”. In this religion they claimed that the Earth would soon perish and then come back alive in a pure state in which Indians could inherit. The whites got alarmed and yet scared of this religion and of the Native Americans. Later, white troops were sent to reservations to “protect the whites from the Indians”. The soldiers then prohibited the Indians to carry firearms with them.

Some Native Americans did not understand the language of the whites and others had health problems like being deaf. There was a case where the white officers tried to disarm a deaf Indian, known as Black Cayote and he did not do anything. A discussion started and firearms discharged from both sides. This discussion ended as a brutal and violent incident known as the Wounded Knee Massacre.

There is only a few words to describe how Native Americans were treated by the whites and it was simply unfair. It was completely unnecessary to force the Indians out of their land and make them live in reservations. The Indians did not do anything wrong or bad to the white Americans to receive such bad behavior from them. The Wounded Knee Massacre was completely unnecessary since 150 Indians were killed for no reason. Indians were trying to live peacefully with their religion and without being controlled by the whites.

Bibliography:

http://www.lastoftheindependents.com/wounded.htm

www.hbo.com/.../bury-my-heart-at-wounded-knee/index.html

Different Immigration Blogs

I liked Tiffany's blog (http://www.somethingbytiffany.blogspot.com/) because the diary that was included made her blog very realistic. I did not knew that many Italians left their country because of natural disasters, that was one thing that I learned from her blog. I agree with Tiffany in the point that many immigrants went to the U.S. to follow the "American Dream".
Another blog, in which I certainly agree with, was Paola's blog (http://www.mylifeaspaola.blogspot.com/). Many Americans are immature in still thinking on discrimaination against immigrants. I liked the idea that she had, in which the congress should pass down a new law making bosses have immigrants working in their jobs because it may help them a lot.
Randy's blog (http://www.randyeloko.blogspot.com/) was about the German Immigration. I was surprised to read about how they lived in their villages were burnt, killing many inhabitants. I also agree with Randy because I found it very sad to put as prisioners some immigrants, when they are trying to be free and happy.
I found Jenny's blog (http://www.jennyliam.blogspot.com/) interesting because it explained what the Irish passed through. How lamentable is to read how immigrants livedin their country and the reasons why theyleft it. I also liked the point that Jenny had with her article. I agree with her because it was cruel and unfair to report illegal immigrants who only wants to live the "American Dream".

The Story of My Family!

My ancestors are all from Guamaní and Patillas in Puerto Rico, and throughout the years we have decided to stay here, because this is our home. There have been some changes in the way we live compared to our ancestors. They lived more in the country side and they made money by working in sugar cane plantations and in other farms. Today, we live in the city side because there is more job opportunities and more schools.
Today many Puerto Ricans tend to study out of Puerto Rico, since it turns out to be more successful and faster. My father and sister went to the U.S. to study and passed through many hardships. My father told me that it was not easy to get use to the different environment. He felt a little uncomfortable because when it was time for group works, he realized that he was always left out of the groups. He could not hold it anymore, so he returned to Puerto Rico and continued his life here and married my mother, which was also Puerto Rican, and had to girls.
My sister is seven years older than me and I have learned many things from her. She went to study to New York and she does not regret it because it helped her a lot. I asked her if she was caught in a situation such as the one of my father, but she did not. She said that things were different in the U.S. since there were more immigrants from many places around the world studying. Yes, there were some groups that were still racists but they could not do anything because the majority of the people were immigrants.
My family is very united and help each other out, no matter what the situation is. I know that many people don't like us, Puerto Ricans, but that is the way we are and nobody can change us or our culture.People are equal and should be treated fairly, no matter their color, culture, language or if they are immigrants or not. People move to other places looking for a better life, not to destroy a country.

Is the U.S. still racist with Immigrants?

Why can't they have a normal life in the United States? They are normal people, just like you and I. Many people just like this family cross the border of Mexico everyday, looking for a better life.It makes me sad to know that many of these immigrants are treated unfairly because they simply aren't American citizens. I understand the Americans because it is their country and they want the best for it, but they also have to understand that not all of these immigrants move to the U.S. for drug trafficking or other bad things. The majority of the illegal immigrants are in the U.S. wanting to have the American desire and being able to have a job and be successful in their lives. Having protection in the borders of the U.S. is good because it avoid many conflicts, but it is very aggressive when non-citizen people, looking for better opportunities, try to cross. Immigrants move to other countries to have a better life, not to make it worst.

An Irish Diary!

[My family before we took the Steamboat]

Today is June,1948

It is sad to see how we lived in Ireland, in such bad conditions. We had to share the food that we had, so that it lasted for the rest of the week. My mother did not eat sometimes to give us more portions of food to eat. We lived in a village where we worked all of the days in a farm to obtain at least $2 dollars per each 4 hours. When the potato rot took place in Ireland, there were no farms left so that meant that there wasn't money. Our neighbors died of starvation and that was when my father decided to take us to the United States.
My family took all of our belongings that could be stored in our luggage. Our village was near the sea, so we walked to catch a steamboat, but first our father bought the tickets with the money we obtained from our things that my mother sold. It took a couple of months to arrive to the U.S., we were excited yet sad because we missed our country and friends. We stopped at Ellis Island near New York and we were interrogated and inspected, but we did not have any problems and continued on.
It was hard to find a nice town to live in, since Americans started to be a little harsh to us, I always thought that they didn't liked us. We found a community full of Irish people and we decided to stay there to live. It felt good to be near people of your same culture. My dad tried to look for jobs but he was rejected, since he was an immigrant. He looked for many jobs but he did not found one, but my mother gave him an idea to own a laundry. The laundry turned to be very successful and as the years passed, my family owned a chain of laundries around New York.
It felt so relaxing to have a good life and being able to eat well. I just wished that everyone in Ireland had the same opportunity that we had in the United States. Me and my brothers went to school and had an excellent education, we also met many American friends in school. I lived in New York for many years and worked at a clothing factory. I am so glad that my father decided to move to the U.S., because it helped us to be successful in our lives.
-Anonymous (Irish)

The Immigration of the Irish

September,1820

The dominant industry of Ireland was agriculture on the beginning of the 19th century. The laborers from Ireland were paid about one fifth only of what could be obtained in the Unites States and the ones that did not have land were considering to move to "The New World". There were also many religious prejudice of Protestant Masters to the Catholic Irish and many political subordination, that's why many other Irish had no alternative but to move to the U.S. for some relief.


[These were the steam boats used to transport immigrants from Ireland to the U.S.]

In 1845, the great potato rot made more people to migrate to the U.S. This potato rot that
occurred in Ireland lasted for about five years and the survivors wished only to get away and have a better life. Many Irish migrated to the U.S., taking an affordable trip to Canada, where they could buy cheap tickets to the U.S., or even walk across the border. The starving families that could not afford to pay landlords were other ones that moved looking for a better future. Almost 3.5 million Irish men entered the U.S. between 1820 and 1880.
Moving to the U.S. was difficult yet, many peasants arrived without anything, including resources to start farms or businesses. Many of the Irish that moved to the U.S. worked in building the great canals, which were the national transportation system in that time. Many of the Irish laborers were the ones that did the grueling work. In towns near their works, the Irish formed their small communities. Many Irish became policemen and firemen and even became some of the fist drivers and conductors! The first Irish did not have many job opportunities because they were unskilled, but as the years passed by, they worked as plumbers, boilermakers and more. Some Irish laborers even had the opportunity to become bosses. The Irish became rich in cultural resources and were able to face hardships on their own. The cultural events such as "St. Patrick's Day" helped hold the Irish culture together. Besides the church, which was important to the Irish, the most important things of their culture were the "press" and "stage".
This history of immigration from the Irish makes me understand how desperate people were to have such a good life. Based on all of these facts, it was not easy to move over to the U.S. People, such as the Irish, passed through many hardships for able to be successful. Things in Ireland must have been very bad for the Irish to move to a different country where they have to start all over. According to their history, the Irish became very successful and had a better life than the one they had in Ireland.

The Irish move to the United States!!

[Irish immigrants arriving to the U.S.]