Chapter 3 Alaska, Hawaii, and Japan

Dear Diary,

     Today, my father told me that we want to be be naval partners with Japan. He said that we sailed up to their coast and pointed guns at them and they just agreed to be partners with us. He said that if we have access to Japan, we can have access to all of Asia and it's markets. He said he didn't really go into detail about this whole topic. I figure this is because he wants me to think about this on my own. And I know that Alaska is closer to Asia than Japan is to Hawaii so why are we going to be shipping out from there? That would make complete sense. But I guess if we go from there we cannot make any stops along the way. Is there an island alone the way? I have no idea. But since we can sell to all their markets, we will get lots of money from them since Asia is the biggest continent. And if we have more money, then we can become an empire faster. I always have thought that the more money you have, the more power you have. And I think that that is true. People with more money usually have more opportunity to make a change in this world. But i also think that if this money is the wrong hands then it could be used in the wrong way. As humans, I think, that money is a straight path to greediness if not handled in the right way. With money comes responsibility and without that responsibility, you lose sight of what needs to get done. So I think Japan should become navel partners with us but they should make a deal that they split the money sold in the markets with us. I think that Washington would not like this idea at all because he still wants us to mind our own business and stay away from other countries problems. And trading with Japan can certainly lead to problems. When problems arise, they need to be dealt with not just left alone.

 

 Picture Sources:


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/Alaska1895.jpg/350px-Alaska1895.jpg

http://cache2.artprintimages.com/LRG/30/3033/X9MBF00Z.jpg

http://thiboutotcultimp2011.pbworks.com/f/1304167970/japan_1911%20%281%29.jpg

http://amhistory.si.edu/onthewater/assets/graphic/full/4004a.jpg

Chaper 2 History Of Intervention

Dear Diary,

     Today my father told me about President Washington's farewell address to the country. He said that Washington doesn't want the United States to get involved with other countries problems and the if we do, we will end up fighting wars that the United States people do not need to be fighting. Today the talk with my father was a lot simpler than others we've had. My father mentioned the Louisiana Purchase, War of 1812, Monroe Doctrine, and the idea of Manifest Destiny with the Mexican-American War and the Annexation of Texas and Oregon. To be completely honest with you, I don't know what those words mean but i will attempt to explain them all to you in an effort for you to understand Washing's perspective on what America is becoming with out him in power.

     To start us off, we have the Louisiana Purchase. This took place between 1801-1829. We bought this land from Spain and we bought it for $15 billion! I can't help but wonder where we got that money from. We bought 530,000 acres from them. America bought this because they needed a port to transfer goods to ocean-going vessels. To do this they picked the port of New Orleans.

    Next, we have the War of 1812. I don't think i need to tell you when this war was. But it lasted until 1815. The United States became tangled up in European conflict that put France against Great Britain and her continental allies. I started to think about how Washington would feel about us getting involved with this War because in his farewell speech, he told us, very clearly, to not get involved with other world powers' problems. But many Americans supported this war because they saw British and Spanish territory as "prizes" if we won this war.

     The Monroe Doctrine is next. This doctrine was announced in 1823 and it stated a policy on the new political order developing in the rest of the Americas and the roll of Europeans in the Western Hemisphere. In simpler words, the western part of the world is overall "saved" for America to build and expand to make their empire. This included the western independent land. I don't think Washington would like this doctrine because we had to get involved with European issues.

     Last but not least we have the Manifest Destiny. First half of this is the Mexican-American War. This war divided and unprepared the Mexican military. President James K. Polk believed the United States could expand across the Pacific Ocean. Mexico lost 1/3 of its territory and we took it and renamed and made the states that are now named California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico. The second half of of Manifest Destiny is the Annexation of Texas and Oregon. Americans and non-Americans kept moving west to these two territories and we didn't know who owned them so we made the 49th Parallel in 1846. Washington would not like this idea because we went to war with Mexico when we could have just bought the land for expansion.

Picture Sources:

http://images.encyclopedia.com/utility/image.aspx?id=2797158&imagetype=Hero

http://lensofhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/war-of-1812-wallpaper.jpg

http://www.fasttrackteaching.com/burns/Unit_6_World/Monroe_Doctrine_1896_Judge_dbloc_crop.gif

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/American_progress.JPG

Chapter 1 Why Empire?

Dear Diary,

    My name is Daniel Thomas. I am 16 years old. My father is a Congressman and he always tells me all about the government and what he is working on with them. Today he told me that America is not a very strong country. It has many issues.

America wants to be a more influential power of the world. Building an empire is the way to accumulate power. Some reasons why America wants to build their empire is because of their Economic, Political, Social, and Military situations.

America needs more resources to fuel their economy and their markets. To be a successful world power, America needs to have a say in world issues. The social middle class was growing rapidly and their at class believe that their lifestyle was dominate over the lower classes. America has a very weak military. And in order for them to grow as a world power, they needed to change that. America needs to have influence in world issues. America, as a nation, should have a say in political world issues. My dad said that since we are part of the world, we get to decide things for ourselves too. My dad also explained to me how America is in commerce with other nations. It didn't really make any sense to me.

However, the idea of Empire is scary to me. I know America needs power but too much power can lead to other things, other bad things. There are too many "what if" questions in my mind. Agree with how much influence we need to be a part of the "bigger picture". But what if America gets greedy? What if America goes down in flames when we get more power?

Picture Sources:

http://www.heritage.org/~/media/images/reports/2013/09/sr134/srmythisolationismmap1traderoutes825.ashx

http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/regional-geography-of-the-world-globalization-people-and-places/section_08/5240cda9414e6f6aebef16924a56409a.jpg

http://bsamuseum.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/cycle_for_king.jpg?w=950

http://dcc.newberry.org/system/promos/10/medium/Garment_Workers_Strike_Detail_p260.jpg?1347251522