Nelson Mandela and Apartheid

Apartheid, in my definition, was the racial segregation that took place in South Africa during the majority of the 20th century. A freedom activist who helped end this racism, was a man named Nelson Mandela. He's a man who is regarded by many to be not only a national hero, but an international hero. He was a leader of the ANC(African National Congress), a group of activists who's goal was to end the apartheid. Mandela tried to regain black freedom through non-violent methods. The South African government feared Nelson's ability to influence the nonwhite south africans. They imprisoned him for treason in 1964. He stayed imprisoned for the next 27 years.

During this time he became a symbol for national freedom. His ideas were not to riot and take over the white south african government, but instead to coincide with them so that South African blood wouldn't be spilled. Upon being released from prison, he became the president of the ANC, and had the entire nonwhite south african population on his side. He could have easily engaged in war against the government, but instead of negotiated and managed to open up free elections in 1994. He was then voted president of South Africa by winning 62% of the votes. By this time, apartheid was officially over and people of all colors had gained equal rights. He is admired by many people because of his courage and his dreams of freedom, and not revenge(despite being jailed for 27 years).

9th Grade Review - The Neolithic Revolution

The Neolithic Revolution was the transition from being nomadic groups of people, to settling down and farming. This transition led to the development of organized society. People went from there barbaric methods of hunting and gathering, to the domestication of crops and animals. This vast advancement in technology led to a major increase in food. The increase in food allowed for more people to live, thus increasing the population and this encouraged the development of cities.

Traiditional farming methods were discovered during this expansive time period. Methods such as slashing and burning were first thought up during this time. This method of slashing and burning is when you burn the forested areas, creating flat land and a sort of fertilizer for the future crops to be grown there. They also learned that certain animals could be domesticated and bred for food. This major development was much easier than the dangerous hunting and gathering. This Neolithic Revolution basically paved the way for future civilization .

The European Union

The EU(European Union) was the unification of 25 European nations that united them economically, politically, socially, and militarily. These countries no longer need passports to travel around, which makes it VERY easily for business men to get around. Almost all of the countries in the European Union use the same form of currency, the euro. Anyone who's a citizen of a country in the EU, can live and work in any of the other countries without needing any special form of documentation.

This union first started as an economic bond between 6 steel and coal producing countries. It was a major success and developed into the superpower it is today. This unification was a major event in European history. It allowed the countries to prosper economically, especially after the debt that the 2 world wars had created. All these countries that had previously fueded for hundreds of years are now all in a mutual agreement. The bond between them almost completely neglects the chance for a future war.

Film Lesson: "The Right Stuff"

In the movie The Right Stuff, the US and Russia competed in the "space race". They were both competing to be the first ones to explore the final frontier. Russia was in a sense winning this competition. They were the first ones to get a satelite into space and the first ones to get a man into space. The US always seemed to be one step behind. Only 2 weeks after the US had sent the first monkey into space, Russia managed to get the first man into orbit. One of the scenes that will help me remember this event, is the intense training that they putt he astronauts through. It just shows how determined the US was to getting someone up there and willing to go as far as to nearly kill someone to do it.

Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis was an event that happened in 1962 in which the Russian government placed missiles on Cuba to combat the US in case of an attack on Russia. The Russians were far behind in the arms race. The US has missiles that could reach Russia, but Russia could only land an attack on Europe. In the chance of an attack in Russia, they would have no way of defending themselves so they build missiles in Cuba. It's refered to as the hottest moment in the Cold War because it was the closest the world came to a full on nuclear war. John F. Kennedy dealt with the crisis by assembling a group of his 12 most important advisors, named EX-COMM. They debated for several days and managed to solve the crisis and avoid war with the communist regime by agreeing to not invade Cuba.

NATO and The Warsaw Pact

NATO was the alliance of the western european nations, the US, and Canada. It was originally formed to protect themselves from the communist Russians. Also, since Europe was left in shambles after WWII, they were helped economically through the Marshall Plan. In response to this treaty, Russia made a pact with the eastern european nations. They stationed troops in this satelitte countries to protect against western european attack and to strengthen there views on socialist governments.

Film Lesson: "Night and Fog"

The movie Night and Fog really made me open my eyes. It displayed the brutal acts of the nazi's and I found it fairly disturbing. I think it was a pretty powerful film. It would've been better if the film maker set the mood a little better. He was constantly playing "happy" music while showing pictures of decapitated jews. This movie displayed the holocaust almost just aswell as Schindler's List did. Schindler's List may have been filmed using actors, but it still depicted what actually happened at the holocaust. Night and Fog showed the aftermath of the killings that took place. Both were very powerful films that showed the "before" and "after" effects of the holocaust. I'd have to say that Schindler's List depicted the holocaust better. Night and Fog only showed the after effects of everything, Shindler's List tried to show exactly what happened at the holocaust and just how ruthless the nazi's were.