My Opinion

In Ruben's blog I noticed a view with very plausible sources to credit the whites with a reason to treat the natives the way they did. I agree with him, even though they had a reason or a motive it doesn't make it okay. They suffered what the white americans did, but what they went through was gradally becoming much worse. His views are always controversial, but are usually backed by logic.


In Mykaella's blog I noticed she was pretty thorough with what she discussed. She has a supportive view towards the native americans which is to be expected. She mentions how Native Americans are not treated like normal human beings. This is a horrible thing to do to any person let alone a group of individuals. The challenges they went through should not be forgotten.

In Arshad's blog i agree with whart he wrote, he used facts and believed that the Native Americans should of had their own rights and beliefs. I liked that he told some of the events that happened and use his sincere thoughts. I also liked that he kept his topic on the religion matter because it's true that one should believe what they chose to and not be force to believe something they dont want to.

In Ligny's blog she wrote about the assimilation of the Indians. The Indians were very level headed people but the whites saw them as animals. The whites tricked the Native Americans to give up their lands and moved them to reservation camps. The whites broke all of their promises and used little effort to understand the Native Americans.

In Angel's blog I noted a focus on the Natives ordeals with reservation camps and broken deals and promises. He talks about how they did not keep up their ends of their bargains. He writes and I cannot help but think in the frustrations of the Native American group as a whole. It was an ardious ordeal and the whites have pretty much all the blame.

Essay on Native Americans

   In history many socially and culturally separate groups have been persecuted or "punished" because of their hesitation towards assimilation. One such group was the Native Americans who over the history of the United States have suffered like no other group. This very diverse culture was to be lost, instead lives were taken to try to stop assimilation. The interactions of the Natives with the Whites was rarely conflictive in the right circumstances and could have been a peaceful relationship. I will be discussing this topic of the Native Americans and what happened to them.

   The Native American group, with their various tribes has seen conflict like any group but have been through things few others have. They were seen as conflictive, aggressive, war mongering people, even though they would usually be very civil. The group was basically being forced to do many things which led to violent methods. They were being assimilated, their religions, customs, diets, everything was being changed, to become "better". Many important Natives were killed such as Sitting Bull, who died from a misunderstanding.

   The loss of culture became a very serious problem. The whites were forcing assimilation, and were being relentless. The fact of the matter was that they believed they were being helpful.  The Natives could either assimilate, or run to Canada. Usually the plan was to sell the excess land, and so that the Natives would basically make settlements in the manner of white society, because that was the best way. The governments plans were not seen to be as good an idea to the natives as it was to whites. Some natives were becoming part of the society that was wanted from them, even losing their names.

  The conflict that came after this was even worse, massacres occured, prominent people were being killed, and natives were still fighting between tribes. One very well known "battle" is the massacre at wounded knee, were a trained army division was responsible for klling hundreds of Natives, including children and women, neither of which were going to fight back. The natives fought each other usually for personal gain, and monetary exchanges were not rare. Many leaders were killed, almost exclusively to the indians, and this also made morale fall and the natives began falling even harder.

   In conclusion, the natives have been through much and this has contributed to the natives current problems. Many natives suffer from many if not basically all social problems. Natives suffer from alcoholism,depression, many live under the poverty line and very few are left. It is because of their past that they live how they do. It has also been from the way the whites would treat them. They can improve but not alone.

What I Learned!!!!!!!!

   In Angel's blog I found out his view on some topics. I noticed how he acknowledgedthe extreme racism that is still present, to this day. I noticed how some people justify their racism by declaring them all criminals, even though only a small percent are actually criminals. The view on mexicans, especially in the states near the border are more inclined to racism, and this should change.
   In Elsa's blog I noticed the long voyage many Japanese had to undergo to achieve new opportunities. They had to go through Hawaii and then go to the U.S. Since the voyage was so long many stayed in Hawaii. Many Japanese were actually succesful as businessmen, fishers and fruit vendors, includig other agricultural jobs.
   From Natassia's blog, I noticed her heritage, and how she is of European descent. She has spanish blood from her surname which was Ciurana, and with time changed to Siurano. I noticed how it was a large honor to get lordship over a place, and the honor that comes with that name. She writes about her origins which are similar to the origins of most of our forefathers.
   In Nelsharry's blog, I noticed how even important or famous people feel about immigration and their related topics. Shakira was talking about her views on these topics. It showed how everyone is affected by them. I noticed how status does not elevate from the problems of the world and everyone is thinking about them.

Blog 4

   Well, in this blog I will be talking about my maternal great grandfather. My great grandpa, believe it or not was named Pepin!  Well not really he was named Jose Hernandez Colon; he might as well have been called Pepin, since that’s what everyone called him. He originated from Spain looking for new opportunities. He had no real profession, his source of income came from private businesses that he ran alongside his wife whom he met in Puerto Rico and who’s parents came from Spain as well, her name was Emilia Torado Perez. Pepin was an entrepreneur and came to Puerto Rico to start anew. He started a few businesses in Hatillo and began to live well. Emilia was not a business person pers se, she raised the kids, but was passed down quite a few lands and sold them for money, if things got hard.

   In the end, my family was pretty much a success immigration wise, so if they could do it, why couldn’t anyone else? They came from Spain and through the same outlets everyone else had prevailed. The end showed me that if times are tough you can improve things with a change of scenery per say. The immigration however, was an odd won, and in all honesty was probably something of an escape, but I do not have the mediums to check this.

Blog 3

Well after I saw this I did feel Obama is taking this in the right direction. I feel he is doing something positive but too much of a good thing is possible. I feel that we should allow the students to stay and make it easier for their parents to become citizens, but we cannot let it get out of hand. We still have to keep order, but perhaps we can streamline it.

   I believe that the immigration process like many things in America is outdated, needs tuning and is not keeping up with technology. The varying opinions are also slowing the progress of anything actually working for this process since opinions vary but actually are somewhat similar by state. The process of immigration can be a good one and a bad, it sounds wrong but we need to make a more effective elimination process, in with the good, out with the bad. I believe that is a good happy medium since we cannot just let in any criminal, but we cannot lock the country up in a hermetically sealed bubble.

   In the end, the video did not really change my opinion on the topic; however it did improve my opinion on Obama. I think the higher ups need to decide on a game plan that actually has some initiative. However I also realize we have a lot of ongoing problems, which make this topic get backtracked. In the end I believe the best course we can take, is put a clear plan so the entire country understands and apply nonviolent measures which still allow our countrymen to work on this project.

Blog 2

Journal Entry 127                                                    July 3 1840

   Dear Journal, well here I am with my family still on voyage to America. I have heard that it truly is a wonderful place, I will miss mother Russia, she was bad, but it was tolerable. Papa said it was going to get worse, so we might as well get the jump on the rush of people that will want to go as well. Ah the trip is taking longer than I thought, and mama is having an ordeal with watching over little Raz, ah my sister she is a feisty one, no! Since I am the oldest and Granpapa is so very old I am left to protect Yakon, but he is a sickly child and he worries me sometimes. This ride to see my father’s brother, uncle Jebediah before we leave to our new home has been a grueling one. We wanted to see him at Germany and then continue west to leave by boat from France.

   I am still unsure of the name of our new home; I might have overheard mama say something about “New York”? What an odd name, and I wonder where Old York is? Well that probably is not important now. I also stay up at night wondering how things will turn out; will there be many like us? I am going to be 12 soon, and I would like to have many friends to celebrate my birthday!

   The path we have taken is the longer one of two, I argued with papa about why he chose this one but he said we would have fewer problems since less people would take it. He said some people would not like us, what did he mean by that? What would they not like, that we are immigrating, or that we are Jewish? We have been going and papa was right we have seen so few people on this track but I feel so tired. I do not understand why we have to go by foot.

   I have heard that in America a very important holiday is coming up, something about independence? I know we will not get there in time but we should get use to their customs, no? I was fighting with Yakon and then I heard mama yell “Zachariah Shelomo Auspitz Arensburg!” and she only does this when she is truly mad, so then papa told her to calm down so we would not attract too much attention. Well that is all that happened today, I guess I will write more tomorrow.

   The Jewish were one of the many ethnic groups to migrate to the U.S. with a long history of migration; the Jewish ethnicity has been traveling for a long time. The first group of Jews to travel to the United States came from Brazil fleeing the Portuguese. In 1702 the first few Ashkenazic Jews traveled from Germany and simply joined the already established Sephardic Jews which came from Brazil, even though they were looked down upon. The emigration of the Jewish people was thanks to economic, demographic, and political problems. One of the biggest problems was the racism Jews faced in all of Europe, and other parts of the world. The Jewish were prosecuted, mostly on false accusations.

   One of the main characteristics of Jewish migration was the fact they would almost always traveled in family. They traveled from Spain, Brazil, Germany, The U.K. and Russia. Many of their destinations were associated with the Dutch such as the Caribbean, and they went to the Netherlands because of their higher tolerance than the other European countries. Eventually, however their eyes turned to America the land of opportunity. Many ethnicities saw America as a haven and set out for it but the Jews usually focused on metropolitan areas for trade.

   The Jewish people were having hard times everywhere; the U.S. was not necessarily an exception. Since few Jews had occupations outside of artistry and general trade they were not prosperous quick, but things improved. Many Jews from Germany were successful in business, especially banking. The Jews could face religious prosecution every once in a while, but it was usually nothing serious, as such they had 270 synagogues by 1880. Over two thirds resided in New York, Chicago, Boston and Pennsylvania. The Jewish people worked hard, and eventually started getting less racism with higher ranking posts and jobs, but suffered somewhat from all the Jews from Russia that came during the late 1800s.

   In my point of view the Jews suffered as much as all the other ethnicities when it came to living their homes if not worse, but in the end were one of the most successful groups and met little oppression. The Jewish people were not necessarily a big group, but were close knit, hard working and very attached to their customs. The Jewish people were however at different points victims of a type of elitism within themselves which spurred from their origins. In the long run they began with little, but had quite a few success stories, which I would say would consider their efforts a success.