So, here's the deal. I've been very impressed with your comments so far on the Tea Party article I posted, and that kind of thoughtful discussion is something I would like to encourage. Therefore I am creating a new assignment for first quarter. We will see how things go, and make adjustments if necessary for next quarter.
Over the next few weeks I will post a few more videos, links to articles, or discussion questions. You must reply to ONE with an intelligent comment that either
a) responds directly to the video/article/question OR
b) comments on, questions, or contradicts someone else's statement (do not simply agree).
Due Date: The quarter ends on October 29th. Make sure you have contributed a comment by that point.
Please be sure to put your name and class period in the comment. I will label all posts that are eligible for this with a "talk" label if that helps you sort (you can sort by the labels at the very bottom of the page).
Those of you who have already replied to the Tea Party article below, I will count that and give you a 5 point boost for taking some initiative. Everyone else, you can begin with a response to this video or hold out for more fun later. Enjoy!!!
VIDEO REMOVED BECAUSE IT WOULDN'T STOP TALKING!
I would have to agree with the comment that Jackson was "a great man but not a great President". It does seem that many of the things that he did, such as Indian Removal and strengthening the executive position were for his own personal gain and set of beliefs but not for the success of America and its citizens.
ReplyDeleteGuy Cecelski (4B)
With the first question Was Andrew Jackson a great President i agree that all depends on how one defines great. For example with the whole Hitler thing they said he wasn't a great leader but i think that he was a great leader but just evil one. so for me i feel that Andrew Jackson wasn't really a great in terms of what he was able to accomplish for the people; but instead he was a strong president(to point of almost being somewhat of a dictator).
ReplyDeleteKodjo Kumi(4A)
Was Jackson a great president? Well, i dont know for sure. its just like they were saying in the video-there are so many faults of jacksons that could be considered very evil like the indian removal act,for example. But there were still so many good things and democratic expansions that he did make. he was for the common man of course, but he refused to let the common man break the union, which almost happened with the tariff of abominations. it was strange to me that they compared him to Hitler. i understand what they were saying in that, but i think it is a huge gap between the discrepancies of hitler and jackson. either way, the most interesting question to me was can jackson be a good man but not a good president.i would have to say yes and agree with the woman who said it. just throwing this out there--did anyone notice that the woman calling jackson(a tennessian) a great man had a southern accent?
ReplyDeletep.s.teddy is adorable.
Olivia Juarez (4A)
On the question of Jackson being a great president...I completely agree with the man that said he hates that very question. There is no grand scale of greatness that we can measure every president to. Jackson dealt with issues that were different from ones in the modern day. Its not fair for us to plainly judge him as not being a good president just because some of his choices were morally questionable. If we write him off as being a bad president than any president that held office during the presence of the institution of slavery, denial of womens rights, etc. should go right on the list with him.
ReplyDeleteBrittany Salaam(4B)
Throught out the whole discussion I favored the second man to speak because I really liked his point of view on the what is a great president question. I believe that people have many different points of views and what could be considered great to someone could be looked at as horrible to the next. Andrew Jacksonn appealed to some people who considered him great and some others did not feel they benefited from his policies so in their opinion he was not a very successful president. I believe there really is not an answer to that question it's just based off own personal opinions.
ReplyDeleteDanaysha Cosbert (4B)
I would definitely agree with Brittany from above-- How can you create a standard scale with presidents who deal with very different problems/situations in during their presidency?? Jackson was a great man, just like the first woman from the video said, as a military hero and such, but you cannot say he was not a "great" president because he didn't take over all of America's problems with his personality. Another president who isn't considered great in John Quincy Adams. Both of these presidents solve problems: Jackson has the Indian Removal Act, expanding Americas land, and Adams the Tariff of 1828. Although these two examples are not necessarily good things that these presidents have done, they are what they thought would solve solutions. I don't think it's fair to say whether a president is "great" or not when there aren't "stages" to go off of.
ReplyDeleteVictoria Emery (4B)
The people in this video define a great president as a strong president. I agree with that statement and I do think that Jackson was undoubtably a great man, with his contribution to the war and his support for "the little man" of the US. However, I do not think he was great president. His actions towards native american removal cast a negative image on him. He did however add to our country in his presidency even though his presidency was not great. I agree also, with what the final man said at the end, that people make mistakes and in hindsight they would take them back but i still believe that he was not a "great" president. Lastly, i disagree with the one man who brought Hitler into the discussion. It almost seemed that he compared Jackson to Hitler even though Jackson was not even close to being a tyrant like Hitler.It was unnecessary for the discussion.
ReplyDeletethat last comment was LUCAS REED
ReplyDeleteWho was the last person?
ReplyDeletethis is an interesting video. it is always amazing how many layers into a specific subject historians like this can go. they delve deep into the classification of a good president in reference to Andrew Jackson. both sides of the argument were presented but i agree more that andrew WAS in fact a tyrant in his abuse of power. sure, he could look back and maybe regret a minority of the things he did, however when you look at the broad spectrum of everything that he did it shows that he has no restraint for his own personal power.
ReplyDeletePreston (4A)
I actually enjoyed watching this video, I liked hearing what everyone had to say about Jackson! But i would have to agree with Danaysha that I liked the second man the best. It really caught my attention how he didn't give a straight forward answer of if he thought Jackson was a good president or not. He said he obviously made a great deal of difference to his time, history, political culture, our concept of ourselves as a nation, and what equality is. I think this is such an accurate answer because everything Jackson did (Indian Removal, opposition to banks, nullification issue, etc...) clearly made an impact if we're still talking about it now.
ReplyDeleteEmily Wile (4A)
I have to agree with many people. One of those being Brittany. I agree because like she said, Jackson, like many other presidents, dealt with very different issues and each person could have handled those issues differently. Jackson had his faults you could say with Indian removal, but all of what he did was in his mind, for the advancement of the "common man", which may have seemed morally right to him. I think a better question is to ask if you think whether he handled adversity well, which I think he did. Jackson faced problems that our presidents today face, making very tough decisions. And it is a fact that everyone won't like the outcome of every decision made even if it is in the best interest for the people. Even though it is hard to label, I would say Jackson was a great president like most, if not all of the presidents our country has had.
ReplyDelete- Donovan Heath (4B... or is it A?)
thank you for removing the video... haha
ReplyDelete