Puritanism

Puritans were the more extreme  part of the Church of England when they started out.  They wanted to purify their national church by eliminating Catholic influence. Hence, the name Puritans.  If you were Puritan and you did not go to Church every Sunday and you disagreed with the minister you would be looked down on as a sinner.  John Proctor is an example of this, kind of, becausehe did not really like Parris.  The Puritans influence us today because society has a set of standards, morals, rules that we must loosely follow and I think that most of these are from the Puritans.  But in a more loose form.  For, instance if i disagreed with a minister people would not necessarily call me a sinner.  But in some states adultery is still a crime.  Some people say it is unconstitutional but it shows that the Puritans have definetly influenced us and still do.

Now Nathaniel Hawthorne ties into this in a way.  Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts.  He has written many books and stories.  His father, who has the same name was a sea captain who was a descendant of John Hawthorne.  If you can recall John Hawthorne was one of the judges at the Salem witchcraft trials.

The Moment

The moment I knew I was an American.  This is not an easy thing to answer.  How would I know what an American is, when did I find out?  How should I know what an American is, who am I to judge?
America is a beautiful place.  Our country is based on freedom from a tyrannical king that we proclaimed our freedom to in the Declaration of Independence.  Now don't get me wrong America has not been so perfect.  With slavery, racism, and a whole lot of other things America looks like the worst place to live.  But our founding fathers had a whole lot of bravery to be able to send a document to the King of England saying they were abandoning him and starting their own country.  They did this knowing they would have to face his wrath and superior army on their own turf.
                Now knowing all of this I have a pretty good idea of when I knew I was an American.  I knew I was a free, open-minded American when Barack Obama was elected to office.  White America went from being racist and just mean to people of other races (some still are) to electing an African American for President!  In no other country would this happen. Only in awesome, free America can culture change so drastically in such a short period of time for the better.  That is why I am proud to be an American.

Conflict That Leads to Death

Conflict between two groups whether they be countries or smaller tribes can have the ability to lead to death.  All that needs to happen are a few events that snowball leading up to one person going crazy and killing another person of the different group.  After this happens it is very likely that the two factions would both start killing each other left and right.  One example of something like this happening is when the colonists came over from Europe and met the Native Americans.  At first they were aliens to each other because neither of them had seen anybody like it before.  Then as they got used to each other they helped each other out and took advantage of each other.  The colonists and settlers had an obvious advantage over the Native Americans with guns and when they wanted something the Native Americans pretty much had to give it to them.  When the new colonists wanted to move west and push the Native Americans west as well the Native Americans began resisting which resulted in wars between the two groups and deaths on both sides.  The Native Americans suffered the most because they did not have guns and it was for the most part whit men killing the people who were there first.

Stooge or Not

I understand where John Proctor is coming from.  I find it respectable that he or anyone else would stand up for something they believe in.  At the same time though the decision he made was not a wise decision.  All he had to do was sign a document saying that he had committed some act of witchcraft and he was not going to die.  He signs it but when the judges say they will hang it up on the church door he freaks out and will not let them have the document.  So instead of living and being with his wife and children he dies because he does not want people to see that he admitted to witchcraft on an official document.  That is just not smart, at all.  If he knew he did not actually do anything bad why not just go along with it, why would he care what other people think about him.  That is why I think that John Proctor was more of a stooge than a hero.  Another reason why he was a stooge was because he cheated on his wife which is never a very heroic thing to do.  John Proctor could have saved his life but he was too vain so he died and left his family without him.

Crazy Sermon

If I were a child listening to the sermon that Jonathan Edwards gave I would be frightened and confused.  I would think that Jonathan Edwards was either a crazy old fart or I would believe him because I would not know any better.  I am not saying I would not believe in the religion per say but I would not believe all of the crazy stuff he said.   
After reading this I almost laughed.  Jonathan Edwards reminded me of some of those crazy politicians making accusations that do not even come close to making sense.  Also the politicians that like saying things like "I misremembered it."  This guy Jonathan Edwards could have believed in what he was saying or he could have been trying to make people act accordingly to his beliefs.  Either way he was a psycho in my opinion.  Now I am pretty sure that the God in religion is portrayed as a good person/thing that loves everybody not some mass murderer holding you above a pit of fire and death.  But in the end if I were a child listening to Jonathan Edwards back then and I did not know any better I am afraid I might actually have believed him.

There Goes the Neighborhood

When people first started coming to America from all of the other parts of the world there was a lot of conflict.  Most of it was between the new settlers and the Native Americans who were there before the settlers.  The Native Americans believed that land and earth could not be owned.  They shared the land with each other and did not waste the resources that the earth provided for them.  The new settlers that came to North America did not believe that because where they came from land was bought and property was built on it.  When the colonists and settlers first came to the new land we now call America relations between Native Americans and themselves were generally peaceful.  But as the years wore on and the new white people wanted to expand westward through Native American territories, conflicts between the two groups broke out.  The new colonists basically kicked them out so that they could build their new homes and places of work.  They could do this because they had guns which the Native Americans were lacking.  They pushed them to the west until there was no more room.  Violence between these two groups did not end just after the Revolutionary War it kept going on.  One particular event that many people have heard about was The Trail Of Tears.  Andrew Jackson forced many Native American tribes to move west.  Many tribes were relocated and had to walk the trail of tears were many died.  So when new people come around it could be good or it could be bad.  You just gotta hope for the best.

Introduction

My name is Joe and I have a little brother and a little sister.  I am fourteen years old and a freshman at our school.  I live on the northside really close Wrigley Field so naturally I am a Cubs fan.  I am also a Bulls fan but I am not a fan of the Bears, my favorite football team is the Pittsburgh Steelers because most of my family is from Pittsburgh and they are nuts about football there.  In the summer I sell water to fans going to the Cubs game to make money for myself.  I enjoy hanging out with friends and relaxing whenever I am not busy with sports or other things such as babysitting for my little sister.  I really like basketball and am hoping to make the freshman team this year.  My favorite subject is reading or writing in school but I hate math.  I like to read because I find it enjoyable and easy.  On the other hand I find math to be hard to understand and just boring.  I like Whitney Young so far and I hope and think I will like it for the duration of my high school years here.  I am looking forward to what I will learn and do this year.