Top Ten Most Exciting

1. Louisiana Purchase 1803- The Louisiana Purchase was one of the most important land acquisitions because it doubled the size of our country. It of course brought turmoil to the Native Americans which I do not agree with, but our country today would not be this size without this land purchase.
   
2. Lewis and Clark Expeditions 1804-1806- This expedition was exciting because it gave us and accurate look at the land that had actually been purchased. Besides, it was also the first expedition of the U. S. to and from the Pacific coast.
   
3. Congress prohibits importing of African slaves 1808- This decision was one of the most critical parts of our history. Prohibiting slave trade did not stop slavery and the cruel condition some of them lived in, but at least no more Africans were captured from their land to come to a place where they were treated like property.
   
4. Federal Government offers land at $1.25 an acre 1820- This was an exciting event because the price of the land lowered, and more people were able to purchase land to start their plantations and make money from it. If they couldn't make much money from it, at least they could grow their own food.
   
5. California Gold Rush 1849- I chose this as an exciting event because thousands of people went to California in search for gold and some of them got rich and others ended with at least a little more than they started with. Unfortunately there were also many hardships during the trips to California but it was still a critical point for California to grow.
   
6. Cotton Gin 1793- This invention was really exciting because it sped up the process of removal of seeds from the cotton fibers. I think it is exciting because it allowed the economy to grow. Of course there were bad effects as well like the need for more slaves to plant more cotton.
   
7. Volta invents electric battery 1800- This was an exciting part of our history because it would lead to more experiments and also because we still use batteries today. If it weren't for batteries, we wouldn't have cell phones, laptops, and ipods.
   
8. Steam boat sailed the Mississippi River 1811- This invention was very important because it provided a faster method of transportation along the Mississippi River and it also made trading faster.
   
9. Daguerre invents first form of photography 1839- This invention was very important because we were able to capture parts of the Civil War in pictures. War is never a good thing, but at least we have documents and evidence of the horror that ocurred during these times.
   
10. Library of Congress Founded 1800- The Library of Congress provided Congress with references and it still does today in a lot of cases. It has some of our oldest documents including some of the first pices of sound recorded.
    

Assignment 1: Preview Reflection Blog Post: Fights

I have never actually gotten into a physical fight with anyone, but I have had several verbal arguments. I have solved most of them except for one of them. My best friend's mother used to view me as a good person and welcomed me into her home when I was still a freshman in high school. I became good friends with her daughter and I would frequently visit them and go out with them. I decided to move to Boston a couple of years ago and everyone assumed different things and started commenting to her mom that I was doing bad things. All these rumors were false, but she believed them. I came back from Boston and to my surprise, the lady absolutely hated me and did not want me around her daughter. Of course her daughter and I continued to be friends and it was about 3pm or 4pm when we decided we wanted to grab a bite. I would pick her daughter up and we would go to eat and come back. When I got there, the lady stood in front of my car door so her daughter would not get in. Her daughter was 19 at the time and I thought it was ridiculous. It was not even late and it is not like I was going partying or something. She started yelling at me and offending me and I yelled back and told her that all she was doing was pushing her daughter to be more distant from them. She got even more upset and told me to leave. I left and I have only seen her once after that in 2 and half years. I saw her at a flea market and she just kept walking with an angry look ( I think I made her day). I tried to avoid the argument by staying quiet at first, but she started to offend me and that is when I could not keep quiet any more. She sayid that since she was older than me, that I had to respect her. You have to give respect in order to be respected. The argument just made things worse and till this day, she still hates me and thinks that I am a bad influence for her daughter even though her daughter is 21. I think she just has untrue information about me from people who do not have a life. On top of that, her daughter frequently lied and said she was with me many times when she really was not. I think she is jealous of the part of her daughter's life that she shares with me and not her. I don't know if this issue will ever be resolved, but I will put in on my new year's resolution list....