Thanksgiving and America

Thanksgiving is a time for giving thanks, whether it be for a personal gift or for something that we've had from the start. Some things that I am thankful for are the food we get at Thanksgiving and the freedom we have here in America.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Freedom

Electoral Votes

The republicans won the vote of the state of Massachusetts in the presidential elections of 1876, 1880, 1884, and 1888. Most of the other states around Massachusetts tended to lean toward the same direction except for some states like New York or Connecticut. However, in the 2008 and 2012 elections, Massachusetts sided with the democrats along with most other Eastern states.

• In nearly all of the elections in the 1800's, Massachusetts voted for the republican candidate, but in the 2000's, they started to vote for the democrats. 
•  In many of the cases for both times, adjacent states would vote for the same political party.
• The U.S. gradually became more democratic over time.
   

Results of the 1876 Presidential Election

Results of the 2008 Presidential Election

Oil Boom

Discovery

Oil is an important resource today throughout the world, since it has a wide variety of uses. It was often called "black gold" since it had such a significant impact on America. In the early 1900's, oil was used to power trains, automobiles, lamps, and many other machines; so it was very much sought after by people looking to make a lot of money.

Map of American Oil Reserves

An Oil Well in the 1900's

A Modern Day Oil Drill

The first Automobile: The Model T

An Assembly Line for a Model T Automobile

                    

                                          Impact

One of the more immediate results of the oil boom was the rise of the automobiles. Automobiles were once only for the very rich since they were expensive to make, and required lots of oil to power, but with the increase in oil, all that was required was a way to make cars cheaply and quickly. Henry Ford made this possible with assembly lines in which people built cars with all the same pars piece by piece, making the automobile accessible to much more people. The higher accessibility of automobiles let people be more independent and allowed people to live farther away from cities since they can travel there much quicker. Some longer-lingering effects of oil were that it made the U.S. very dependent on it for many of the goods that were made using oil. Because of the massive rate at which America consumes oil, they must keep importing more from foreign lands, since they can't produce as much oil as they can use it.

U.S. Oil Consumption Between 1992 and 2012

Top 10 Annual Oil Importers Worldwide

Did You Know?
Oil is used in the making of the following objects:

• Food preservatives
• Perfumes
• Shampoo and toothpaste
• Some clothes
• Chewing gum

Election Day

Election Day is determined to be on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November, which is always between November 2nd-November 8th. It's a civic holiday in some states including: Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, West Virginia, and Puerto Rico. The reason on why election day was set on a Tuesday was because it was simply more convenient than on a Monday. If it were set on a Monday, people would have to start their traveling on a Sunday, which would interfere with peoples' religious pursuits. One of  Massachusetts' elected officials in the U.S. Congress is Niki Tsongas, who represents the 3rd district. The senators that represent Massachusetts are Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren who are both democratic.The representatives of the Massachusetts House of Representatives are democrats Eileen Donahue and David Nangle.

Massachusetts' 3rd District

The 3 Branches of Government

Massachusetts State Flag

New MA State Governor: Charlie Baker

Far and Away

The movie Far and Away shows a lot about the Irish in the U.S. in the 1890's, particularly on the subject of immigration and the Industrial Revolution. In most cases, immigration to America from Ireland was difficult, but the movie, Joseph and Shannon got there with ease. However, the real issues with immigration started when they finally arrived in America, where they discovered that Irish immigrants were treated very poorly, often being refused jobs and discriminated against.
The movie also showed us how life was for most pole during the Industrial Revolution. During this time, many Americans went from farming on land to working in jobs such as factory workers. In the movie, Shannon ends up working in a chicken processing plant with many other immigrants preparing chickens for shipping. The movie, though with a couple unlikely incidents, portrayed the lives of Irish immigrants in the Industrial Revolution very well .

Immigrants Arriving in America

A Family of Irish Immigrants

Native American Names

My Native American Name:
Resting Owl- I was often very studious in middle school and always got good grades, even staying awake very late every night studying. I got very little sleep, spending a large amount of the weekends sleeping during the day, and becoming more active at night, much like an owl. In high school however, I feel like I'm "resting" now. I don't study as much as before, I don't get my amazing grades anymore, but I somehow feel more relaxed, presumably because I get more sleep. While I still feel like my knowledge is growing, I'm growing slower than the rate I was growing in the past, and I think that I might "wake up" again, but not just yet.

Technology Then and Now

 Shortly after the Civil War in the 1860's, the most advanced  technology available were railroads, telegraphs, and telephones. Now, in 2014 we've progressed much more, and eventually replaced railroads with subways, telegraphs with texting, and old-fashioned rotary phones with greatly improved cell phones.

A map of railroad tracks in 1865

The Shinkansen (a Japanese bullet train)

The worlds fastest manned plane: SR 71 

A telegraph

A morse code chart

Texting: The primary form of communication for most people

an antique rotary phone

The smartphones of today