War of 1812

Hey everyone!! Sorry for missing 2 posts in a row. I forgot about Wednesday's post, and then got too busy to post Saturday's. Here's Saturday's post.

The War of 1812

The War of 1812 was a war between Britain and America. Britain was in a war with France, and America was trying to stay neutral. Britain did not like the fact that America was trading with both sides, and began capturing American trading ships headed for France. Britain also began using the practice of impressment, or taking sailors from their ships, and forcing them to serve in the British navy. France followed the example of the British and began capturing American trading vessels headed for Britain. America stopped trading with both countries, and France finally agreed to stop harassing trade ships. 

 

Indian attacks were becoming a large concern for the western frontier settlers. General William Henry Harrison defeated Shawnee Indian chief Tecumseh in Indiana at the Battle of Tippecanoe. British rifles were found that the Indians had dropped on the battlefield. After that defeat, the Indians decided they needed the British to come help fight to keep the Americans from taking even more of their land. 

 

President James Madison declared war on June 18, 1812. American soldiers immediately invaded British-held Canada, and were chased out as quickly as they invaded. The British general in Canada, Sir Isaac Brock, also captured Detroit before retreating. 

 

In September of 1813, Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry fought against and defeated the British naval squadron in the Battle of Lake Erie. This boosted the morale of the other soldiers. A few weeks later, at the Battle of Thames, General Harrison retook Detroit. Shawnee Indian Chief Tecumseh was killed in the battle. 

 

Meanwhile, Britain had finished their war with France and turned their full attention to America. First, they tried to come down Lake Champlain and capture New York City, but their plan failed, because the Americans had defeated the British squadron on the lake. Next, they landed in Chesapeake Bay and marched to Washington D.C., forcing the president and his family to flee. On August 24, 1814, the British soldiers burned the Capitol buildings and several other important buildings before leaving the town. 

 

On September 13, 1814, a large squadron of British ships bombarded Fort McHenry for 25 hours. It was during this battle that Francis Scott Key wrote the poem the “Star-Spangled Banner”, which was later set to music and made our national anthem. 

 

In late 1814, American and British ambassadors got together and worked out a treaty. The Treaty of Ghent was signed December 24, 1814. Both sides agreed to stop fighting, since they were sick of it, return all prisoners, and restore borders to what they had been before the war. However, nothing was said about the issues of impressment or the British helping the Indians. Those issues were resolved later.

Because news traveled slowly back then, the troops around New Orleans had not heard of the treaty yet. On January 8, 1815, the Battle of New Orleans was fought. The British were thoroughly defeated by General Andrew Jackson, also known as “Old Hickory” for his stubbornness. He became a hero of the war, as did Captain Isaac Hull of the U.S.S. Constitution, which did a tremendous amount of damage to the British fleet in the Atlantic. 

 

The Indians were unhappy with the results of the war, because they knew that they had lost their battle to keep their land. Britain forgot about it very quickly, considering it a minor war. In the U.S., however, it boosted national pride and self-dependance, and also encouraged expansion. The war also ended fighting in the government (at least for awhile) and destroyed the anti-war, unpatriotic Federalist party. 

 

The War of 1812 was a short war that left lasting impressions on almost all who participated in it. It also helped shape our country into what it is today. In conclusion, if this war had not happened, everything would be very different today.

George Washington

This week I decided to write a poem about George Washington for my unit project. Sorry about the meter, I'm still learning how to fit all that together.

George Washington

A man of valor,

A man of might.

He wasn't a sailor,

He wasn't a knight.

Many battles fought he,

On behalf of his country,

And led them to vic'try,

Down there by the sea.

He was elected president,

Twice elected was he.

He kept his country from being rent,

It was a job not easy.

He finally retired from office,

Weary and ready to rest.

He had fulfilled his purpose,

And he had done his best.

Creation vs Evolution (Part 6)

Here's the next part of the creation vs evolution discussion.

The Debate About Natural Selection

The evolutionists' theory of Universal Common Descent requires a mechanism by which organisms can change into entirely new species over time. The evolutionists believe that natural selection is that mechanism. The process of natural selection involves three steps. The first step is that a species varies, and the variation gives the individuals that have it an advantage. The second step is that the varied individuals survive better than the others in that species. The final step is that the variation is passed to offspring until most or all of the species have the variation. Examples of natural selection are finch beaks that become larger than normal and peppered moths that change color over time. Another example is selective breeding, which increases certain traits in certain species. The evolutionists claim that many small changes over time will eventually produce a new species, and conclude that natural selection is the mechanism for Universal Common Descent.

The opponents of evolution agree that natural selection does occur, and that the process does produce small changes within a species. However, they disagree that those many small changes can produce a completely new species over time, and they have evidence to support their opinion from several different fields of science.

The first evidence is from selective breeding. Selective breeding has limits in that traits can be increased or reduced by only so much. Selective breeding also has problems in that it increases the risk of disease and undesirable traits. In natural selection, these problems could kill off a whole species instead of turning it into a new species.

The next evidence is from micro-evolution. During a drought, Darwin noticed that the ratio of finches with larger beaks to those with smaller beaks had grown, because the finches with smaller beaks could not access and crush the few hard seeds that were left. This example of micro-evolution does not support the idea that natural selection can create new species, because nothing new was created and because the ratio of finches with larger beaks to those with smaller beaks decreased after the drought. More evidence from micro-evolution is that scientists noticed that different varieties of finches were merging, thus showing that the finches were all variations of the same species.

Another example of micro-evolution is peppered moths. Before the Industrial Revolution there were more light colored moths, but when the Industrial Revolution began and tree trunks darkened, there were more dark colored moths. This example does not support the idea that natural selection can create new species, because nothing new was created and because it was only the ratio of light colored moths to dark colored moths that was changing.

Also, scientists who support evolution did an experiment to try to prove that what they said about natural selection was true. They placed peppered moths on tree trunks and watched the lighter ones get eaten quickly while the darker ones survived. The experiment is invalid for two reasons. The first reason is that the moths were released during the day, while moths are usually active at night. The other reason is that they were placed on tree trunks when they usually rest in tree canopies. The example of peppered moths changing color does not provide evidence for natural selection's ability to change one species into another.

The last evidence is from genetics. Scientists have discovered that natural selection loses information instead of gaining it. Natural selection does not manufacture the DNA needed to produce the cells necessary for making the organs and tissues required to make a new species. This discovery does not provide any evidence for natural selection's ability to change one species into another.

Evidence against the idea that natural selection can change one species into another can be found in the areas of selective breeding, micro-evolution, and genetics. Looking at this overwhelming evidence, opponents of evolution conclude that it is impossible for natural selection to be the mechanism for Universal Common Descent.

Creation vs Evolution (Part 5)

Here's part 5 of the creation vs evolution series.

The Debate About Biogeography

Biogeography is the study of how different species of animals are distributed around the earth. As an example, consider the animals in South America and the Galapagos Islands. While animals in the Galapagos Islands resemble animals in South America more than animals in the rest of the world, they resemble each other best. They have unique traits that differ from the South American animals. Also, animals in the Galapagos Islands are capable of traveling long distances over water. This pattern also appears in other parts of the world.

The evolutionists claim that the fact that Galapagos Island animals can travel long distances over water supports their theory that animals from South America migrated to the Galapagos Islands. Evolutionists also claim that those animals that migrated became the common ancestors for the species there today, which explains the close resemblance between the animals on different Galapagos islands. Evolutionists believe that the migratory animals adapted in different ways, which explains the differences between the Galapagos Island animals and the South American animals. This evolution within a species is called microevolution. The evolutionists see that this process of migration and adaptation has happened around the world, and claim that microevolution is evidence for Universal Common Descent, or macroevolution. They conclude that biogeography supports their theory of Universal Common Descent.

The opponents of evolution agree that the process of migration and adaptation is a fact. However, they say that this fact does not support Universal Common Descent for multiple reasons. One reason is that it supports microevolution, but not macroevolution. Another reason is that it fully supports a polyphyetic view, but it does not fully support a monophyletic view. The final reason that the process of migration and adaptation does not support Universal Common Descent is that it shows an overall loss of genetic information, while macroevolution requires the addition of genetic information. The opponents of evolution conclude that biogeography does not support the theory of Universal Common Descent.

The Life of James Madison Junior

Hey everyone!! Sorry about the late post. I got sick last week and missed a day of school, so I will be posting history papers on Tuesdays instead of Saturdays now. Here's my latest one, hope you enjoy it!

The Life of James Madison Junior

James Madison Junior was born at Port Conway, King George County, Virginia, in 1751. He was educated at home by his mother early on, then attended the College of New Jersey, graduating in 1771. He stayed at the college for a year after his graduation to learn theology. 

 

Madison was deeply involved in government work for most of his life. He served on the Orange County Committee of Safety in 1775. A year later, in 1776, he attended the Virginia Convention, at which place he helped frame the state of Virginia's Constitution. He also served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1776-1777, and again from 1784-1786. 

 

From 1778-1780 he was part of the Virginia Council of State. He was the main force behind the Mount Vernon Conference, which met to discuss state matters. He attended the Annapolis Convention, which met in 1786, and in 1789 was involved in the Congressional Committee. 

 

When the Continental Congress met in 1780-1783 and again in 1786-1788, Madison was chosen to represent Virginia and was an important part of helping to develop the Constitution. He also led Virginia to ratify the Constitution and wrote part of the book The Federalist. The Federalist was a series of papers to explain the purpose of the Constitution to the states and to convince the uncertain states to ratify it. Alexander Hamilton and John Jay helped Madison write the series. They were countered by the Anti-Federalists, who were stressing the importance of limiting federal government.

In 1788, he opposed the developing Bill of Rights and presented his own version. However, he eventually saw that he was wrong and helped to create and pass the Bill of Rights, which took from 1789-1797. 

 

From 1801-1809, he served as the Secretary of State, then was elected to be the fourth President of the United States, and he served in that capacity from 1809-1817. While president, in 1812 he declared war on Britain for impressing, or taking by force, sailors from American ships and making them serve on British ships. Several years after he had finished his two terms as president, he attended the Virginia Constitutional Convention, which lasted from 1829-1830. 

 

Aside from government business, he wrote about deficiencies in the Articles of Confederation. In 1798 he also wrote the Virginia Resolutions, which protested against the Alien and Sedition Acts passed by Congress. 

 

The Alien and Sedition Acts allowed the president to deport anyone who was considered a threat to peace and safety, as well as controlled what people could say that was critical of the government. The Acts also stated that in order to become a citizen, someone had to reside in the United States for 14 years; whereas before these Acts were passed the requirements were to have resided in the United States for only 4 years before becoming a citizen.

Madison served as the rector of the University of Virginia from 1826 until his death in 1836. He also wrote articles defending James Monroe - who became the fifth president of the United States in 1817 - and served as his foreign policy adviser.

Madison married Dolley Payne Todd, a widow with a son, in 1794. When he died in 1836, he was 85 years old and was outlived by both Dolley and her son.

Creation vs Evolution (Part 4)

Sorry for being a day late! Got sick with something and didn't feel well enough to post yesterday. But here's the post. Hope you enjoy!

The Debate About Embryology

Embryology is the study of how living things develop before being born or hatched. The evolutionists claim that the embryos of different species are similar during the earliest stages of development, and they support their claim with a drawing made by evolutionist Ernst Haeckle. They also claim that this similarity between embryos of different species points to a common ancestor. Another claim is that the embryos show what the embryo of the common ancestor looked like. The evolutionists say that ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny, meaning the development of an embryo repeats the evolutionary history of the species. They call this idea the “Law of Biogenesis.”

However, opponents of evolution point to the fact that there are many photos to prove that the embryos of different species look different during the earliest stages of development. They also see multiple problems with the evolutionists' drawing. One problem is that it leaves out the earliest stages of the embryo development, which, according to the evolutionists, is the stage at which the embryos are most similar. Another problem is that Haeckle made the embryos in the drawing look more similar than they really are. Opponents of evolution conclude that the evolutionists do not have any evidence from embryology to support their theory.