journal 3

“When they used the term “slavery”, however, they weren’t referring to the peculiar institution whereby many of the founding fathers themselves bought and sold African Americans as property; they referred to what they felt Great Britain was doing to their lives and livelihoods”. I picked this quote from the book The American Dream because of what is talking about. I picked it because the Americans that were trying to break away from England at that time believed that they were being treated like slaves because of all the taxes that they were being charged. In reality they were all free and please to do what they wanted. I also picked that quote because what the founding fathers were saying was contradicting with what was actually happening in reality because they owned slaves themselves but could not see that they were also doing wrong or if they did acknowledge the problem they could not do anything about because the country was not ready for that change yet.
I think that the most memorable part of this chapter would be the quote that I picked to share because of how much contradiction it has in it.
I think that the book is going pretty good so far I like some of the topics that the author brings up. I like that he brings up different ideas about the American dream and doesn’t only focus in one of them. I would say that some of the history given in the book is boring and dry because it sounds like something that I would learn in a history class but hopefully it gets better.
The whiskey rebellion was a resistance movement in what was the western part of the United States in the 1790’s, during the presidency of George Washington. During this time the United States was heavily in debt and there was high inflation and the government needed a way to raise money to pay it. The government started taxing whiskey heavily which lead to the discontent of the people. In the rebellion about 500 Pennsylvanian men attacked the house of the tax collector. The Washington administration responding by sending peace commissioners and raising a militia to put down the rebellion. When the militia did not need to use force the rebellion was put down before they arrived. This showed that the government was willing to suppress violent resistance to its laws.

Anne Hutchinson

Anne Hutchinson was a woman who was not afraid to stand for what she believed in.  I really admired her courage, strength and tenacity to endure the challenges in which she had to face during the 1600's.  As a young, educated English woman, who lived during a period in history when women did not have any rights other than to bear children, be subservient to their husbands, and silent in the church.  Anne Hutchinson challenged the patriarchal system and their beliefs, she was not only a voice for freedom of religion, but she has been recognized as one of the world's first American feminist. Anne Hutchinson not only helped to break down barriers for women but she was an inspiration to others and influenced all individuals to speak out for righteousness.  She taught men, women and Indians to help make a difference in the lives of others through teaching the Gospel.  Her mission was to dispel false teaching and expose the truth about Jesus Christ and the true doctrine of God's word to those who were lost.  She understood the true meaning of inner faith and tried to spread the Word of God into her community.  She chose to live by faith and not by sight.  While Anne Hutchinson has become a renowned and influential woman throughout the world, she lived a very courageous life.  Following her trial, she was found guilty and deemed as woman not fit for society and was banished from her community.  However, she never stopped teaching and preaching what she believed.  In 1643, Anne Hutchinson along with 5 of her children and servants were massacred by the Mahican Indians in East Chester, New York.  She will always be remembered as a woman who stood up against the Puritans and exercised her right to speak freely about Christ's love and the free gift of salvation for all.  Anne Hutchinson was a true pioneer for freedom of religion and died fighting for what she believed in.

  http://www.annehutchinson.com/anne_hutchinson_biography_001.htm

John Winthrop

I personal think that freedom of religion is great and wonderful thing. Without it I feel that there would be a lot of uncontrolled chaos between religion factions like violent protesting religious groups and the destruction of religious property. With freedom of religion we are forced to deal with each other and learn about each other. I believe this has helped our society and made us more tolerant of other religions and idealism and thous better people as a whole. For instance my sister is a bible thumbing christens and I am a god doubting Ignosticism and we get along just fine.

I reached John Winthrop and found out that he was a very important puritan. He was the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony for 12 terms but then he was banished from the colony for having a fight with Roger William.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAwinthrop.htm

The Puritans

The Puritans came to The New World to segragate themselves from the Church of England. They wanted to become more of a strict religious sect that devoted themselves to each other, and their community. They were going to build a City upon a Hill. The Puritans believed that the only head of the church was Jesus Christ himself. The Puritans also believed that the women carried more sin within. They believed that all women must carry the burden of Eve's corruption. Thus, the women had no chance of heirarchial leadership of the Puritan Church.

http://http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puritan

I think that religion is the important for Americans, because religion is what our country was founded on. The mix of different cultures, and religions also makes our country great. Many people sit next to one another, and have different religious views. Some of the people who you intermingle with daily might not even have a religious viewpoint. They might not even believe in God. I think that they are entitled to their opinion. The freedom to practice different religions makes for a more peaceful nation. Some extremists cause problems, but for the most part religion is a safe practice in this country. The past generations might not have been able to say the same thing, but at least now we have the privelage to feel safe.

The Cost of Freedom

The cost of freedom has always come at a high price, and religious freedom is no different.  Throughout history, we have seen people fight for their rights pertaining to freedom in just about every aspect of life.  When we fight for civil rights, freedom of speech or the right to have freedom of choice, there has always been a huge sacrifice.  Freedom is a right that we all should be entitled to, however we live within a society around other people who may not share our exact sentiments on various issues, and it is here that the law of freedom becomes much more complicated, to say the least.  When you live among a society with different cultural backgrounds and different moral beliefs and values, people do not always welcome change and differences with an open mind.  Unfortunately, on certain occasions by indulging in this particular way of thinking, we may create a conflict of interest and hinder another individuals ability to exercise their personal rights to freedom of speech or religion.   There have been countless individuals throughout history who have sacrificed their own human lives for the freedom and rights of others.  Furthermore, there has been a lot of bloodshed throughout the world, all in the name of religious freedom.  In my personal opinion, this will always be one of our biggest obstacles to overcome.  For centuries we have learned about the history of wars that are directly tied to religion and sadly, there will be more bloodshed and fighting until the end of time.  While there will always be those fighting to gain more freedom, we must remember there will also be those individuals who oppose granting freedom to others and this will always be a factor of concern because the cost of freedom has never been free.   

Freedom of Religion

Freedom of religion is extremely important to our basic identity.  As individuals, it allows us the right to worship, teach and observe according to our personal choice and chosen belief system.  To allow this freedom is one of our greatest human rights because it permits every individual to have their own basic identity without any government interference.  Within the United States of America we have a vast difference among people because we come from all different backgrounds, ethnicity and cultures.  By providing all individuals with the basic right to have the freedom of religion, it provides every individual a sense of freedom to freely worship, teach, practice and observe within our society without condemnation.  It is very unfortunate that in many other continents and countries throughout the world, people are being killed every day, all in the name of religion and standing for what they believe in.  For this reason, I do support freedom of religion and I agree that as an American citizen we are very fortunate to live within a society that not only recognizes the importance of freedom of religion but also values its significance, and has chosen to uphold this right of freedom to each and every human being residing within the country.

Freedom of Religion

The freedom of religion is one of the most important roles that Americans take part of in everyday life. The freedom of religion allows us to express our beliefs and reject any beliefs that we want about God. This is important for our personalities because the freedom lets us exercise how we want to present ourselves based on our religion and allows us to actively participate in our religion.

One of the greatest strengths in religious freedom is the fact that is separate from the state. The law cannot determine your religion and cannot make you stop your beliefs. The only thing that the law can say about religion is that we have the freedom of religion. This all started when Martin Luther decided that he would rather be killed than to deny his beliefs. Another important figure was the first women to stand up for freedom, Anne Hutchinson. She believed in the freedom of speech, religion and belief. She was looked down upon from the Puritans because she was going against what they believed. In the end she became an important historic figure who stood up for her beliefs. Our religion is a belief and nobody should be able to tell us what we can and cannot believe.

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Freedom_of_religion

Reminder on how we use Signal Phrases to establish sources in our writing

Signal Phrases

The Encyclopedia Britannia has been a valid source of online information since 1999 and the company was founded by Professor Jim Harris in Burlington, Vermont in 1887.  According to Encyclopedia Britannia, . . .(NOW YOU CAN USE THE SOURCE AS WE KNOW THE SOURCE AND YOU HAVE ESTABLISHED ITS CREDIBILITY)

Paul Reuben is a researcher and writer for Penn State University.  He publishes many research articles about early America.  According to Reuben. . . (NOW YOU CAN USE THE SOURCE AS WE KNOW THE SOURCE AND YOU HAVE ESTABLISHED ITS CREDIBILITY)

How important is freedom of religion to our basic identity as Americans, or you in personality?
As my opinion I believe that everyone should have the rights to believe whatever they want, and not inter fear others. Because without freedom of religion there will be no peace. The only think that makes people friends is when they respect their believes to each other. Centuries ago the people that moved to America, the only reason they move was to be safe with their religion believes, and that is why America became the land of freedom for religion. You can believe whatever you want at the end we are brothers.

John Winthrop

Before I started, doing my research on John Winthrop I knew nothing of him. However, I discovered that he was a very important character. As matter of fact, he was the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. According to Encyclopedia of World Biography John Winthrop was the dominant figure in the early years of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. His actions and ideas gave the Puritan colony much of its essential character. http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/John_Winthrop_(1588-1649).aspx


In today’s society, Freedom of religion is very important because many of the people who came here and founded this country were forced to worship what the government told them to worship. When people came here to the United States they were able to form congregations and even some communities that allowed them to worship peacefully.

jonathan edwards

What I learned from studying Jonathan Edwards is that he believed that good had control of everything that we did. He believe in the sovereignty of good which to him meant that everything that happened was because that’s how God wanted it to happen. I would say that his views are a little extreme but at that time most of the people believed in this. the puritans believed in predestination which meant that before you were born God had already decided if you would saved or not. I think this was way too extreme of way to think because I think your fate can’t be decided like that. I see it as a personal choice each individual needs to make for themselves.


http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/edwards/

I think that to some Americans freedom of religion is very important because some wish to practice their religion more than others. In the United States your able to practice the religion you wish to do so to other people come this country it would be a problem. Some people decided to come to this country because where they might live they don’t have same freedom. This country opens the doors for that in a way that you can identify yourself with the religion you wish to without fearing oppression from other religious groups.

Exercise 4

While doing research on Anne Hutchinson, I found that the common theme throughout her entire life was non-conformity and standing up for what you believe in. Anne Hutchinson became a controversial figure when she began questioning the Puritan's belief that "conformity with religous laws was not a sign of godliness and insisted that true godliness came from the inner experience with the Holy Spirit." (Crawford 18) She began preaching this to small groups of people and would eventually put on trial for heresy. She was found guilty and exiled from the community and the state. After moving a couple times she would get caught in the crossfire between two angry indian tribes, one of whom would slaughter her and her entire family.

Personally, I believe freedom of religion is extremely important to any society. This does include the right to choose not to believe in God. I think it's important in that many people have religion as a source of hope. This is one of the great strengths in this concept of religion. Without hope, there isn't much to live for. People either hope for things to become better in this life, or the hope that things will be better after you die. The problems that this causes are the things we see in the everyday world. Wars and persecution are typically somewhere stemmed from Religous differences. I'm not saying that without religion there would be no war, I'm sure the human race would find something else to fight about, what I am saying is that people will fight for what they believe in, just like Anne Hutchinson and right or wrong religion has always been something people fight for.

http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap1/hutchinson.html

writing exercise 4

I did my research on Roger Williams, he was a tolerant. Before my research I didn’t even know the active Tolerant was, but now I have learned. Roger Williams believed in freedom of religion. He didn’t like people forcing the Indians Americans to their believes or faith.
I personally think freedom of religion is something crucial to our lives because America is very individualistic country, so freedom of religion gives you the right to practice and not practice any religion.
One problem it may cause would be people could divert away from their basic or fundamental faith.

Writing Exercsie 4: John Winthrop

I enjoyed learning more about the life of John Winthrop. From his difficult life he had growing up including losing three wives, to the hardships he faced as Justice of the Peace. Despite this, I think the most interesting thing I learned about him was that he was willing to risk everything, even his very life in order to practice his faith. He made a safe haven for other Puritans while still keeping in line with his core values. I can't imagine how much courage it would take to for someone like him to do that, but perhaps it was more faith than courage that guided him to the new world.

One of my sources was: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/645737/John-Winthrop

To answer the question what great strengths are in this concept of religious freedom, I would say that there are many. A few would be that it allows a country like the United States to exist. If we didn't have religious freedom, if we told people they couldn't practise this religion or that one it, it would lead to unrest and eventually violence which has been the pattern through out history. Another strength would be that people can truly decide if what they believe in is something of value to them and other people. If something is just rammed down your throat, are you more likely to believe in it than you would if you chose to believe it? Oh course not.

John Winthrop

John Withrop was the first govenor of the Massachusetts Bay colony. One of the most interesting things I read about him was the pride he took in how he and the people he governed followed the church. When Anne Hutchinson was put in charge of the Boston Church in 1636, she tried to change the position of a church on certain issues that John Winthrop found to be "blasphemous". He fought to have the issues left alone, his fight led to her being excommunicated from the church all together.
Here's the link to one of my sources:

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/645737/John-Winthrop

I think that the freedom of religion is one of the most important liberties we can enjoy as Americans. Being a country that is recognized and prided for it's cultural diversity, it's very important that all of the people within to be able to freely express themselves. As we have read in the American Dream so far, the Puritans did come from England to escape religious persicution. I think that that offer should be open today for all that wish to do the same. However there are some problems with the idea of a melting pot. For the most part I feel Americans can be tolerant of other religions, but there are a select few that are very harsh with their beliefs, in that, what they know to be right is the only right answer. Because of these people, often times a whole religion, or even race, can be descriminated against or even feared while a majority of those who practice it just want the same freedoms as other Americans. The freedom of religion also gives the citizen a freedom from religion. We can all pick the God or Gods that we want to believe in, or we can choose to not believe in any God. There should be no reason that a person has to follow a certain religion, or any if they do not want to.

Anne Hutchinson

The best information I learned about Anne Hutchinson is how powerful of a woman she was. She had a voice outside her husband's and she wasn't afraid to use it. She brought women together for a common cause: interest in religious beliefs and gender equality. She would hold meetings in her house to discuss sermon's preaching against Puritan religion. The biggest quality that stuck out to me about Anne was how she reached out to women and actually listened to thier stories.

http://www.projo.com/specials/women/94root1.htm

I believe the great strengths in the concept of religious freedom is that everybody can have their choice. There should not be a right and a wrong when it comes to people's beliefs. Whether or not someone believes or does not believe in God, should be that person's opinion and belief. Religious freedom allows this to happen and opens the door for American to be more of a melting pot.

Anne Hutchinson

Anne Hutchinson believed in antinomianism which is the belief that the individual could communicate directly with God without the need of involvement of church officials. This was a crazy concept during her time because the leaders controlled the way people thought and used the church as a means for control. Anne refused to be controlled by other prominent figures of the Puritan community at the time; such as, John Winthrop. As a result, she was later tried for vocalizing her beliefs. http://womenshistory.about.com/od/earlyamerica/a/anne_hutchinson.htm

Freedom of religion is an important part of my identity. Raised in a nondenominational Christian church, growing up I was not allowed to participate in Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, and Easter. My parents raised me Christian but also held some of their own personal beliefs surrounding holidays and their origins. As a result, much of my childhood, and every school year I had to explain to friends and teachers why I didn't participate in certain festivities. Now that I'm older, I appreciate being able to form my own conclusions on what I hold to be my religion. Many of my friends have different religious beliefs than mine including: Rastafarianism, Islam, Christianity, and Atheism. I enjoy that each of us is allowed to practice our religions in our own way and can vocalize our beliefs. Often times, I have conversations with them surrounding the differences and similarities and I think its good to sometimes distance yourself from a biased viewpoint favorable to what you believe and learn from someone with views different than your own.

John Winthrop

while doing research for journal three, i don't know if i uncovered the best information, but i think i did uncover some very interesting information. i was amazed at how many times that John Winthrop had been married. his women kept dieing on him. my resource did not give incite into how they were dieing, it could have been child birth, disease, or they could have really hated their husband... i digress, he kept remarrying because the puritans had a belief than no man should spend his life alone. so, their belief promoted marriage and remarriage if necessary. in a historical context, the number of times that John Winthrop was married is not important, but i find it very interesting. to see my source, click http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap1/winthrop.html

today, the freedom of religion is still a basic freedom that we enjoy today. it is one of the corner stones of our society. if we relinquish this freedom, what else will we give up? however, with all of these freedoms, we are bound to step on people's toes. for example, we are free do practice Christianity, however we are not allowed to say "Merry Christmas!" i believe this is ridiculous and i will continue to say merry Christmas even though it pisses people off. i do not prevent anyone from sharing any of their religious beliefs publicly, so do not stop me.

Writing exercise 4

William Bradford

During the research for writing exercise 3, I learned that William Bradford left everything

he had behind in order to live out his beliefs. When he was 18 he moved to a town of Scrooby

to join a group of separatists, then years later came over to America with his wife and others

who shared the same beliefs as him on the Mayflower. When they arrived his wife had fallen

over board and drown. He kept records for the colony and later became the governor and served

for 36 years, which ended up being a few months before his death.

http://www.pilgrimhall.org/bradfordwilliam.htm

Freedom of religion is one of the most important freedoms in my eyes, because in America we are told we can be anything we would like to be. If we did not have this freedom and had to follow the laws and practices of a certain religion then America would not be "The land of the free" so to speak. Even though we have this freedom there are still people/religious groups out there that will disagree with others if they don't have the same beliefs as they do, and sometime verbally abuse others or worse. With this freedom it helps strengthen the concept of individuality for those that believe in God and those who don't believe in God. If people choose to have a different religion or no religion at all then let them, after all it is their life not ours.

Jared Robinson Writing Exercise 4

John Winthrop was a very important person for the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Boston, however, one historical moment stuck out to me as the most interesting to show the true ways of the Puritans in the 1600's. Uppon arriving in America, Winthrop established the freemen who were men who shared governing powers. He had to deal with many problems form indians at first and then he had a real problem with Anne Hutchinson. She preached against the basic priniples of the Puritan society. She and her followers were considered not only enemies of Christ but of society. In 1637 Winthrop war reelected as governor and during this year he trieand and banished Anne Hutchinson. This just showed who serious the Puritans were and how cruel they are towards people who threaten their society.


http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap1/winthrop.html

Feedom of religion and its importance in America

In America today, freedom of religion and beliefs are one of the most important things that Americans have to call their own. If America was a place with no freedom of religion, we would see many more protests and people would die to support what they believe in. I personally do not get worked up over freedom of religion because I have what I believe and I don't care what others say about it. I would consider myself as a very independent person and I also would not be the one to try and make people change their beliefs. There could be some concerns about this in our country being the saftey of others. For example, the Puritan era changed to religious freedom and shortly after there was the Salem witch hunt trials. There is always going to be some kind of corruptness in religion. What makes religious freedom so good however is that it keeps everyone happy. Just because someone doesn't believe in God doesn't make them a bad person. If someone wants to worship the devil, as long as they are not effecting others then they should be free to do as they please. I believe this based on my independent point of view of things.

Writing Exercise 4

I researched William Bradford. I found that he started going to church when he was twelve years old and by the time he was seventeen Bradford was a member of the church. He helped to separate the church from the Church of England. Also, he came to New England on the Mayflower in 1620 and 1621. He then was elected as the governor of the pilgrims. He stayed as the governor for most of his life after elected. He was known for helping his people separate from the Church of England.

http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0808664.html

Freedom of religion is important to our identity. I believe it is important for everyone to have a choice on whether or not they believe in God. I feel as though no one can push someone into believing. If they choose not to believe in God, I do not think they should be shunned from the community. In fact, most people do not get to know others by saying "Hey, do you believe in God? If not we cannot interract with one another." Instead, people get to know people just by having conversation and talking about issues within our world and such. Therefore, you never really know if they believe. They could be similar to you and you accept them without knowing whether or not they believe. Also, vise versa, say they do believe, you still are not going to as that question right off the bat. To me, this means that everyone should be entitled to have their own religious freedom.

Exercise 4: Religion

The best thing I learn in the research about Anne Hutchinson is that she is a women that fight for what she believe in the religious she learn from her father and self-study she did. There are lots of people support her. The crime she did was her religious believe is different from the colony's leader. Anne is a women and fight for what religious she believe in. The other thing that I learn is that she had 15 children in 23 years. That is a big family she had.
http://womenshistory.about.com/od/earlyamerica/a/anne_hutchinson.htm

I think it is very important to had a freedom of religious to the basic identity as Americans because lots of people come to American think there will be a better life than they had in their born country. The people come to American maybe don't want to throw aways what they believe in the reglious they had before and want to keep that.

Anne Hutchinson

Anne Hutchinson was a women that came to Massachusetts with her family in 1634. Anne belonged to the Puritan community and began to hold discussion groups after Sunday services. Her discussion groups grew rapidly and many people came to listen to her speak. Soon her discussions turned against the Puritan religion, who thought that life was pre determined by God. Anne believed that a persons life was based on their merit, and that a persons faith was good enough. The political figures and Puritan clergy turned against her saying she was an unfit women for the society, and sent her to trial in 1637. She was found guilty of antinomian heresy and banished from the bay area. A few years later, in 1643, she and her family were killed in an Indian attack.

http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h577.html

Freedom of religion in our society causes many problems, mainly because there are so many different religions. When you get so many a few are going to have conflicting views on the same subject, and the government cant pick on side because that would look like they though one was more important. A good example of this is the pledge of allegiance.
For many years everyone said 'In God we trust" but now there are so many different religions that the people that don't believe in God are offended or don't want to say the pledge of allegiance. Now the school districts are completely cutting the pledge of allegiance out of elementary schools so no one is offended. Simple things like that become huge issued because of our countries right of religious freedom. I understand why some people would think saying that is against their religious freedom, but its sad that I grew up saying that every morning before school and my children wont even know what the pledge of allegiance is!

Writing Exercise 4

The person that I did my research on was Anne Hutchinson. I found out that she moved out and married at the age of 21. At this age she moved to Alford and became a house wife and an herbal healer and also became part of the puritan colony. This is where she started having meetings in her house where she preached against basic principles puritan religion.

http://www.annehutchinson.com/anne_hutchinson_biography_001

Freedom of religion is very important to the American identity, because it allows us as people to express what we want and not be punished for what we believe in. Also it helps us identify with others and create a sense of self.

The very best of what i learned about Anne Hutchinson was that even though she got banished from her hometown, her family and 60 other devoted followers went with her to a new town to start over. She stood up for her beliefs and did not stand down just because she was in trouble.
http://http://harvardmagazine.com/2002/11/anne-hutchinson.html \

Freedom of religion is very important for Americans. I find being able to believe whatever i want, without anyone telling me how to think is very important and i do not think i would give up anything for this right. This freedom of people believing different things can cause great troubles. Some people believe only they are right and starts fights, or will discriminate against others just because of their religion. It takes great strenth to stand up for your believes when everyone else is not the same as you.

Posting and linking sources

Today, as part of our post, let's use the Link feature.  If, for example, I wanted to take you away to a poem by the Puritan poet Anne Bradstreet, I could just ask you to click here:  http://www.annebradstreet.com/the_vanity_of_all_worldly_things.htm


Enjoy!

journal two

Holding on is really going great for me. The best part of the book to me is the way the book is set up, for instance, the book talks about stories or random people regardless of their class, race, gender, sexuality, and religion background. I am not having a problem with active reading except that sometimes I get distracted, so it took couple of times to read it to get the whole meaning.
The profile that most stand to me is Moreese Brickham. “ don’t worry everything will be alright.” I like how the person has hope, even though his chance of him getting out of jail is very slim, he kept his hopes high and kept on believing.

Journal two

Holding on is very good and is talking about lots of interesting stories. So far i didnt see anything bad about this book. And my active reading about this is really good i dont have any problems about it but there are some words and sentence that are really hard for me to understand other than that is really good. Steam train Maury Graham was my favorite profile because his story was really interesting touching. He started beaing a hobo at age of 13 and started going from state to state. "you in those bum camps and you might not come out of there. they will rob you and then hit you in the head," This was really good the way hobos help each other and that little secret they have to have few pebbles in their pocket and then throw the pebble in to the ground.

Writing Exercise 2

According the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, 7,225,800 people were on probation, in prison or on parole in 2009. This number represents 3.1% of adults in the U.S. resident population. Of this number, 2,297,400 were behind bars. The United States has the most number of prisoners in the world. This number has grown by nearly a factor of 5 since 1980. This growth has been mostly due to the War on Drugs which sends people to prison for nearly any drug offense. The other concern is the financial impact as it cost $22,632 in 2002 per year to imprison a single inmate. Lately it appears every federal and state tax dollar is being cut which either means more prisoners will have to be released early or more inmates will have to be crowded into smaller and smaller cells. In either case this situation will not end well unless the government helps inmates prepare for their new lives. I'm not certain if I have a lot of hope for these inmates as it's so difficult to find a job today. Some of these people may commit new crimes just so they can go back to prison in order to have a warm bed and a roof over their head.

My favorite story so far would have to be Segundo Mugarra, Basque sheepherder. Segundo in my mind is a happy guy. He herds sheep and lives in isolation. What gets to me is he happy. He seems like a minimalist and does what he loves. This outlook of being content with one’s life is something I believe we all try to achieve.

Incarceration Rates

In my journal I reserached how many people are in prison in the United States. I found that more than 7 million people are incarcerated in the U.S. today. That makes around one percent of people in U.S. behind bars. I also found that the U.S. has the most people incarcerated in the entire World. Many people worry about why so many people are in prison in our country. Many worry that the reason we have so many people in prison is because our law enforcers would rather put someone behind bars than to keep possible dangerous people on the street. We use a lot of money to put people in prison. Many people think that instead of putting so many people in prison we should use that money to educate people about crime prevention. The law enforcers think that by putting more and more people in prison our crime rate will go down but it obviously doesn't work that way.

Jim Searles was an extraordinary man. He stood out to me because of his passion. When I first started to read about his love for checkers I thought it was just a little hobby he had. After reading more and more into the story I realized that he really loved checkers to the point that it was his life and passion. Checkers went back to slavery where he said historians found that slaves would play in Lousiana. I think this gave him a connection to history and he wanted to keep up a tradition. On page 114 he said he was not happy with a particular way of life so he changed it. He wanted to make the most of what he was doing. The other men took care of eachother no matter what the situation was. They would never give up on each other which was a great part of this story. "a man don't quit what he love. Love is a great thing!" (116).

Prisoner

For my journal two I decided to write about the story Prisoner. This was a really sad story about Moreese Bickham. It talked about how a black man served a jail term, because he was trying to protect himself. Bickham killed two officers before they tried to shot at him. “When he walked up to finish me off I shot him” (pg.35). “The other one, he run an’ grabbed his shotgun and pulled it around, and I shot him” (pg.35). This happen back in the days where black people barely had any rights. He pleaded quilty and served nearly his whole life behind bars. My two favorite quotes by far are “hope does something for a man-it makes him hang on to what little he got to get more” (pg.37). This shows that this guy never gives up on anything, and that even during the worst time in his life, he always has a slim hope. My other favorite quote is, “I might be too old to walk, or might not be worth anything, but I’m goin’ to get outta this” (pg.37). This quote also tells us more about Bickham that he never gives up anything , and that and doesn’t care how old he is he will always accomplish what he has to do.

Prisons In America

In 2009 there were 2,297,400 people in prison, which is .75% of our population, according to Wikipedia. The cost per inmate per day is roughly $62.01, which is even more incredible to me. That is $142,461,774 a day to fund our prisons. I could understand that a little more if everyone in prison was a threat to those around them, but for the cost, there are too many people in prison for things that they do not need to be. Offenses such as fraud can call for jail time. I think the confiscation of the stolen money and a large fine could rectify it instead of spending all the money on them. I think that amount of money is appropriate to keep dangerous people off the streets, but maybe some punishments for certain crimes should be reevaluated.

The profile that stood out most to me was the one about Hinkel Schillings and Shade pate, the hunters. I admired their shared culture in hunting. They both fell in love with it at a very young age, and had families very involved in that type of sport. I also appreciate the respect they show for their dogs. Even though one of the dogs, Corene, only had a single eye they still enjoyed watching her hunt with the others.

American Prison Problem

During my brief research for journal two, according to a CNN article, there are roughly 7.3 million people in the prison system. these people are either incarcerated during my research for journal two, I looked into the number of people that are incarcerated in america.

The second journal that i'de like to comment on is Hinkel Schillings and Shade Pate's journal. these two older gentle men are the classic example of depression era america. both guys are exactly like my grandpa. they both love listening to the sounds of the chase. these gentlemen are fox hunters and their hunts don't end with a kill. my grandfather was a raccoon hunter and his hunts gennerally ended with a dead raccoon or two to skin. these old men definetly knew and loved their dogs, they could tell which was which and if they were on the scent or on a tree, "We've seen the sun come up lots of mornings a huntin, and not slept a wink all night. Just listen... There's all kind of voices: there's tenor, alto, bass, sopraner, and baritone." these men definetly hold a passion for the excitement about the hunt and embody the fact that many sportsmen don't hunt to kill. they're in for the thrill of the chase.

Writing exercise 2

I wrote about fashion and civility. I stated that I thought our culture has lost a bit of something with the changes of dress. A came across a news article titled, When civility was the norm: Three fashion titans of yesteryear in which it describes a similar view in that people have become so lax that going out in your pajamas is acceptable. I just think that when you have respect for one’s self in all manners including dress, you retain a certain aura about one’s self, and when you don’t care and society doesn’t care how you maintain yourself, you do lose a little civility.

In the reading, My favorite person was Jim Searles, the checker's player and President of the Brooklyn Elite Checker Club. I enjoyed this story the most because it he talks about the simplicity of a single passion that means so much to him and his friends. Even through the good and the bad, they hold together the same passion for playing checkers, what it means to them, and the tradion of their way of checkers. It wasn't just a hobby but almost a way of life. A quote well put by Jim Searles was, "A man don't quit what he love. Love is a great thing!"

American Prisons

American prisons are wildly over populated. There are about 1.5 million people in the country incarcerated in jails or prisons today. The scary thing, for me, was the large amount of people that are on probation. There is a large amount of people that live around us that are on probation. I'm not saying that all people on probation are horrible criminals, but people on probation are more likely to have 2ND offenses and/or go back to prison. So maybe Americas problem is in the probation system, not the prison system.

The person in our reading that stood out to me the most was Marta Becket. She was interesting to me because she was always a dreamer. Maybe it was easier years ago to rent out a space and move your entire life. But now I don't know many people that are willing to do that. But it was her dream and she still loves it! It nice that she is selling out most of her shows. That was the most stunning part to me, she was selling out shows held in a town where the population was 7! So there was obviously tourists coming to see her. She was an interesting read.

prison

As of the end of 2009 there were 2,297,400 people in prison. This a cause of concern because the United States has the highest total documented prison and jail population in the world. This is also a cause for concern because if the prison population keeps going up soon the prisons will be way to overcrowded and will not be able to house the inmates. This is also gives the United States a bad image because it’s suppose to be the number one nation in the world and yet it has the most people in prisons.

one of the profiles that stood out to me was the one about Jim Searles. this profile stood out to me because of how much he loves to play checkers that he even missed his honeymoon for the love he has for this game