Nixon - Watergate

Nixon Watergate Scandal

 

 

-A series of political scandals during Nixon's presidency involving many of his closest advisers

    -Possibly was ultimately the reason for his resigning on August 9,1974

 

- To start, five men were arrested for breaking and entering into the Democratic National Committee headquarters (at Watergate Office Complex in Washington, D.C.) on June 17, 1972

    -The FBI, Senate Watergate Committee, House Judiciary Committee (as well as the press) revealed that this was part of many, many illegal activities carried out by President Nixon's staff

 

-It was also revealed that the other crimes included: campaign fraud, political espionage and sabotage, illegal break-ins, improper tax audits, illegal wiretapping, and a secret fund in Mexico to pay those who carried out these operations

 

-After two years of continually growing evidence against President Nixon and his staff (the process including former staff members testifying against them in a Senate investigation), there was a revealing of a tape recording system that Nixon had in his offices that he had used to record many conversations

    -The recordings from these tapes revealed that he had indeed obstructed justice and had also attempted to cover up the break-in

    -The recorded conversation became later known as the Smoking Gun

 

-Battles in court eventually came to the conclusion of the United States Supreme Court unanimously ruling in United States v. Nixon, that the President would be made to give up the tapes; which he complied to

 

-With the very real possibility of impeachment in the House of Representatives and conviction in the Senate, President Nixon resigned just ten days later

    -He became the only US President to have resigned from office

 

-Gerald Ford became Nixon's successor after the resignation

~Honors 10 History Final~

by: Alex Butler

When taking time to look at what made great historic leaders have such an impact on their society, we find many different leadership 'qualities' in these people. Of course, what makes a leader great depends upon may different aspects; including what, exactly, they are the leader of and what they are trying to do with their leadership status. What works for one person, may or may not work for another and same the other way around. A great leader will develop and adapt themselves to their feats and tasks set ahead of them and will also use their own personal qualities if they may so work in their favor. A great leader will know how to handle themselves in any situation and have many different strategies for these many different situations. In some cases, or in the case of the United States founding fathers, leadership was not done by only one man; but was a collaborative effort by a group of men.

Sometimes, there may not be one single man who has everything that is needed in a leader. This would mean that a collaborative effort would have to be made my many who had their own unique qualities to bring to the table. This was the case with the our founding fathers of the United States; there was not one solo man among them who could take over all that this country needed to be taken over and come around with the outcome that we, as a country, wanted. Each of those men had their own leadership qualities that made them important in the constituting of our country. None would have made enough of an impact on their own or have been recognizable or outstanding enough to be acknowledged as making progress. This was a group of leaders, but not individual leaders it seems. Because they were part of a collaborative group of men, each man inevitably brought his own qualities that were needed in order to have some sort of balance and segregation within such a strong unit. Differing opinions, strengths, and ways of thinking were the needed qualities to run such a country as our own; because of our differing opinions and voices as people of this country. Not one leader could successfully lead the United States and make every single person happy and content with the way things turn out on so many levels. Our country is so diverse; we need as much of a diverse leading as possible to be able to take all ideas and ways of thinking about any situation and formulate the best possible way to attack it.

If able to look at the qualities which this group of amazing men was made up of, you can almost break it down into two different sections or categories. The trio of George Washington, John Adams, and Aaron Burr all seemingly have very similar qualities which they contribute to the leadership role. Astoundingly, each of these men have the courage to stand up for their own opinions and thoughts, the strength to keep persisting, the bravery to put themselves at risk so many times, and the confidence to put themselves in such a stressful and tiring situation knowing what they have to do once thrown into it. These men are all on the very strongly outgoing, ambitious, and intimidating side of the leadership bubble they put themselves into; but they would be terrible if the only leaders with only these qualities to run on. While on the other side is the trio consisting of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and James Madison who all have similar ways of attacking their tasks as leaders. Almost on the opposite side of the spectrum from the other three; these men are completely wise, thoughtful when deciding the fate of difficult situations and not ones to jump into something without mulling over the consequences, and very grounded; especially for the immense pressure they have and the public image they struggle to maintain. Once again, though, these qualities alone do not make for the best leader and would not give the best leadership to such a country that needs diversity and different thought processes to run. The juxtaposition of these qualities may seem to be very extreme opposites; but came together for an incredible combination.

While looking at how this leadership team worked so well together, it seems that the shared (as well as differing) qualities that they had and also developed while working toward their common goals evened out just enough so as to have just the right concoction for leadership. As has been mentioned, some of the qualities these men had were complete opposites of the qualities of some of the other men; but this worked out because they seemingly made up for what lacked in the minds and thought processes of their fellow leaders. This was a collaborative effort to offset the such extreme extents to which some of the founding fathers, as individuals, lacked many great leadership qualities. In other words; they offset each other just enough for the perfect balance. Some of the men were there only as 'players' in this group effort, which was needed as long as the group was still leading together, but there were others who were the 'morale boosters'. In any collaborative effort, there need to be some who are there only to do the 'physical' stuff, and some are there as much needed 'team captains' to help the team stay as just that; a team. These people keep the group focused on the task at hand and how it is going to be accomplished; keeping the minds off of the stuggles one has to go through to get the task done correctly.

Taking all of this into consideration, the qualities posessed by each individual founding father constituted to a collaborative effort to lead our country into where it needed to be at the time. This group of individuals balanced their own ambition, ideas, regional materialism, and different personality quirkiness in such as way so as to achieve a feeling and thought as to how a government should correctly be formed in order to work they way it should (and needed to). These men poured the concrete for the foundation of our country. They used their plethora of intelligence, bias, and ego working together flawlessly to collaborate the best ideas possible for the outcome they wanted to achieve. The leadership qualities that each individual posessed would not have been enough to propel them to becoming a great leader alone; but the conjoined effort of the greatest, smartest, most opinionated men in the history of this country allowed for the success that each of them wanted individually. The greater the effort put forward by the leaders of the United Sates, the better and longer lasting the outcome.

Going to War?

by Alex Butler

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
created equal... that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Abstract: This paper will focus on why a war with Britain would be a good thing for America. It will focus on British Acts and taxes on our country and why they need to be dealt with now. For this paper I used the following sources: http://www.history.org/history/teaching/tchcrsta.cfm, http://www.americanrevolution.com/, and discussions from History Class.

I am writing this letter to state my opinions about our current state and conditions with the British. From the point that we now stand at, we have an enormous decision to make affecting the future of our United States. The decision is; do we try to make amends with the British or to go to war with these same peoples? The problems which we currently have in this country of ours are because of the British. They have taken what belongs to our nation and claimed it as their own. They have taken our essential rights as a people and we have to defend ourselves and gain those rights and respects yet again. I believe that the future of our people exceedingly depends upon the decisions that we make right now, today, as a united nation. Some delegates are now coming to Congress committed to declaring our colonies separate and independent of Great Britain. We need to fight the British for what belongs to us to show our independence, freedoms, integrity, and our honor.

Our Nation needs to stand up and declare that we are not going to succumb and we are going to fight until we gain everything back for our country. These British do not have the right to tax us and take control of what is rightfully ours. We have worked and bled to accomplish what we have and they do not and never will, belong here in our Nation. As the citizens of these great United States we need to fight them until we have everything we have worked so hard for. If we all want to forever call ourselves citizens of these Nations, we will fight and not back down until we have the freedom we rightfully own. We cannot let the work of so many great and influential men be seized and sit back and do nothing about it. This country is far better than that and we are going to prove this when we defend out honor by fighting till the death.

About the time of 1765, Britain made the decision to erect a new colonial policy wanting to tighten control over our thirteen colonies. They also wanted to "make [the colonies] pay for their defense and return revenue to their mother country". These new taxes were put on molasses and sugar in 1764 and caused corruption with New England merchants and those who were makers of Rum. This in turn affected what our citizens had to pay for sugar, which is a necessity at this time in many places.

The Britain's want to control absolutely everything in our Nation that they can. This is why they have also put the Quartering Act upon our households. Telling us that we are to provide food and shelter in our own homes for British soldiers whenever the need may arise. This has created many problems with some British soldiers who do not need to abide by any of the house rules and are extremely disrespectful in most circumstances. They are having no respect for the family and creating some problems with taking advantage of them and their children. With the British also controlling taxes on food that we buy, we also have less to give to our own families. With their new act, they have the rights and permission to control everything that we have. If we do not stop them, we will crumble under all they put onto us.

What has happened with the Stamp Act they put upon us? We did not give up and succumb to their laws. As a Nation with rights, we have stood up and defended ourselves. The Virginia House of Burgess adopted Patrick Henry's Stamp Act Resolves. They then declared that Americans obtained the same rights as those of the English, especially those rights to be taxed only by their own representatives. This is the kind or strong will and determination we need to have as a country. And if these taxes and Acts are not enough to get our country to fight, we need to also remember the Boston Massacre. The British soldiers have made many attacks on Massachusetts, but this is one in which some of our men were killed. These Britain soldiers were then sent to trial only getting off with a few slaps to the wrist and brandishes on the thumbs. If we think this is justice for what these men have done to our colonies, we are completely and utterly indispicable. We as American citizens of these United States have to ban together to do the right thing. We need to defend the honor of our colonies which have suffered, our country and Nation, as well as the independence that our ancestors worked so hard to obtain for our sake and for the sake of the future of our glorious and free country.

To the author of the New England Courant,

I am very much aware of the affects that any one Person's thoughts may have upon the Publick. Especially when brought to the Attention of many people, writings can be disagreeable and to a Certain Person. I, indeed not Anyone, has the ability to please All people while presenting one's own ideas. The various ways in which one thinks, cannot and will not, be the same for every Person. Some Certain idea may be pleasant to one individual, but then repulsive to Another. He who writes to All peoples intending to make them agree, will not Succeed in such ways of persuasion. One needs to have strong feeling and Connexion to whichever they will write of. The Writers and Thinkers alike will, at some Turn, have some Thought which is pleasing to some Person which opposed other thoughts. The One who will seek the approving of All peoples will in Turn be the One who does not teach a thing and in return, does not learn a thing.

From my Youth, I have been benevolently Studious to endeavor myself for a Better and more desirable Mind, as well as Knowledge, and to Understand more capably all things I Want. What I desire by this letter, is for some One or some Ones in the Publick to benefit from my small Stock of Knowledge. And, in Some Manner, be useful to many Minds in return.

Silence Dogood

Abstract: This paper will discuss what happened with the contact Native Americans and English settlers of Jamestown. It will look at the cultural changes that the Native Americans went through during this time and leading up to the American Revolution in 1776. Looking at different occurences during this time that changed the Native Americans because of European contact. References inlcude: The Earth Shall Weep by James Wilson, website http://www.dowdgen.com/dowd/document/pequots.html, http://www.teacheroz.com/colonies.htm#Native, and also classroom disscusions.

Native Americans & Jamestown Settlers

Revolutionary Changes

by Alex Butler

The establishment of Jamestown was the first English settlement in North America. It was located near what is today Williamsburg, Virginia and was established on May 14, 1607. The Powhatans were very suspicious of these new peoples. These settlers had also arrived during a conflict between the Powhatans and the Chesapeakes, and supposedly were caught in the battle. During the first couple of weeks, the Europeans were attacked by some of the Indians. In the first summer, half of the colonists died from many diseases. The surviving of these colonists did not make much of an attempt to support themselves and their hope was in the Native Americans 'willingness' to feed them.

The Powhatan Uprising began on March 22, 1622 and was an attack of the Indians on the English settlers in Virginia. Hundreds of Powhatans came to the English colony and burned settlements and plantations all along the James River in a very sudden and quick attack. Approximately 350 English colonists were killed and 200 Indians once there was a signed treaty. The Indians attack was somewhat seen as a way to take their land. Edward Waterhouse wrote saying 'We, who hitherto have had possession of no more ground than their waste, and our purchase, may now by right of Warre, and law of Nations, invade the Country, and destroy them who sought to destroy us...'.

The Pequots were one of the most powerful groups in New England at the start of the 1630's. They controlled a large amount of area in what is now Connecticut and dominated many tributary tribes. Many disasters, catastrophies, and epidemics caused the Pequots to loose much of their population, which in turn caused them to loose some grip on their tribitary tribes. In 1636, the Massachusetts Bay colony forced Captain John Endecott to go to Block Island and kill all male Indiand he found there. He burned two of their villages which only resulted in one death. In years to follow, hostilities between the settlers, Pequots, and other small tribes escalated into the first Indian War. The huge end to this war was in 1637, when nearly 300 Pequot men, women, and children were burned out of their villiages, hunted, and then massacred.

Between the years 1630 and 1633, the Great Migration brought around 3,000 settlers to Massachusetts Bay. There were large areas of land that had been cleared and settled by Native Americans that had started to turn back to forest. William Wood talked about places 'where the Indians died of the plague soem fourteen years ago' that then happened to be covered in 'much underwood ...because it hath not been burned'. The Pilgrims then felt they were in a (quote from The Earth Shall Weep) 'hideous and desolate wilderness, full of wild beasts and wild men'. Massachusetts Bay was then arranged in that area that had been greatly cleared of Native Americans.

Thomas Dongan signed a treaty with the Five Nations, respecting their positions and letting them bring other tribes into alliance with the English. Anyone who joined this Chain of Covenant, he said, 'shall be protected from any outrage or force and I shall not suffer them to bee disturbed or harmed, but shall looke upon any violence offered that way, as done to my selfe'. The two sides actually viewed this Covenant Chain differently. For the Iroquis, it meant the same as the principles of the League: being associated with different people who came together for 'mutual defence'. The English viewes the Chain as a pyramid: New York at the top, the Iroquis (and New England Colonies) in the middle, and other dependent Native Americans at the bottom of this pyramid.

This period of time meant complete revolution for the Native Americans. They were hurt so badly as a society that they almost ceased to exist at all after these changes in their lives. They lost and forgot who they were and had been during this. They also forgot how they worked as a culture and how to get that back again. The Indians were no longer united and they lost their ability to trade well. The many Indians who died also did not help them to advance during this revolution, and the ones who were left afterwards could not keep up with their old culture. They ended up losing all that they had and could not gain it back again.

Abstract: This paper will compare and contrast the Early Jamestown settlers with the Plymouth colony while relating the different interactions with the Native Americans of their regions. It will also show how religion and social interactions affected the relations between the Native Americans with the English settlers if different colonies and different settlements. Sources and support include The Earth Shall Weep by James Wilson, websites (http://www.apva.org/history/index.html, http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h519.html, http://teacher.scholastic.com/researchtools/researchstarters/plymouth/, and http://www.vcdh.virginia.edu/teaching/jamestown/images/jsmith.jpg) as well as classroom discussions.

Exam #2

~Jamestown & Plymouth Colonies~

The English Jamestown colony along with the English Plymouth Puritan colony pilgrims each had their own reasons and ways of interacting and working with the Native Americans. These interactions can be seen through the reasons for each of these colonies coming to America, religion, King Phillip's War, and also the Powhatan Uprising.

The Jamestown colony was sent by King James I in June of 1606 as a group of entrepreneurs from London they called the Virginia Company . Many of the artisans, craftsmen, and laborers that came to North America helped with every effort that they had to make this colony succeed. The English settling groups have claimed their intentions to have been to spread Christianity, although many say that their real intentions were to find gold and silver. The reason for the move was to make money and they did that by developing exports for England. The settlers also depended on the Native Americans to have the necessary food for their survival and continued to take the food from them. This did not happen to give them a stable economy or colony, they were simply interested in money and knew that the Natives would have food they could live on and take whenever they needed it. This made it difficult for the Natives of Jamestown, who wanted to still have trade with the English, but wanted their food for themselves as well. The Jamestown colony tried to keep things how they were with the Natives, and did so by letting them be afraid. The Jamestown settlers possibly even planned to depend upon the Indians as they got their trade started, but knew they would have to be careful so not to insult them in any way. One of the biggest difficulties once this colony was settled was that they needed soldiers, farmers and craftsmen, but all that they had were men who were not used to manual labor. They wasted time and energy on looking for gold and silver and other ways of making easy money, when they would soon be depending on crops having been planted. These actions resulted in over one-third of the colonists dying of malaria, typhoid fever, scurvy, and dysentery. Later, the colony developed a cash crop of tobacco for their exports and which helped boost their colony and economy.

The Plymouth colony was America's first permanent Puritan settlement and was established in December of 1620 by English Separatist Puritans. The name Puritans was given to the extreme Protestants in the Church of England, who wanted to purify their national church by removing all Catholic influence it had. Many Puritans moved to the New World to find a commonwealth in New England in the 17th century. Among these people were the Pilgrims who founded the Plymouth colony in 1620. During the colonial period, Puritanism had much direct impact on religious thought as well as cultural patterns in America. It's influence in the 19th century did not have a direct effect, although can still be seen in the importance of education in religious leadership and religious motivations. This Puritan colony left England to find religious freedom and a better life with it as well. The settlers began to build shelters for the harsh winter, although by the end of the winter half of the colonists had died. The Puritan colony did not depend upon their trade and wanted to have independence and a stable lifestyle for themselves. Although they did trade with the Natives, they were not dependent only on them. The Puritans came to North America for a very different reason than that of the Jamestown settlers. They came to America because of their separatist religion. This, along with their religion, therefore affected how they interacted with the Natives. Which also meant that they did not need to be involved at all with the Natives for survival. Although, Squanto taught the colonists to plant corn, gather fruits, and to catch fish. The Puritans also got to meet the Indian Samoset, who then introduced them to Massasoit (chief of the Wampanoag Indians) with whom they signed a peace treaty.

The Powhatan Uprising was a fight between the Powhatan Indians and the people of the Jamestown colony. It came about because of some of their recent conflicts and tradings of the Jamestown settlers. The result was an attack on the Jamestown colony by the Indians in which killed almost three-hundred and fifty colonists. The uprising was very short and did not extend beyond this. After the death of Massasoit, the Wampanoag tried to get rid of the English settlers resulting in the King Philip's war. It was named after Philip, who was the son of Massasoit. The war lasted from 1675 to 1676, and happens to be the most destructive Indian war in New England's history. Fighting started at the frontier settlement of Swansea in June of 1675, which then resulted in conflict between Indians and the English across parts of New England, including colonies of Plymouth, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. Eventually other colonial parties forced even greater destruction onto the Indians, until they were defeated and did not resist and fight back again.

The two colonies of Jamestown and Plymouth both came to America for different reason and therefore had different interactions with the Natives and different reason to interact with them as well. The Puritan colony settled in North America because they wanted to practice their religion and live with no other influences on it as well as their culture. When there were common disputes between the Puritans and the Natives, the colony wanted to settle everything for the purpose of their religion and way of life. This can be seen in the length of the Powhatan Uprising. The Jamestown colony differed from this because their reason for coming to America was for trade and exports. This also meant that they did not get along and interact with the Indians as well as the Puritan settlers. For this reason, they almost always had some conflict with the Natives. The different reasons for these colonies to settle in North America meant that they also had a different purpose for interaction with the Native Americans.

Abstract: Looking at the Native Americans and the Europeans, this paper will discuss whether a civilization can develop while living in cyclical time. A civilizations concept of time can greatly affect how they develop together as well as how quickly. Support and sources include The Earth Shall Weep by James Wilson as well as http://www.abia29.hemscott.net/Inner_Dialogues.htm and discussions in class.

~Cyclical Time vs. Linear Time~

Looking at Native Americans and Europeans

by Alex Butler

How if, some day or night, a demon were to steal after you into your loneliest loneliness and say to you:

"This life, as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more; and there will be nothing new in it but every pain and every joy and every thought and every sigh. And everything unutterably small or great in your life must return to you, all in the same succession and sequence, even this spider and this moonlight between the trees, and even this moment and I myself.

The eternal hourglass of existence is turned over and over and you with it, a mere grain of sand."

From The Joyful Science, by Friedrich Nietzsche

Time is a very important part of a civilizations development and growth. Two different kinds of time, or ways of looking at time, are linear time and cyclical time. Time is one of the most important aspects to a successful civilization, and civilizations ultimately can depend on how they define or view time. If Native American and European civilizations are compared, it can be seen whether a civilization can or cannot develop while living in cyclical time.

When looking at cyclical time, it is observed as a 'timeline' that is actually a big circle. When looking at this, it seems that time has no beginning or end, but the future and the past are joined at one point. It implies that the future has already happened and that it is already determined. This means that nothing can be changed or 'improved' as well as meaning that, in all of time, there is no final place to end up and no ultimate purpose for anything. Linear, on the other hand, is observed as more of a straight line, or as the typical timeline. Linear time has a set or definite beginning as well as a set or definite end. It is also always moving on a certain path towards a certain point or a certain goal. With linear time, it progresses and looks toward the future and possible opportunities.

Different civilizations that use cyclical time cannot actually directly experience time, they can only experience what is with them or what they are doing 'here and now'. This means that their time is only a certain way of interpreting what they perceive, which is also the same with linear time, the straight-traditional model.

The Europeans were a civilization that lived in linear time. Their beliefs were that God created the world and that the world would end after so much an amount of time, there was a creation and eventually would be an end. They wanted to try and advance as much as they possibly could to better themselves for their future as a civilization. They knew that they would have to advance themselves so that they would have the best possible to them in their future. Their linear time was not only a straight timeline, it was also a line of constant progression. However, the Native Americans cyclical view of time created a very different view of their civilizations own future. The Native Americans were a part of the earth and the land that they lived on, and were connected with it for such reasons. Cyclical time can be viewed sometimes in Native American myths or stories. They also did not believe that they were, in any way, deprived of or lacking anything in their lives or in their civilization that they needed to improve upon and so they did not find it necessary to develop into something more. They did not think of their future because they were content with their lives and their cyclical way of thinking did not need them to think about anything such as future betterment for them.

The Europeans were always interested in the future when dealing with their food and crops. They started a mass production of the crops that they could have available to them so that they would be better off in the future. They needed to make sure that they would be set for a progressing future and would never struggle to advance their civilization. Europeans were always working for wealth and progression. The linear timeline follows this developing and progressing path of the Europeans. The Native Americans worked as well, although only just as much as they had to. They would only grow enough food they needed for one year and they knew that to be enough for their civilization. They wold know that they could do the same thing in the next cyclical cycle and they would survive with only what they needed for that certain point in their time. The cyclical timeline follows this as the Native Americans knew only the 'here and now' of their survival.

When the Europeans saw how them Native Americans were living, they wanted to change and advance things. The Native Americans were not using all of their land and resources as the Europeans were. They thought that the Native Americans were insane and some used this as an excuse to say that they were not good enough as people. These Europeans knew only of linear time and of advancing and gaining all that you possibly could by using absolutely all that you had to make it happen. The Native Americans living in cyclical time were obviously not at all focused on their economy and their 'underdevelopment'.

With these civilizations two conflicting religions, the Europeans did not have an easy time trying to move the Indians to maximize the use of their land. The Native Americans religion related them directly to a certain place on their land. This place would have a certain significance to a legend, myth, or story for the Indians. The Europeans did not understand this thinking because their christian religion could be practiced anyplace and did not have any special connection to any particular place for it to have meaning. Problems were caused because of this when Europeans wanted to use their land to its fullest and they wanted the Native Americans to move to a different place.

In looking at the differences between a civilization living in linear time and one in cyclical time, it is right to say that the outcomes are very different. The Europeans could maximize their use of resources in order to develop the best future they could have. The Native Americans only cared to use their resources enough to survive. It can be seen that the Europeans, living in linear time, thought about progression and development and it worked well enough that they could maximize their future as they pleased. It can also be seen that the Native Americans could have cared less about their future and did not care to think about it until it arrived. By looking at these, it can be said that the Native Americans were also very happy and content with the way they lived and felt no need for change. In conclusion, civilizations living in cyclical time cannot advance, although they can produce enough so that they stay alive and do not fall apart, if not for an outside invasion of their way of life.