John F. Kennedy

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born May 29, 1917. He was also known as John F. Kennedy, JFK, John Kennedy or Jack Kennedy. He was the 35th President of the U.S.A. in 1960 when he became the youngest man ever elected president.

Duringe his presidency he saw many things including the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Space Wars and the building of the Berlin Wall.

Before Kennedy was president, Eisenhower came up with a plan to overthrow Fidel Castro in Cuba known as the Bay of Pigs Invasion. This plan used 1500 anti-Castro Cubans who were trained by the U.S. to invade Cuba and start an uprising in Cuban people in hopes of removing Castro from power. The invasion lasted from April 17 - 19, 1961 without the authorization of Kennedy. Within the 3 days of the invasion the Cuban government had captured or killed invading Cubans. The U.S.A. was forced to work with the Cuban government to have the captured to be released. This resulted in $53 million dollars paid to Cuba.

The Cuban Missle Crisis began on October 14, 1962 when American U-2 planes flew over Cuba and took pictures of a Soviet intermediate-range ballistic missile site under construction. These pictures where shown to Kennedy who realized they were now threatened by nuclear missiles. Kennedy began negotiations with the USSR and ordered all the "defensive" materical to be removed from Cuba. Without doing so the country would have to face a naval blockade. The USSR agreed and Kennedy secretly agreed to remove missles from Turkey which had already be planned.

Kennedy was very eager to be in the race in space. Russia was far ahead in space technology but Kennedy set his first goal to and a man on the moon. It was ony six years after his death that an American landed on the moon.

John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963 in Dallas Texas. Lee Harvey Oswald was charged with the crime but was murdered two days later by Jack Ruby. It is believed that Oswald was the only man but the House of Select Committee on Assassinations believed that their may have been conspiracy. The whole assassination remains quite controversial and there has been many theories put out about it.

I believe JFK was a very strong present and was able to guid his country around many things thrown at them. Within the 3 years he was president he was able to fend off possible nuclear attacks, negoitated his way out of a tough Cuban situation and instilled the goal to reach the moon in many Americans.

Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein was born on April 28, 1937 and was the president of Iraq from July 16, 1979 until April 9, 2003.

Hussein was born in the town of Al-Awhja, Iraq. His family was shepherds from the tribal group al-Begat.

In 1963 Ary officers related to the revolutionary Ba'ath Party which Hussein was part of overthrew Qassim, their original leader and Abdul Salam Arif was appointed president and in the same year was arrested. In 1964 Hussien was imprisoned. Just before and until 1968 he was the secretary of the Ba'ath party. He escaped from prison in 1967 and quickly became the newest leader of the party. In 1968 he lead a coup to take out Abdu Rahman Arif. It was said he never forgot the tensions within the first Ba'athist government. When promoting the Ba'ath party he made it known he wanted to maintain power and programs that would ensure social stability.

In the early 1970's Saddam moved up the ranks in the new government by taking lead in addressing the country's major domestic problems and created a larger following of the party. In 1972 he oversaw the control of the oil industry in the country and in the same year the price of oil skyrocketed making him even more admired. His main goal at the time was the modernization of the country. This included free schooling to the highest levels and hospitalization, support to the families of soldiers and farmers. He earned an award for this from the United Nations.

In a move to secure his power he forced al-Bakr to resign as president and took over presidency on July 16, 1979. He created a Western-influenced legal system, making Iraq the only country in the Persian Gulf area to not be ruled by traditional Islamic law.

U.S. President Bill Clinton was threatened by Hussein because of his threat to countries such as Saudi Arabia and Israel who are large oil allies to the States. He made numerous air-strikes on Iraq's No-Fly zones and hoped internal forces would overthrow the government. In 2002 President Bush announced he was going to take action to bring the Iraqi government down because of it's hostility towards the States and it's weapons of mass destruction. Within the first few weeks of the attacks the government collapsed but they failed to kill Hussein in at least two air-strikes.

Finally in April 2003 he was captured and was put on trail for committing crimes against residents of Dujail, the murder of 148 people, the torture of women and children, and the illegal arrest of 399 others, just to name a few. On December 30, 2006 he was hanged even though he wished to be shot which he believed to be a more dignified execution. It was carried out at "Camp Justice", an Iraqi army base in Kadhimiya, northeast of Bagad.

I think Saddam Hussein was an important figure in the pushing of modernization in Iraq and without him the country may have never changed for the better. At the same time I think he was possibly a bit too much of a dictator and didn't work with the country. He could have also retained from some of the acts he committed in order to "modernize" the country like the numerous murders and torture victims.

UNIT FOUR - Treaty of Versaille

The Treaty of Versailles was the official ending of the first World War. It was a peace treaty between the Allied Powers and Germany. The first thing to be signed was the armistice on November 11, 1918 that ended the fighting and then after six months of negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference the peace treaty was concluded.

The treaty forced Germany to accept full responsibility of the war and was forced to pay for all the damage it had caused. There was three aims of this peace treaty: punishment, payment, and prevention. Germany should be punished because she started the war. With Germany being the aggressor, they should pay for the financial and human costs. And to insure a war with Germany never happens again they needed to prevent Germany from fighting.

The terms of the treaty were divided into four categories: territory, military, financial and general. Under territory many pieces of land were given back to its previous country or the League of Nations. Under military the German army couldn't exceed 100 000 men and they had to serve for 12-25 years. Germany was not allowed to have an air force and only 6 naval ships. They also had to demilitarize Rhineland which the Allies occupied for 15 years. Under general Germany was forced to accept the war guilt clause saying that they started the war. They were forced to rebuild France and Belgium.

The Germans felt they should have been consulted on the terms of the treaty while the Allies thought that since the Germans lost the war they didn't need to consult them.

I think the Treaty of Versailles had to be done but didn't need to be done in such a blaming fashion. Germany should have been punished but not in a way that tied them down and didn't let them be their own country. The should not have been pushed around by the Allies and made to pay up. This just caused the country to become upset and is a possible reason for the second world war. If they hadn't made Germany give up almost everything that made them their own country thing possibly could have stay neutral.

Mauritnia Project

COLONIZATION OF MAURITANIA

The French only bagan colonizing Mauritania in 1902 when Xavier Coppolani directed the French forces into Mauritania. This was done by pushing back all Mauritanian resistance. Coppolani took total control over the southern part of Mauritania. In 1903 the areas under his control were officially colonized by the French. This was done by befriending the dominate tribes of the area and temporarily allied with the tribal chiefs. Colonel Henri Gouraud followed Coppolani’s ideas closely until Coppolani’s assassination in 1905 then he continues Coppolani’s work further north and east of the already colonized areas. The colony was indirectly ruled by France through the Arabic chiefs and tribal chiefs of the area.

During the colonization most of the population remained nomadic but slowly the blacks began to return to southern Mauritania where there ancestors had orginally been expelled.

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

The French only became interested in Mauritania in the last half of the 16th century when French traders located in what is now Senegal traded with Arabic gum in southern Mauritania. The natives to the country paid little attention to the French because they did not affect them directly. At the start of the 20th century Cappolani directed French forces into Mauritania through force and Arab chiefs. The French allowed the colony to be directed by the already existing Arabic institutions. This continued until the 1940s when France implemented changes to standardize all the French West Africa.

In May of 1957 Mauritania developed its first government and chose its capital as Nouakchott. The capital was chosen due to its geographic location, almost exactly between the Senegal River Valley and Adar. These two regions were both in competing for the capital until a compromise was made. This was a great set-up for the future prime minister Daddah’s approach to political conflicts: compromise and conciliation for the sake of national unity.

On November 28th, 1960 Mauritania became independent from France. The country remained divided by the blacks who despised the Maure domination of the government. This led to the imposition of Arabic as the language of instruction in the country’s schools.

In 1975 Mauritania allied with Morocco against the Western Sahara army, the Polisario, in a war over the southern third of Western Sahara’s land called the Tiris al-Gharbia. After realizing the desert land was of no real use to them and Polisario’s attacks on Mauritania’s iron ore mines and the capital, the government continued the fight to the delight of the Maures. The blacks however opposed the war because they saw how it affected the agriculture in the south due to money spent on a hopeless fight and because the Maures used their higher ranking in the military as a way into the government creating further imbalances. After a change in prime minister the war ended with the signing of a peace treaty with Polisario and the country withdrawing from Tiris al-Gharbia

Slavery is abolished in 1980 with Lieutenant Colonel Haidalla as head of the government. Although this official, slavery is still practiced in small rural towns and areas with low population.
In 1986 the Forces de Liberation Africaine de Mauritanie (FLAM) published the Manifesto of the Oppressed Black Mauritanian. It accuses the white (minority) population of suppressing the black population. The government reaction to this rebuttal was the arrest of thirty FLAM members, charging them with “sowing hatred and confusion” which was “undermining the values and foundations of society”. Three were found guilty of attempting to over-through the government and were executed on December 3, 1987.

In 1989 the tension between Mauritania and Senegal over land grew. 200 Senegalese were killed by Mauritanian border guards. After which all Senegalese where expelled from the country with 50 000 black Mauritanians. Senegal then expelled 240 000 white Mauritanians from their country after looting and riots began in the border towns and cities of Senegal.

THE GAIN OF INDEPENDENCE

In 1958 the French Fifth Republic was established and required France to create a new constitution which included becoming an independent member of the French Community. At the same time the people of Mauritania adopted the same idea. The idea of this quickly lost its appeal when a nationalistic movement swept across the whole African continent. When the Islamic Republic of Mauritania was created in October 1958, the Territorial Assembly changed its name to the Constituent Assembly and began to work on a draft of a national constitution immediately. The draft was unanimously approved by the Constituent Assembly and on November 28, 1960 Mauritania became its own country.

In August 1961 elections where held and Daddah won and became the new head of government. In accordance to the new government’s objectives, Daddah was to include two blacks in his cabinet. The National Assembly was head by black and was comprised of ten blacks and twenty Maures. This was in attempt to bring the two groups together in unity.

GOVERNMENT

Zeine Ould Zeidane is the current prime minister of Mauritania. He was elected on April 20, 2007. He is the youngest person to campaign for prime minister in Mauritania. Being a new prime minister he has not made any changes to the country presently.

Before Zeidane, Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubacar was the prime minister from August 7, 2005 until April 20, 2007. Boubacar was part of the Parti Republicain Democratique et Renouvellement (PRDR). This party was originally in support of former president Taya and his pro-Israeli stance but the party has changed opinions on the stance since the mid 2006 military campaign in Lebanon. In legislative elections in October 2001 that party won 64 out of 81 seats. These elections were deemed injustice and not free.


ECONOMIC RESOURCES AND CHALLENGES

The gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in $345 but it is believed to be higher due to extensive smuggling in and out of the country. The total GDP of the country is $1 billion. Half of the population in Mauritania is below the poverty level and the unemployment rate is 21%.

Mauritania largely depends on agriculture and the raising of livestock as a resource. Through 1970 and 1980 Mauritania had recurrent droughts causing the farmers to move to the cities in hopes of finding a better way of life. Almost 50 percent of the country exports are made up of iron ore which is found in great quantity but the demands for this is declining and cut backs are made to production. Mines have also been built in the inside of the country for gold and copper because of the rise in metal prices. The country’s coastal waters are some of the riches fishing areas in the world. Sadly this great revenue is being threatened by the overexploitation by foreigners. Countries like Korean and Japan have exploited the country's fish exports by paying less than a proper price. The country opened its first deep water port in 1986 near the capital of Nouakchott. In the more recent history, drought and mismanagement of the country's economics has caused the country's $1.6 billion in foreign debt. In an attempt to fix this, the government has signed an agreement with the World Bank to better the country's economic structure.

DEMOGRAPHIC STATISTICS


Capital: Nouakchott

Official Languages: Standard Arabic
Hassaniya
French

Currency Ouguiya

Area: 1 030 700 km

Water 0.03% of area

Population: 3 069 000 (2005)
1 864 236 (1988)

Density: 3 people per kilometer

Male life expectancy: 50.5 years

Female life expectancy: 55 years

Independence date: November 28, 1960

UNIT TWO - Personality - Woodrow Wilson

Woodrow Wilson was born in Virginia in 1856 as the son of a Presbyterian minister. After graduation from Princeton (at the time called the College of New Jersey) and the University of Virginia Law School, Wilson earned his doctorate and began his career. In 1885 he married Ellen Louise Axson. His career quickly progressed as a professor of political science and in 1902 became the president of Princeton.

He was persuaded to run for Governor of New Jersey in 1910 and won. In 1912 he was nominated for President at the Democratic Convention and campaigned for the "New Freedom" program which pushed for individualism and rights. Wilson was able to put three major pieces of legislation through Congress: a lower on tariff, the Federal Reserve Act and a commission to prohibit unfair business practices. After, he continued to push through new laws in 1916. In 1916 he won a re-election very closely.

On April 2nd, 1917 Wilson asked Congress fro a declaration of war on Germany. Because of massive American effort the balance was tipped in favor of the Allies. He went before Congress again in January of 1918 to enunciate American war aims.

After the Germans signed the Armistice in the following November Wilson went to Paris to attempt to bring an enduring peace. He commented on the Versailles Treaty to the Senate "Dare we reject it and break the heart of the world?" but in the 1918 election the treaty failed by seven votes.

Against his doctors' warnings he made a national tour pushing for the public sentiment for the treaty. Because of the stress and fatigue this put on him he suffered a stroke and almost died. He was nursed by his second wife until he died in 1924.

From what I've learned about Wilson, it seems as if he was one of the less egoistical U.S. presidents and cared for the world as well as his country. He seems to push for things that were just as important then as they are today and the North American society can reflect upon the changes he made to laws for the better. Overall I think he was a pretty good guy.

UNIT TWO - Inventions - The Pop-Up Toaster

Toasting bread began as a method of prolonging the life of bread. Toasting bread was very common in Roman times where the name toast comes from. "Tostum" is the Latin word for scorching or burning bread.

The first electric toaster was invented by Crompton and Co. in 1893 and re-invented in 1909 in the United States. These toaster only toasted one side of the bread at a time and someone had to take the half toasted bread out, flip it over and put it back in. These toaster also didn't turn off so that same person who flipped the bread got to wait and judge if the toast was ready or not then turn off the toaster. The toaster was improved when Llyod Copeman and his wife introduced the toaster with an automatic bread turner in 1913.

In 1919 Charles Strite patented a toaster which ejects the toast after toasting it. In 1929 the Waters Genter Company redesigned Strite's toaster and introduced the Model 1-A-1 Toastermaster which was the first automatic toaster to pop-up and toast bread on both sides at the same time. The toaster had a heating element you would set on a timer and once the timer went off the toast would pop-up.

I think the toaster is a great invention. With toast you can have a variety of sandwiches and breakfast ideas. It give the regular and boring slice of bread a new take on life in a crunchy new form. Although not an invention to change the human race it is something yummy in your tummy.

UNIT TWO - Events - The Easter Rising

Early in 1914 Carsonite Volunteers with British sympathizers help ran large cargo of arms into Ireland. The British Government immediately prohibited the importation of arms into Ireland for fear the Nationalists would secure weapons that could be used against them.

The Irish then began to organize illegal shipments to Howth from the European continent. This was for a planned rising on Easter Sunday. On Easter Monday the Irish Republic was proclaimed in Dublin.

The Easter Monday Rising had no military prospects of success. There was the slight chance the Germans would break through England's defenses and allow help to be sent before the rising was crushed.

On Easter Monday morning, April 24, 1916 the Dublin battalions paraded with full arms and a day rations. just after noon, the General Post Office, the Four Courts, three railway terminals and other important points circling the center of Dublin were rushed and occupied. It was announced the establishment of the provisional government of the Irish Republic. Over night many other points of the city was taken over by rebels and by morning they controlled most of Dublin.

The British fought back on Tuesday when reinforcements arrived. Martial law was proclaimed in Ireland. The fighting in Dublin steadily removed the Irish from their positions. On April 29th the post office came under violent attack. The British soon realised they would not be able to conquer the Irish and that afternoon they surrender unconditionally.

The British leaders of the counter offense were put on trial when they arrived home in Britain. Most were executed, shot dead.

It is fair for Ireland to be its own country. There was no need for the British to want to control them and the organization of the Rising should that the Irish were able to do things on their own. The Irish knew that they could be their own country and if the Rising didn't occur then, it may have been more violent when it did later on.