Thursday, June 5, 2008

Reflection

I feel so smart and confident about this project. I think it was perfect for an exit project. I had a little hard time in the beginning because i didn't have enough information and i didn't know how I was suppose to do the genres. I spoke to Ms.G a lot and Tessa who helped me a lot, after speaking to them i felt very good and I just started writing and posting. I think that having benchmarks was really smart and helpful, i got to give my work in on time and not leave the project for the last day. I got to give a lot of attention to it and Ms.Sackstein was there to help me and comment on my work. I tried my best to make it sound really good but I was nervous. One problem that I have is that if I think that Ms.Sackstein is not going to like a writing or work that I do, I will not give it in. I get nervous and not finish the work. Like i was afraid to do some of the genres because I thought that if I did it wrong, Ms.Sackstein was not going to like it, but i finally learned that I shouldn't be afraid and do what ever it takes. I'm really glad I chose to do this project about treaties, it was a subject that got my attention and since no one decided to do it, i thought it was a great thing to learn more about. I hope I pass this project and hopefully get more in 8 grade.

Statement of Process

I did not have a hard time doing this project because since the first one was easy i knew this one will be easier. At first I started doing the easy genres like the poem, descriptive paragraph and so on. The first one I did was the poem because it was very easy. In the poem I wrote about people asking for help to the treaties, since we had a lesson on how to write a poem, it was very fast and easy. Then I made an advertisement, I found a picture of the Treaty of Paris and I wrote what it was, who signed it and what it changed. I tried to make it sound exciting and like Ms. Sackstein said not to throw out a bunch of information. The third thing I worked on was the Letter. I decided to write it as the first person , I played a soldier in the war writing a letter to my mom about the treaty of Paris. I had a lot to say so I wrote two letters. I tried to put myself of a soldiers shoes and try to feel emotions. I stopped at this three posts for a while and had a hard time thinking of a new post. I started to look for information in books and websites and make up posts as draft but i wasn't satisfied so I wouldn't publish them. I asked my friends for help and learned what each genre was and how to do them. After a while I got back to posting and published more genres. In class we learned how to write news articles. I understood it very much which is why the next post was a News article. It was hard for me but i did it, it took time for it to sound exciting and formal enough like a real news article.I did other posts like a character profile which was really easy and fun, I learned a lot about the character Nicholas Trist, I wrote a lot about him and after my friends read it they learned a lot too. After that I did a timeline. It took me a long time to get the dates and what happened, I got the information from the book source because I didn't really find the exact date in the websites. The last one i did was make up a interview with Nicholas Trist ,I'm not really good at writing formal like they did in the early years but i tried my best not to use words from now. In the glossary I put the words that i thought people could get stuck in, it was easy and I used the dictionary from the Internet. I wanted to do a game but it was really hard, my classmates also have trouble doing a game so i just forgot about it. Now i have to do a reflection and finish the revisions. I am trully in love with this project.

Bibliography

WEBSITES:

Mission Statement. “The Paris Peace Treaty of 1783”. Archiving Early America. http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/milestones/paris/
Copyright 1996-2008

The Office of Electronic Information. “Treaty of Paris, 1783”. U.S Department of State.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/ar/14313.htm
Copyright December 20, 2007

Nussbaum, Greg. “Treaty of Paris”. MrNussbaum.com.
http://www.mrnussbaum.com/history/top.htm
Copyright 2005-2006

Yi-Tao, Joe and Peng. “Timeline”. RFN.
http://library.thinkquest.org/C0110901/standard/timeline.html
Copyright 2001

BOOKS:

Hakim, Joy. "From Colonies to Country". A History of Us.
New York. Oxford University Press, 2005.

Nicholas Trist Talk about the treaty!!

This week reporter Andrea Quintana got the chance to interview the Chief Clerk of Cuba Sir Nicholas Trist. Here is what they said:

AQ: What made you choose to work for the president of Cuba?
NT: It was something that never occurred to me, I worked as a Chief Clerk which I still do, and after a while I started speaking to the president James J Polk and he really liked me. We later became great friends and he asked to me work for him and it turned out great.
AQ: After you worked for Mr.Polk, What happened for the friendship to end?
NT: I wouldn't say the friendship ended, it's just ended up on the wrong track. Me and Polk never wanted it to happen but as he realised that I was becoming great friends with General Winfield Scott he wasn't very happy. It was after a while that i realised that it was bothering him. Since it was during the U.S-Mexican war, I felt that I needed to be there for him.
AQ: What made you go against Mr.Polk in the U.S-Mexican war?
NT: During the war, I thought it was very unfair and a waste of time. I told him many times that there was no reason to fight for more land. He got very mad at me and I decided to make a peace treaty because it had to somehow end.
AQ: When you helped sign the treaty did you ever feel like you and Mr.Polk were almost enemy's now?
NT: No Not at all, As I was signing it I felt that I was doing the right thing and that the war could be over soon. I stayed positive and made sure that It went as it was suppose to.
AQ: Finally! how does it feel to know that thanks to you the war is over?
NT: It feel great and I hope that people know, that if you can end a war, do It.
AQ: Thank you so much Mr.Trist
NT: You're very much welcomed

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Timeline of what led to the treaty of Paris

May 1754: George Washington led 150 soldiers of Virginia to victory in the French exploratory party
June/July 1754: The Albany Congress approved Franklin's plan about the union, but not every colonies accepted it.
July 1754: Washington surrendered the Fort Necessity
July 1755:the French and Indians beat Braddock and his English and colonial forces in the war
September 1755: Johnson and Hendrick triumph at lake George
October 1755: 6,000 Acadians were expelled from the Nova Scotia refusing to swear loyalty to Britain
May 1756: The English declare war to the French in Europe, the war was called the Seven Years' War
July 1758: General Jeffrey Amherts captures Louisbourg
July 1759: Johnson's English soldiers and Iroquois Indians captured Fort Niagara
September 1759: The English won the battle of Quebec
February 1763: The Treaty of Paris was signed and it ended the French and Indian war.

Glossary

WORDS:
Aristocratic: People that have manners, respect, values and qualities
--> When i mentioned that Nicholas Trist came from a Aristocratic family, it means that his family had rules, respect and manners toward the people. It could also be a religion (belonging or favoring the aristocratic) where everything is done with respect.
Ratified: To confirm something done or arranged by and representative
--> When a representative confirms a constitutional amendment it is being ratified
Definitive: Something thats complete like an article, text or book
--> When the treaty of Paris was done, it was called the Definitive Treaty of Paris, it ment that it was final and complete.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Another Letter To Mom

Dear Mom,
Wow, The treaty of Paris was finally signed!!! mom I was there when it was signed and it felt amazing. The Treaty was signed at the symbolically neutral ground at Paris' Hotel De York. John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay were there representing the United States, some guy named David Hartley was representing King George 111. I was there the whole time and it took about 4 hours because everyone got a chance to speak, the treaty was read out loud and then we had to wait for the representatives to sign. The signing was suppose to be in the Maryland State House in Annapolis in November but since not a lot of delegates(only 7) got there, so they moved the date and decided too sign it in Paris. The treaty granted the United States westward to the Mississippi River, later the River got opened to both nations. The British accepted the treaty on April 9, 1754 and it took months for America to realise that the war was over. Well as you see it is very exciting, hope to see you soon, bye mother.
From your daughter
Andrea

Monday, May 19, 2008

Nicholas Trist


Full Name: Nicholas Trist
Date of Birth: June 2, 1800
State of Birth: Charlottesville, Virginia
Family: an aristocratic Virginia family
Wife: Thomas Jefferson's granddaughter
Who was he: Nicholas Trist was the chief clerk of the state department in Cuba, he worked for the President of Cuba James J Polk. During the U.S.-Mexican war, Nicholas decided to write the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and finished it without a problem which finished his friendship with James J Polk.
Notable Facts: When Nicholas Trist became friends with General Winfield Scott, the President James J Polk got mad and fired Nicholas from his job. A lot of people got mad a decided to leave Mexico and go to the United states. It was clear that the people liked him. After that the war got bigger and Nicholas wanted to help his people and finish it once and for all, which he did.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

The States that were almost Mexico!


This Picture shows the states that were almost part of Mexico (Texas, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada and part of Colorado). The war was between Mexico and the United States. 525,000 miles of land was given to the United States in return of fifteen Million dollars for damaged territory in Mexico. Texas still gave Mexico part of its land in 1850 which became New Mexico.

Treatry of Guadalupe Hidalgo


This Is a copy of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. It ended the war between Mexico and the United States. In February 2, 1848 the treaty was signed by Mexican Officials and Nicholas Trist, President Polk's representative. The treaty set the southern border of the United States (and Texas) at the Rio Grande River. The treaty of Guadalupe was ratified on March 10, 1848.
I found the picture at:

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

It's Here!! The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was finally signed in Guadalupe Hidalgo (a state in Mexico) on February 2, 1848. The war was between the Mexican state and Texas. The Mexican government wanted to take over Texas as one of their states, but Texas wanted their own independence and be part of the United States. The treaty called Mexico to give up 55% of it's territory (Now Arizona, California, New Mexico, parts of Colorado, Nevada and Utah)in exchange of fifteen million dollars in damaged territory in Mexico. Texas is very excited about this news and It's now an independent country!!!

My Letter To Mom

August 20, 1783

Dear mom,
I'm writing to you from Paris. I am very excited because there might be a peace treaty coming soon to help us end this war. Yesterday I was very scared, I thought it wasn't going to happen but Benjamin Franklin told me to have high hopes for it. The war is between Great Britain and our own colonies America. Me and my friends are really happy but we have lost a lot of loved ones in this war. I'm sure you can't wait for me to go back home but you have to be patient and I will be there. John Adams and others might sign the peace treaty, were hoping the king of Britain will want to sign it too. The only problem is that this could take a while, they have to write down whats fair for both countries and then after they all sign it will all be over.
Love,
Your daughter Andrea

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Treaty Between Great Britain and the United States


The Peace Treaty of the war of Great Britain and the US was published and signed by Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay representing the US and David Hartley who was representing King George III. The treaty ended the war and Britain recognised the American independence.
I found the picture at:

Help Us treaties!!!

Help us, Help us
We know you can
We have fought so hard for the freedom and for our rights
but we lose a loved one every minute
Help us, Help us
the government could help us, but how can we make them
Great Britain, U.S, Spain, Mexico an other parts
We need help for the hero's of our union

What will it take to write a treaty
the heart of the people and the presidents
we need it for our safety
agree on the peace
sign your signature
tel the people around us
STOP FIGHTING
It's our rights too, we should choose
fight or no fight

Help us, Help us
We need it NOW

I could feel the hope
I could see what you want
We need to do something fast
It has to be done before everyone is gone

Help us, Help us....



Reflection: I'm not really sure what kind of poem this is, I just wrote what was on my mind. I tried to feel what those people want, how they feel about the war ending. It war pretty hard but I'm still trying to think of more things to add to it. I think if i add a little more, the people who read it will understand what I'm trying to say. I wanted to do a narrative poem but i still have a little trouble with it. It took me 20 minutes to write this poem and i think i changed it about 5 times, but i like it a lot.