Immigration Reform in Congress

Immigration reform seems to be making its way through Congress. The simple fact that the article mentioned bipartisan in a positive light was of note for me. The proposed bill would allow the current 11 million undocumented immigrants to live and work in the country. Interestingly enough, the bill isn’t expected to address citizenship for these immigrants. They would still need to work through the existing process of becoming a citizen. Personally, I support the legalization of our undocumented immigrants. They are a vital part of our society and economy today, and should be treated as such.

http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/09/26/on-immigration-reform-the-outlines-of-a-possible-deal/

Cultural Assimilation: Early Irish Americans and Mexican Americans of Today

     This article makes an interesting connection between Mexican Americans of today and Irish Americans of the 19^th and 20^th century. Both groups have struggled to coexist with other Americans. With that said, the article points out that the Irish Americans overcame these struggles, which was shown in the political positions they held. The article the example of Antonio Villaraigosa’s win in the mayoral election of Los Angeles as evidence of Mexican Americans making similar strides to the Irish Americans years ago. Villaraigosa struggled to gain support at first, and lost in his first attempt at election. In order to gain representation for the next election he opened up his regime to appeal to a multiethnic base, and was soon thereafter elected as mayor.

http://web.ebscohost.com.webinfo.ndnu.edu:8080/ehost/detail?vid=5&sid=f12438df-61f1-4557-b694-3bb0c1ec5def%40sessionmgr198&hid=125&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl

Slavery's Expansion to the North American Interior

The article below from the Journal of the Early Republic discusses how slavery was largely concentrated along the Atlantic coast in the 1700s. This concentration spread by 1820, at which point America had control of the Mississippi, Ohio, and Missouri Valleys. The article explains the expansion of slavery to the North American interior as a result of the independence of the US and the “southern planters” dominance in federal government, indicating that the slavery practices of the South rubbed off on the rest of the country. Early on, the majority of slavery in the interior of the US was stemming up from Caribbean plantations. After 1815, American slavery made a significant push to the southern interior, which clashed with the existing slave practices and reshaped these patterns. 

http://web.ebscohost.com.webinfo.ndnu.edu:8080/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=dd011b99-d106-4cb4-a452-39eeb7177c04%40sessionmgr111&vid=9&hid=103

The Yeoman

      I found the term “Yeoman” from page 33 in chapter two interesting. I’d never heard the word before, and was curious to find out more about people considered to be Yeoman. I found an article that discusses the role of yeomen at home in Great Britain. The article sums up the Yeomen as groups of part-time volunteer soldiers, similar to the concept of a militia. The Yeomen originally came together in 1794 for two reasons: fear of French invasion and as a response to the agitation brought about by Thomas Paine’s The Rights of Man (1791). The units of Yeomen typically were made up of about 40 men and were often formed within a group of foxhunters to encourage the camaraderie from the hunting field to translate to the battlefield. The Yeomen were were required to provide their own uniforms and horses, which indicates they held at the very least a stable economic standing.  The Yeomen were paid a daily rate anywhere from 1 euro for senior officers to 7 shillings for troopers.

     The Yeomen weren’t trusted by many of the British people. They preferred the “regulars”, which included the British army and other more skilled militias. Thus, in response to the unrest regarding the Yeomen, they were sent overseas to keep the colonies in order.

The Yeomanry-

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=4&sid=b2e30c5d-5169-4588-9c8f-5932914edd55%40sessionmgr115&hid=103&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=a9h&AN=89558393