Woodrow Wilson

8G History Lesson 100 Assignment

This week’s assignment is about Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president.

Woodrow Wilson was born on December 28, 1856, in Virginia. His father was a Presbyterian minister, and his mother was the daughter of an English Presbyterian minister. He was raised as a Christian. Wilson didn’t learn how to read until he was 10, but he became very interested in literature and politics. He went to Princeton University, then went to the University of Virginia, where he studied law. He became bored and felt like law wasn’t the right career for him, so he studied government at Johns Hopkins University. He is the only president to earn a Ph.D, and he wrote many books on politics.

Woodrow Wilson married Ellen Louise Axon in 1885, and guess what? She was the daughter of a Presbyterian minister! They had three daughters. He started teaching at Princeton in 1890, and quickly became president of the university. This attracted the attention of many politicians, and he decided to resign as president of Princeton to run for governor of New Jersey, where he became very popular as a conservative.

Wilson decided to run for U.S. president in 1912. There were not one, but two rivals he faced in the main race for president. Theodore Roosevelt split from the Republicans to join the Bull Moose party, and William H. Taft ran as a Republican. He won with a huge 435 electoral college votes, compared to Roosevelt’s 88 votes and Taft’s 8.

As president, Woodrow Wilson increased tariffs significantly, and added an income tax. He also helped to start the Federal Reserve. He was troubled by his wife’s death in 1914, and the beginning of WWI didn’t help things. The U.S. stayed neutral at first, but as America’s ally Britain was being attacked by German ships, Wilson was on the verge of declaring war.

He was again successful in the re-election of 1916, barely winning against Charles Hughes. Woodrow made an attempt at peace in January 1917. But the Germans didn’t care, and kept attacking American ships. After that, Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany. The American troops helped the Allies out, and Germany begged for peace in November of 1918.

Wilson returned to “normal” presidency, but his health was failing. He had a stroke on October 2, 1919 that made him partly paralyzed on his left side. His wife Edith Galt, who he married in 1915, tried to cover up Wilson’s condition. She made a lot of the decisions instead of Wilson.

In his later years, Wilson remained active in politics for a few years. He died somewhat unexpectedly in his sleep at the age of 67.

References:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Woodrow-Wilson

25
Mar, 2025

Old Cars vs New Cars

Personal Finance Lesson 105 Assignment

In this assignment, I’ll be comparing old cars against new cars in a pro and con style essay, to decide which is better.

First, we have to define what an old car is. I’d say that any car 20 years or older is a old car. Anything newer is a new(ish) car.

Old Cars

Pros:

Cheaper: Older cars are much cheaper than newer cars, because of the price depreciation.

Simplicity: Old cars usually have a more simplistic design, which may make them easier to repair. Some people say that this makes them more reliable, as there are less complicated parts in the car.

Lower insurance cost: Generally, the older the car, the cheaper they are to insure.

Fun to drive: Most old car owners claim that they are fun to drive, and that they respond better than new cars.

Cons:

Repairs: Yes, even though I said old cars can be easier to repair, sometimes they can also be harder. Old cars may need specialized parts that may be harder to find or more expensive. They may also require specialized knowledge.

Less safety technology: Cars from older generations aren’t up to date to the safety standards today, and they may not have as much safety features as newer cars.

Less gas efficient: Old cars are not very gas-efficient, and there aren’t many hybrid or electric old cars.

New Cars

Pros:

Reliability: New cars are more reliable then older cars, and they usually have less miles.

Safety and technology: These cars have a lot more safety and technological features, making them more convenient.

Customization: (This only applies to brand new cars.) If you buy a car straight from the factory, you have tons of control over trim, paint color, style, and extras.

Gas efficiency: A lot of new cars are hybrids, which get very high mpg. Even the non-hybrids are better on gas.

Cons:

Higher Cost: Obviously, new cars have a much higher purchase price, but they are also more expensive to insure, and sometimes to repair.

Complexity: Newer cars are generally more complex than older cars.

Mass-produced: Many people would say that new cars are mass-produced, which makes them less reliable and have less character than older cars.

Conclusion:

In my personal opinion, I prefer cars that are not too old, but not very new either, around the 2005-2015 model year range. But honestly, there is no right or wrong answer. It just depends on your preference and circumstances.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment your opinion on old vs new cars.

21
Mar, 2025

The Titanic

8G History Week 19 Assignment

For this week’s assignment, I will be writing about the Titanic.

The RMS Titanic was a luxury passenger ship, built in 1912. It was the largest ship at its time, and it was expected to be unsinkable, due to the “advanced safety features” of the ship. The ship had accommodations for 2,453 passengers.

On April 10, 1912, the Titanic set out on its first voyage. It was captained by Edward John Smith. Many wealthy and famous people were aboard, but there were some third-class passengers, too. The ship made a few stops around Europe, before departing from Queenstown, Ireland, its last stop.

The Titanic’s wireless room, where it received messages from other ships, was receiving many iceberg warnings. Despite this, the Titanic experienced smooth waters. On April 14, the Titanic was getting close to an area of the ocean known to have iceberg problems. The captain steered the ship to try to avoid it. In the wireless room, a message had come in from the Californian, another ship, that they had been trapped by ice, and warned the Titanic to be careful.

The lookouts in the crow’s nest were missing their binoculars, so it would be hard for them to spot anything. They did spot an iceberg around 11:40 P.M., and ordered the ship to be turned. But it was too late. The Titanic’s side had already been punctured by the iceberg. The commander realized that 5 of the ship’s “watertight” compartments had been punctured, and that it would spill over into the others and start sinking the ship. He sent out distress signals to the other nearby boats. The Carpathia responded first, but it was 58 miles away, and it would be a while before it would reach the Titanic. Other ships responded, but were not close enough to help.

The lifeboats began to be launched, with the children and the women taking top priority. Panic broke out, with some of the men fighting over whose family should be allowed to escape. The first lifeboat to leave only had 27 people in it, but its capacity was 65. Water was seen at the bottom of the boat at about 1:00 A.M. The Titanic’s bow was sinking into the ocean, and the other end started poking out of the water. Then the lights went out, and the ship finally sunk down to the sea floor.

The survivors in the lifeboats were rescued by the Carpathia, and it landed in New York City on April 18.

The Titanic was a major tragedy. Many more lives could have been saved if they had enough lifeboats. This was the main problem on the Titanic. The sinking of the Titanic has inspired many books and films. After the Titanic, laws were put into place that stated that all ships must have enough lifeboats for all the passengers and crew.

References:

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Titanic

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanic

18
Mar, 2025
raindrops on black toyota corolla

The Right Car for Me

Personal Finance Week 20 Assignment

This week’s assignment was a little different than the normal writing assignment. I was to find a particular car make and model that would be the most practical for me. I will cover the total cost of the car, the monthly payment I would have to make, and create an estimate of the gas, insurance, repair, and maintenance costs assuming I would drive 12,000 miles a year.

The car I chose: The Toyota Corolla. Here’s why:

The Toyota Corolla is one of the best-selling cars in the world, and for good reason! Corollas are known for reliability, cheap maintenance, and low price.

Here is the total cost for a used 2006 Toyota Corolla S with 90,000 miles. (All prices are approximate!)

List Price: $7,995

Tax: $480

Registration and documentation fees: $200

Insurance: $5,000 per year

Gas: $500 per year

Annual maintenance cost: $500

Total cost for the first year: $14,675

Cost for 2nd year and later: $6,000

Phew, glad that’s over! I had no idea how expensive insurance is!

Loan rate:

For a 4 year loan with a 25% down payment, and a good credit score, the loan will cost $144 per month.

Even though I won’t be driving for another 2 or 3 years, this assignment was still very helpful. I realized how expensive owning a car can be!

It’s Here!!

My new blog is finally here!! And I have decided on a theme………….. It’s going to be Minecraft themed! If you don’t know what Minecraft is, it’s basically a sandbox video game where you can build, mine, craft, fight mobs, create a farm, etc. I’m hoping to make about 2 posts a week, but it will be a bit before I’ll start making regular posts, due to my schedule. The posts will cover the latest Minecraft news, updates, and I’m hoping to do a series of tutorials. I’d really appreciate suggestions for posts and series that I should do, you can comment or email me. Please subscribe if you are interested in Minecraft, or you would like to learn more about it. Thanks!

EDIT: I will still keep this blog up and running, and I think I found the name for it!

You can check it out here: www.emeraldswordgaming.wordpress.com