Civil war battles

8G History Week 14 Assignment

In this week’s assignment, I will cover 2 of the biggest battles in the American Civil War.

First Battle of Bull Run

The First Battle of Bull Run was the first major battle in the civil war. It was fought on July 12, 1861, near Manassas, Virginia. The battle got its name because it was fought by a stream called Bull Run. Irvin McDowell was put in charge of a section of the Union army located in northeastern Virginia. General P.G.T. Beauregard commanded a part of the Confederate army that was camped nearby.

The battle started with McDowell marching his army right past the Confederates. Beauregard didn’t expect them to attack, but got their army ready anyway. At 6:00 A.M. both sides started firing. McDowell’s men forced the Confederates to retreat to Henry House Hill. The Union army made multiple attempts to attack, but they failed. The battle resulted in almost 5,000 casualties and a Confederate victory.

The Battle of Gettysburg

The Battle of Gettysburg was fought from July 1-3, 1863, around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The Union forces were commanded by General George G. Meade, while the Confederates were led by Robert E. Lee.

The battle started when Lee marched his troops from Northern Virginia to Pennsylvania. His goal was to completely destroy the entire Union forces there. They met the Union troops, who were camped out in Gettysburg. Both sides clashed with each other near the Potomac river.

On the second day, the Confederates moved to the offensive side, with multiple attacks to the Union’s right flank. Lee’s men were looking very strong, and he expected to win that day. But he was wrong! His men tried diversionary tactics, but Meade’s men held out against their attacks. One of the Major Generals under Lee disobeyed his orders and his whole division was wiped out by the Union line.

The third day was brutal for the Confederates. Lee knew he had no shot at a coordinated attack, so he gave orders to General Longstreet to attack with about 140 cannons towards the main Union line. Meanwhile, there was another attack happening. A section of the Confederates, led by General Pickett and General Longstreet was marching toward the Union army. This was a bad idea! The army was under attack by the union the whole way, which was about 1 mile. Half of the men involved in the charge were killed, wounded or captured. This was called Pickett’s charge, and it was a disastrous moment for the Confederates.

After Pickett’s charge, the whole battle fell apart. This was a major turning point for the Union, and it filled them with courage to face the rest of the war.

7
Feb, 2025

Abraham Lincoln

8G History Week 13 Essay

Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809. He was born in backwoods Kentucky. His father was a pioneer named Thomas Lincoln. In 1816, a lawsuit challenged their land, so they moved to Indiana, where Lincoln helped with the crops, hunting, and fishing. He didn’t enjoy that type of work at all.

When Lincoln was 9, his mother died. His father remarried another woman, who became very fond of Lincoln. She taught him to read and write, which was very beneficial to him, as he had not received much schooling. He was said to walk miles just to borrow a book!

In 1830, Lincoln’s family moved to Illinois. Lincoln was 21, and drove the oxen there. Lincoln didn’t care for farming, so he tried out many jobs, including rail-splitting, boating, surveying, and others.

Lincoln decided to pursue law and politics. He started as a prairie lawyer and took small cases. He gradually took on bigger and bigger cases. After 20 years in his career, he was one of the most successful lawyers in Illinois.

Lincoln became president in 1860. He was president during the Civil War, so the nation was divided. Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, the act that ended slavery. Most people think that Lincoln was against slavery, but he really didn’t have strong opinions. He felt pressured to end it. He just wanted to preserve the Union, even if that meant slavery would still be legal.

31
Jan, 2025

Henry Ford

Personal Finance Week 14 Assignment

Henry Ford was an American industrialist and inventor. He was famous for inventing the model T, the first mass-produced car.

Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863, to William and Mary Ford. He worked on the family farm as a kid. Ford moved to Detroit at age 16. He built a type of tractor.

Ford experimented with gas-powered motors, and in 1896 he completed a gas-powered horseless carriage. He sold that model to work on making a second model.

Henry Ford founded the Ford Motor Company in 1903, and it started with good success. The Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers didn’t give him a license. They said he couldn’t continue producing cars. Ford won the case.

In 1908, the Ford Motor Company unveiled the Model T, a very affordable car due to its mass-production. Ford sold more than 16 million cars while it was on the market. The cars were built on an assembly line, at a rate of one car every 93 minutes, which was revolutionary at the time!

Ford increased the amount that his workers were being paid, and dropped the time that they needed to work, which led people to praise him for his humanitarianism.

The Ford Motor Company also produced other models besides the model T, but in 1909, Ford said that he would only produce the model T in the future. Some people were upset about this. However, it allowed the company to focus completely on the model T. They continued to improve it and make it cheaper.

Ford was a determined man who shaped history. His inventions helped pave the way for modern-day assembly lines, which have revolutionized the way products are made.

The California Gold Rush

8G History Week 12

In 1848, a man named John Sutter built a sawmill along the American River. It was located about 50 miles away from modern-day Sacramento. On January 24th, James W. Marshall, who was Sutter’s carpenter, found gold flakes in the river! Both men promised to keep it a secret, but eventually the secret got out.

Thousands of people rushed to California, due to the news of the gold. John Sutter went bankrupt because of the large amount of people that flooded the area.

People came by sailing around Cape Horn or by taking the 2,000 mile journey across the U.S. Many people died before they even reached California.

By 1853, over a quarter of a million people had arrived in California to try their luck at finding gold. Most people were not very lucky! The working conditions were poor, and prices were very high.

The Gold Rush made lots of boom towns, or towns that sprang up very quickly. Some of those towns are still around today, like San Francisco.

The California Gold Rush fizzled out by the end of the decade, but the impact that it had on our country is still visible today. The gold rush helped California gain its statehood in 1850.