1066

In the year of 1066 three men fought over the English throne. The names of the three were Harold Godwinson, William the Conquerer, and Harald Hardrada. After the war cleared, William the Conquerer took hold of England and became their new king. William was standing but who had the best claim to the throne? Shortly before the death of King Edward the Confessor, Harold Godwinson was named his successor as he had no son and his only nephew was too young. Harold was the most powerful noble and the leader of the army so the King believed him to be a worthy successor. Only to add to his argument to the throne, Harold was also an anglo-saxon meaning that he was a pure blood english man therefor he had a good overall claim to the throne.Harold Godwinson wasn't the only king with a claim. The King of Norway named Harald Hardrada also believe that he had a claim to the throne. His ancestor, King Cnut used to be the King of England so Harald believed that this entitled him to the throne. Only, he didn't try to take England alone. Harold Godwinsons brother, Tostig, helped King Hardrada in order for revenge on his brother. In the end they didn't succeed in their conquest. I would say that his claim to the throne was rather poor because he had no one on his side really and had little reason for taking the throne. Overall he had the worst claim. The third and final man to have a claim on the throne was William the Conqueror. William by far had the best claim of all the men. Before Edward the Confessor died Harold Godwinson had visited Normandy. There William the Conqueror had made Harold give an oath that he would help him claim the throne when Edward died. This obviously never happened. So William went to the pope to his approval to invade England. The pope approved of this decision and declared it a holy crusade. In the end William won the English throne but I also believe that he had the best claim to the throne. It wasn't a lot of things to run off of but he had the best claim because he had already been promised the throne by the successor of the king. Therefor the throne is rightfully his.

Values and Choices- Peer Pressure

On multiple occasions did I witness peer pressure. However of the many times their is one occasion I remember clearly and descriptively. This peer pressure forced a friend of mine to commit an action that left her with a physical scar that she will have to bare and remember the rest of her life.

One day my friends and I headed towards the climbing cave as we do every other day. When one of my friends (All names will be kept confidential) climbed up on to the roof of the cave using the nails sticking out along with gripping the side. After a short while my friend got up to the top. "Come on guy's, try to get up!" My friend said. "No, I don't think that it's a good idea." I said. "Don't be a chicken my friend standing next to me said. "No, I aint going up their." I said. "Fine then." she replied in a tone that a little kid would use when throwing a tantrum. With that short conversation she turned and started for the wall. "Don't." I said cautioning her. "If you go up there and slip the nail's gonna cut you." Giving me a evil look, she ignored my words of advice and headed up.

I watched her ascend up the wall nervously. "God, she going to fall." I thought. Palms sweating I continued to watch. Just as she was reaching the top I heard a squeak from her shoe as she lost her footing and began to slide down the ramp. I could only watch as she had brought this fate upon herself. She slid down and on the way had a nail cut her in a line along her left thigh.

Rather quickly she reached the bottom of the short ramp. She was looking at her leg as I was. It was red not bleeding but most of the first layer of skin was gone. I didn't speak a word as she let out a small grunt. I only looked at her. Her eyes were glossy as they screamed in pain. Her eyes spoke but not her lips. Not a word came out. Not a tear dripped from her face. Too stubborn to let out a wimper of word of distress she said nothing trying to hide her pain. Unfortunately and for once in my life, my prediction was accurate.

I still remember that moment vividly. My only regret is that I hadn't been forceful enough. I hadn't even attempted to make an effort to stop her. My only words to her were, "Don't" and I feel as if it is part my fault because as much as it seems I was warning her, deep down I know if I worked at it I could have stopped her and she wouldn't have hurt herself.

The Mysterious Major

When he said that when he crushed the boy he crushed something in himself, he meant that seeing the boy crushed made him feel bad. It probably made him feel guilty for doing such a thing to a boy. (He said, "Sit down you little Jack***!.") He basically destroyed the boys pride, and his courage and took control of him using a tactic of fear. For the rest of the year the boy never spoke again. This is basically what the Nazi's did except they did this to everyone. Crushed their hope and their pride and took control by fear because they wanted to completely dominate germany. If you spoke out against Hitler you were killed. If you told others about the concentration camps, you were killed.

In Memory to My Mother

In class we chose one of three poems written about the holocaust by Sonia Weitz. I chose the poem In my memory to my mother. This poem is about when the Nazi's took her mother away. She used a lot of synonyms and hidden messages. The poem starts with the lines;

Where is your grave? Where did you die? Why did you go away? Why did you leave Your little girl That rainy autumn day? This part is Sonia saying of all the people taken and killed, "Why was it you and not someone else? Why you?" This conveys her emotion of Confusion and sadness all at once. It's like when you don't do your homework and your teacher asks you for an answer, but the emotional intensity is multiplied by ten. The next part;

I still can hear

The words you spoke: "You tell the world, my child."

This part is her memory of her mother telling her to tell others about what is happening. To not let it be forgotten. This was courageous of her mother. She knew that she was going to die but she didn't want to die in vain so she told her daughter to tell others of her death. This was very brave. She died without fear. The next part;

I promised I would
Tell the world...
But where to find the words
To speak of
Innocence and love,
And tell how much it hurts...

About those faces
Weak and pale,
Those dizzy eyes around,
And countless lips
That whispered "help"
But never made a sound...

To tell about
The loss...the grief
The dread of death and cold,
Of wickedness
And misery...
O, No!...it can't be told.

This was probably the most emotional part of the poem. Personally It made me feel sympathetic and sad at the same time. She said, "I promised to tell the wold of the innocence...But where to find the words... And to tell how much it hurts." I know how this feels when someone hurts you or you get so mad that you don't know how to feel. You feel pain, loss, fear, hate, and suffer at the same time. It's unexplainable in such few words. That is what she was trying to say in the last three lines. No one could ever feel the way she did unless you experienced it first hand.

1933-Contributions to Hitlers Rise to Power

Hitler had many contributions to his rise to power. He had the advantage of the hyperinflation in germany, the crash of the stock market in the U.S.A., the burning of the Reichstag, and the death of Germany's president. Hitlers first if not most important advantage was the hyperinflation in germany. The hyperinflation was due to a treaty that Germany signed after world war I. This treaty forced germany to pay large amounts of money which eventually was worth more than the country was worth. Because the country kept printing off money, it lost it's value and eventually became worthless. Because of this Hitler had an advantage by saying that he would get rid of the treaty of Versailles and remake Germany. The Germans believed him too because they wanted anyone in office who they thought could turn Germany around. In addition, When in the U.S. when the stock markets crashed Germany suffered severely. All of the people soon found out that their money and money put away for their kids was worthless. This gave Hitler a great opportunity. All he had to to was to do was to give the other Germans the idea that he would help them regain their jobs, get enough money to support their families and that would ensure that the Germans would vote Hitler into power. Finally the last advantage that helped get Hitler into power was the death of president Hindenburg. At the time when president Hindenburg died, Hitler was the chancellor. This meant that Hitler would basically have power in the government but he would still be under the supervision of the Government. This would tame Hitler while giving him power therefor pleasing the public but when the president died things turned for the worst. Hitler decided to combine the roles of Chancellor and president therefor creating the role of Fuhrer which Hitler appointed himself as finally giving him complete control.

Neremberg Laws

1. Who could be defined as a Jew?

In the Laws created, A Jew was anyone who had a grandparent that was Jewish. Even if they were Jewish and converted they were still considered Jews. If the person themselves were Christian but had a Jewish grandparent they were considered Jews.

2. What was meant by "Aryanizing" Jewish Businesses?

By This it meant that the Jewish workers would be fired, and the owners had to sell their business to a non-Jewish person. 3. How were Jews who were professionals (lawyers, doctors etc.) restricted?

The layers weren't allowed to practice law, Jews had to sell their businesses and Jew doctors could only treat other Jews. 4. What did Jewish identity cards need to include now?

Now the Jewish identity Cards needed a J on them to define them as Jews Unless their name was obvious like Israel or Sara. 5. What was the "Law for the Protection of the Hereditary Health of the German People"

It was a law that made sure that people getting married were fit and not disabled which allowed be Hitler to sort of dictate the kind of german kids and families so that they would be ideally German.

Civil Rights

What are civil rights?

Civil rights are rights that we are entitled. They are rights that say we can not be discriminated against for any reason. Some of our rights are:

• All humans are born free and equal,
• All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law and,
• Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression.

Why do you think some of the people of Germany thought that the abolation of civil rights was necessarily?

After the fire at a government building in Germany, Hitler immediately blamed the Communist and Social Democratic parties. He felt that this was the perfect opportunity to start tearing down the democracy in Germany and all those who opposed him. Now that Hitler was running the country, he passed two new laws. A law, “For the Defense of Nation and State” and a law “To Combat Treason against the German Nation and Treasonable Activities”. These laws basically abolished the public civil rights. What did the public do? Nothing, most thought it was a good idea. The German people thought it was a good idea because it would help to catch the "Terrorists" in the country and find any traitors in their nation. As a result, the government could tap private phone lines, read mail, search homes, and confiscate property.