JFK Assassination

I was watching a show called Conspiracy Files on ID (investagation discovery channel), and it was all about the JFK Assassination. It was talking about the possible involvement of the CIA or FBI or the KGB dealing with the assassination of Kennedy. The show goes into saying why Lee Harvey Oswald might not have killed Kennedy. It gave good arguments of why Oswald couldn't have shot the President in the head without being closer to him. They say some believed there as someone shooting in-font of the President. Researchers stated that the people in the car with Kennedy said they heard firing coming from the front of the car. It was very interesting, and it made me research more findings and evidence.

Alyssa Neglia

Booker T. Washington: The Better Part

Booker T. Washington(1856-1915) Was a civil rights and human rights activist that was born into slavery. At 16 years old, he achieved an education even though his family was poor and it was illegal for slaves to learn. He would walk hundreds of miles to Virginia, working as a janitor in a school in exchange for being able to study.

As an adult, he delivered a speech at the Peace Jubilee in Chicago on October 16, 1898. He spoke for the African American people that have been oppressed by society from the onset, but have strove for equality in the nation that promised liberty and justice for all. 

Booker T. Washington states that the "Negroes" had no choice but to submit to slavery rather than allow their race to become extinct as the aborigines did. He continues to explain about an African American, Crispus Attucks, that gave of his life during the American Revolution to fight for the freedom from British rule, however he was not regarded as a hero nor an equal to his white counterpart. 

 Washington makes these significant examples as well as others to express that the African Americans were trying to fight for the same freedoms that all Americans wanted but were never given the chance. During times of war, he goes on to say that when the white soldiers were suffering from exhaustion and disease, willing blacks were not considered capable of fighting.

"We have succeeded in every conflict except in the effort to conquer ourselves in the blotting out of racial prejudices."

Washington expressed his thoughts on racial prejudices as if it were a virus that will affect the Republic from ever becoming a free and strong nation with the following quote.

"I make no empty statement when I say that we shall have a cancer gnawing at the heart of this Republic that shall one day prove as dangerous as an attack from an army from without or within."

He closes by thanking his fellow race for contributing for the betterment of America. Whether in times of war or peace, or enslavement or freedom, Booker T. Washington felt that the African American race as a whole, has tried to prove their loyalty to the "Stars and Stripes."

Hawaiian Annexation Resources

Web resources on the annexation of Hawaii:

Chronology of Events [Hawaiian State Library]

Annexation of Hawaii, 1898 [U.S. State Department]

The Annexation Of Hawaii: A Collection Of Documents [University of Hawaii Library]

The 1897 Petition Against the Annexation of Hawaii  [National Archives]

Imperialism vs. Isolationism

In his speech delivered at Savannah, GA on December 13, 1898, William Jennings Bryan criticizes the imperialist efforts of the United States in reference to the occupancy and desired control over the Philippines. He bases his arguments in the idea that imperialism and expansion other than that of the neighbouring territory goes against the nature of the Declaration of Independence:

The imperialistic idea is directly antagonistic to the idea and ideals which
have been cherished by the American people since the signing of the Declaration
of Independence.

Bryan adds that the government should represent the voice of the people and not be created by those who are more powerful to enforce their will upon the people. He believes that instead of war, diplomacy should be used to solve the conflict.

On the other hand, William McKinley supports the annexation of the Philippines arguing that this territory would benefit with the influence and guidance of America, which would help with the creation of a kinder, more effective government, and would improve the lives of the Philippine inhabitants. McKinley is a strong supporter of the American Congress and believes that their decisions will be based on the well-being of the American people and the benefit of the country. He states that:

The whole subject is now with Congress, and Congress is the voice, the conscience, and the judgement of the American people. Upon their conscience can we not rely? I believe in them. I trust them. I know of no better or safer human tribunal than the people.