How Presidents are Elected and the Process. - ALEK - Week 5

How Presidential Are Elected?

The election first starts off with the main, primary elections and caucuses which then proceeds to move onto nominating conventions. During this, the political parties each select a nominee to stand behind, favouring him or her. Along side this, the candidate must announce who she or he will have as their Vice Presidential running mate. The candidates then need to campaign across the country to display their thoughts and ideals to gain the trust and votes and participate in debates with members and candidates from other parties. I.e. Republican Vs Green. Democrat Vs Republican.

The next thing that happens is a general election in which Americans head to the pills to cast their vote for President. However the tally of those votes - mainly the popular ones - never determines the winner. However, the elections use something known as the Electoral College. In order for a candidate to win the election, a he or she must receive a majority of electoral votes. In instance that one does not receive the majority, it is then the House of Representatives who will chose the next President and the Senate who will choose the Vice President.

At the time in which George Washington was elected as the first President of the United States in 1789, only a select, 6% of voters were able to vote. In the original 13 states, male landowners over the age of 21 had any right to vote.
However, today, the U.S. Constitution grants any American over the age of 18 the ability to vote in federal (aka National), State and Local elections.

So How Many Times Can Someone Be President?

After George Washington declined to run for a third term of holding power as President, many American Citizens has believed that two terms in office was enough for any president to acquire. None of Washington's successors had even attempted a third term until Franklin D. Roosevelt tried and won the third Presidential term. However, at this time, there was the Great Depression and World War II. He even went on to win a fourth term in 1944 but sadly died in office in 1945. Some people worried claiming that it was too long for one person to take hold of Presidential power for four terms. This lead to the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to be signed in 1952 which prohibits anyone from being elected as President more than twice.

What Happens on Election Day?

On November 8, polling booths will open in all 50 states and in Washington Dc with around 120 million votes are expected to be cast in order of the citizens choice on who they feel should be running their country.
Counting begins immediately and as soon as voting is finished in the evening, the United States along with the rest of the world will get a glimpse into who may have won. This is done through the exit polls and surveys carried out throughout the day. This will help give a rough understanding on who the president will be.

Sources:
https://share.america.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Elections-USA_In-Brief-Series_English_Lo-Res.pdf

https://www.usa.gov/election

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/how-does-the-us-presidential-election-work-and-what-are-the-swin/

Aleasha - Separation of Powers

Separation of Powers

As part of the foundations of America, the Founding Fathers agreed to the Separation of Powers. Under the pen name "Publius", James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay uncovered the philosophical and ideological themes in the 'Federalists . It is stated within the articles of the Constitution that legislative, executive and judicial powers will be divided between three factions to maintain equality, maximise freedom and prevent a tyrannical dictatorship.

The three factions consisted of the Supreme Court, Congress and the President. All legislative powers were to be controlled by the Congress, the executive power in the President - who would be elected every four years and the judicals powers of the United States in the Supreme Court. Each branch had limited powers that would be reviewed by another branch.

An example of the branches individual powers are as such; Congress can pass laws however, the President can veto it, whereas the President can appoint judges and departmental secretaries but these must be approved by the Senate. As well as this, the Supreme Court can rule a law to be unconstitutional, but the Congress, with the States, can amend the Constitution.

The creation of separation of powers were so that one party did not increase power or pass laws for the benefit of oneself. However, many people opposed the Separation of Powers as some viewed the Government "not a machine, but a living thing." - Woodrow Wilson. Wilson states that a constructive government would be better for America, one that would develop as America matured.

Sources:
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/separationofpowers.htm
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2007/12/what-separation-of-powers-means-for-constitutional-government#_ftn15

Alek - week 4

John Mason

John Mason was born in 1586 was an early colonist who was famous for founding the New Hampshire Colony. Both, him and Sir Ferdinando Gorges had received a government right from the Council for New England and all outlying territory from the Merrimack and Kennebec rivers which they had divided. Mason has received the southern portion which included the southeast part of the current New Hampshire we know today. Unfortunately, he never set foot in New Hampshire as he died that same year just before preparing for his very first voyage to the colony.

George Washington 

George Washington was born in 1732 and was a member of the landed gentry within the colony of Virginia. He gained many military experience by acting as a leader and leading the Virgin militia into battle during the French and Indian War which took place between 1754 and 1763. He entered a political arena in which he was elected into the Virginia House of Burgesses.

When the Revolutionary war had erupted, he was stood in place and in command of the Continental Army. This followed with the American victory over the British. George Washington was elected the first President of the United States in which he served from 1789 to 1797.

Due to him being a formidable leader, he gained many experiences during his time serving as a leader and a commander. He gained acquired tactical, strategic and logical skills. He even tried to commission the British Army but failed. 

Aleasha - Week 4 Captain John Smith

Captain John Smith was a key figure in creating the foundations of America during the early settlements, specifically Virginia. In December 1606, at the age of twenty-six, Smith decided to leave to help colonise Virginia for profit and later on in 1607 the Jamestown settlement was established.

While exploring the Chickahominy River, Smith was captured by Chief Powhatan's men (a local tribe to the settlements) but was later released, although it is unclear as to why. Throughout the early years of settlement, Smith helped create a relationship between the tribe and the settlers by providing blue beads in exchange for food supplies.  

In 1608, John Smith was elected president of the local community and instituted disciplines for his people to follow, his most well known discipline is 'He who does not work, will not eat'. Although the settlers relied on the Native Indians for food supplies he maintained that the settlers must maintain their own agricultural profit for the local community and the mother country back in England. 

However, the friendship soon dissolved and led to tensions between the two factions and food shortages within the settlements. Due to the Native Indian tribe refusing to trade in an attempt to starve the settlers, the First Powhatan War occurred. The period following this war soon became knowing as the 'Starving Time' due to the lack of food resources in the local area. In 1609, he was injured by a gunpowder burn which was rumoured to be caused by someone within his community as his leadership not only created allies but also enemies, due to this he had to return to England for treatment but later returned in 1614 to continue exploring and mapping areas such as Maine and Massachusetts Bay areas, which he named New England.

After multiple years in America, John returned to England in 1615 and wrote about the new colonies and the opportunities that America provided the settlements due to the rich resourceful land.

However, it is common knowledge that Smith's writings on America and its profitable uses is not what he is most well-known for. Smith's interactions with Pocahontas - the daughter of Chief Powhatan is not outlined clearly as to whether she was the reason for his release from the tribe. The well known story tale that has been romanticised by Disney of John Smith and Pocahontas is a manipulation of truth to create a fairytale storyline. For it is in fact  noted that Pocahontas went on to marry a different distinctive man who participated in creating the identity of America, known as John Rolfe who is most well known for the cultivation of tobacco in the Colony of Virginia. 

Jordan Webb - John Winthrop (week 4)

John Winthrop was born on the 12th January 1588 in Suffolk, England and died in Massachusetts on the 26th March 1649. He was most known for the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in New England. He was an active leader during the first few years, and his ideas and actions gave the colony it's character. Winthorp's governorship was intermittent. He served 1630-33, 1637-39, 1642 and 1642-48.

John Winthrop and other Puritans wanted to establish a pure church in New England, and believed this safety would be achievable in the New World. By wanting to establish this 'pure church', they were very intolerant to other views, which is shown of the banishing of Anne Hutchinson, to which he disagreed with her weekly teaching and led to the banning of her and others from Boston.

In 1629, Winthrop went to America with the Massachusetts Bay Company and in the October he was elected governor. In the April of 1630 he sailed to America along with 400 Puritan men, women and children. once arriving they settled around the Charles River. However, despite his great leadership, around 200 died during the first winter and a further 80 returned to England in the spring. Due to being unsuccessful at first, he was forced to invest great amounts of money to provide supplies and to firmly establish the colony. The rest of his family did not arrive until 1631.

Winthrop was part of the development of the Cambridge Agreement which allowed the Puritan immigrants to control the government and the charter of the Massachusetts Bay company and it's trading potential. He secretly planned to develop a religion based government. The Cambridge agreement was signed on the 26th august 1629.

Week 3 - Massachusetts

Massachusetts

My topic of discussion this week is Massachusetts which was one of the colonies within the first thirteen states.

Colonisation lasted between the years 1519 and 1733. About 1000 Puritans came from England under Gov. John Winthrop who tried to find their friends who had already landed in one of the colonies beforehand. They came from England as they did not have the same beliefs as the Church of England which resulted in them separating from the church, at the time Massachusetts was known as Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Massachusetts Bay Colony lasted from 1628-1691.

During the colonial period, Massachusetts was founded on Theocracy as well as a running government, this is something that was refined in the seventeenth century as a government that believes in God as the higher ruling government.

Prior to the Europeans arriving on land, there was the Algonquian-tribes including the Massachusett, Nauset and Wampanoag.

The puritans worked hard as they thought it was a honour of God and they thought He rewarded them whenever they were successful in their achievements.

The Massachusetts colony was mainly dominated by its rivers and coastline. Many included the Merrimack as well as a portion of the Connecticut River which was a great trading route for the colony as they were able to transfer timber and furs to Long Island Sound which was a tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean.

Jordan Webb - Delaware (week 3)

The Colony of Delaware was founded by Peter Minuit in 1638, although was named after the Delaware River which was named after Lord de la Warr who was Virginia Company's first governor.  The Delaware colony was classed as one of the Middle Colonies, and was known as the Province of Delaware from 1638 - 1776, where they then became the state of Delaware once they gained independence from Great Britain.

Before the European settlers, the Leni-Lenape Indians were occupying northern Delaware, whilst several other tribes occupied southern Delaware. Before the successful settlement in 1638, The Dutch had previously settled in Delaware in 1631, but their colony was destroyed by the Indians there. It was then that permanent settlement was made by Sweden in 1638, and by the Dutch again in 1651. Three years later, the Swedish took control of the Dutch settlement only for the Dutch to take back that contol in 1655, which then lasted for 10 years until control was taken by James, Duke of York (later James II).  By 1768 most of the Native Indians had been driven out of the land.

Week 3 New York

New York

For this weeks post, I decided to write about New York as a colony within the original thirteen states. Located within the Middle Colonies, New York could possibly be the most unique colony compared to the other colonies.

On the island of Manhattan, which was originally termed ‘New Amsterdam’, the English decided to claim the territory (as well as the exterior land) in honour of the Duke of York and renamed it New York. While being one of the original thirteen states from 1626 to 1776, New York differed from other states in various ways.

From the outset of the English’s claim of New York, the people were welcoming of various backgrounds within the community. Many of the Dutch who had established a career/lifestyle within the state decided to stay within the new intercultural community, alongside the English. Not only did New York have Dutch and English residing in the local community but also the Germans and the Swedish.

Although, the settlers had created a community among themselves with other Europeans, they did for the majority of the time within the state of New York, ignore the Native American Indians. The conflict that occurred was more than likely due to the different views between the settlers and the native people such as how they were able to use the land for themselves.

The colony of New York had a mixture of the two colonies landscape. Although there were mountains within the north, the flat land had rich soil,  which was suitable to agriculture. The state were able to produce multiple produce such as timber, fur and coal, all natural resources which influenced the process of settlement due to the increase of economic growth.

Through extorting the landscape for the benefit of England, slavery became a key part to the increasingly agricultural trade. Those who had slaves were able to profit themselves steadily due to the sale of crops whereas other farmers struggled to produce or even maintain a profit.

Demographic Map Week 2

For this week, I decided to identify the prejudicial views on obesity within the USA.

Throughout America, obesity is a significant factor that impacts throughout society, regardless of age or the landscape area of living. Why is obesity viewed as one of the highest temporality problems within America? Is there a significant impact on society due to obesity such as early death?

Our external view on America as a country and their iconic culture of the everyday lifestyle is heightened by the increasing demand of excessive life choices such as larger portions of food intake and the increasing volume of fast food chains such as KFC, McDonalds and Wendy's.

Theoretically, is America in a state of crisis surrounding obesity? Or has the rapid expansion of fast-food chains worldwide created an inaccurate image of America and its modern day society?

In contrast to this view of America we can see by reviewing this demographic map that obesity is not a widespread health issue. In fact, a minority amount of states suffer from obesity rates that are higher than 30%. The leading state with a rate of +35% of the population being obese is Mississippi whereas states such as Montana have obesity rates less than or equivalent to 20%.

The map gives the impression that obesity is not a mortality crisis within society but has made enough of an impact to raise concerns within multiple societies and cultures.

Jordan Webb - Space and Place (week 2)

(picture source: http://www.censusscope.org/us/map_common_race.gif)

I have chosen this map as it shows different kinds of ethnicity throughout the whole country of America – showing the range of different ethnicities, all living in the same country. This map specifically shows the above average rate of those ethnicites in each state and city.

From looking at the map, you can see the different groupings of populations with a proportion of an ethnicity above average. For example, there is a larger cluster of Native Americans in the north and centre of America compared to the amount of Hispanic in Texas, which could be due to the migration from Mexico.

This map highlights the range of different cultures living in one place, which all have a belief of freedom. Although this belief can be challenged, especially recently, due to the blatant racism which can be shown through many shootings of innocent people of colour. This shows that there isn't the freedom for some that many desire or believe in.

Jordan Webb - Representation of America (week 1)

For my first image, I chose this picture of the cowboy. The cowboy is what most people think of when asked to describe Americans. It symbolises the courageousness, determination and standing up for what is right no matter what – ideals which Americans take seriously, value and pride themselves upon even today. 

My second image I chose Donald Trump. I chose him as a negative as his morals are not what most Americans have and has been known to have done many things, such as sexual assault against young girls and not paying taxes and much more, but has not been questioned fully against and is still allowed to run for president. This could show the negative side of America, and highlight the White Male privilege that seems to occur often in America, showing that America is only ‘free’ to white people and empowers males.

Alek M - AMERICAN SPACE AND SETTLEMENT

I have decided to do a map of 'The State of Same-Sex Marriage' within the USA.  Given what has happened in Orlando with the shootings at Pulse Nightclub, I felt this would be a great way too see how America has contrasted with their founding ideals of 'freedom'.


As you can see, in 2014, majority of America had a ban on same sex marriage. We could use this to challenge the principle of America, do people really have freedom? A lot of the states have been legalised since this date with a lot more areas of the map above becoming blue, such as Arizona and Nevada (excluding the map above which shows them to have challenged the ban).


This act was passed in 2015 when the States Supreme Court ruled that the ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. This was a very long process that started with none of the states allowing any form of gay marriage or partnership however, it was Utah that was the first state to do something abut this by enacting a Defence of Marriage Act in 1995 which several other states having previously defining marriage between a man and woman. California was also apart of this.

What makes it so ironic that California was one of the states hat defined marriage to be between man and woman is that currently in 2016, California is one of the states that have a vast majority of the LGBT population, with New York being the first.

Marilyn Kinnon Space and Place Maps

This post intends to explore an aspect of the concept of 'Geosophy' which  J.W. Watson (Image Geography: The Myth of America in the American Scene)  regards as not so much the relief of the land .... as topography of the mind. The geography lies in the dream of its people: it is what they see in it, and want from it, and make from it. This myth making can allow people to devise a landscape that fits with their notions of some aspect of American life.

Does this map resonant with Wreford Watson's notion of the geography of the Whole Man - the geography of the best that is in American idealism? 

Had the author been inspired by some of the exhortations of Benjamin Franklin to live temperately, study hard and do public good?

Between them, the States seem to offer an aspirational target for health, religion, transport, environmental protection, nutrition, education and civic duties.

It is not easy to locate any note of possible irony in any particular comment. The map seems to 'glow' with the author's data selection of the good things of life - including breast fed babies in Oregon, best sunshine in New Mexico, excellent governance in Nebraska and good reading habits in Ohio.

Without full reference and research information, it is obviously not possible to know the source of the data or whether the map is merely a 'spoof'. And it is this last fact that allows us to suggest that the myth making and imaging of the American Dream is not dead but alive and well in a State near you!

Marilyn Kinnon 05 10 2016

AM 1111 Blog post  for 04 10 2016 Marilyn Kinnon

Anthony Robbins

I choose Anthony Robbins as representing a person who affirms the American ideals. This is how Anthony describes himself on his web site:

Tony Robbins is an entrepreneur, best-selling author, philanthropist and the nation’s #1 Life and Business Strategist. A recognized authority on the psychology of leadership, negotiations and organizational turnaround, he has served as an advisor to leaders around the world for more than 38 years.

Visit here for more details!

https://www.tonyrobbins.com/biography/

He appears to ooze success and energy, a self-made man who has achieved wealth, status and fame by working extremely hard and being self-disciplined.  It was my knowledge of Anthony Robbins which made an early peek at the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin so fascinating – there are many similar qualities. Franklin was passionate about self-discipline and hard work and appeared to associate with a number of significant leaders in society.

 

Hydraulic Fracturing (often referred to as fracking)

I choose this topic to illustrate a questioning of the ideal of the beautiful landscape and wide open spaces fit for all to enjoy.  The extraction of natural gas and oil is occurring in many parts of the US. It is a controversial method and has raised much debate amongst the environmental community. They claim it is damaging the landscape, contaminating water and air and contributing to climate change. The gas industry states that it is a clean and safe alternative to the diminishing stocks of oil.

The documentary maker, Josh Fox has made 2 films campaigning to show how fracking is “contaminating our democracy”. See here for more details:

http://ethicalfilmclub.com/event/screening-gasland-2-film-audience-discussion/

 

Aleasha's blog

In the first image, the multiple individuals within the geographical outline of America shows us that America’s ideals are based on the foundation of multiple people being successful with a career emphasising the iconic image of the “American Dream”. By being a part of America it shows unity and freedom that they, as a united nation offer people regardless of race, religion and cultural backgrounds. By enforcing this outlook on those who desire equality, individuality and success, America's ideals are viewed as achievable to every human who seeks to better themselves.

However, this image argues an alternative view of the American vision. Currently in America, race relations have never been more polarised than before. America strives for equality, regardless of beliefs and ethnicities, however, we can see from this image that there is active violence and tensions throughout societies. The aggression conveyed within this picture of the law versus the individual, suggests that America is conflicted on their ideals and the divided social political views within the state.

Amir Blog - American Ideals

This image is the first creation of the Statue of Liberty which was given to America by France which represented the friendship between the two nations at the time. This image shows first hand the theme of 'freedom' as this stood staple for immigrants to feel welcomed. The Statue of Liberty shows the time of peace that America was entering due to the fact that slavery had recently been abolished and freedom was the main ideal that America was striving for. This allowed people, specially immigrants who came into the nation to make a life for themselves and create something worth while.

This image was taken at the events of 9/11. This contradicts the first image due to the fact that this shows the terror that people had to endure as the events of the day had played through. This shows the turmoil America was going to be going through and how the nation would have to deal with the events of the past even to this day. This image shows how America has fallen out of balance with the ideals that America was founded on - the idea being peace and freedom; which none can be seen in this image.