Our group's country was Brazil. After John VI fled from Portugal at the spite of Napoleon by invasion, he made Brazil his kingdom but had to return to Portugal as a constitutional monarch. In return, his son Pedro inherited the throne. He then started a conflict with Argentina while at the same time declaring independence from Portugal. But, his conflict with Argentina led to a defeat and a flee back to Portugal. After the groups discussed the entire class found commonalities and differences among all three revolutions. One of the the commonalities among the three is that all three leaders did not stay in power and/or had to flee or abdicate to somewhere else. In Brazil, Pedro fled back to Portugal in 1831 because of his policies with race after the revolution. In Mexico, the leader Iturbide was declared emperor of Mexico but that was short lived as republican leaders Santa Anna and Guadalupe Victoria deposed Iturbide and set up a republic, with Victoria as it's first president. In Gran-Columbia, Simón Bolívar was all over the place. He was the ruler of Venezuela when they declared for independence. The Spanish invaded and he escaped to Cartegena. In 1813, he returned to Venezuela and won six successive engagements against the Spanish and took political control. But the next year, the Spanish recaptured it and he fled to Bogotá making it his capital city and recapturing it again making it his base. Then, he is invaded again and flees to Jamaica and Haiti. He then comes back in 1817 and tries to take 2500 men to make an attack on New Granada through a considered impossible route through a waterlogged river and over the Andes. The surprise held and he once again took over Gran until he passed away in 1830 due to Tuberculosis. Now, the second commonality is that all three countries were successful in breaking ties with Europe. Pedro of Brazil declared independence, Iturbide was declared as emperor of Mexico, and Simón Bolívar was able to recapture the joined forces but not in complete control. One of the main differences among the three revolutions is that the Brazilian Revolution was not at all that violent while the other two were of extreme violence. Pedro had declared independence and Portugal recognized it. The only real violence was the Cisplatine War in 1827 where Brazil was defeated by Argentina. In Mexico, the occupation of Spain of Napoleon led to revolts all across Spanish-America. Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla "the father of Mexican independence"launched the Mexican rebellion with his "Cry of Delores," and his populist army came close to capturing the Mexican capital. Defeated at Calderón in January 1811, he fled north but was captured and executed. He was followed by other peasant leaders, however, such as José María Morelos y Pavón, Mariano Matamoros, and Vicente Guerrero, who all led armies of native and racially mixed revolutionaries against the Spanish and the Royalists. In Gran-Columbia, the were a number of revolts by the Spanish and by Simón Bolívar. There multiple revolts by both. Although, Bolívar never gave up when he was gone, and continuously fought back just to get in power (which is what the Spanish were doing but were more powerful). This lead to fighting all across the nation until his death and the people got what they wanted which I am going to explain next. The last difference is that the revolution of Gran-Columbia resulted in a few different counties and the other revolutions resulted in one country. Brazil and Mexico both declared themselves independent countries while Gran-Columbia broke off into Ecuador, Venezuela, and Gran-Columbia as separate countries.
One thing for sure, slavery is never coming back to this nation. But, based on the way society is today, racism will be something that is always viewed. No one would ever come out and say that they are racists and believe in slavery because our country has strong unity against it as a whole. The country as a whole is viewed as a nation that strictly enforces the abolition of slavery and free men and women every day no matter what race you are. However, there are many people who have strong opinions and beliefs about racism. Many are still fighting the civil war as I like to say. However, there are others that do not actually see what is wrong with slavery because they were born to believe in it or they were not educated properly on it. No one can change anyone's beliefs. You are entitled to your own opinion. However, if you actually believe slavery is a good thing and that there is nothing wrong with racism, then make sure that your opinion actually is your own and keep it to yourself because no one would want to hear someone publicly say he or she believes in racism. The world is so open now but still has its ups and downs. A breaking story right now is what has transpired in Ferguson, Missouri. The main headline is that a black teenager was shot and killed by a police officer. He was shot six times. There ware many different stories and witnesses. Although, I don't believe that a kid who was running away and then put his hands up surrendering deserves to be shot six times in which four out of the six are to make sure he is dead. Another experience, the last two years with the Trayvon Martin case. The main headline was that he was in his town house neighborhood walking to get skittles and iced tea and go back to his house to watch an NCAA Men's Basketball playoff game. A night security guard named George Zimmerman took him as suspicious and started following him. He then called police and reported him. They specifically said not to follow him. Of course he did and allegedly said (these are words from the recording of the call and do not follow my own personal words) "these n*****s, they always get away with it". Then, Trayvon Martin was shot and killed. Zimmerman's alibi was that it was self defense and that Martin assaulted him while on top of him meaning Zimmerman's back was on the ground. How could he then reach under himself and pull out a gun? It possible theoretically but not realistically in my opinion. Just based on his quote, how does racism not tie into that? And lastly, just this year on a Los Angeles freeway as they call it, apparently a highway patrol officer saw a woman walking down it and ordered her to stop. She was a black grandmother. When she kept walking, he ran up on her and tackled her. She then put her arm in his direction and he punched her in the face which can be understood if the officer was threatened. However, after she put her hand over her face like a normal human instinct, he preceded to punch her over and over while she was lying there helpless. He continued to punch her and then arrested her. And, to think that L.A.P.D. would release a statement, but instead, they made it their rookie training video. Isn't that despicable? But again, just the way racism is viewed in this country is based on how the media presents it. None of the three incidents would have been the main headlines if racism wasn't a factor. But also, maybe, just maybe these incidents would not have even happened had racism not been tied into them in the first place. All of these cases just prove the point that racism is still a huge issue in this country. All men are created equal. Are blacks not considered men then if racism exists? I hope that in the near future, someday we can all stand as one and put the issues like racism aside. Imagine what that would make us as a country. Imagine the future.
Shown here is the L.A.P.D. officer who repeatedly punched a helpless woman in the face. As you can see like I said before, she has her hands protecting her face. There's no rationale for the cop. Is she supposed to let the cop punch her in the face multiple times without protecting herself which does not affect the cop? Is the cop thinking I keep punching because she won't let me get at her face completely, even though I'm a cop and she is helpless on the ground. This is just truly disgusting.
Image Citation: Mail Online. Associated Newspapers. Web. 26 Nov. 2014. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-1103467/Cop-filmed-repeatedly-punching-woman-head.html>.
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