Final blog post

 When I was first told by Professor Smith to use AI for our very first blog post I thought he was joking. I never thought one of my professors would encourage the use of AI as I always saw it as a negative thing, and a way to cheat. Once he showed us how to use it to smooth our notes into an essay I thought it was the most useful tool ever. I was very hesitant to use AI as I thought it would be considered cheating, but in this class I learned so much about AI and how to use it appropriately in my classes. 

Once we started using AI I became very comfortable using it and saw how it could be beneficial. I learned how to make detailed prompts to write scripts and blog posts. My turning point with AI came with our first presentation. I had AI write me a script on anti slavery within the bible. I was so impressed with how quickly it came up with a detailed script with examples from the bible. This showed me how AI isn’t always a bad thing. 

 My favorite use of AI is using it to research different topics. I used AI when researching Susan B Anthony for an EOTO presentation. As well as in my macroeconomics class to go into further detail about the state of our current economy. AI makes researching so much more efficient, it can pull different facts about a topic from different articles in seconds, when it could take me hours to find all the information I need. AI can also help you research any topic which can be helpful when looking up very niche topics that there isn’t a lot of information on.

Using kapwig, which is an AI website that makes videos, was a whole other learning experience. This is something I never would have thought of on my own, yet it’s so easy. I just had to plug in my script and it added pictures and narrated my script for me. Claude AI is another AI website we used. I used this one the most and found it to be so beneficial when researching.

The most important thing when using AI is figuring out when to and when not to use AI. AI is a very efficient tool to use that I want to use all the time, however that is not using AI appropriately. This class taught me when to use AI, such as to organize my notes into a blog post. As well as when not to use AI such as making blog posts that are opinion based.

Another very important thing when using AI is checking your work because AI does make mistakes. I would have AI organize my notes into a blog post, then read it and go in and fix anything that didn’t make sense, or add points into my blog I felt were needed that AI left out.

Since our world is always changing and technology is becoming more and more advanced is it very important we learn to use AI in a way that is beneficial to us, so we don’t fall behind. AI is our future.

Mock trial reaction post

The landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education challenges the long-standing doctrine of "separate but equal" established in Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896. While proponents of desegregation argue that segregated schools violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, there are compelling reasons why states should maintain the authority to operate separate educational facilities for black and white students.

Brown v. The Board of Education

First and foremost, tradition and stability must be considered. Our justice system has upheld segregation for nearly sixty years, and this precedent has allowed communities to develop their own educational institutions tailored to their specific needs. Rapidly dismantling this system would create chaos throughout the nation. Many parents believe that segregation keeps their children safe at school, providing familiar environments where students can learn without the tensions that integration might bring. These concerns reflect deeply held community values that deserve respect and consideration.

The economic implications of desegregation cannot be ignored. Wealthy families have indicated they would withdraw their children from public schools if forced to integrate, potentially devastating the public education system. Furthermore, the transition would result in massive job losses, particularly affecting black workers employed in segregated schools who might find themselves unemployed in a newly integrated system. The median income for black families is already significantly lower than that of white families, and forcing integration could worsen these economic disparities rather than improve them.

Additionally, some argue that separation is supported by religious principles. Biblical interpretations have been cited to justify the natural order of separate communities, suggesting that different groups can coexist peacefully while maintaining distinct institutions. This perspective reflects sincerely held beliefs that should not be dismissed simply because they conflict with modern sensibilities.

The argument that segregation psychologically harms children or prevents them from understanding cooperation is unfounded. Students can learn valuable lessons about working together within their own communities before encountering the complexities of an integrated society. The claim that black students attend schools with broken windows while white students enjoy better facilities is not an argument for integration but rather for ensuring that separate facilities are truly equal, as the Constitution requires.

Constitution

The principle that "all men are created equal" does not necessarily demand identical treatment in all circumstances. Equality can be achieved through separate institutions that respect the preferences and comfort of different communities. The 14th Amendment protects equal rights, but it does not mandate social integration. States should retain the authority to determine what educational arrangements best serve their populations.

While critics argue that segregation divides the nation, forced integration threatens to create even deeper divisions by imposing unwanted changes on communities that function effectively under current arrangements. The Constitution protects states' rights to govern their own affairs, and education has traditionally been a state concern.

In conclusion, maintaining segregated schools preserves tradition, protects economic stability, respects parental concerns, and upholds states' rights while still allowing for equal protection under the law through truly equal separate facilities.

AI disclosure: After taking notes on the mock trial my peers did. I used Claude AI to smooth the text and format it in a readable way. I then added photos, links, and captions

In the Heat of the Night Review

 I was excited when I heard we were watching a murder mystery in class, as these are some of my favorite movies. However there is much more to this movie than just the thrill of a murder mystery, this movie takes us through the Jim Crow era. Where people believed in a separate but equal society. Throughout the film there is a constant uncomfortable feeling of racism, which we see change and diminish throughout the movie as Tibbs proves himself as a detective.

Jim Crow Era

The film follows Virgil Tibbs, a Black homicide detective from Philadelphia who gets caught up in a murder investigation in a small Mississippi town. What starts as a simple case of mistaken identity when the local cops arrest him at the train station just because he's Black turns into this incredible story about racism, pride, and unexpected respect. Tibbs is so patient with the cops, he carries himself with pride.

Gillespie, the town chief of police, is openly hostile and prejudiced, but as Tibbs proves his competence as a detective, we see Gillespie’s attitude towards him change. This was a step in the right direction during this time, as people still believed in separate but equal Gillespie respected Tibbs, which was not

Tibbs and Gillespie

common at this time.

Seeing Tibbs and Gillespie’s relationship change through the movie was such a powerful message that needed to be spread during this time period. Tibbs proved that his skin color didn’t change how smart he is, and how kind of a human he was. He was so patient with Gillespie even when he was accusing him of murder, and Tibbs knew it was just because he was black. He helped Gillespie solve the case even after he was racist towards him. Tibbs had to deal with lots of prejudice, not just from Gillespie, but from the other cops, and townspeople. 

What struck me most about the film is how it handles racism in such a profound and different way from other films at this time. The discrimination Tibbs faces is seen in every interaction, from the casual slurs to the constant assumptions about his capabilities. This movie doesn't need to spell out the message because it's right there in every uncomfortable moment. Which makes this film feel very real, and genuine to what was actually happening during this time. 

I really enjoyed this film, as it takes us through the Jim Crow era in the south, but it doesn’t shove racism in your face. It’s more of an underlying theme in this movie, there is tension in the air always, and an uneasy feeling throughout the whole film. I enjoy watching murder mysteries and even though this was a history film, it was still interesting and there was enough going on at all times throughout the film to keep me engaged.

Video reaction post

 The end of slavery marked not liberation, but the beginning of new forms of oppression for Black Americans. After Lincoln's assassination at Ford's Theatre by John Wilkes Booth, a Confederate sympathizer enraged by the president's support for Black rights, the nation lost its greatest advocate for racial equality. Under President Johnson, Black Codes immediately began restricting the freedoms of formerly enslaved people, demonstrating that Lincoln's death would impact generations to come.

Reconstruction era

Sharecropping emerged as slavery under another name, trapping Black families in perpetual debt. Landowners divided plantations and offered Black families land in exchange for half their crops plus housing. However, sharecroppers had to purchase their own equipment, creating insurmountable debt to white plantation owners. Combined with poll taxes that stripped voting rights, sharecropping maintained white supremacy by keeping Black people tied to the same plantations where they had been enslaved.

Despite these obstacles, Black political participation briefly flourished during Reconstruction. The 15th Amendment guaranteed voting rights regardless of race, leading to skyrocketing Black voter registration. More than 2,000 Black Americans held office, including 16 congressmen. However, Jim Crow laws and literacy tests effectively ended this progress, virtually eliminating Black officeholders.

Reconstruction era

Against this backdrop of oppression emerged leaders like Booker T. Washington, himself born into slavery. Teaching himself to read and working as a janitor to fund his education, Washington founded an educational institution and became an adviser to Presidents Roosevelt and Taft, the first Black leader invited to dine at the White House.

The Great Migration (1916-1970) represented Black America's response to Southern oppression. Six million African Americans fled northward and westward, escaping forced segregation and violence. Though they faced housing discrimination and segregated neighborhoods in cities, most never returned South, choosing factory work and urban life over the plantation system that had enslaved their ancestors.

AI disclosure: After taking notes on the videos my peers made. I used Claude AI to smooth the text and format it in a readable way. I then added photos, links, and captions.

EOTO Group 1 reaction post

 The assassination of President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in April 1865 marked a tragic turning point for the nation. Shot by John Wilkes Booth, a famous actor upset about the South's defeat. Booth's familiarity with the theater allowed him to execute his plan, and ultimately eight people were put on trial, with four being hung. 

Abraham Lincoln giving a speech

Lincoln's death removed a potentially moderating voice during the tumultuous Reconstruction era that followed, leaving freed African Americans vulnerable to systematic efforts to strip away their newfound freedom.

Despite the ratification of the 14th Amendment, which granted citizenship and equal protection under the law, Southern states moved quickly to reimpose control over Black populations through Black Codes. 

These laws were designed to keep African Americans under as much control as possible by severely limiting their freedom and controlling their labor. Black people could not travel freely without permits and were required to maintain employment at all times. Although they technically could vote, numerous barriers were erected to prevent them from exercising this right. These codes represented the South's determination to maintain a social order that resembled slavery in all but name.

Carpetbagger

The Reconstruction period also saw the arrival of carpetbaggers, Northerners who moved South carrying cheap bags made from carpet material. While they helped rebuild the region and passed civil rights legislation, Southerners viewed them with deep suspicion and hostility. This resentment contributed to the formation of terrorist organizations like the Ku Klux Klan, which sought to maintain white control in the South and resist Reconstruction efforts.

 The KKK targeted Black citizens and their supporters, creating an atmosphere of terror that effectively undermined the progress of Reconstruction.

Lynching became one of the most horrific tools for terrorizing Black communities and enforcing white supremacy. These extrajudicial killings occurred without trials, legal representation, or due process, functioning as pure terrorism to maintain racial hierarchy and enforce Jim Crow laws. 

Most lynchings went undocumented, and offenders were rarely prosecuted. The violence proved devastatingly effective, Black voter registration plummeted due to intimidation, and property was frequently stolen from victims' families.

Anti-miscegenation laws represented another mechanism for preserving white supremacy by banning interracial marriage. Adopted by thirty out of forty-eight states, over sixty percent of the country, these laws carried harsh punishments including banishment from the state, fines, or forced separation of couples. Although the Supreme Court struck down these laws in Loving v. Virginia, their legacy lingered for generations.

Reconstruction era

The Reconstruction era ultimately revealed the limits of legal change without social transformation. Despite constitutional amendments and federal intervention, white Southerners successfully used violence, intimidation, and discriminatory laws to reassert control and deny Black Americans the full freedom they had been promised.

AI disclosure: After taking notes on the EOTO presentation my peers made. I used Claude AI to smooth the text and format it in a readable way. I then added photos, links, and captions.

Reconstruction era video

 The Reconstruction period following the Civil War represented one of the most transformative yet turbulent times in American history. This era, spanning the years after the 1860s conflict, was marked by both unprecedented hope for racial equality and devastating violence that would leave lasting scars on the nation.

President Lincoln taking to freedmen

After President Lincoln freed the slaves, many believed America had reached its happy ending and would only improve from that point forward. The reality proved far more complicated. African Americans celebrated their newfound freedom and immediately began searching for family members torn apart by slavery, taking to the roads and placing advertisements in newspapers to reunite with loved ones. When given the opportunity, Black men enlisted in the Union Army to fight against the Confederacy, demonstrating their commitment to freedom and democracy.

The summer of 1865 brought critical questions about citizenship and rights. After Lincoln's assassination, Andrew Johnson, a Southern Democrat who harbored no friendship toward Black Americans, assumed the presidency. Though he despised wealthy Southern planters, Johnson ultimately helped white Southerners maintain control over former slaves. The Freedmen's Bureau, established to ensure fair treatment and property rights for freed people, remained severely underfunded. Johnson issued pardons to former Confederates and forced the Bureau to return confiscated land to white owners, devastating Black families who had begun building new lives.

Southern states quickly enacted Black Codes, oppressive laws designed to maintain conditions barely distinguishable from slavery. Black adults had to sign yearly labor contracts, could be arrested for unemployment, and saw their children taken under false claims of parental unfitness. The Ku Klux Klan emerged during this period, terrorizing successful Black families and burning churches and schools.

The Ku Klux Klan violence

However, Congress fought back. In April 1866, lawmakers passed the Civil Rights Bill over Johnson's veto and later reorganized the South through the Fourteenth Amendment, which redefined citizenship rights. Northern Republicans registered Black men to vote, and freed people eagerly participated in politics, with some even serving in state legislatures and Congress.

Freedmen registering to vote

The three years following the Civil War represented the most hopeful and violent period in American history. This legacy of both promise and brutality would haunt African Americans for generations, as they continued fighting for basic rights a full century after emancipation.

AI disclosure: After taking notes while watching a reconstruction era video. I used Claude AI to smooth the text and format it in a readable way. I then added photos, and captions.

Plessy v. Ferguson

 The 1896 Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson is one of the most controversial rulings in American legal history. When the Court upheld Louisiana's Separate Car Act and established the "separate but equal" doctrine, it basically gave legal permission for racial segregation across the South. What makes this decision even more frustrating is that it completely ignored strong religious arguments against segregation that were based on fundamental biblical principles. Understanding how religion opposed segregation during this period reveals the massive gap between America's claimed Christian values and the actual reality of its legal system.

The case of Plessy v. Ferguson

At the core of Christian theology is the belief that all humans are created in God's image, known as imago Dei. This concept comes from Genesis, where it says God created mankind in his own image. 

This wasn't just some minor detail, it was a foundational teaching that gave every single person inherent dignity and worth, no matter what they looked like or where they came from. Segregation laws directly contradicted this by treating Black citizens as fundamentally different and inferior to white citizens. If everyone truly bears God's image equally, then there's no theological justification for separating people by race or treating them differently under the law.

Racial segregation on trains

The New Testament provided even stronger arguments against racial division. The Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians that "there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." This was a revolutionary statement for its time, basically saying that all the social categories and hierarchies humans create don't matter in God's eyes. 

Jesus himself constantly broke social rules by associating with Samaritans, tax collectors, and others considered outcasts. His entire ministry was about tearing down barriers between people, not building them up. So when you think about it, segregation was the exact opposite of what Jesus taught and demonstrated through his actions.

The Golden Rule is another religious principle that makes segregation impossible to justify. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" requires people to honestly consider how they'd feel if the roles were reversed. Would white Americans have been okay with being forced into separate, worse facilities? Would they accept their children being treated as inferior? Obviously not. This simple moral test exposes how deeply unjust segregation was.

Racial segregation at water fountains

It's also worth noting that religious communities had already been fighting racial injustice for decades. Quakers were instrumental in the Underground Railroad and abolitionist movement because their religious beliefs about human equality made them see slavery and discrimination as morally wrong. They put their lives on the line because they believed God's law was more important than unjust human laws.

 This tradition of faith-based activism against racism was alive and well during the Plessy era, even if the Supreme Court chose to ignore it.

The Plessy v. Ferguson decision showed how far America had strayed from its stated religious values. In a nation that claimed to be built on Christian principles, the highest court in the land upheld a system that violated basic biblical teachings about human equality, unity, and love. This contradiction between religious ideals and legal reality would eventually help spark the Civil Rights Movement, proving that these religious arguments against segregation had real power and lasting significance.

AI disclosure: I used Claude AI to write an essay on the case of Plessy v. Ferguson, arguing in favor of Plessy using religion to challenge segregation.  I then added photos, links, and captions.

Gone With the Wind

 I watched "Gone With the Wind" in class expecting it to be another long and boring history movie. However there is so much to digest in this movie. This movie really pays attention to detail, and there was always something interesting going on.

The house is held together by Mammy who is played by Hattie McDaniel. We see her trying to get Scarlett, who is played by Vivien Leigh to get back in the house as she is running off. Mammy has a very important role in the house which I didn't expect. She keeps the kids in line and makes sure the parents are always taken care of. It seems as though she knows them better than they know themselves. This movie seems to completely leave out the brutality of slavery. They seem to care for Mammy, which we know isn’t realistic for this time period in the South.

Mammy and Scarlett

Scarlett is very immature in the beginning of the movie, Mammy is always trying to keep her under control, but Scarlett listens to no one.

Scarlett, who is in love with Ashley Wikes, has no shame telling him she loves him even though he is going to marry his cousin Melanie Hamilton. She is judged by all the other girls at the engagement party. They are jealous of her beauty as all the men come flocking to her. Yet she only wants Ashley. She seems very different from the other girls in the beginning of the movie. However the one girl who is nice to her is Melanie, whom she dislikes as she is marrying Ashley.

Scarlett, Melanie and Ashley

When Scarlett confesses her love for Ashley and he shoots her down, she catches the attention of Rhett Butler, however she isn’t interested in him. Rhett seems to be the talk of the town, many people judge him for his past.

Rhett Butler and Scarlett

This movie takes place during the civil war. When the first shots were fired and all the men ran off to war they were excited. Excited to fight for what they believed in, for slavery. This is almost a juxtaposition as they seem to be very kind to Mammy, as they fight to keep her for her free labor.

As the war continues on we see Scarlett step up and mature a lot which I didn’t expect. She worked as a nurse during the war. She even helped Melanie deliver her and Ashley's baby, putting her jealousy aside and helping Melanie. She really grew up during this time. 

Rhett helps Melanie, her baby, and Scarlett escape back home. Halfway through their journey Rhett abandons them, and it is up to Scarlett to get them back home as Melanie just gave birth. 

When they get home Scarlett realizes the city was destroyed, all that was left were her slaves, her father who went insane, and her mother who just died. It was up to Scarlett to keep everyone alive. We really see her mature throughout the movie.

Ultimately this movie is very complex, and fails to show the brutality of slavery in the south at this time.

Susan B. Anthony

When we think of Susan B. Anthony today, we immediately picture her lifelong battle for women's suffrage. But before she became the face of the women's rights movement, Anthony was a fierce abolitionist who dedicated years to fighting the institution of slavery.

According to the National Women's History Museum, in 1856 Anthony became an agent for the American Anti-Slavery Society, traveling across New York state to deliver speeches, organize meetings, and distribute anti-slavery pamphlets. The National Park Service notes that after her family moved to Rochester, New York in 1845, they became deeply involved in the antislavery movement, with Quakers

Susan B. Anthony

meeting at their farm nearly every Sunday alongside luminaries like Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison.

Her circa 1859 speech "Make the Slave's Case Our Own" reveals the moral passion and rhetorical power she brought to this cause. In it, she challenged her audiences to truly imagine themselves in the position of the enslaved, asking them to feel "that it is our own backs that are bared to the slave driver's lash" and "our own children, that are ruthlessly torn from our yearning mother hearts."

Anthony didn't just appeal to emotions—she systematically dismantled the justifications white Americans used to rationalize slavery. She confronted the racist assumption that enslaved people were somehow different from white people and therefore could endure conditions that would be "torture worse than death" to others. With biting irony, she attacked the argument that enslaved people were better off in America than in Africa, calling it out as the moral hypocrisy it was.

Perhaps most courageously, Anthony refused to let Northern audiences off the hook. She insisted that Northerners were "bound up with the slave-holder in his guilt" through their support of the Constitution, which protected slavery and required citizens to return fugitive slaves. As GovInfo documents, Anthony helped fugitive slaves escape and held anti-slavery rallies, putting her principles into direct action.

At the heart of Anthony's anti-slavery work was a simple but radical idea: the failure to recognize the full humanity of enslaved people was what kept them in chains. This insight would later inform her women's rights activism, as she drew explicit parallels between the oppression of enslaved people and the subjugation of women. The National Susan B. Anthony Museum preserves her legacy as both an abolitionist and suffragist, showing how these struggles were interconnected in her mind.

Anthony's commitment to abolition wasn't without personal cost. She faced hostile crowds and threats during her speaking tours. Yet she persisted, driven by an unwavering moral conviction that slavery was America's greatest sin.

Understanding Anthony's abolitionist work gives us a fuller picture of her life and philosophy. She didn't see various forms of oppression as separate issues but as interconnected struggles for human dignity and equal rights. Her fight against slavery laid the groundwork for her later suffrage work, demonstrating that true equality required dismantling all systems that denied people their fundamental humanity.

AI disclosure: I used Claude AI to smooth the text of Susan B. Anthony writing's and speeches, and format it in a readable way. I then edited the ai generated text. I added photos, links, and captions.