Introduction

I’ve talked up this article for a while, but made no real moves to write it. I have had a pre-write done for weeks, but still, no real effort had been put into its production. Well, I have finally hopped to it. I’ve spent a large portion of a day (in addition to the weeks of prewriting both on paper and in my head) writing this article, a practice inspired in part by Glen.

This article will explore the frustrations of students and teachers alike with “No Child Left Behind” and its effect on the classroom. It will discuss the growing irrelevance of American curriculum to the average high school student. It will give my opinion on what a high school diploma should symbolize.

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The American Bald Eagle was unofficially chosen as a National Symbol in 1872, when the Constitution of the United States was ratified. It was not officially nominated as such until 1788. There was a heated debate, led by the great statesman Benjamin Franklin, about this bird becoming the National Bird. Mr. Franklin wanted the turkey which he thought better symbolized the clean, honest, and more straightforward ideals of the American people. His bid was lost, however, in 1789 when George Washington became the first President of the USA, and the Bald Eagle was officially adopted as the “First Bird”.

The American Bald Eagle is the only eagle which is native to North America and it’s only on its native continent that one may find it. Alaska, the 49th State admitted to the Union, is home to about 35,000 of the 70,000 total population. British Columbia boasts about 20,000, and the rest predominantly inhabit the Pacific coastline, with a few scattered throughout the rest of the United States. Population is heaviest in the Pacific Northwest due, in part, to the large amount of salmon found there. Eagles depend greatly on fish as a main part of their diets. They will eat small animals such as mice, rabbits, muskrats, duck and snakes and they will resort to eating carrion (dead animals), if necessary. However, they prefer that their food be of a fresh source and they are partial to fish.

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One of the greatest outcomes of the Revolutionary Era was a growing movement in opposition to slavery. As a result of mechanization and farming, slavery became dominant and very important to the economy, particularly in the south. Many white people began to question the morality of slavery, noticing the injustice in denying people of their liberties. Soon, antislavery societies were becoming common, and the north gradually provided for the abolition of slavery while the south still considered it a “positive good”. The antislavery movement, which eventually developed into the abolition movement became radicalized during the early 1830′s.

The beginnings of the antislavery movement were evident right after the revolution. Every state except for Georgia and South Carolina had outlawed the slave trade. Then, in 1782 Virginia passed a law that stated that owners must free their slaves. Consequently, by 1790, over ten thousand slaves had been set free. Ten years later, antislavery societies were forming from states ranging from Virginia to Massachusetts. Gradually, other northern states had followed, providing for the abolition of slavery. However, after the cotton gin was introduced to the economy, instead of eliminating the need for slavery, it actually had the opposite effect–the south now needed slavery more than ever. In addition, before Missouri joined the union, many northerners opposed the idea of Missouri becoming a state because it would allow the expansion of slavery and also give them an advantage in the senate. In the Missouri Compromise of 1820, Henry Clay proposed to let Missouri enter the union as a slave state, and Maine as a free state. It was accepted since it preserved the balance between slave states and free states. With the passage of the Missouri Compromise, slavery became a national issue.

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