In Mrs. Garber's class we have been discussing many topics. The topic that i liked the most was that of one of the most controversial presidents ever. I bet most people have no idea who Abraham Lincoln's vice president was. His name was Andrew Johnson, and boy did he make a lot of decisions that people were not very fond of.
Andrew Johnson became president after Lincoln's assassination. Before he died, Lincoln was finishing his plans on the reconstruction of the southern states. Most people thought that Andrew Johnson would continue these plans when he became president, they were wrong to say in the least. Johnson did not do any of the plans that Lincoln was going to do before he died which caused a lot of friction especially with congress.
Johnson's plans for reconstruction were extremely severe, they included confiscating land and stripping people of their military position. Non of these plans had anything to do what with licoln want to do for the reconstruction of the south.
Johnson also was considered to be an overall just bad person. Many people said that Johnson could be found being loud and obnoxious and had a terrible temper that he often showcased in front of public. I don't think i would want my president represented that way.
Andrew Johnson will go dwon in history as one the worst presidents ever and that is clearly why he aws impeached

In U.S history Mrs. Garber has taught us a lot of interesting things that i never knew. One topic that i especially enjoyed was our discussion on the apartheid in south Africa. Most people don't know what an apartheid is. An apartheid is a system of racial segregation. If you can believe it the apartheid lasted an unbelievable 42 years. The conditions under which those who lived during the apartheid were unbearable.

The apartheid was run by national party government that sought to control south africa. After the election of 1948, many new restrictions were put into place. There were many signs that prohibited black Africans from usin things such as public restrooms and benches and so forth. Interracial contact was also prohibited to the point where sexual relations with another race was a criminal offense. Black south Africans were also required to carry identity documents to prevent their migration into "white" south Africa.
Not all black south Africans just rolled over and accepted the apartheids. A political group called the African national congress often opposed the apartheid. First the A.N.C had violent protests that didn't really help their cause at all. The white south Africans merely used their overwhelming force to beat and brutalize the protesters, often killing them. The A.N.C were considered terrorists and arrested on sight if spotted. Then after the sharpsville massacre the A.N.C decided to use non violent protests to make there point. This approach got them much farther in their efforts against the apartheids. The leader of the A.N.C, Nelson Mandela was imprisoned and wasn't released for 27 years.
In 1990 negotiations to end the apartheid started. The A.NC. was at the forefront of the negotiations fighting for black south African rights. The negotiations continued for 3 long years with other organizations joining the mix, striving to make the negotiations fair for all parties involved. A interim constitution was eventually ratified, marking the start of a new south African government. As time went on the A.NC. got stronger and eventually had a member of their party elected president of south Africa. That member was Nelson Mandela. His term in office started to help south Africa forget about the apartheid.
I could never relate to anyone that lived in the south African apartheid. I have never gone through anything as hard and depressing as that. Losing your rights is not something many people today could survive, but these people did it for 40 plus years. It really puts life in perspective for you to read about black south African's trials during this devastating period of time.