The Union Shattered

     In the year 1850, the slave states, states with slaves, were rebelling against the free states, states without slaves. Meanwhile, the free states were building up an industry.

     The industrial North now had possession of two-thirds of the country's railroads. In addition to that, the North was also building lots of mills. These mills were used for many things, but the biggest one was spinning cotton to make clothing.

     In 1858, Abraham Lincoln began debating Democratic Illinois senator Stephen A. Douglas. The debates were about the decision if slavery should be banned from moving on, or if it should be decided by the residents on the state. Douglas won in a re-election, although Abraham Lincoln had appealed to lots of voters across the country.

     On April 11, 1861, the South, or the Confederacy, attacked Fort Sumter, a Federally controlled fort in North Carolina. After 34 hours, the exhausted Union surrendered. The Confederacy now had control of Fort Sumter. War had been declared.

     2 years later, on July 1, 1863, some Confederate troops ran into some Union troops. The two fought for two days. Two days later the Confederates surrendered. The Union had won the battle. Or had they? The day that they surrendered, Robert E. Lee felt one more attack would give the Confederacy the victory they needed. With General George Pickett in charge, the walked right into Union fire. A few men made it to the top, but Union reinforcements arrived. The South had been defeated.

     In 1876, the Civil War was over. The South had been defeated. The North continued building up their industry. The South was in bad shape.

The Civil War

     In around 1850, the Southern states were rebelling against the Union. In addition, slaves were beginning to get rights in the North.

     In Ford's Theater, in the year 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was attending a play. Suddenly, a shot was fired and the president had been shot! He had been shot by a man named John Wilkes Booth. Booth was eventually caught and hanged for his actions.

     In Appomattox, North Carolina, on April 26, 1865, the Confederacy surrendered to General Roger Sherman. Ulysses S. Grant made the terms of surrendering very generous. He even let them return home with their personal belongings without being tried!

 In the end,(around 1876) the Civil War was over and General Robert E. Lee had surrendered, letting the Union win. Slaves had some rights but not all of the rights whites had.

The New World

In the beginning, the Europeans were looking for new trade routes to Asia, and the American Indians had the New World all to themselves. Then, it all changed.

When Leif Erikkson first stepped foot onto Newfoundland with his Viking buddies, he saw grape vines, which is why he named it Vinland. They set up some colonies, but eventually went back home. The land was untouched for nearly 500 years. Then, Christopher Columbus came along and claimed the land for Spain. Of all the colonies that failed, the most mysterious one was Roanoke Island. In 1585, the leaders of the colony, Roanoke Island left the island, the said that if they got in trouble, to leave a cross on a tree. When they came back the colony was abandoned. But, there was a cross on a tree with the word "CROATOAN" under it. No one knew what it meant.

After, the Indian's space had been invaded, proof that the Europeans were kind of selfish.

The Gold Rush

    In around 1800, America was buying up land. In addition to buying, they were trying to drive the English out.

   As they were buying up land, they sent out Lewis and Clark, two explorers. They were headed west to the Pacific to look for land. When they left, they found an Indian named Pocahontas. Pocahontas helped them survive.

   In 1849, a man was working at a friend's sawmill in California when he found rocks. Eventually, he found out that these rocks were GOLD. When word got out, thousands of miners poured into San Francisco, hoping to strike it rich. Eventually everyone gave up and left.

   In around 1850, America had successfully expanded, and the Redcoats were being driven out. Long story short, America was in much better state than the beginning.

A New Country

   In around 1700, the Patriots, or the Americans, were rebelling against the Redcoats, or the English. It looked like either side could win.

    On December 16, 1773, a group of Patriots went into the harbor on a boat and threw boxes of teabags overboard into the harbor. This was called "The Boston Tea Party". Three years later, on July 4th, 1776, the Congress approved the Declaration of Independence, making the colonies a free nation from England. After five more years, the Redcoats fought their final battle. In Yorktown, Virginia, on September 19, 1781, the Patriots won the final battle of the American Revolution. Less than one month later, on October 19, 1781, the Redcoats surrendered.

    In about 1800, the Colonies were free, making themselves their own country.The Redcoats returned to England and left the Colonies alone.

Don't Look Down Chapter 2

After the avalanche stopped, Sebastian went charging down the mountain. He looked and looked for David. He didn't find him. As he was about to give up, he found David. He was clinging to a small rock, terrified. After Sebastian spent what felt like a countless amount of energy, he finally coaxed David to his feet. They continued their hike, and not long after they began again, they met two other hikers."Would you like to climb with us?" one said. Sebastian wasn't sure about this invitation, but accepted."I am Tezing, and he is Edmund. We are going to be the first people to reach the summit." said Tezing. Suddenly, they all stopped and agreed that they were extremely hungry. Sebastian pulled out a can of beans."Everyone, look at that." he said.

The sunrise was the the most beautiful and unique thing you could use your imagination to dream up.










Above: Tezing Norgay and Edmund Hillary

Don't Look Down

It was 2:00 AM, and David and Sebastian were in the middle of Nepal's snow-capped mountain range, and were extremely nervous. "Whatever you do, don't look down," said Sebastian. Then they began their epic journey.

Chapter 1

Sebastian was the first one to start climbing. He was energized and excited to climb Mount Everest. He knew many dangers would come along the way. David made a face of uncertainty. He was afraid to climb to the monstrous summit of  the world's tallest mountain.

Sebastian stopped at a small ledge."Over here!," Sebastian was screaming over the howling winds."We'll camp here until the storm passes."

The screaming wind battered their tent. David was nervous that it would be blown away, with them in it. After a very long wait, the storm finally passed. The tent was completely covered by snow. They struggled their way through the heavy snow.

As they popped there heads through the snow, Sebastian ducked his under the snow again."Shh!" he said."Look."

David looked; they were surrounded by snow leopards."Okay," Sebastian said, pulling out a hunting rifle. David looked surprised."That's illegal! You'll be arrested!" said David.

"Look, it's life or death, so who's side are you on?" said Sebastian.

Suddenly, he jumped out.  There was gunfire. Sebastian bent down and said,"It's safe now, David. You can come out now."

As they trekked across the surprisingly quiet landscape, they saw amazing things no one else would have seen anywhere else, such as 15 Himalayan Tahrs and a red panda. A Himalayan wolf was eating a small mammal they couldn't quite make out.

After the long hike, David suggested that they take a stop for breakfast. As they stopped to eat by a large cave, there was a large grumbling noise."Don't worry, it's just my empty stomach." said David. A large amount of snow fell on them."Avalanche!" screamed Sebastian. He began running down the mountain. He clung to a large rock for dear life. Suddenly, a another hiker flew down the mountain in the gigantic wave of snow. But this was no ordinary hiker. It was David.