Animal Lover's Blog

Hii everyone,

I’m back and have some new things to share.

So, over the past month or so, my Social Studies class and I have been working on different topics about black enslavement. In my blog post, you can read an essay about the Underground Railroad and a fictional diary entry written from the point of view of a slave.

Essay:

When you hear “The Underground Railroad,” you might think of a train underground—but that’s not true. The Underground Railroad, or UR, was a secret network that helped enslaved people escape to freedom. Before it existed, slavery was present in Canada from 1671 to 1831. Many who escaped had different but similar stories, all driven by hope for a better life. The UR helped thousands find freedom and build new lives.

The Underground Railroad was not actually “Underground” or a “Railroad”. The reason why it was called “Underground” was because it needed to be secretive, and the reason was because it was an emerging form of transportation. The way that the UR would work is by being an organization that offered local service to runaway slaves by helping them get from point to point until they got out of slavery. Some of the various spots include Mark’s House, Cobblestone Farm, Seward House, and Simeon Dewitt Ferry. There were about 272 stations. Harriet Tubman is the most well-known conductor (conductors were people who guided the slaves into freedom) in the UR.

Many stories can be told from a person who got out of slavery. Most of them are pretty similar; for example, in most stories, the slave tries to escape and either reaches freedom or is caught. But Frederick Douglass has a remarkable story of escape from slavery. Born to a Black mother and white father, Frederick was not allowed an education but taught himself to read and write. At 12, he bought the book “The Columbian Orator,” which greatly influenced him. At 15, he attempted to escape with some of the other slaves but failed. His owner got very frustrated and sent him off to Baltimore. There he would meet Anna Murray, a free Black woman who helped him, he disguised himself as a sailor and boarded a northbound train on September 3, 1838. With money from Anna, he travelled to New York City, where he declared his freedom. This marked the beginning of his journey as an advocate for abolition and civil rights.

Overall, the Underground Railroad had a big impact on Canada by helping about 100,000 slaves get out of slavery before it was abolished in 1865. Many of the slave settlers chose to live in communities with a black majority, like the Elgin Settlement and Africville. While others chose to live in mixed towns/cities. Black settlers worked hard to build new lives. They cleared land, built homes, and started churches, schools, and newspapers. Many had businesses like blacksmiths, grocery stores, and even Toronto’s first taxi company. The UR didn’t just give Black people a chance to live a slavery-free life, it helped to create strong Black communities that later in Canadian history played a big role.

As a result of the UR, enslaved people got a chance to build a new life in a new community without slavery. Stories like Frederick Douglass’s show the bravery and determination of those who fought for their freedom. The impact of the UR didn’t just end with abolition, it ended with helping to create strong Black communities in Canada that continue to influence the country today. The legacy of the Underground Railroad is a reminder of the power of hope, courage, and the fight for justice.

The Underground Railroad, not just a path to freedom but a movement that changed lives and shaped history for today. And as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “I think we must get rid of slavery or we must get rid of freedom.” To me this quote means that slavery and freedom can not coexist meaning that a society can’t have both slavery and true freedom. If slavery exists, real freedom doesn’t. To have true freedom, slavery must be abolished.

Dairy Entry:

Dear Dairy,

This morning I got woken up by the sound of chickens screeching. I thought I was dreaming but I remembered that I was in the barn, to be honest, I didn’t mind because at least I didn’t get woken up by one of the masters and got to sleep on a pile of hay instead of on the cold floor in the addict that was old and dusty.

The reason why I was sleeping in the barn was that last month the masters said I did well because I finished all my tasks early. This weekend the masters are on a business trip at least that’s what I overheard while cleaning the floors. Even though they are away I still need to work on my tasks.

After getting up I fed the chickens, and then the cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs. Before I went to the stables I walked to the shed to pick up the grain. As I walked toward the stables I could hear the noise of horses neighing. When I walked in I saw 4 horses looking at me. As soon as they saw me they immediately stopped.

In the stalls, there are 6 stalls but today only 4 horses because the masters took the carriage horses. As usual, I walked up to the first stall. In this stall was personally my favourite horse his name is “Champ” or at least that’s what the masters call him. Champ is a tall black horse with a long tail and mane. He was gentle and calm even though he was a little less than double my height. Champ was very smart. He knew that when I opened the door he needed to back up or move away to give me space to give him food.

After I gave Champ his food I walked to the next stall. In this stall was a young medium-sized horse with a white coat and unlike Champ had a short tail and mane. He is pretty new to the stables so he doesn’t back up like Champ who I have known for a long time. I’m not sure exactly what his name is but just call him “Buddy”. Every time I come to feed him he always tries to take the feed before I can even put it into his bucket. I find him funny and a little bit dumb but it’s just because he is young.

When I was done feeding Champ and Buddy I opened the door to Dolly’s stall. Dolly had a shiny black coat and a long tail and mane just like Champ but if he was a girl. I’m not sure if Champ and Dolly are the same height because I have never seen them up close standing beside each other. Champ and Dolly are the master and his wife’s main riding horses. Dolly is a sweet horse like Champ. She knows to move back but unlike Champ, she will peek her head over my shoulder to see what I’m doing even though she sees me do this every day.

The stall beside Dolly’s is Angus’s. Angus is the oldest horse here. I’m not sure how old she is but for as long as I can remember she has been here. The masters got her when she was just a baby so I have known her for most of my life. She is about the same height as Buddy but she has a reddish brown coat with a little bit of gray because she is getting old. She isn’t so old that she can’t move but when I open the door to her stall I don’t worry about her walking out because she just stands there until I leave so she can eat.

After I was done feeding the horses I walked to the house to grab my food for the day. The walk from the barn to the house wasn’t very long but it also wasn’t short. The masters have an apple orchard that is beside the path from the barn to the house so typically I like to walk through the orchard instead of the path. When I finally made my way to the house I grabbed the food left for me on the table and went outside to eat since it was a nice day.

I was almost done eating when I realized that the masters told me that i needed to clean the barn and stables while they where gone and i had only fed the animal. I’m so happy that the masters are not home because if they were then I would get severe punishment like a beating or less food. So I finished my food fast and went as fast as I could back to the stables.

When I got to the stables all of the horses were done eating. I immediately grabbed a halter and one by one took all the horses outside. When I finished getting them all outside I grabbed the pitchfork and started scooping poop into the wheelbarrow. After what felt like forever I was finally done scooping poop but I had to take the wheelbarrow to the poop pile that was far away from the barn.

As the day was quickly ending I hadn’t been done cleaning the stables. Because I didn’t want to have to finish in the dark I ran as fast as I could but since I am super skinny and weak it was really hard to push the wheelbarrow so I ended up falling many times. When I finally reached the pile I was accosted but I needed to finish doing this fast so I duped the wheelbarrow and headed back. The way back was so much faster since I didn’t need to push the full wheelbarrow.

As soon as I got back to the stables I quickly put away the wheelbarrow grabbed a bucket with soap and water and grabbed a sponge. Then one by one I scrubbed each stall. After scrubbing the stalls I added shavings and some new water. When I stepped outside to get the horses the sun was already setting so I needed to be quick if I wanted to still be able to see. After a quick saying good night, I rushed to the barn since it was practically night.

Tomorrow I shall clean the barn but now I’m going to rest up for a long day of work tomorrow.

I think Black enslavement in Canada is often overlooked because it was not as widespread as in the USA, and Indigenous history gets more focus. This project changed my understanding of Canadian history a bit, especially about the Underground Railroad. Overall, the Underground Railroad was more important in American history.Overall I personally really enjoyed this project and I got to learn more about black enslavement though I wasn’t personally surprised at all because before I did this project, I learnt about the Underground Railroads. Another reason why I was not surprised is because, before the project, I learnt a lot about black history month, so nothing surprised me. I think that Black enslavement in Canada is often overlooked in history lessons because Black enslavement was not as big in Canada as it was in the USA. Also, I think that it is overlooked because the Indergunuis people played a bigger role in the history of Canada than black enslavement. Learning about Black enslavement slightly impacted my understanding of Canadian history because, before this, I didn’t know a lot about the Underground Railroad in Canada. After all, the UR played a bigger role in American history.

Thank you for reading and byee

AnimalLover

Bibliography

Works Cited

https://pier21.ca/research/immigration-history/immigration-from-united-states-on-underground-railroad#:~:text=Regardless%20of%20where%20they%20settled,shoe%20makers%2C%20and%20 wagon%20 makers.

http://www.harriet-tubman.org/interesting-facts-about-the-underground-railroad/.

https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/ugrr/exugrr2.htm#:~:text=Where%20it%20%20existed%2C%20the%20%20underground,final%20%20destination%20had%20been%20%20reached.

https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/what-we-do#:~:text=London%20 Underground%2C%20better%20 known%20as,trains%20 whizzing%20around%20the%20 capital.

https://voicesontheurr.cornell.edu/.

https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/underground-railroad.

https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/education/why-racism-problem#:~:text=These%20 impacts%20can%20 reduce%20 people,to%20 jobs%2C%20services%20and%20education.

“The story of Black slavery in Canadian history.” Canadian Human Rights Museum, The story of Black slavery in Canadian history.

If you ask me to look back at Innovation Day, I was excited about starting the project but by the end, I was just excited to know that it was coming to an end. The reason why I wanted it to come to an end was that Innovation Day is a mix of a lot of emotions because it is stressful but at the same time exciting. 

Although I was excited for it to come to an end I got to learn a lot about myself for example I learnt that I work better when I have a schedule. What I mean is that I found that I work better if I do things in order. For example, if I work a little bit on the Cospace then work a little bit on the physical build and then a little bit on the Canva I get messed up and lost. But if I focus only on the Cospace until it is finished or finished enough that it only needs some touch-ups and then work on the physical build and then the Canva I don’t get lost or confused.

Another thing I learnt about myself is that I like to do public speaking. Before I presented my project to the judges I was nervous but while I did my first presentation I realized how much I enjoyed it. When the last judge left I was kind of sad because I wanted to present my project to another judge because of how fun it was.

Although I learnt a lot about myself I also learned about how good I am at coding. I don’t mean to sound full of myself but I didn’t realize that I could code so well. The way I found out about this was because one day I was at home and my mom asked me if I wanted to go work on my Cospace to be honest I didn’t want to but I did cause I had nothing better to do. When I got into the Cospace I noticed that there was just something missing I didn’t know what but I just started coding away and accidentally recorded the whole thing! And it turned out better than I thought it would and the judges loved it.

At the end of the day Innovation Day taught me a lot from just simple things like time management to public speaking and coding. Although I was excited for it to come to an end but just to remember everything always has a purpose.

Cospace:

ME and my friend with our project:

Byee

Animal Lover

Heyy you guys I’m back!

If you remember I shared with you guys my SMART Goals but did I achieve them?

Ok to get started with improving in math. I have improved in math but have not improved to the level I wanted. I am still working on improving in math. I still have time until February break for improvement but I don’t think I will reach my goal then.

Moving on to my second goal A.K.A my learning skill goal I have not fully achieved this goal but I am on a good track. First, my organization goal has gotten significantly better because I don’t have a part under my desk but a little bag on the side so it forces me to stay organized or I can’t find what I need.

Second this year I have gotten much better at time management. For example, I have been less late to school. This is because I have an alarm that wakes me up early in the morning so I have time to get ready.

Thank you for reading/listening and have a great day.

Byee

AnimalLover

Hi everyone!

Today I wanted to share my SMART Goal.

I want to improve or advance in math. I will know that I am achieving this goal by getting an average of 90-100 on tests, quizzes, and assignments. Ms. Cleveland will give me extra help and work outside of class. This goal is important to me because math is essential and can help me get into good schools and jobs. Hopefully, I will finish this goal before February break.

My learning skill goal is better time management and organization. I will know that I am achieving this goal by having an organized room and not being late to school. My parents will support me with this goal. This goal is important because having good time management and organization is a good skill to have. This goal, hopefully, will be finished before the end of the school year.

Bye!

AnimalLover

Hi or hello everyone today I wanted to show you a project I spent a long time on.

What is the project?

For this project, our teacher told us to research an Indigenous group. Our group researched and analyzed the Haida nation’s culture, traditions, language, conflict, and history.

Why is learning more about various Indigenous communities important? 

I think learning about various Indigenous communities is important because we need to learn more about them and their history. After all, the Europies stole the land of Canda from the Indigenous communities.

 

What makes my Indigenous community unique/diverse?

What makes Haidas unique/diverse is that the Haidas group is split into 2 groups. The names of the 2 groups are Raven and Eagle. In the Eagle and Raven group, each household lives 30 to 40, and a chief oversees each house. Every chief owns a nice, large home that hundreds of people can live in. Those houses are also homes to slaves. Some chiefs could also be used as war chiefs if something bad happens, or there is a conflict.

 

10 new facts I learned about my Indigenous community 

1. Instead of Haida children going to school children watch their parents dance but parents don’t just dance they teach stories when they dance and sing.
2. The Haidas group had a celebration called Potlatch. The Potlatch is a big celebration that means to give. The Potlatch is not like a normal party, at the Potlatch the host gives the guest gifts instead of the guests giving the host gifts.
3. The Haida group lived on Haida Gwaii for at least 6000 to 8000 years.
4. The Haida made regular trade with the Spanish, British, Russian, and American whalers and fur traders.
5. The most significant story in the Haidas culture is about a Raven but the story is not just about a Raven it is about how the Raven disguised himself to enter the house of the Sky Chief, from whom he stole the sun, moon, and stars to give to humankind.” (Mythology and Crests).
6. The Haida live in shelters built on the water. With that water, they use it to drink and eat the fish that live in the water. In the summer they build houses out of cedar trees. The Haida also used cedar trees for canoes and boats to travel to different islands.
7. In the Haida group, the women took care of the easier jobs, and the men took the harder jobs. The women made food, baskets, clothing, and more. The men made carvings and painted them. Then, both women and men collected shellfish and hunted birds.
8. The Haida community speaks English and a native language called Xaad kil. In the year 2016, 445 people spoke Xaad kil in the world and only a bit spoke fluently.
9. The Haida tribe mainly lives on the coastal bay of Haida Gwaii in British Columbia. Haida Gwaii is a group of islands containing about 150 islands in a sword-like shape that is 250 km long. Haida Gwaii is one of the most isolated islands in Canada. It was formed by huge plates moving under the Pacific Ocean from the south to their present location.
10. All the native mammals and the 3 types of birds are especially unique. Unfortunately, raccoons and squirrels are becoming a threat to many of the unique seabirds that live there.

 

What else would I like to learn about Indigenous communities?

Something else I would like to learn more about in Indigenous communities is the stories they teach their kids because I find the stories very interesting in my opinion.

The Haidas

 

Thank you for reading have a good day or good night and see you next time.

Bye!

Je suis fière de mon travail sur les drapeaux des pays francophones.

J’aime le projet Starbucks.

Je n’ai pas aimé delf.

Hi or hello,

Welcome back or welcome to Animal Lover’s blog! Today I wanted to start with sharing with you about my innovation day experience. By the way if I talk about my partner I am not speaking for them I am just talking about the experience I had with them.

My innovation day experience was very fun but to be honest also really stressful at the same time. During innovation day my and my partner were fasted with multiple problems involving the lights. We didn’t know what happened because the first time a light was being finicky, me and my partner found the problem but for the second and third time we could not find the problem. Only after what felt like forever we fixed it we still are not sure what happened. Even though it was hard I pushed through it and had a good time. Me and my partner did not win but that did not ruin our spirits. 

This is a picture of our build:

The name of our build is “Galactic Plinko”

Bye and have a good day or night

Bye!

Pour la fête de Pourim, je me suis habillée comme Eeyore parce que mes amies et moi voulons avoir des costumes en groupe.

 

C’est moi!

 

Le costume que j’ai vu ce matin que j’aime le plus est celle de Tal. C’est mon préférée car c’est Winne the Pooh!

Hi everyone,

Sorry I haven’t posted in a little while but I want to tell you guys about my first Social Studies semester. So here we go.

This term in Social Studies we learned about Canadian identity. We explored diversity among the provinces, national symbols, and international organizations that Canada plays a role in. 

What makes Canada diverse?

The diverse country, Canada, is full of all different kinds of culture and people. The Canadian country’s national languages are English and French. The lovely thing about all the different cultures is that you get to see their holidays or taste the food of the culture. Diversity can affect a community by adding. For example when Chinese people came to Canada they didn’t just come they burned their culture so now we have Chinese restaurants  but not just the people it’s also the provinces and territories.

 For example Ontario cities are more modern and squished but the cities in Nunavut are not as modern and this is more space. Another example is BC colder, relatively dry winters and hot, dry summers but in Manatoba moderately dry climate with sharp seasonal temperature changes. Winter’s temperatures are about −40 °F (−40 °C). 

In Alberta the more common job is farming but in PEI fishing is a more common job. Nunavut is in the North but Saskatchewan is in the South. BC is in the west but Quebec is in the East. The major cities in Canada are Ottawa the capital city, Toronto the biggest city in Canada and more.

 

What was my national symbol?

Canadian Horses by yulie.smolensky

 

What is a international organizations that Canada have a role in?

Red Cross brochure. by yulie.smolensky

And that is my first Social Studies semester. Good bye and have a good day or good night.

 

The diverse country, Canada, is full of all different kinds of culture and people. The Canadian country’s national languages are English and French. The lovely thing about all the different cultures is that you get to see their holidays or taste the food of the culture. Diversity can affect a community by adding. For example when Chinese people came to Canada they didn’t just come they burned their culture so now we have Chinese restaurants  but not just the people it’s also the provinces and territories.

 For example Ontario cities are more modern and squished but the cities in Nunavut are not as modern and this is more space. Another example is BC colder, relatively dry winters and hot, dry summers but in Manatoba moderately dry climate with sharp seasonal temperature changes. Winter’s temperatures are about −40 °F (−40 °C). 

In Alberta the more common job is farming but in PEI fishing is a more common job. Nunavut is in the North but Saskatchewan is in the South. BC is in the west but Quebec is in the East. The major cities in Canada are Ottawa the capital city, Toronto the biggest city in Canada and more.

 

The End