Modern Marvels - Money

'Money can't buy happiness' and 'The lull of money is the route of all evil' are just two popular sayings about money. For most of us, money consumes our lives - spending, saving and earning it. There are two agencies that work around the clock to manufacture money. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing prints our paper currency and the U.S. Mint, which is the largest mint in the world, manufactures coins. There are mints located across the Unites States in Denver, San Fransisco, West Point and more. Downtown Philadelphia has one of the oldest mints. Mints manufacture over 11 billion coins a year and 30 million coins each day. Today, the coin design is computerized. A model is sculpted in clay to get the fine details. Then a rubber mold is made to create a hard epoxy model. Machines trace the image into steel and a dye then reverses the image with recessed features. This results in a master dye. Metal strips in coils are then fed into a machine that punches out round discs called blanks. The machine makes about 1500 blanks per coil. They use heat to treat the metal blanks and soften them. The coins are then washed and dried and the blanks are then formed into the shape of the coin. There are two dyes in each machine, one for the head of the coin and one for the tail. Each machine turns out 750 coins per minute. Inspectors sample coin to check the quality before they are all counted and bagged. Two thousand pound bags are then sent to the Federal Reserve (also known as the Fed).

In 1789, there was no unified system for money in our country. Each colony had its own currency. Thomas Jefferson recommended a decimal coin system and that we create a Mint to manufacture the coins. His rival Hamilton, believed in bank notes. In 1793 production of the first Mint was started. Paul Revere's manufacturing company was used for some of the first copper coins. Back then, all coins were made by hand. It took three years to make the first million coins in the United States. Congress was not happy about the slow pace. Also, the Gold Rush complicated the countries currency problems. The rich in Georgia and the Carolinas had wealth from gold dust, but there was no simple way to turn it into coins. A gentleman named Templeton Reed actually built his own Mint and he bought the gold dust. He was the first of forty private individuals to make money from coins. The government then opened up more Mints around the country as gold rushes occurred. As coins got stronger, the paper currency was getting weaker. At that time, there were 1600 different banks using 7000 varieties of bills. There was no central point to issue the currency. It was a simple process and it was all done by hand. The ink was put into a metal dye and it filled the recessed dots of the image. They would rub it lightly rub to take away the excess ink and then buff it. Finally, a press would print the bank note. Some of these steps are still used today. Now, the paper for bank money is made from discarded scraps of denim. It is sold by the ton. This material makes stronger paper that stays crisp. The cotton denim material cooks for two hours in a vat with chemicals to break down the smaller fibers. It is then bleached and stacked in sheets. It is given a watermark along with red and blue security threads for security reasons. The dyes then put a 3-dimensional image on the paper. It takes many small steps until the bank notes are finished and ready for printing. Some of the steps today are kept private to prevent counterfeiting of the money, so these steps were not shown in this program. The thread and the watermark on the bank note paper is what makes it different from other paper. Abraham Lincoln's image is on every note and in a low light, you can see his image. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing then finishes the process.

The Fed creates money and has 12 districts nationwide that monitor the money supply around the country. Today, notes require craftsmanship and cutting edge technology. Each day, 35,000,000 pieces of currency are produced at a value of $635,000,000.00 Skilled engravers are used to work against the sophisticated counterfeiters. Counterfeit $100.00 bills called 'super notes' were at one time the highest level of counterfeit bills. The Feds found out North Korea had a big operation that was producing these 'super notes'. It was difficult to shut down the operation because their government was involved.

With the invention of the ATM machine and everyone using credit cards and debit cards, transactions with paper can be a burden, but the it is believed that our money expresses our national identity and values - 'In God We Trust' and' Liberty and Freedom'.

The Lincoln Assasination

Abraham Lincoln was the first president to be murdered. Lincoln was a self taught lawyer, born in Kentucky. Abraham Lincoln once said, "A house divided against itself cannot stand." In 1860 Abraham Lincoln was nominated to be the candidate for President of the new Republican Party. He received a lot of hate mail because of his beliefs about slavery. Lincoln had three sons. He and his wife Mary Todd Lincoln were aware of the death threats and they were very careful about his safety. The first assassination attempt was to blow up a train Lincoln was on that was headed for Washington DC for his Inauguration. When they discovered the plan, Lincoln decided to take an earlier train. During Lincoln's time in office, he was not a very popular President. Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation. The Proclamation was about freeing the slaves and allowing them to fight for their freedom. The White House was not protected with a lot of security, the way it is today, so the President was more exposed to the public. Abraham Lincoln also liked to be free and walk among the people. He did not want to live in fear, even though he knew there were many people who wanted to kill him. Abraham Lincoln liked to go to the theater with his wife. One show that Abraham Lincoln went to see at the Ford Theater was 'The Marble Heart' which featured the great, John Wilkes Booth. Abraham Lincoln specifically liked the character played by John Wilkes Booth. On the other hand, we learn that John Wilkes Booth despised President Lincoln. He actually stopped acting to become a Confederate spy. He believed in slavery and disagreed with Lincoln's politics. John Wilkes Booth had a plan to kidnap Abraham Lincoln and would release him in exchange for Confederate prisoners of war (POWs). John Wilkes Booth started an Abraham Lincoln assassination conspiracy group. At the time, John Wilkes Booth used a boarding house owned by Mary Serrat, a supporter of the Confederacy, to hold his anti-Lincoln meetings. There was a disagreement among the conspiracy participants about the plans to kidnap Lincoln. The plan fell apart.

In April of 1965, the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia fell and Robert E. Lee surrendered, ending the Civil War. Lincoln gave a speech from the balcony of the White House about how blacks should have the right to vote. Those closest to Lincoln were not happy about his choice of location to give the speech because he again, was not protected and too exposed to the public. Soon after, Lincoln goes to the Fords Theater to see a show. Upon hearing that Lincoln is at the theater, John Wilkes Booth and the conspirators decide to not kidnap Lincoln, but to murder him instead. They also plan to murder, the Vice President, Andrew Johnson and the Secretary of State, William Senard. The murders are planned to take place at the same time so as not to draw attention and giving them easier access to the officials. The believed if they killed all three men, the political power would be weakened in the Union and the Confederacy could perhaps rise again. During the plays funniest moment, John Wilkes Booth opens the door to Lincoln's Presidential box and shoots Lincoln. John Wilkes Booth jumps down from the box and lands on the stage before running away. Lincoln is carried from the theatre across the street where he is unconscious for the next 24 hours before dying. Lincoln was 56 years old. The other two officials survived their attempted assassinations, one assassin chickened out and the other tried stabbing the official but he was too skinny and he kept missing! Lincoln's body was placed on a funeral train. David Harold and John Wilkes Booth, two of the assassins were on the run headed for Virginia when they were caught and shot. Orders where for them to be brought back alive, but one soldier decided to fire his rifle. John Wilkes Booth was 26 years old when he died. He was killed on April 26, 1865

Bud, Not Buddy

PLOT SUMMARY: I read the book Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis. This book is about a boy named Bud Caldwell. Bud's mother died when he was very young, so now Bud lives in an orphanage. Bud has never met his father and he would love to meet him. His mother had given him a flier and he thought the fiddler on the flier was his father, but he did not know that for sure. One morning at the orphanage Bud gets sent away from his orphanage to a real family named the Amos'. Bud is afraid that the 12 year old son named Todd Amos will be mean to him, and he is right. One day Todd even sticks a pencil up Bud's nose. Bud tries to fight back as the parents come into his room and but Todd makes it look like he did not do anything wrong, so Bud gets into trouble and the next night Bud is forced to sleep in the dark and scary shed. That night Bud decides to run away to try to find his father. Bud believes that his father's name is Herman E. Calloway and he lives in the Grand Rapids because that is what it says on the flier. Bud is in Flint, Michigan and that is a couple of town over. He figures it would take about 24 hours to reach the Grand Rapids on foot, so he starts walking. While Bud was on his journey, at about 2:00 AM a man saw Bud and pulled over his car. Bud hid from the man because he was afraid to be seen and then get sent back to the orphanage. The man called to Bud and instead, he took Bud back to his house where Bud stays for a few days. After 2 or 3 days with the man and his family, the man takes Bud to Grand Rapids, because he said that is where his father lives.

Bud finally meets Herman E. Calloway, the man he thinks is his father. It turns out that they are related, but Herman E. Calloway is actually an 80 year old man and he is Bud's grandfather. He is the father of Bud's mother. Herman E. Calloway is not a very pleasant man and in some way, Bud is relieved that he is not his father, although he is happy to have found a true family member. Herman E. Calloway is also a musician. He is the lead musician in a band. Bud ends up living with Herman E. Calloway and his band at Calloway Station. One of the band members gives Bud a saxophone as a gift and Bud really enjoys playing the saxophone. It becomes one of his favorite things to do. At home, Herman E. Calloway is interested in hearing about what happened to Bud's mother, his daughter, because she ran away many years ago and he never knew of her fate. Bud had to tell his grandfather that his mother had died and Herman E. Calloway was very saddened by that news.

CHARACTERS: The main character in my book is Bud. Bud is a 10 year old African American orphan. He is very nice and polite. Many of the band members were surprised at how good Bud's manners are. I think that Bud is a very brave for walking all the way to the Grand Rapids at night. I would not be comfortable doing that

YOUR THOUGHTS: I thought that this book was great. I would recommend this book to anybody, and I think that you would enjoy it as much as I did.

7 READING STRATEGIES: One of the 7 reading strategies that I used is inferring. I infered that Bud would find Herman E. Calloway. When Bud found out Herman E. Calloway was an old man I also predicted that Herman E. Calloway was Bud's grandfather

AUTHOR INFORMATION: The author of Bud, Not Buddy is Christopher Paul Curtis. Bud, Not Buddy won the Coretta Scott King Award, given each year to a black writer for an inspirational and educational contribution to literature and the Newberry Metal, the most prestigious award in children's literature.