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Once upon a time there was a Robot named Ronald 

who lived on Pluto. Ronald came from a wealthy 

Robot family, but other Pluto inhabitants were not as 

lucky. Thousands of alien-like creatures called 

Zerberts were kept in captivity against their will. The 

Robots forced the Zerberts to do harsh work such as 

work the titanium factories that Pluto is famous for. 

Ronald did not agree with the treatment of the 

Zerberts but accepted it as a part of life. 

Ronald spent most of his free time by looking 

through his telescope. Ronald was most 

interested in the green and blue planet that 

people called earth. As Ronald looked at the 

planet earth, he saw cannon smoke appear and 

wanted to investigate what was happening. 

When everyone was in bed, Ronald took the 

keys to the Mercedes 3.0 and took off for earth. 

Ronald arrived in the year 1861.

Ronald landed in a place called Charleston in the 

month of April, and realized he had just missed a 

major battle. After investigating Ronald found that 

there was a war going on between the North and 

South of the U.S.A.   It was called The Civil War and 

the first battle, the battle of Fort Sumter resulted in 

Major Anderson surrendering to the confederate, or 

southern, army. Ronald could see leftover weapons 

such as the Gatling gun and even hot air balloons. 

After hearing about Fort Sumter, Ronald wanted to know 

more about the Civil War. He then decided to use Pluto’s 

technology to fast forward in time. He stopped and found 

himself in the middle of a battle in July, called the First Battle 

of Bull Run. The Confederate General Jackson received the 

nickname “Stonewall” Jackson because the confederacy 

could not be moved in this battle. Ronald was happy for the 

confederacy until he realized that they believed African 

Americans should be slaves. He was told the Civil War 

began because the north believed having slaves was wrong 

and the south did not. 

Another battle that Ronald was fortunate to witness 

was the Second Battle at Bull Run. During the battle, 

Ronald discovered that the Union wanted to seize a 

railroad in Virginia but the Confederate states split 

into two groups to defeat the Union’s efforts. The 

Confederacy crushed the Union army and the Union 

lost 15,000 men. Ronald was taken aback by the 

number of soldiers wounded and killed. He couldn’t 

believe that a country could go to war with itself. 

This made him scared for his own planet. 

“Who is in charge of this United States,” Ronald 

asked a townsman. The man replied, “Abraham 

Lincoln was the president before the country split in 

half, he doesn’t believe in the spread of slavery.” 

After the Battle of Antietam, in September 1862, 

Lincoln began writing a document which would free 

the slaves called the Emancipation Proclamation. 

Ronald even sneaked into Lincoln’s office to help 

write the proclamation. Lincoln greatly appreciated 

his input and Ronald began to think about ideas to 

introduce to his home in Pluto. 

One day Ronald was wandering around Virginia and 

came across a general of the Union army named 

George McClellan. He had a chat with McClellan and 

found out that he was supposed to seize the 

confederate capital, but he couldn’t, so Lincoln fired 

him from general in chief of the Union army. Ronald 

could tell he was sad, so he bought Mr. McClellan 

ice-cream. After their sweet dessert, Ronald left to 

see the rest of the war.  

It was now 1863 and Ronald was on his way to 

Chancellorsville, he walked up to man with a gun pointed 

towards him, “What are you doing,” Ronald Screamed. “I’m 

sorry son,” the man replied, “My name is Joseph Hooker. 

I’m a Union general and we’re in the middle of battle! Come 

fight for the north!”   While fighting, the Union began to run 

out of supplies.   Ronald became frightened when 

Confederate Generals Lee and Jackson began to attack the 

Union. Ronald and Hooker made it out alive though. It was 

here that Ronald began to debate with himself whether to 

report what was going on to his land or not. He did not want 

the ones he loved to go to war over the Zerberts. Instead of 

making a quick decision, he decided to stay until the end of 

the war. 

Being a non-supporter of slavery, Ronald decided to 

make a journey north since most of his time had been 

in the south.   He walked down a dirt road until he 

came to a house. A lady came running out with a gun 

shouting. After a few minutes of talking, the woman 

invited him in. Ronald entered the home of Juliet 

Harper; she was the wife of union soldier and mother 

of two girls. They sat around the dinner table and Juliet 

started explaining how the war affected them. 

Juliet told Ronald about the Moral tariff act that 

supported the north by raising rates to protect and 

encourage industry and industry workers because the 

south had tried to use their Cotton Diplomacy to make 

money. She continued to tell about the Homestead 

Act that was passed in 1862 and was signed by 

President Lincoln. There were three parts of this act 

that made land available to people 21 and older who 

promised to live on the land for five years and prove 

they made improvements. 

Juliet talked to Ronald all night. She told him about 

the Morrill Land-Grant Act that called for the United 

States to allow the creation of land-granted colleges 

and how she liked it because she wanted what was 

best for her girls. Juliet also explained the Pacific 

Railway Act of 1862 that promoted the construction 

of the transcontinental railroad in the United States 

through the use of government bonds and the 

grants of land to railroad of companies. This didn’t 

sit well with Ronald because he had a bad 

experience with the railroad during the Second 

Battle at Bull Run. 

Ronald fell asleep to Juliet’s voice. It felt like only 

a few minutes when he heard a loud beating on 

the door. Juliet ran to answer the door. It was her 

brother, Jimmy, who had been wounded in the 

war. “Don’t worry Juliet, I’ll be just fine. A nice 

nurse named Clara Barton took good care of me. 

She is the woman in charge of the Red Cross, 

which helps injured soldiers and sick people,” 

Jimmy told her. 

Jimmy had fought in many battles throughout the war. 

He told Ronald about the Battle of Fort Henry where 

Ulysses S. Grant gained a major victory for the Union 

and the Battle of Fort Donelson where he helped to 

open the Cumberland River so the north could invade 

the south eventually. “This is where I hurt my arm and 

while I was being treated, the Union went to attack New 

Orleans. They surrendered without a fight.” Ronald 

could tell Jimmy was happy to be home. The only 

reason he joined the army was because he couldn’t pay 

the fine to the Confiscation Acts and had to serve.

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