Question 1.
Historian Annette Gordon-Reed states: “I think that you should approach the study of history with a spirit of curiosity. Be open minded about the possibility that the story is much bigger than what has been presented.”
Considering the textbook and the discussion board content, choose one topic of American History between 1492 - 1865 on which your thinking has changed to a “bigger” understanding.
Generally, all historical themes contribute to the improvement of my open-mindedness and expansion of outlook, but I would like to mark the topic of the American Revolution. Indeed, the American Revolution was a crucial part of the American history as resulted in signing the Declaration of Independence and the formation of the United States of America. However, I want to put attention to the number of preceding events that seemed to be unimportant, but had a significant impact on the beginning of the revolution.
I want to highlight how different some historical events can be perceived without enough background knowledge and by them. For instance, let’s consider the famous Boston Tea Party that took place on December 16, 1773 and marked the beginning of the American Revolution. The Boston Tea Party was a part of political protests against the Tea Act that obliged colonists to drink only English tea and to pay taxes. By 1933, England repealed almost all taxes that had been applied to colonists, but at the same time, wanted to show it still had a lot of power. A tax on tea established earlier was a way of England “to demonstrate its right to tax the colonies” (Ladenburg n. d., 43). Most colonies clamored against the tax and refused to drink English tea hurting the English East India Company. The Tea Act was a way to support the company and to make colonists pay taxes. Colonists opposed the act and closed all ports except the one in Boston as the local governor supported the act. On December 16, 1773, “as many as 5,000 people crowded into Boston’s Old South Meeting House and onto the nearby streets” (Walker 2010, 6). The group of people dressed as the Natives broke in the English ship and destroyed the cargo belonged to the East India Company. As the result, the British Parliament implemented new strict laws, the colonists reacted to them, and the British-American fueled tensions led to the beginning of the American Revolution.
The Boston Tea Party is considered to be “a meaningful symbol for the revolution” (Neville 2010, 6). However, such opinion becomes clear only on the basis of historical knowledge about the preceding events and complex relationship between the British Crown and British colonies in America. For people who are not familiar with these themes the Boston Tea Party could seem to be an act of vandalism or just a rebellion. At first thought, the significance of the party is not obvious, but historical curiosity and the desire to learn why it is a symbol of the revolution let put this question into a different perspective. The Boston Tea Party is just one among many examples of such “unimportantly” important events in history.
Bibliography
Ladenburg, Thomas. “The Tea Party and the Intolerable Acts.” Digital History. Accessed 7 May 2016. http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/teachers/lesson_plans/pdfs/unit1_10.pdf
Neville, Meredith Diane. “Balancing the Scale of Rationality: The Public Memory of the Boston Tea Party and the Transformation of Dissent.” Master’s Thesis, the University of Kansas, 2010.
Walker, Ida. The Boston Tea Party. Boston, MA: ABDO, 2010.
Question 2.
If you could choose to go back in time and be an eyewitness to an event in American History between 1492 - 1800 where would you go?
If I could choose to go back in time and be an eyewitness to an event in American History between 1492 – 1800, I would go to July 1776 to see the creation and signing of the Declaration of Independence.
The founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, but its creation started in June. John Adams, one of the Founding Fathers and the leader of the American independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, convinced the Committee of Five to give a right to create the draft of the Declaration to Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson started his work on June 11, 1776, and completed it for 17 days, on June 28. In is important to note that the term “The Declaration of Independence” is not mentioned in the document as it got its title after Jefferson introduced the draft to Congress. On July 2, after long negotiations, the Continental Congress approved a resolution for independence. On July 3, 1776, John Adams wrote to his wife, “The Day is passed. The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America” (Massachusetts Historical Society, n. d.). After approving a resolution, Congress edited Jefferson’s draft of the declaration, and on July 4, 1776, it was approved, signed, and published.
The Declaration of Independence is surely the most important event in American history as marked American independence from the British rule and the formation of the new country, the United States of America. Later, Jefferson will say, “The Declaration of Independence[is the] declaratory charter of our rights, and of the rights of man” (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services n. d., 3). Those days, the significance of the Declaration of Independence was especially crucial, as it “provided the colonies with the moral and political justifications for separating from Great Britain” (Strang 2007, 45). After the end of the American Revolution, people waited for the document that would officially mark the American independence from the British Crown, proclaim American freedom, and symbolize the origins of American national identity. In other words, they waited for the official announcement of the formation of the new country, and the Declaration of Independence complied with their wishes.
I think it would be great to see the beginnings of the United States of America as a country and to get to the day that is an American national holiday and constitute a part of American pride.
Bibliography
“Letter from John Adams to Abigail Adams, 3 July 1776, "Had a Declaration"” Electronic edition. Adams Family Papers: An Electronic Archive. Massachusetts Historical Society. Accessed 7 May 2016. http://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/
Strang, Lee J. “Originalism, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution: A Constitutional Right to Life?” In Life & Learning: Proceedings of the Sixteenth University Faculty for Life Conference at Villanova University. Edited by Joseph W. Koterski. 2007. http://www.uffl.org/vol16/strang06.pdf
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. PDF. Accessed 7 May 2016. https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Office%20of%20Citizenship/Citizenship%20Resource%20Center%20Site/Publications/PDFs/M-654.pdf
Question 3.
If you could choose to go back in time and be an eyewitness to an event in American History between 1800 - 1877 where would you go?
If I could choose to go back in time and be an eyewitness to an event in American History between 1800 – 1877, I would go to April 14, 1865, the days of the assassination and death of Abraham Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865 when Lincoln attended the Tom Taylor’s play Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. The American Civil War was nearly over as the Confederate army had already surrendered to the Union Army, and the South and Confederates were close to a loss. However, Booth, who was a strong supporter of Southern slavery policies and Confederates refused to give up on his idea of assassination. The booth was known as a racist and clamored against the abolishment of slavery. He had nursed the schemes of making Lincoln disappear as far back as in the days of the edge of the war. On April 11, 1865, he listened to Lincoln’s speech and his idea to enfranchise Blacks. Lincoln supported everything Booth hated, and after the speech, Booth said, “That means nigger citizenship. Now, by God! I'll put him through. That is the last speech he will ever make” (Rhodehamel and Taper 2001, 15). Booth was one of the leading actors at Ford’s Theatre, but on that day, he did not take part in the play. At the same time, he knew the play by heart and wanted to shoot Lincoln after the funniest scene, hoping to hide the sound of a gunshot in the reaction of the spectators. He headshot Lincoln, and the laugh was followed by the scream of Lincoln’s wife Mary. Booth turned to the audience and yelled, “Sic semper tyrannis!” Booth run away, and Lincoln died the next morning, April 15, 1865.
Lincoln definitely was the greatest American President of the United States of America, and it is difficult to underestimate his contributions to the development of the country. As Ferguson writes, “Lincoln embodies the “right to rise” that Americans claim as their birthright” (Clark n. d., 11). His death was faced with different reactions due to his unpopularity among the Southern people. His funeral started on April 15, 1865 and lasted for about three weeks. Talking about Lincoln’s death, Steers quotes Stenton who said, “Now he belongs to the ages” (Steers 2005, 11).
I would like to be present at Our American Cousin and to see the panic that was pushed after the assassination of Lincoln. Furthermore, I would like to become a part of the society and to listen what people said about Lincoln and Booth to understand how they took the death of their President. I would also like to take part the funeral procession as it would bring me a better understanding of how Lincoln was really treated in the days of his presidency.
Bibliography
Abraham Lincoln. A Legacy of Freedom. Edited by George Clark. http://photos.state.gov/libraries/korea/49271/dwoa_122709/lincoln.pdf
“Right or Wrong, God Judge Me.” The Writings of John Wilkes Booth. Edited by John Rhodehamel and Louise Taper. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2001.
Steers, Edward. Blood on the Moon: The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Lexington, KY: The University Press of Kentucky, 2005.
Question 4.
Considering the content of the textbook and the discussion boards, which three American historical individuals (during our class timeframe) would you like to invite to a dinner party? In your answer to explain why you chose these three particular individuals. What do you think the conversation would be like and how do you think they would interact? Lastly, what would you most like to learn about each of them?
Just for fun what you serve them?
I would like to invite to a dinner party George Washington, Andrew Jackson, and Abraham Lincoln. These historical individuals were the first, the seventh, and the sixteenth Presidents of the United States of America correspondingly. I chose these particular Presidents as find them and their policies crucial for the history of the country. Surely, each of the American Presidents contributed to the American development, but these ones especially deserve to be mentioned. As Wood writes, Washington was not just the first American President, but “had to put together the new nation and prove to a skeptical world that America’s grand experiment in self-government was possible” (Wood n. d., 2). At the same time, Andrew Jackson founded the Democratic Party that “created a national coalition that transcended sectional identity” (“The Growth of Democracy” n. d., 54). And Lincoln, finally, truly deserves to be called the greatest American President, as he was the abolisher of the slavery, whose idea of Democracy was expressed with the words, “As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master” (Clark n. d., cover). It is also important to note that these Presidents belonged to different political parties. Washington, even if he was not an official member of the party, supported federalists; Jackson the first Democratic President of the USA; and Lincoln was the first American President from the Republican Party.
I think that Washington, Jackson, and Lincoln would discuss their views on what the American politics should be. Washington was the first President of the USA and one of the Founding Fathers, and he has always been a respectable political figure both among the American citizens and following American Presidents. I think that the Presidential conversation would be of an official nature as first persons should know how to behave in negotiations. At the same time, the conversation could partly be an exchange of courtesies as Presidents respect each other and understand they cannot influence the current politics but can only compare their views.
I would serve the Presidents steaks and apple pie and would ask them several questions. First, I would like to learn how difficult it was for each of the Presidents to be the head of such country as the United States of America and what issues they faced during their Presidency. I would like to know not political issues they should have dealt with but the personal ones. Also, I would like to know what each of them would have done for the country if had the second chance. Furthermore, I am curious to listen to their opinion and recommendations on the current political issues of the United States.
Bibliography
Abraham Lincoln. A Legacy of Freedom. Edited by George Clark. http://photos.state.gov/libraries/korea/49271/dwoa_122709/lincoln.pdf
“The Growth of Democracy.” Wps.prenhall.com. Accessed 7 May 2016. http://wps.prenhall.com/wps/media/objects/171/175616/IM_Chapter10.pdf
Wood, Gordon S. “President George Washington, Republican Monarch.” PDF. Princeton. Accessed 7 May 2016. http://web.princeton.edu/sites/jmadison/calendar/conferences/Washington%20Gordon%20Wood.pdf
