Colonists attitudes about their new world.

The Europeans looked at America through the eyes of opportunists. From their viewpoint America, “Had no past, no history- it was a continent of the future” (Merchant 97). When honestly, it did have a past; one that was filled with the rich culture of Native Americans, but I digress. Their view of this “new” land was so different from that of the Native American as well because the Native Americans truly cared about Mother Earth. They only took from her what was needed to survive, however, that also changed when the Europeans came in. The Native Americans “were pulled away from their own agricultural and hunting traditions to serve in a wider European economy” (Opie 37). The new comers to the land looked at their fresh start with wide eyes. They began to strip the new world of all its wonders. They cut down forests, trucks at a time, which eventually caused the extinction of the passenger pigeon. They also killed animals for their fur and other resources which made the buffalo endangered and almost caused the American beaver to become extinct as well. Not all Europeans coming to the new world wanted mass domination; some truly wanted a fresh start in a new place. Painters would convey scenes of this new world and, “Upon this bare canvas poured the visions and dreams of the European soul” (Merchant 97). Everyone looked at it in a different way. Some people wanted money, the favor of the King, a new start, or just an adventure. One thing is for sure though; they all began a journey filled with the ups and downs of living in a new land that was already owned by someone else.

Merchant, Carolyn. "Chapter 3." Major Problems in American Environmental History: Documents and Essays. Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2012. Print.

Opie, John. "Chapter 1." Nature's Nation: An Environmental History of the United States. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College, 1998. Print.

New Internship

I recently started an internship at my local history museum. It is a small location, but couldn’t be more full of life. There are awesome volunteers there who love to teach other people about history and couldn’t be more helpful when it comes to learning. I will be working in the archives and research section of the museum every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday each week. I look forward to getting some hands on experience in my future field and making some great contacts. 

New Semester

I am starting Military History and Enviornmental History this semester. I have a lot of reading ahead including, "American Military History" by James Morris, "Major Problems in American Militsry History" by Chambers and Piehler, "For a Comman Defense", "Organic Machine", "A Change of Land", and many others. I see a lot of book time ahead of me in my future but let's see where I am in 8 weeks. I will post some of my readings as I go along, wish me luck.

Done

I just took my last exam for History 350 (American Revolution) and i have to say it was awesome. I learned so much about that time period that i think i could write a book, or at least a long essay. Oh wait, i did that already! I am pretty sure this is the part of history that i want to cluster around but i still have a long way to go before i decide for sure and at least 12 more history classes to take. I am on break now until January the 8th when i take two more classes. See you then :)

What does Thomas Paine mean by common sense?

Common sense is a pretty simple concept; it’s urging the colonist of America to open their eyes and see that they don’t need to be dependent on Great Britain to make it in this new world. Thomas Paine wrote common sense using simple writing and biblical references so that the regular colonist would understand what he was trying to say. It was a radical move at the time because no one had really come out and said “Let’s do it!!” just yet. In common sense Paine discusses things like the society and government, the British monarchy, the relationship between America and Great Britain at the time, and America’s great potential. He makes a lot of great points that turned the heads of a lot of people.

Personal journal entries of John Adams and Anna Green Winslow

I honestly wasn't looking forward to reading these journal entries but i actually kind of got into them. Its nice reading something that the person actually wrote, rather than reading something someone else wrote about that person. You get to see their exact thoughts, and see how they phrase things; you can tell a lot about a person from their writing style.

I really liked Adams' entry about getting up late. You could tell from that entry that he was just a normal guy who didn't want to waste his life away sleeping (i can relate). Adams had a thirst for knowledge that i really admire, i find myself doing the same things he was writing. He talked about his ambitions in regards to reading certain books and allotting time to thinking and mediating on his thoughts. He was a total people watcher as well, most of his journal entries were about people he met and watched in public. You have to think about how it was back in his time though, with no TV or radios that WAS the entertainment. He mentions a man who dances silly and people who say radical things just to get laughs. He also mentions a man who is mean to his wife. Adams is so professional when it comes to his work. He really loves law, my second favorite journal entry is when he defends it against justice dyer's views on the subject.

Anna’s journal was a lot easier to read than Adams because her language is much more simple. In her earlier entries she mentions multiple times that her Aunt says things about how adults shouldn't listen to the ramblings of a child, etc. This really frustrates me because sometimes they have the best things to say. She is obviously a very smart young girl who mentions taking her lessons at school and at home. During this time girls studied regular lessons as well as womanly lessons like quilting and homemaking. My grandfather used to say women were bred to breed, it always made me laugh. she mentions quite a few sick people in her entries, which i imagine was frequent during her time. In her journal entries she also mentioned going to watch military trainings in the courtyard, watching hangings, and being present at funerals. I don't think i would like life during this time as a young girl, i would get into too much trouble.

"The Revolution Preserved Social Inequality"? Why or why not?

I think this question comes up a lot when people talk about the American Revolution because we always go on and on about the freedom that we earned and people start to ask, "Well who really was freed?" It certainly wasn't the slaves or the women. And even then there were still poor people working their butts off for some of the more rich families. So i would have to say yes and no, which seems to be the general consensus of the group. We were freed as a nation from the tyranny of Great Britain, but it took us a long time to overcome the tyranny we had put ourselves under regarding slaves, women, and social inequality. I think during this time religion had a lot to do with it. Some people could be upset with me saying this but in my opinion, plain and simple, old men used religion to control people during this time (and even still today). They twisted the context of the bible to say that slaves were inferior and women had no rights. I think this went on a long time before some people began to pull away from that thinking and that’s when we began to see a real change in the freedoms of women and slaves.