1st Quarter Reflection

This quarter in US History, I have grown, and laid a foundation of a basic understanding of the United States of America from the beginning of the US and its growth to the Western Expansion in the mid/late 19th century. A reoccurring theme has appeared from my perception of class and research. The US tends to grow and expand in an unethical way, then the public perception of reality is skewed and uncertain. Misconceptions begin to form around history, creating a hero and a villain.

This concept of a hero and a villain is a repeated concept throughout US history starting with the first to colonize the US, slaves. Slaves built the US, literally. The reason that the United States is the powerhouse that it is toady is because it started out as a major producer in the world economy for agriculture and fabrics. Without slaves to do this awful, mostly unpaid manual labor, the US would not be what it is today. The people at the time saw slaves as different and lower class humans. This separation created tension that is still present today. Towards the end of slavery, the US has this romance with the West. It was seen as a raw and untouched masterpiece of beautiful terrain. This fascination followed by financial prospects led to a large scale expansion into already conquered land.  The East was seeing these beautiful works of art and hearing stories of these brave frontiersmen. Children we captivated by brave Cowboys fighting off the Indians, and shooting the bad guys. Both of these examples are how the US creates lies to entice the nation to grow and expand. However as bad as slavery was for African Americans, and as bad as the Western Expansion was economically for families and those already settled there, these events helped the US grow into what it is today.

 

I have also been tracing patterns of culture like film and entertainment. I am fascinated with film production and arrangement, because of this I tend to look for a reason. I am constantly asking in my head, "Why." I want to get my head into the minds of those of who we are studying, and learning how to emphasize with history has taught me how to do so. I have not only grown in basic information, I have learned how to look at history. Instead of watching a movie casually and watching it for the entertainment, I now watch the movie for its meaning. When I heard we were going to watch movies for History, I was excited. I wasn't excited because I thought it would be an easy grade, I was excited because it is something I am passionate about. I could talk for hours on my view of the directors reasoning behind an aspect of a movie, and I have been allowed to write about it instead. Moving forward, I would like to continue with some movie research applicable to History. Being dyslexic my reading comprehension is poor, and watching film or documentary helps me to visualize what history was. I would also be interested in pop culture. I believe that looking into what a society idolized is just as important as what a society has accomplished, because by looking at pop culture, one is able to get a "sense" of what a group of people liked.