History assignments

Here are some recent History assignments.

Imagine ways in which future archeologists, sifting through the remains of twentieth-century American civilization, might misinterpret the artifacts and structures of our time.

Imagine that in the year 2600 a lady is walking along a river and notices something strange floating in the water.  She notices a faded plastic box.  The box is small and thin, and has a black shiny side and a white side.  This lady has no idea what it is, or even its’ use. The person who had it a long time ago knew exactly what it is and what its’ use was.  She takes it to her neighbor who is a specialist on ancient artifacts to figure out what it is.  Her neighbor speculates that the box was a primitive attempt to make a phone, but everyone these days has much more sophisticated ways of communicating; they have little ear pieces that they use for phones that are voice activated.

The plastic box was once a cell phone.  Today in 2013 everyone knows what a cell phone is and what it is used for.  A cell phone is a modern convenience that allows us to talk and send messages to people who are far away or near us.  We can send a text message, phone call, play games and search for information on the internet. 

This happens quite often today when an archeologist finds an artifact and has no idea what it was used for.  What an archeologist does is to try to uncover as much as possible about the past and draw conclusions.  These conclusions may or not be true.  The archeologists observe the evidence and the surrounding area to try to find other clues about the past.

While archeologists have discovered many things about the past they may not have all the information.  If they find something new in an area, like a skeleton, they can analyze the body to try to find the environment that it lived in.  They do this by comparing it to our bodies and how it differs.  But there is no sure way of knowing what happened in the past.  If a person saw a big screen TV 500 years from now they may not know that is brings entertainment to millions of people today.

Why would the Americans of the nineteenth century resist the idea that the mounds were the work of Native Americans?

Native Americans during the 10^th-14^th centuries in the middle of now what is the United States constructed what appear to be giant mounds.  These mounds served as burial grounds for centuries.  When European settlers came after Columbus discovered the American continents they believed the native population to be savages.  Savages as in they were primitive and not on the same social level with the Europeans.

An archaeologist in 1872 wrote, “No savage tribe found here by Europeans could have undertaken such constructions as those of the Mound-Builders. The wild Indians found in North America lived rudely in tribes.  They had only such organization as was required by their nomadic habits…. These barbarous Indians gave no sign of being capable of the systematic application to useful industry which promotes intelligence, elevates the conditions of life.”

Another reason the Europeans of the 19^th century resisted the idea that the mounds were the work of the native population was racism.  Europeans did not like Indians who they considered killers.  They considered them underneath them socially and thought they were not capable of doing anything worthy of their attention.

\

How did events in Virginia in 1619 help to shape the course of American history? What precedents were set and how do they affect, if at all, the America of today?

In the year 1619 three things happened in the English colony of Virginia that helped shape the course of American history.  In that year the House of Burgesses was formed, making it one of the first popular elected essabmly in America.  Later that year some women arrived from England, helping the settlers settle down and create families.  Until this time the majority of the settlers were men.  They had no roots to the land and therefore didn’t really concern themselves with settling down.  Also in the year slaves were brought over from Africa.

The House of Burgesses was made up of men who were elected by land owning males.  Women, blacks, and men who did not own land were not able to vote. This assembly was to make just laws to benefit the people of the whole colony.  The formation of this group was important because it established the right of representation in American, and led to the formation of our current political system.

Having women come it helped make men settle down. Until this time any man could get on a ship back to England and leave the colony.  But once they had families they didn’t do that; they settled down and created homes and farms, which helped Virginia become a permanent colony. 

Having black slaves helped with this as English settlers would not work without a wage, while blacks were forced to work.  It established slavery as acceptable, and eventually led to the civil war. At first blacks were indentured servants, working a number of years to earn their freedom.  But in the 1660’s the settlers thought that it was easier to keep the blacks in slavery than buy new ones every few years.

These changes to the colony in Virginia in the year 1619 helped shape American history.  Having women helped settlers establish homes and farm, bringing in blacks to perform the labor allowed many English settlers to become rich.  Establishing the House of Burgesses gave the colonists the sense that they should be allowed to rule themselves.  This streak of independence led to the outbreak of the American Revolution.

Some historians have asserted that in permitting the colonists in Virginia to convene an assembly and take part in governance, the British planted the seed that grew into American independence. Argue the merits of this assertion.

In 1619 the House of Burgesses in Virginia convened, with the purpose to make laws to govern the whole colony.  The Virginia Company allowed this to happen as the Company was in London, making it hard to foresee all issues facing the colonists.  They thought it would be best if they were able to set some rules themselves.

If they Virginia Company could have seen the end result of House of Burgesses they might not have allowed it to be established.  Once Americans were able to decide some issues for themselves they thought that they should be allowed the ability to govern.  They wondered why an assembly, Parliament, was able to set policies and laws that hurt the colonists.

Granted, this shift of wanting to have complete ability to govern themselves did take a while to grow.  The House of Burgesses was established in 1619, and the American Revolution was not fought until the 1770’s and 1780’s.  But the seed had been planted.  The colonists wanted things that the British didn’t want to allow them, and so they Americans fought for the right for self government.