What Lessons I Liked This Year and What I Liked About The History Course

The lessons that I really liked in this year’s history classes were all about the New England Colonies. I thought it was very interesting especially because I live in Connecticut which was one of the colonies. It was really fascinating learning about my state back then when it was a colony and the others around me. Of course our world is now completely different then how it was like back then. We now have electricity, technology, and more efficient inventions that help out with our lifestyle. But I think I would still like to go back in time and see what life was like in colonial times. Learning about their life back then makes me extremely grateful for the type of lifestyle I have now.

It was interesting learning about every colony and the purpose each of them had. Like for example, Georgia was a colony that in a way kind of helped people get back on their feet. So, each colony had something unique of their own that made them have a purpose for being there. But, there was something unique about Massachusetts that personally, I would not have liked to experience. They had what was called the Salem Witch Trials. Cotton Mather was actually one of the people who really had a big influence on constructing the trials. The Salem Witch Trials were basically about people who were accused of being a “Witch” and therefore they were executed. What they meant by a witch is that if they showed any signs of witchcraft or “the devil’s spirit” then they would be accused of being a witch and they would have to go to court and try to explain why they aren’t what they were accused of being. After that the decision was all in the hands of the court judges. It was very interesting learning about this. But even though it was fascinating I completely disagree with the cruelty they were creating and that would not be a colony I would want to live in back then.

All of the colonies basically served other countries in Europe. The crops they made, the money they earned, a portion of everything they created went to Europe. The people of the colonies had to do that because Europe supported them and kind of owned the land technically.

I thought it was cool seeing all the colonies grow and learning about what colony got established first and last.  And, like the beginning, the colonies didn’t have electricity and all the technology that we have today. For lighting in their houses they used candles which I have experienced before in storms where we have lost power and I personally think it is really fun to take a break from all of the technology we have and kind of get a feel for how it was like back then. They didn’t have video games that you can play on a flat screen TV or any TV at all.  They had games like chess and ball and jacks. Some games that they played back then we still have in our lives today. They also played baseball but they didn’t have as much structure and rules to it like we do now. I think it’s awesome to play some of those games today and imagine that years and years ago people played the same type of games then.

The children of families back then had a lot more responsibilities than kids have today as well. Some of the chores they had to do we do today but some of them aren’t really done as much now. Like the dishes we still have to do of course because we can’t eat off of dirty plates all the time….unless you use paper plates. But then there are some that don’t really need to be done like fetching water. Today, you don’t even have to walk that far to turn a switch on and water comes out. Back then you actually had to go out of the house, go to a pool of water (it has to be clean of course) and fetch it. So chores like that are not even chores today because it now doesn’t really take that much to do those tasks.

Growing up meant different things if you were a boy or girl. If you were a boy, you were expected to move out and go to college. But if you were a girl you were expected to get married and move out to have a family of your own. Women weren’t really expected to get an education as much as the men did. That, of course is very different today now that women have more rights and they could go to school, get an education, and go to college. I believe that women are no different than men. We are all the same humans if you think about it.

I liked lots of different aspects of these history classes. One thing is the clarity. I thought everything was explained thoroughly and each lesson was very easy to understand. The second thing is I loved the way it was set up with the last lesson of the week having a writing assignment. I actually thought the writing assignments were really fun (it also helps that I’ve always loved writing). I think having me write about a subject makes me understand it even more and helps a lot along the way even to look back on it for reference.

I had a lot of fun with these history lessons and it’s made history my favorite subject. I can’t wait to enroll in the next lessons!

Africa

Africa is one of the well-known continents of the world. It is pretty large and contains lots of different weather climates. Some areas are extremely hot and desert like and others more humid and jungle like. The continent includes lots of famous landmarks that had a big part in our world history and some are still standing today. During the history of Africa you can tell that they wanted to become more of an independent continent then relying on other countries that try to colonize some of their land. One of the famous landmarks is the Nile River that had a huge impact on how some civilizations lived. People lived around that river because it was a great source to help out with their crops and of course, to receive some water.

Not many people talk about most of the countries in Africa but when they do it is most likely about Egypt. Egypt is one of the most well-known countries in Africa. It is located more towards the top of the continent. This country in fact, was one of the civilizations that lived more around the vicinity of the Nile River. Everybody knows Egypt as a hot, steamy, desert, which is completely true so that’s why the people that originally lived their decided to live closer to their water source. But even though during the day Egypt is extremely hot, it is completely different during the night. When it is nighttime that area tends to get really cold, unlike when the brutal sun is out.

Egypt also had a government side of course so they could keep their civilization going. But, the way there was a ruler then was a little different than having our President today. Back then they had what was called Pharaohs. Pharaohs ruled for most of the time during history. The Pharaohs claimed that they were their land’s God, and they acted like kings.

Egypt, was stable in the beginning, but then other areas tried and tried to rule over their country. First, the Persians took over. But luckily Egypt was able to get their freedom back from them. Even though they were successful, that wasn’t the end. Later on the Romans took over and ruled for quite a while there. They ruled from 31 BC to about 476 AD.

Later, Egypt caught on to a new religion which was known as Islam. That religion did turn out t be very successful and was quickly growing throughout history.

There is one other well-known country located in Africa and it is called Ethiopia. They lived along what is called the Red Sea. Again, that location was good because they had a source of water. Although there was something a little different that went on in Ethiopia than other countries. They decided to incorporate other cultures into their lifestyle than just their own which was an Arab style. Other cultures that they incorporated was Egyptian and Greek. Unlike some other countries Ethiopia was rather rich and had strong and successful kings.

Africa during history wasn’t really brought together by all the countries. They mostly stayed apart from each other and kept to themselves and didn’t really have anything to do with one another. It came to the time where Europe was trying to colonize around Africa to boost the Slave Trade because Africa was a great target for it. Another reason why Europe wanted to colonize there was because Africa had a lot of natural resources they could use.

So, Africa still looks for independence from the other countries but they still are a land that needs help and can’t be on their own.

William Wilberforce

William Wilberforce was a person who wanted slavery to be gone. He was against it all. William was a politician and a leader to end the slave trade. The slave trade was made in a way so that people can transport and trade their slaves easily. They also had a triangular route that they strictly went by in order for the plan to work. England at the time was in fact the greatest shipper of slaves and helped provide the other countries with slaves like, the Dutch, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and British.

William even became a member in Parliament. Another change he made was converting to Christianity as well in 1785. A couple years later a group that was against slavery encouraged William to join the fight against the slave trade. This group was later known as the Testonites. Of course, some people supported what they were fighting against, and some did not support it. The group was even having some problems with Parliament. Since William converted to Christianity, that kind of kept him motivated to continue the fight.

Another man that had an influence on William was Olaudah Equiano. He was captured as a child and brought to the New World to serve as a slave. He did though, learn how to read and write and even worked very hard to save up to buy his freedom. But still being free, he was being mistreated. Later on he was captured again to be a slave but luckily, he was able to escape. Olaudah even wrote an autobiography about the ups and downs in his life. It became a bestseller and got translated in many different languages. So, when Olaudah met with William Wilberforce he was one of the people who encouraged him to continue the fight against slavery since he knows firsthand what it’s like.

The group first met in 1787, but William only officially joined it in 1791. But overall, the group was very successful in raising awareness for the cause they were fighting. Later on, one of William’s friends William Pitt became Prime Minister in Parliament and was able to introduce an anti-slavery act. It did become noticed but then it kind failed. William Pitt died in 1806 and unfortunately that movement did not get passed.

At this point William Wilberforce had been fighting this cause for a very long time now and even had thoughts of giving up. But, instead of giving up, William thought of another way to attack the problem but not directly. So he wanted to create a Foreign Slave Trade Bill. Instead of going after the Slave Trade, they decided to support British Nationalism. They decided this because since the British Slave Traders were traveling with American colors, they were going to make a bill saying whoever was traveling with American colors was treated as an adversary. Luckily this bill was passed in 1806. So, when they went against the slave trade indirectly, the Parliament liked the idea better.

Later on their was another bill passed that also helped abolish the cause and Slave Trade Act ended on March 25^th 1807, which also ended slavery in Britain.