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!
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