As you consider and think about all of the people, events, ideas, and documents we have studied this year in U.S. History, answer the following questions...
What has suprised you the most about the history and people of the United States?
What has disappointed you the most about the people or events of the United States?
What person, idea, or event do you admire the most?
I have been the most surprised by the fact that the United States was able to become such a dominant world power at such a relatively early age. Our audacious leaders and driven citizens allowed this to happen very quickly for the US when you compare our timeline to other countries that hold such power. I was the most disappointed by the our willingness to allow ideas, that never matched our founding ideals, to influence our actions. Slavery was such an idea that almost tore this country apart and separated us from our roots of freedom and human equality. I most admire the work ethic and industriousness that US citizens have shown throughout history. World War II began just as the Great Depression was ending. Many people had been knocked off their feet, and yet we pulled together to accomplish the common goal of victory. The current economy has again devastated many people residing in the United States. However, once again, we are seeing more occurances of people pulling themselves up and starting over. Our citizens are willing to rebuild their own lives and are also willing to help a neighbor rebuild theirs. This is a characteristic I admire in people and in a country.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that has surprised me the most, was that the US has come so far in only about 200 years. I mean that we were able to overcome our ruler, England, when we weren't even a country back in the seventeen hundreds, then we became the extra support the Allies needed in WW1 and WW2 almost 200 years later. To me, that is a giant leap in only a few decades. Also, the US has one of the highest population in the world, so that means that we were able to develope into a great place to live even though we haven't been around very long. The thing that disappointed me the most about the US this year, as it always does, is that we had slavery and prejusdice against blacks up until the Civil Rights movement, and there is still some racism that exists in our country today. Since slavery was such a bad thing, it is hard for me to understand why it existed in America for such a long time. It is definanty the greatest sin of our great nation. I admire the accomplishment Americans can achieve if the put all of their effort into it. Looking back at the Revolutionary War, England was by far the favorite to win, but the people banded together, helped each other out, and were able to win the war and create the wonderful nation we live in today. Also, in WW2, people we enraged that Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and killed Americans that had given their lives to protect their country. After the bombing, people banded together and backed the war in such a way, that when the US entered the fighting, the tables were turned almost immediatly. All that was able to happen, because the people back home were supporting the war in every way possible. All in all, the US is a wonderful country to live in, and there is nowhere else I would like to live.
ReplyDeleteWhat surprised me the most is just how our country got freedom. We started as just a few tiny colonies on the eastern shore of north america. Then we got taxed on stuff that just didn't make sense. We rebelled against one of the world powers in the world. We were tiny so it was pretty crazy. Then somehow we ended up winning. That just really surprised me. What dissapointed me was slavery. IT caused our country to fall apart and disagree on issues that held us together. It was big enough to start a civil war which weakened our country greatly. If the confederacy won then our lives would be completely different right now. We didn't listen to our founding fathers and we didn't stay together through tough times. I admire our war veterans the most. If we lost some of the wars we won like the american revolution and WWII then it would be much different. They gave up their lives to proect our freedom and I definitely admire that the most.
ReplyDeleteWhat Surprised me the most is World War 2. I really didn't know much about it until we started discussing the event more....But once we started I couldn't get enough. It surprised me because I really thought we had our World under control after all that we had been through...but just like in life you never know what might happen. I think what dissapionted me the most this year was our racism. I mean to me it doesn't matter who you are or where you come from you should be treated the same way God treats you. I know we can't be like God and his perfections but we can be inspired by him and do what he tells us to do, and last time I checked, he never said to make blacks slaves....or make jim crow laws or anything along that matter...it was our sinful matter that did it...and America is not proud. I admire Rosa Parks. I admire her because of her courage. I can relate to her being a Girl and knowing how much underprivilaged we can be sometimes, the thing that inspires me the most was her presistance in becoming equal to men...and to me that is truley great,and hard to find in a person. So all in all america hasn't had the best moments...but we can learn from our mistakes and admire our accomplishments. :)
ReplyDeleteAll of the war and disagreements in our country disappointed me the most.If America would've agreed and compromised more then our country wouldn't have had so many downfalls. Horrible vents that occurred in history because of dissagreements:
ReplyDelete- The Trail of Tears
- 9/11
- Invasion of Iraq
- Civil War
- Slavery
- John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry
- WW1/WW2
- Ethnic and Racial Profiling
These events surprised me the most because America is claimed to be one of the best countries in the world, yet events in our past create hatred from other countries. How is America going to be a world leader if our own society has issues and problems that we have not yet conquered?
All of the events I listed above are dissapointments in our country. America have had events that i admire, such as:
- Our American Revolution
- Apollo 11
- Brown vs. the Board of Education
Overall the event that I admired the most Martin Luther's King speech: I have a Dream. That event showed that all men and women were created equally in God's eyes. Even though there was racial discrimination Dr.King never used violence instead he peacefully protested, which was a very wise, brave and courageous decision for him to make. That's why i admire Dr.Martin Luther King and his work that made our country progress forward to a great society and admirable in the eye's of the Lord and mankind.
The isolationist tendency of the U.S. and its people surprised me the most this year. I used to think America was more involved in world wars, but I know now that this is not true after studying World War I and World War II. It took the sinking of the Lusitania and the Zimmerman telegram for the U.S. to get involved in WWI. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor enraged Americans enough so that they wanted to enter WWII. It takes a personal event for the U.S. to be involved in world wars.
ReplyDeleteThe most disappointing thing about the people of the U.S. was their racism towards African Americans and Native Americans. Slavery was cruel and inhumane, and it's sad that remained in the U.S. for so long. After slavery, African Americans still didn't have equal rights as whites, and they had to fight for them (Civil Rights Movement). The U.S. took the Native Americans' land and put them on "reservations". American did not keep any of the 750+ treaties they made with the Native Americans.
I admire Abraham Lincoln the most. He was the U.S. president during the Civil War, and I think he handled the pressure well. He passed the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves in states in the Confederacy. This was a brave move on his part to do the right thing, but it was harshly criticized. In addition, the Emancipation Proclamation made the Civil War about slavery. When the Union won, it freed the slaves.
America is a wonderful country, but everything and everyone has their flaws. Something that surprised me about America is how the British treated the Americans. America has many flaws like slavery, trail of tears, how women were treated, and segregation. I admire how Americans rebelled against the British. It was very brave of the to stand up and fight on their own feet. Also I love how brave the little rock nine were. If I were them I would have caved after the first insult, but they didn't they stood up for what they believed in, and they accomplished a goal many wanted to achieve.
ReplyDelete-Ellie Rieves :o
Alex herden
ReplyDeleteI was most suprised in american history by how many things have hapened. before this class i thought it was a few wars then now. i was also suprised at how long raceism has been in america. i was also most disipointed by this and i hate racism it is so bad how much racism there is from slavery to civil rights and still today. i admire many people in us history and one of them is MLK he has the most perciverince i have ever seen in one man and the courage to lead thousands the same with george washington he lead a nation to freedom and liberty you have to have alot of courage to do this and be very skilled at leading.
America was a great country, and there are many reasons why I think it is going down hill. I loved hearing about how we ended segregation and ended slavery, but after the civil rights acts America began to sink. My favorite events we learned about was the end of the Cold War and the end of WW2. I also enjoyed de-segregation and civil rights. The most suprising thing about U.S. History is the rascism in the past. It was truly terrible, and there is no bright side of it. It was just wholly terrible. The most dissapointing thing i've learned deals with laziness. America has gotten lazy and soft since WW2. We have gotten so absorbed in our tvs and are comfort that most of us wouldn't be willing to work hard and make are country great again. We were great when America was in the 1950s. We grew to be incredibly industrial and high in nation wealth. Then, we sunk and sunk. My two favorite people are Ronald Reagan and General George S. Patton. They worked hard and were willing to do what it takes to build up our country. They truly cared about America, and they really wanted us to be safe. Thanks to them America became greater.
ReplyDeleteThere are many things that surprised about the U.S. that I didn’t know. For example, I had no idea that there had been an amendment that stated that all men had a right to vote regardless of their race. Also I hadn’t realized they didn’t get this freedom until about 100 years later. This was very upsetting because the American people didn’t obey the laws set before them by their government. These laws were not unjust or cruel and there was no reason for them to disobey. The subject I did not enjoy talking about was the Civil War. It is a very fascinating subject, but it is a blemish in the history of our country. I do not enjoy listing of the cruelty dealt upon the slaves and how many people turned against each other. The topic I do enjoy hearing about is the American Revolution. There are some deaths but otherwise there was only bravery and justice. The colonies were being treated unfairly and they stood up for themselves. I think the people behind the American Revolution were quite admirable because they did not immediately resort to violence and tried many peaceful solutions.
ReplyDeleteThe event that suprised me the most is the Revolutionary war. The United States was the serious underdog in the war. Great Britain had a bigger army, navy, and had more power. We overcame all of the obstacles and came out on top. The U.S. showed perseverance and determination. The people also faught with all of their hearts. Slavery is the most dissapointing thing in our history. Our country treated the slaves horribly. We acted like hypocrites. In the Decloration of Independence it said that all men are created equal. Then we turn around and treat men as slaves, who are not equal. The person that I admire the most is Abraham Lincoln. He did many great things in a difficult situation. He freed all of the slaves and won the civil war during his presidency. He is also my favorite president. One of the most important time of our history was led by him.
ReplyDeleteMany differnt things in Us history have surprised me this year. World War 2, one of the surprises, was talked about so in depth that it changed my feelings about war and the military. Before, I thought war was awesome and cool, but now, my view of war has changed into something that is bad and has so much loss of life. The CIvil War dissapointed me the most this year because our country was fighting againist ourselves and so much blood was shed. If we just forgot the differneces between the north and south, not that many people would have been brutaly killed and slain. It was a very disappointing and sad event in our nations history. This year, I admire the peolpe of the D-day invasion because they knew what they were up aganist, but still went out there and did the job. The odds of them winnig that battle were like a million to one, but they prospered by taking back France. Also, I admire The man with the last name of Zapperini because even with the odds stacked aqainist him, he would not die because he trusted in God and himself. He is a great figure in society and undoubtfully deseves to be admired by his peers. Overall this year has been great in U.S. History and I can not wait for more fun in World Cultures nex year.
ReplyDeleteSo many things about U.S history I was unaware of. One being during WW1 after the U.S was bombed by Japan, I did not know that all Japanese- Americans were forced to leave. The most disappointing event in American history to me was racism. The way they treated African- Americans and Native Americans. Slavery, the 3/5th and segregation were all examples of the mistreatment of blacks. I think Manifest Destiny was very cruel to the Native Americans and also the fact that Native Americans weren't even considered a person. The fact that the U.S was so hypocritical, was so disappointed. They wrote this Declaration of Independence, which basically meant nothing after they gained they freedom from Great Britian. They said all me were created equal and blacks were only counted of 3/5th's of a person and Native Americans had no value. Also blacks were in chains held against their will for years, and all men were supposedly all equal. those are the events that mainly disappointed me about the U.S.
ReplyDelete