Self Assessment

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This first quarter of History has been like no other History class I have had before, it highlights the struggles of the past and addresses the effect the past has on the present. It is easy to condemn the people of our past, such as those who oppressed the African American people and held them as slaves, as being evil and totally unlike the people of the present day. It is easy to say they lacked a moral compass, but in this class, the question was presented surrounding human phycology and what people would do given absolute power? The answer is not one we would like to admit. Upon looking at physiological experiments of college students who were given absolute power over their peers in an experiment, done by the scientist Zimbardo, it was made evident given such unchecked power will corrupt a person's moral character no matter the time period. This new found understanding made it possible to empathize with the German Reserve Battalion 101 that killed thousands of people in a very personal and intimate way sparing no one, this information comes from the novel Choices Under Fire: Moral Dimensions of World War II by Michael Bess.  And it made it evident that being able to empathize and understand the situations people were in that made them do what they did is paramount in understanding history and peoples motivations. We then learned how to see different points of view as we did research pertaining to the Confederate flag. In some places, the Confederate flag is a symbol of the Confederacy itself and its views on slavery. But to some people, the Confederate Flag is a symbol of the Confederate soldiers who fought and died for a cause no matter how misguided their views were. This lesson taught me that you can see a symbol in so many different lights and we must all stand by our opinions but also be respectful of the opinions of others. Looking at the compilation of Confederate letters taught me how to pick out shared themes among different pieces of historical writing and create a thesis to go with that theme. After watching "Lincoln" and discussing the movie and the views and drives of different political parties I have realized that I really should never go into politics it is way too confusing and I would most certainly have an incurable migraine if I went into that field. The amount of work that went into trying to appease both the North and the South so as to deter war, but that inevitability failed. And the struggles Congress had trying to piece the union back together after the Civil War while still trying to obtain the justice they desired for the South's secession from the Union which lead to the Civil War. All of these points, and many more, just prove the complexity of this time period and politics that I had no idea existed. Going forward I anticipate that the lessons from the past will be connected to the present as it has been this entire quarter and I expect more blog posts other than I have no idea. 

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