I was pretty terrified when I entered Ms.Valentino's class. 11 AP sounded very intimidating to me, and learning that I would have to write a blog every weekend of the school year didn't cheer me up either. But reading the stories of John Smith or even William Bradford made me think that without their "blogs" we wouldn't have had a detailed challenges that they had to face upon entering this new land. Their interpretations of how America was really captured the unique history this country has today.
Indians! The first encounter with these foreign people was immediate for the settlers and they immediately thought of them as savages. Both John Smith and William Bradford wrote about how unorthodox these people were. They also wrote how terrible the land was in America. Both people documented their challenges as they were faced with cruel weather, disease and even starvation (people were forced into cannibalism!). But with these journals they left their legacy on how they overcame these challenges. As William Bradford and the pilgrims learned from the Native Americans, they eventually formed a national holiday which everyone celebrates today: Thanksgiving. Bradford and other Pilgrims left a tremendous impact on American history as they showed how peace and happiness between very different cultures and traditions could actually make both groups prosper. This simple tradition continues today with families celebrating and coming together for one glorious time in the year.
When I read the article about a little girl who started a blog to fight the terrible school lunches that the kids were eating, I thought that anyone could make a difference. But what is more incredible is that one blog or journal every day could really make an impact in the future whether if it was the settlers who colonized America, or the little girl who fought school lunches.
No comments:
Post a Comment