HELP!!!! Who's good with U.S. HISTORY?? 1607-1865!?

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shimmelman0916

New member
Hi everyone,
For my class, I have to make a speech that offers a balanced overview of early American History. One that examines both the Negative and the Positive aspects of the founding of this nation. So really, what is worth celebrating and what is worth being critical of in American history, and the ways that history reverberates in our society today. Any suggestions on key aspects I should talk about? I'll do all the work, but can you guys just throw me some topics to build on? History is my WORST subject, but I keep trying to stay afloat. So any input would be wonderful! Oh yeah, and this speech is suppose to include from the time of contact in America through the Civil War. Positive and Negative things that have happened and how they impacted. Thank you so much!!
 
I hated history, so I know nothing about it, but it is very important because if you don't know history it can repeat itself, and we don't want any repeats of any new Hitlers, so if you know what to watch for, then it won't happen again. I don't know what to watch for, so it's up to you kids to learn so you can watch out it.
 
Start with the pilgrims:
They came here looking for religious tolerance; from them we gained a sense of nationalism, personal independence, and the idea of tolerance. However; they themselves were not tolerant.

Moving on with the revolution: as we approached the American Revolution we tried many things to avoid war (ex: the olive branch petition) we tried peaceful means of revolution but they did not work

After the revolution we established a government called the articles of confederation, where in we gave to much power to state governments, from these mistakes we build our current constitution and established a true functioning democracy

After that, we once again had no tolerance for the Native Americans or the Indians

You can get into the great awakening and thus the enlightenment and the establishment of science as an “important” subject

We were ok with fighting the American Revolution because we thought Britain was being unfair but when the south thought the government was being unfair we found ourselves on the other side, forcing them to fight to break away from the union.

You can go into the idea of the words “all men are created equal” and investigate how they must certainly were not treated equal also, but that has been over done if you ask me…

I hope this helps
 
Negatives: We had wars with the first Americans and took land from them. They started some of the wars. Some of our early economy relied on slave labor. Thomas Jefferson made an illegal deal to buy land from Napoleon that was owned by Spain (and Spain really didn't own the land either). We tricked Mexico into declaring war on us and then took half their land (California, Texas, etc). And in 1860-1861 the nation was so screwed up that a big chunk of the country (and quite a few West Point alumni) quit and made their own country. Abraham Lincoln was in a tight spot, so he violated the Constitution, vastly increased the influence of the Federal government, and drafted millions of men to give the North enough strength to hammer the country back together. We pillaged and burned our own country, and Americans killed and maimed Americans by the thousands. Around 600,000 dead in the Civil War.

Positives: We fought the most powerful nation on earth at the time (Great Britain) and won our freedom. We proved than men do not have to live under tyrants, that men have the right to be free, and have the power to free themselves. This has since inspired other to revolt against cruel and unjust dictators all over the planet. We provided a safe haven for oppressed people from all over the world to come and have a better life than in their home country, we become the home of all who want to be free. Freedom of speech, of religion, of conscience, of thought, created an environment where art, science, technology, and culture flourished as never before. We can lose it all if we're not careful.
 
Go to your library and ask for the trilogy of books by Isaac Asimov called 'The Shaping Of North America'. The books are short, succinct, highly informative, balanced and easy and quick to read. Devising a speech from there would be a cinch. No problemo! And you will learn some invaluable facts about your country. Isaac Asimov was a Renaissance man, of who you and the rest of America should be immensely proud.
 
Well, you might wish to consider doing a paper on the history of Thanksgiving Day. There is so much controversy about the holiday. There are even groups of people-especially those claiming to be Indians who claim that our present day celebrations do not depict the reality of what truly happened on the first Thanksgiving Day. Some even believe that Thanksgiving should not even be celebrated at all.
This might be a good topic being that Thanksgiving Day is approaching.
As far as the Civil War, maybe you can incorporate your Thanksgiving speech into that. The flag may not have even been 'made' by Betsey Ross! You maybe could do something about Emancipation Day, the celebration of freedom of slavery. I hope this helps! Best wishes!
 
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