Final Blog Entry

I have learned so much from taking History 172 this semester. At the very beginning of the school year, i thought that i would not be able to handle the heavy course material and work load. In fact, it was the only course that i remember thinking of dropping at the beginning of the year. Professor Dabel, I have to admit was very intimidating at first and thought her to be unapproachable. But later on, the class got to see her true thoughtful and witty character. I thankfully stuck with the course and it ended up being one of the most satisfying courses i have taken so far at CSULB. History 172 is one of the most satisfying courses that i have taken because it was one of the most challenging courses in my schedule and I had made it to the very end, dispite my feelings at the very beginning of the year. Not only had I learned about early American history, but i had learned many other useful things such as how to study for an exam, how to paraphrase, how to footnote, and the steps to writing a proper research paper. I also gained some technology skills from this course because of the online blogs. Before I had taken this course I had never written a blog before in my life. Believe it or not, I didnt have a Myspace then either. I am so proud of taking History 172 because it had taught me many useful skills that will help me throughout my college career, thanks to Dr. Dabel. So i thank Dr. Dabel for carring enough for her students and to take the time to do what other professors would have never even considered.

The Peer Editing assignment that was assigned this week, i thought to be very helpful in writing the history research paper. In other courses that i have taken, like in high school i had found that the peer editing another's paper was somewhat helpful, but not completely necessary. I thought that it was good to get a second person's oppinion on my paper and for it to be checked for grammatical and spelling errors that were not noticable to my own eyes, but I also thought that was the extend of a peer edit for a paper. What i liked about this peer edit assignment was that we had a checklist of all the things to look for and it was a very thorough editing. The highlighting and circling of certain objects was really helpful for that all the corrections made on the paper did not all look the same, and it was easy to distinguish the different corrections made. It was also helpful to see what the professor would have looked for on her own if she were grading your paper. I thought it was a very useful excersize.

Marriage for Love. Who would have thought?

What caught my interest in this week's lectures was the change of views about the constitution of marriage and the change of the woman's roles in the home. It is still hard to believe that marriage was looked at as a business arrangement rather than a promise of eternal love. Although marriage today may not be treated with as much of the traditional form of romance and commitment; what with the concept of divorse and the hardships that occur in a marriage now-a-days, but at least now, one has a choice of whom one wants to marry. Whether it being for love, lust, or even money. But it is interesting to think that durring the time of the Second Great Awakening that family values just started to change and woman were looked at more as companions and more of an equal. It is hard to think how our society and our lives in gerneral would be so much different if our whole lives were run by our male husbands rather than for it to be an equal partnership.
It also interested me to how the woman's role in the home and family started to gear towards taking care and providing for the children. To think that children were looked at as little adults rather than young youths who have not experienced much in the world and are constantly discovering the things around then as well as themselves is rather mind boggaling. It is also interesting that it was mainly the upper-middle class were the main class to be making all the reforms at this time.

Women in the Home Front
In chapter six the beginning of the American Revolution was discussed as well as the outcome. But one thing in particular truly grabbed my interest and that would be the home front or in other words, how the war affected those at home. The had greatly affected the women because for the first time, the men were not present in their lives to handle the usual work around the house as well as the men not being there just for companionship. The women then had to learn how to handle the "outdoor affairs" and learned how to manage the family's money and other resources. Thus because of this more hand on approach to taking care of the family and house hold, the women had started to feel more connected and pridefull of the house calling the property 'ours' instead of 'yours' when writing to their husbands. Not only did women had to sacrefice their luxuries such as ribbons and gloves but they also suffered shortages of things that they needed such as flour and soap. Not only were the women at home in danger of living without their everyday necesseties, but they also were in danger of their health. Smallpox and many other kinds of diseases had endangered the children near the army camps causing the risk of getting infected by the diseases or being indangered of the complicated process of getting the vaccine for the diseases. The women in the home front had dealt with very difficult times and challenges which i believe had made them stronger women and began to gain a form of self independence, making the way for the woman after them to be stronger women as well.

What was most interesting in what i learned in class was finding out how little of the population in the colonies were actually against the British crown's rule. When I was taught about the American Revolution in previous classes, it had always seemed as if the majority of the colonists were revolting against Great Britain. Instead, only forty percent of the people wanted to be free from the rule of the crown; which was the same percentage of the people who wanted to stay intact with Britain! The rest of the twenty percent were people who simply did not care one way or the other. This information is just baffaling and somewhat dissapointing for me. To be told that the American Revolution was a rather conservative revolution and the colonists were simply over reacting over having to pay taxes is very upsetting. As I think on it now, the United States became independant and free over something that is very crucial to our economy today and most Americans do on a daily basis. Was the revolution then pointless? Most Americans at least, pay taxes on one thing or another whether it being buying a new car or picking up a bag of chips at a local grocer. I will answer my own retorical question above; no, i do not believe that the American Revolution was pointless. It brought about many good things such as rights for the people and freedom to live life justly, but it is a topic that is still very baffaling to me. How is it that something so huge could be started by something so small such as the concept of tax that is still done today. I suppose that is the greatest moral of the American Revolution, that it is not exactly what the colonists were fighting about, but rather that the colonists stood up for what they believed in, made their voice be heard and stuck with it until there was an affected change. Something us Americans would not be able to do if those 'overreacting' political activists had not challenged the British law.

Slavery in the Eighteenth-Century

When taught about slavery for the first time, I was not fully informed with all the facts and details of the matter until recently. There were many things that I was not aware of when retaught about slavery in the eighteenth century. There were European indentured slaves at first then came the Africans for the use of labor. I was not informed of the details of slavery such as that they first arrived in Virgina in British America in 1619 and that the Africans were endentured slaves, meaning that they would only serve a seven to eight year term of labor, then become a free African. Around the year 1672 there became Black Codes, or slave laws which made the idea of African slaves more recognizable to the people and enabled the slave's masters to have complete control over every aspect of their being. Not only was the finding out that African slaves had at one time been endentured servants and would become free being very informative information, but also that African slaves had only made up four percent of the total slave population in British America, where as Brazil made up of thirty-eight percent and forty-two percent in the West Indies. All of this was very mind boggling when it was first taught to me and I enjoyed learning about the little details in my nation's history. I feel it is very important to have complete knowledge of one's history in order to relieve from ignorance.

The Protestant Refomation

The Protestant Reformation all began in 1533, when King Henry VIII had decided he was to get a divorce from his current wife because she could not bear him a male child. Although, the Catholic Church would simply not allow it as for it is against the Roman Catholic religion's beliefs. Henry VIII then decided to leave the Catholic Church and start his own religion which he named, The Church of England. Later when Elizabeth I was in power, the English Church’s beliefs had been influenced by the teachings of John Calvin and Martin Luther. They believed that the Catholic Church was corrupt and strongly dissaproved of a formal hierarchy when practicing one’s faith in God. Instead of a pope or priest, Calvin and Luther believed that all persons should interpret the Bible themselves. They also stated that one had to be a strong believer and have complete faith in God in order to reach salvation.

For more information on John Calvin, Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation visit, www.historyguide.org/earlymod/lecture3c.html

Blog#1-Introduction

Major: Undeclared

Hometown: Laguna Niguel, CA

High school: Dana Hills High School

Facts about your family: My mother and father are still together and have two older sisters the ages of 20 and 23.

Why did you choose to attend Cal State Long Beach? I was told of all the amazing classes and programs Long Beach offers.

What do you want to do when you graduate from the university? Hopefully get an internship or a job that will help me get closer to my career goals or travel.

If you could choose one personal object to represent you, what would that object be? My duck pillow I've had since I was a baby.

Who are your heroes? I would have to say that my parents are my heroes because they are the two people I look up to the most. They have really taught me to work hard and to do the best that you can do, as well as to value an education. Both my mom and dad had very difficult upbringing, but they still managed to be successful. I just think about my parent's lives when they were my age and it gives me the motivation to make up for what they've missed.

If you could travel to one spot anywhere in the world, where would you want to visit? Italy! It doesn't matter where in Italy. Venice, Rome, Florence...They're all amazing.

What are your current favorite books? What books would you recommend to someone you just met? I would recommend my three favorite books: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and a fun/light read which is a hilarious series called Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella. Story of my life...

What pushes your buttons? What are your pet peeves? I hate it when I'm late for something or if someone else is late, especially for a movie! I love the previews.

What music are you listening to currently? Rock/alternative, classic rock, oldies, and I now have a new found appreciation for country (thanks to my wonderful best friend who made me listen to it whenever we got in the car this past summer).

Favorite colors? Turquoise, pink, and black.

Favorite Web sites? Vintagevixen.com, amazon.com, Fredflare.com and shopbop.com. I tend to buy fun and completely useless stuff that I usually end up giving away at a garage sale later.

Favorite foods? Italian, Mexican, Thai

All-time favorite movies? Classics such as Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Sound of Music, Pretty in Pink and the rest of the Molly Ringwald collection. And the soon to be classic, The Notebook.

Favorite artists? Claude Monet and Andy Warhol.

Favorite academic subjects? What are you interested in studying in the future? English and history. I'm looking forward to Art History and Greek Mythology.

Favorite free-time activities? When I have a little free time I enjoy lleisure reading, hanging out with friends, shopping, going to the movies, reading my fashion/tabloid magazines (I'm addicted), & watching TV.