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CURRENT EVENTS
As we discussed in class, the concept of an Historical Mentality is
comprised of seven components and provides a foundation/explanation
of our attempts to understand and discuss history. It also serves
as a warning regarding the various subjective actions used to
explain historical, current and/or future events.
1. Your Natural Curiosity
Your personal curiosity about "what happened", "why it happened",
and "what are the results of what happened" in the past, in the
present and in the future.
2. Continuity and Process In History
History is a continuing process. Nothing happens in isolation.
History is a series of connected events.
3. Change In History
Most changes are evolutionary or gradual in history. Some changes
may be revolutionary or abrupt in history.
4. Multiple Factors of Continuity and Change in History
Geography and Natural Environment, Economic Systems, Political
Systems, Social Class Systems, Religious/Moral/Philosophical
Beliefs, Technology, Human Choice, Many Others. Seldom are there
"single causes" of anything is history--you must examine "multiple
causes" and factors of continuity and change.
5. Unique Qualities of Each Period or Event In History
Each situation of history is unique or "different". History does
not repeat itself--situations may seem to be similar, but each is
unique.
6. Normative Judgments in History (or what "ought to
be")
The tendency to make value judgments about what is "good or bad" or
'moral or immoral" in history. The tendency to make critical
judgments or moral judgments about what "ought to have been" or
should have happened in history. (Professor Walters' note: This is
the "Woulda, Coulda, Shouda Factor" and although interesting and
often enjoyable--must be restrained when conducting objective
historical research/reporting).
7. The Future
No person can "predict" the future, but we can try to envision a
number of possible alternatives for the future-- anticipating the
future, based upon evaluations of the past and present.
ASSIGNMENT
Your task will
be to locate FOUR CURRENT EVENT ARTICLES (happening now or within
the past twelve months) you believe to be related to FOUR similar
issues or events related to the textbook and course topics during
OUR FIRST SIX WEEKS OF CLASS. (You may use one editorial cartoon as
one of your four articles)
EACH ARTICLE
MUST BE RELATED TO A DIFFERENT ISSUE/TOPIC/EVENT. As an example,
your articles for this assignment could focus on: New research
regarding migration and settlement of the "New World", Native
American Issues, Hispanic Influence in the United States, religious
issues, immigration, slavery etc.
USE ARTICLES
FROM THE UNITED STATES UNLESS THERE IS A DIRECT CORRELATION—SUCH AS
SLAVERY EXISTING IN THE WORLD TODAY; SARS AND THE FLU OF 1918; OR A
TOPICAL RELATIONSHIP WITH A SPECIFIC FOREIGN COUNTRY IN THE MODULE
Printed materials such as newspapers and news magazines are
excellent. My other recommendation is to go to
http://www.tdhah.com/
and visit Teacher Resources and then Newspapers and
Media or Current Events (Scroll Down for resources including
Editorial Cartoons, manyelectronic papers, magazines and CHECK
10x10.).
http://www.tdhah.com/site_files/Teacher_Resources/topics/current_events/primaryresources.php
In addition
to the many individual electronic sources such as CNN, MSNBC, New
York Times, USA Today, Newsweek, and others--an excellent selection
of sources is available at the Yahoo News Directory
http://dir.yahoo.com/News_and_Media/
or my
favorite Google News at
http://news.google.com/
To understand
many of the emerging events, you may benefit from the detailed maps
of regions in crisis provided by the
ReliefWeb Map
Centre.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/doc114?OpenForm
FOR EACH
ARTICLE:
PRINT OR
PROVIDE A COPY OF THE ARTICLE YOU ARE UTILIZING
Cite The
Publication Source (example: The New York Times)
Title and
Author of this Article (SPECIFIC URL if appropriate)
Date of the
Article
Summary of the
Article
Specific
Significant Quotation OR Content Statement from the Article
Specific
Correlation of this Article to the Historical Time Period Under
Review
In regards to
the specific issue/topic/event, "Are we better off today, than
during the period we are studying"?
Actual Student
Sample:
Article # 1
USA Today http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-09-18-mine-jury_x.htm
Federal Agencies to Blame for Poor Treatment of American Indians
By civilrights.org staff
September 16, 2003
Summary:
The article is an overview of various reports regarding the federal
government’s treatment of American Indians. The article states that
the six agencies responsible for ensuring adequate services are
under-funded and the programs provided are insufficient. Specific
mention was made that schools managed by the Bureau of Indian
Affairs received less than half the amount of money per student than
the national average given to public schools on a per student
basis. Other problems sited were lack of housing, health care, law
enforcement and food distribution. These problems have caused
American Indians to suffer higher dropout rates and higher rates of
crime, disease, and hunger compared to any other minority.
Quote:
“Without adequate funding for vital programs, empowerment of tribal
institutions, and a genuine commitment on the part of the federal
government to the policy of self-determination, tribal governments
are ill-equipped to provide for their citizens, and their citizens,
in turn, are denied equal access to the resources most other
citizens enjoy.”
Significance:
In the 1870’s both whites and Indians spoke out against the
mistreatment of the Indians on the Great Plains. Helen Hunt Jackson
wrote A Century of Dishonor detailing government fraud and
corruption in dealing with the Indians. While reformers had good
intentions of making life easier for the Indians by incorporating
them into white society, what followed was really disastrous. The
Dawes Act redistributed the Indian’s land, and reservations became
available for non-Indian homesteaders to live. The federal
government treated the Indians as wards of the state, similar to the
treatment the Indians are receiving today according to the article.
Are we better off today?
Although land was given back to the Indians for them to exist as a
self-determining society, the damage done by earlier governments has
forced the Indian nations to be reliant on the federal government
for funding. Casinos set up on Indian reservations have been our
latest attempts to make the tribes financially independent. But not
all Indian reservations embrace gambling as a source of economic
growth, and the distribution of the actual casinos doesn’t impact
all the tribes across the country. Maybe we are better off now, but
the money intended for the tribes needs to continue. There is no
reason why they shouldn’t receive the same funding per capita for
food, housing, and education.
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