How does this all go with the real world? What events that happened during this time are like the events happening in today's world?
These events, although happened before we were alive, have happened in today's world, but we might have never noticed, or we noticed, and we didn't pay attention. Some events just match up like taxation in the colonies and taxation in the United States. There is a presidential election next month, and one thing that's on everyone's mind is the taxation laws. How much is too much. Who's paying what? How much should the rich pay and how much should the poor pay? The colonists had to pay taxes, no matter if you were rich or poor while today, people are expecting the poor to pay more than the rich. But, after everyone pays their share, who benefits from it. The people don't benefit, but the government does. The government benefits. When the colonists paid their taxes, they didn't benefit from it. England did. England benefited the most. The only time the colonists benefited if it was local taxes that were used for local use. Then everyone benefited and it wouldn't have been a problem. In my own eyes, if you let everyone have the same share, like placing a tax on stamps and tea in England, then nobody would freak out. Let everyone have their own share, and let everyone benefit. Not just one person or a group of people. Won't that be nice?
0 Comments
![]() What do you see in this picture? To me, I see people crowding a town square, a minister talking to the people, and people who are in trees, and are holding instruments. To some people, they might see something else while other people might see the same thing I saw. But why? Why is this picture important to this era? This event was called The Great Awakening. The Great Awakening happened during the 1730's-1740's to shift everyone's perspective on religion. George Whitefield (the minister in the picture) became the first person to do a cross-country tour of the colonies, and to unite the colonies with religion. This is also a factor leading up to the revolutionary war. The colonies started to unite under religion but also under the disliking of England's authority. The Enlightenment soon followed after, which also questioned authority. Both of these events were leading factors to the war because it did something that England couldn't do. Both united everyone together. Something that England couldn't do. Isn't that a little weird? How something like religion and ideas could bring people together. Can't our world be like that? So, I'm going to take a break from all this stuff, and do something fun that goes with this title.
Oh Abigail, how could you do this to us? Abigail, how can you do this to us? This song, named Abigail, is a rock song about the Salem Witch Trials and in one guy's point of view during that time. This song is also about the play/movie "The Crucible." After I listened to the song, I had a better understanding of the witch trials in 1692, how people reacted to it, and how chaotic it was (there's a little part of the song that is chaotic). Tell me what you think! (P.S. if you don't like the genre of music, or it's too loud for you, then you can lower the volume or just read the lyrics. I don't care) When you hear about colonial New England, you might think about a small town placed somewhere like Boston, Cape Cod, or any little colony that was around that area. You might think about the pilgrims coming to Plymouth and the first Thanksgiving. But, did you ever think about the culture and their society? What their religion meant to them? What was bad to them and what was good?
Well, you'll find out. The Puritan were the settlers that were God-fearing people. They believed that God watched everyone, and if you messed up, then you were going to Hell. They also believed in Predestination, and that everyone had to do good works. In other words, the Puritans were very religious. They didn't want to mess up. This article talks about what the Puritans believed in. But isn't Predestination and good works the same thing? It kinda is, but it's also different. Predestination and good works are great for going to Heaven, but what if there was something bad that could make people scared about predestination, and think differently about the Puritan culture. That's where witchcraft begins. The Puritans also believed that if someone did something bad, then everyone will suffer. They also believed about Satan too. And that Satan can do things too. That's what they thought that witchcraft was. Witchcraft in their words was Satan. That Satan was trying to come and do bad things to everyone. But, witchcraft was also different. When the Salem Witch Trials happened in 1692, it started out as a small problem, but soon developed into a massive dilemma. Almost everyone was getting accused of being a witch, or you had to be very careful about what you said or did. And if you were accused, then you had a trial, which determined if you were guilty of not. Well, your accusers wanted you to be guilty. They would do everything they can to make you guilty. That's so wrong, right? In their eyes, it was right. Beside believing that God was watching over them 24/7, they also believed that a witch shouldn't be able to live. That's just how their culture was and that was how their society worked. I personally believe that the Salem Witch Trials caused chaos, but also gave the Puritan community a little action and scare because their lives would have been boring. The Salem Witch Trials also changed how the world looked at witchcraft because it continued a little bit after the big Salem hunt. That's just what I believe. So let's go back in time to 1607 through 1754, and a lot of things were happening. Jamestown was forming and new colonies soon after, territories started to form, and soon enough, America was starting to become independent. But, other events happened too. Slaves started to come to America, Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson got banished from New England, The Salem Witch Trials in Salem Massachusetts, The Enlightenment, and The Great Awakening. All this happened just before The American Revolution.
So let's start exploring. |