There are many people who can be considered the indirect
founding fathers of The United States. Such people are The
Christian Crusaders, Marco Polo, Cortez, Pizarro, and
Martin Luther. The Crusades were a series of holy wars
fought to win the holy land of Christianity from those who
follow Mohammed. Even though these wars failed in the
respect of winning the land back, they did triumph in another
aspect. The crusaders introduced a lifestyle to the Europeans
in the Holy Land that was more appealing than they knew
before. Following the wars the Europeans returned and they
created a market to deliver the desirable goods they came
accustomed to in the Holy Land. This was one reason for
the beginning of exploration, and ultimately led to the
discovery of America. Marco Polo was a great explorer of
his time. He wrote a manuscript on his voyage entitled, "The
Voyage of Marco Polo." In this manuscript it said how the
Kahn of China lived in riches, used fine china, decorated
with gold, and used spices. When the manuscript reached
the people of Europe they realized how life could better if
they had the materials as did the Khan. This discovery
encouraged people to find new places to find these riches.
Cortez founded the city of Tenochtitlan, which was created
by the Aztecs in central Mexico. He said how the people of
this town lived with the riches of a Khan. They city was
advanced further than any European had seen in the New
World. The ruler of this land, Montezuma, lived in huge
room filled with "jewels, precious stones, silver, and an
astonishing amount of gold." Soon after his arrival the Aztecs
rebelled. Cortez had Indian and Spanish allies and won the
battle against the Aztecs. News of the conquest of Mexico
created a rush of Spanish to America and led to further
settling of the continent. Francisco Pizarro found the empire
of the Incas in the Andes Mountains region. This empire, like
the Aztec Empire, was advanced and rich in gold and silver.
Inca, the head of the Empire and was considered a God,
was killed by Pizarro. This lessened the spirit of the Incas
and made it easier for Pizarro and his men to succeed among
them. This success, again, encouraged the Europeans to
settle their own area. One of the best known reformers,
Martin Luther, can be considered a founding father of The
United States. Luther tried to reform the Church of England,
and rid it of Catholic ways.
After abolition of slavery, new challenges became present; one of them, the readmission of the Southern states was required into the Union. " The goal of Reconstruction was to readmit the South on terms that were acceptable to the North-full political and civil equality for blacks and denial of the political rights of whites who were the leaders of the secession movement" (Wormser, 2002). Easier said than done, reconstruction, in the sense originally though by President Lincoln took many years to become a reality due to a series of issues. The "Black codes" permitted, although dubious, displayed the resistance of the South, this and the lack of opportunities for blacks to owe land, as well as the obstacles they encountered to vote were the most prominent issues to overcome during reconstruction. After these problems were ironing out, equality in education, voting rights, and land ownership were established for blacks. Many historical figures defended the rights of those marginalized. Among them President Abraham Lincoln, who instituted the abolition of slavery in 1865 and set the basis for reconstruction in 1862, Frederick Douglas, a former slave who spoke for slave's freedom and after emancipation, for the rights of the newly freed, and Susan B. Anthony, a Quaker abolitionist, whom together with others started the suffrage movement.
Spain, as one of the most powerful nations in the old world, had a great influence on many events in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Spanish also had an influence on many other empires/nations' fate. One of the empires that suffered a grave fate at the hands of the Spanish was the Aztec empire. The Aztec empire was not the oldest Mesoamerican empire and it was formed from an agreement between three city-states. The Aztec's class system had the emperor on top, then the priests, and everyone else below them. The priests were responsible for keeping the gods happy. The sacrifice of goods and people was a commonplace in the Aztec culture, and it was often the goods/people of other nations that were taken for sacrifices. As one can imagine,
On July 4, 1776 the Declaration of Independence was signed. The thirteen colonies were no longer under King George III rule. It was a new world that needed a new type of leadership. On July 12, 1776 the Second Congress proposed the Articles of Confederation. The articles were ratified by all thirteen states on March 1, 1781.
George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were two important men who affected our nations independence and the beginning years of our country. They helped form this nation into a free and sovereign country. Yet, they were different in many aspects they shared a few common features. Both Washington and Jefferson grew up in the southern state of Virginia and like most owned land to grow and harvest crops. In growing up they came from two different class levels of living. The Jefferson family was more famous and richer than Washington’s giving him a greater advantage and opportunity to succeed, especially in higher education. After Jefferson finished regular schooling he was able to attend the College of William and Mary were he studied law. He did so under the teaching of George Wthe who was considered perhaps the greatest teachers of law in Virginia at the time. Washington however was taught by his mom mainly in mathematics and received no higher education. Washington was still knowledgeable and began to put it to use in the army to become as a young British soldier. He interred the army at the young age of nineteen were he began to learn leadership and military strategy which would prove useful in the Revolutionary War to come. Jefferson on the other hand was involved in the laws, courts, and small politics. At the young age of twenty-five Jefferson was elected to the House of Burgesses in Virginia were he served for five years. Washington was known for his great motivational speeches that would rally troops together to prepare for war and lead on to victory. Jefferson was more of a writer not a speaker and by using his skill he wrote and brought forth fresh ideas of independence and freedom.
When the Spaniards arrived on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico in 1519, they encountered the advanced society of the Aztecs. With Tenochititlan at its capital, the Aztec empire was vast. The Aztecs had substantial wealth from trading and extensive payments of tribute from conquered peoples. Bernal Diaz in his The Conquest of New Spain comments, "We were dazzled at the richness of the country that we passed through" (282). The Spaniards encountered a powerful, advanced people in the New World, making Cortes and his crew of approximately 600 seemingly ensured of defeat. The Aztec religion lends much to Spanish success in conquest.
There were many men involved in the establishment of the government, the laws regulating states and people, and individual rights in the construction of the United States of America. Two men stand out as instrumental to our founding principles: Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton.
Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis Works Cited Missing In this report I compare two great historical figures: Abraham Lincoln. the 16th president, steered the Union to victory in the American Civil War and abolished slavery, and was the first and only president of the Confederate States. America, Jefferson Davis. Abraham Lincoln was the President of the Union, and.
Thomas Paine was one of the great supporters of the American Revolution. He was a journalist and used his pen and paper to urge the public to break free from Great Brittan. He wrote anonymously, yet addressed the public as he spoke out about his beliefs. The first pamphlet he published, influencing independence from Brittan, was called Common Sense
Samuel Longhorn Clemens, or better known as Mark Twain is recognized for his novels set in his adolescence (America 's Story from America 's Library). Mark Twain was born on November 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri and was the sixth of seven children. At the age of four, Mark Twain moved to a small frontier town in Hannibal, Missouri, on the banks of the Mississippi River with his family. Years later, on April 21, 1910 Mark Twain died in Redding, Connecticut in his sleep. Mark Twain’s purpose for writing his novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was to provide a clear view of the culture and lifestyle during the period of the novel.
Mark Twain was born on November 30, 1835 under the name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens as “the sixth living child of John and Jane Clemens” in the town of Florida, Monroe County, Missouri (Cox 7). While there his father operated a general store and tried fruitlessly to create an invention to bring him riches. Therefore, before long, the store failed and John Clemens moved the family to Hannibal, Missouri which Mark Twain would make famous. Little Sam, as he was called in his younger years, was never particularly close to him family with the exception of his mother who he greatly admired and looked up to. At this time Twain five siblings, his three brothers “Orion, Benjamin, and Henry, and his [two] sisters, Pamela and Mary” (Cox 9).
Mark Twain was a writer whose works revolved around his childhood experiences growing up on the Mississippi River. The main source of his writing was the time he spent in Hannibal, Missouri as a young boy. He also used his childhood friends in many of his work, such as modeling the character Sid in Huck Finn after his brother Henry. Twain also used the happy times in his life to express his feeling in his writings. Twain used the trials of his life to make his works humorous and all-time American classics.
Mark Twain, originally born as Samuel Langhorne Clemens, was the sixth child of a family of eight. Born to John and Jane Clemens on November 30, 1835, Twain was born in the small town of Florida, Missouri. At the age of four, Mark Twain and his family then relocated to Hannibal in the hope of drastically improving their living conditions. He later died of heart disease in Redding, Connecticut on April 21,1910. By lineage, Twain was of Southern decent, as both of his parents' birthplaces were that of Virginia. Slaveholding in the small community of Hannibal, with only a population of 2000 at the time, provided a variety of both a rugged lifestyle mixed with southern tradition. With a lifestyle previously mentioned, these played as a major influence in his major writings, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) was born on November 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri, which was two months sooner than expected. At this time Missouri was a slave holding state. However, Twain's father, a local storeowner, was against slavery in all forms and instilled this belief in his son at a young age. Twain 's hometown was small. He describe it as having two main roads only 100 yards long with a population of no more than 50 people. In fact so small that with a good tail wind you could spit from one end to the other (www.asahi-net.or.jp/~XA3K-soy/mt/mtpage.htm). As a young boy he dreamed of a life in a better place, filled with adventure. This was the life he led. He was taught to write as a child by his mother. Finding that he enjoyed it, he decided to make it his career.
Mark Twain, the famous American author, known as the “Father of American Literature” and best known for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was born on the 30th of November in 1835. Born with the name Samuel Langhorne Clemens, he chose to be called under the pen name of Mark Twain. Clemens worked along the Mississippi River early in his life. “Mark Twain” was a measuring term used to describe how deep the water was along the river. After years of work at the Mississippi River, he turned to working as a journalist. He became known nationally when his humorous tall tale, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”, was published in November of 1865, in a New York Weekly, The Saturday Press. Later he became famous for more works such as Innocents Abroad, Roughing IT, The Prince and the Pauper, Life on the Mississippi, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Pudd’nhead Wilson,
The Inferno written by Dante Alighieri is an epic about his journey through Hell. In Dante’s representation of Hell contains nine circles containing different sins each with a more severe punishment than the last. In these increasingly terrifying scenarios, he encounters many ironic punishments and often has discussions with a person amidst the torment. Dante is accompanied by a guide (Virgil) who acts as the mentor. The two travel through hell in hopes of reaching Heaven. While Dante walks as a bystander in the terrors of hell, he begins to commit sins himself, although towards the sinners which he encounters he still is admitted into heaven. While Dante occasionally sins throughout his journey, he usually meets the sinners with compassion and pity, but Virgil meets them with the opposite and views them in disgust. While they may treat them any way they want, the one which causes them the most torment is God, which Dante himself views cruel at times.These incongruities and travesties, bring the morality of the Catholic system of condemnation into question.