HIST 2710

To me, America wouldn’t be the same as it is today without all the trials, wars, and other problems that have arisen. If one thing was either out of place in the time frames or had never happened, America would most likely be a very different place. Even though I believe most of the wars and problems were unnecessary since they caused many causalities and were mainly part of something political, America wouldn’t be the same without them.

When Custer had decided to attack the Indians, the Indians surrounded him and his men and killed them (Chapter 5, Source 8). What if Custer had killed off the Indians? What if he won the fight instead? The Indians would have lost their land much sooner, and it would have been possible that the land might have been taken over quicker, possibly influencing the extinction of some animals. Even though it may sound cheesy, a small change like this could be a major influence in today’s world.

Something bigger to discuss is the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. The fire in the factory caused one hundred and fifty four people to die. It was found that many of the shops did not have fire escapes, ladders, locked doors, etc. (Chapter 11, Source 6). Because of this fire, there were changes made regarding building safety. It is now required to have certain safety features in place in order to even be able to open a shop. If this fire never happened, think about the possible hazards we might have today.

Back when the internment camps (Executive Order No. 9066) had just been implemented, President Roosevelt thought he was doing the right thing by sending all Japanese-Americans to concentration camps (Source 8). Later, President Ford, in early 1976 officially terminated order 9066 which put an end to any possible future internment camps for Japanese Americans. He affirmed that we should not be treating our fellow Americans like aliens. Some Japanese were born on American soil while some migrated from Japan, but that didn’t mean they weren’t Americans, because they were (Source 22). All Congress did was repay them some money and offer apologies, but that will never make up for what happened to the Japanese (Source 26). Even though this was wrong and inhuman, Congress should now make sure that something like that will never happen again

From these three examples, it is possible one can already see that without the experiences, we wouldn’t have certain rules in place today. We also might have a very different kind of government today. We could even be part of Russia’s government or have a dictatorship or something worse. Many people say that most of these wars and trials were cruel and inhumane, and in some ways, I do agree with them. However, as I’ve previously stated, without these experiences, we wouldn’t be where we are today.