Group Members: Mike Freedman and George Schiedmuller
Our topic is how belief in the great man theory has removed people from the true course of history. We will focus on specific examples of people in american history who might have recieved more or less credit for historical events and movements. We will use photo and video examples of these people to demonstrate why people have these misconceptions about them.
13 comments:
This seems like a really in-depth idea. You are probably going to need to do a lot of research. I look forward to seeing how you incorporate videos. I think pocahontas should get her credit
This topic may take a lot of research, but if you do it well, you will create a great argument. You could show people who created things but then someone else got credit for it later.
As a history major this topic really interests me, I would love to see what you have to say about it. What examples are you going to highlight?
Its a good topic... but the clarity of what your argument seems a bit vague to me. I'm interested to see what parts of history you guys believe need to be harped on a little more.
You are going to have to do a lot of research on this topic. Just remember not to turn it into a research paper or anything. Other than that, you will have a great project.
This is going to be a very interesting project and I am looking forward to the presentation.
In addition to what is said in the topic i would just like to clarify what the great man theory is. It is most often associated with 19th century historian Thomas Carlyle. Carlyle believed that the history of the world is nothing more than the biography of "great men". Mike and I agree that this is for the most part true, but unlike Carlyle, we think that it is a negative aspect of history.
Sam, there are many critiques on the great man theory. After doing some initial research I would like to add that most historians of the day rule out that there can be any single explanation for things are documented as they are. But, the criticisms on the theory are very interesting and show that many times a single historical figure has been glorified simply because stories need protagonists. When i limited my search to critiques on just the history of the American Revolution, i found some very interesting examples. For instance, Paul Revere's famous ride is fiction, Jefferson was not regarded to be the patriot that he is thought of now until Lincoln build him up, and that Patrick Henry never said, "Give me liberty or give me death!"
A history teacher in high school introduced this topic to me and it is fascinating. I picked it mostly because of how much out there is unknown. My teacher knew so much about the subject that people could bring up names and my teacher could dispute what they are credited for. People may think that it is hard to do this topic but I think there is a lot out of good examples out there.
George and Michael, the topic makes much more sense with the added explanations. It is so important to be specific in these topic proposals. It is too easy for others to dismiss or misunderstand a short and vague description.
There is a book called Lies My Teacher Told Me that may be helpful as you build your argument.
-Candace
This is a really interesting topic to chose and there are definitely a lot of examples of it happening throughout history.
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