In his urgency to argue how important he is, Stoll takes it upon himself to redeem Adams in every possible way. In doing this, Stoll does not fully acknowledge accusations of Adams’s roles in inciting mob violence and manipulating the masses with false propaganda. There has always been debate on Samuel Adams’s character and intentions, and Stoll consistently asserts that Samuel Adams is more innocent than guilty. While Stoll is effective in prompting a newfound sense
The life of Samuel Adams is shadowed by many critics and skeptics of his tactical uses of “propaganda” and “mob violence” (Bradford) however Puls doesn’t even acknowledge these concerns. Repeatedly throughout the book Puls assumes the thoughts that motivated Samuel Adams’s decisions and tactics. Preferring this biography to remain purely factual forced me to disagree with Puls opinions pasted between the factual events of Samuel Adams’s life. Not only does Puls heavily lace his opinions into the book, but his opinions remain perfectly optimistic of Samuel Adams’s actions and motivations without even acknowledging other possible motivations. The result is a clearly bias overview of Samuel Adams, making him appear as a purely unflawed individual.
Howard Zinn uses historical writings to explain an imbalance in objectivity, perspective, and justice. History books are written by the victors not the vanquished which makes the perspective of the story teller biased. As the story of Christopher Columbus he has been hailed as a hero especially in public schools and recognized as an historical occasion to have a day off granted by the government. Many as we grow more educational find out this sinister legacy that was swept under the carpet because there is evidence that supports while in the “new world” he destroyed the native peoples of islands he explored and it devastated native populations. There is no justice being done when the perspective does not reveal a whole truth when the objective
For instance, when she writes about Martin Guerre’s impotence, she cites the sources that give insight to his family relations, his impotence (and that he was bewitched), and how Bertrandes’ parents tried to push her into annulling the marriage. This information is documented in Coras’ court files. Yet Davis “fills” in her own interpretation and guesswork to make the narrative of Martin Guerre’s importence much more compelling; she writes about how he was bullied as a child because of his name, his difficulty of finding a male identity in a family dominated by women, and his conflicted partaking in the French folk customs. This example illustrates how Davis uses general historical knowledge and facts to strengthen her arguments about the individual
By leading the readers to the main story by telling its backstory, Hochschild effectively supplements his argument of these effects of European imperialism. As Hochschild states briefly in the beginning sentences of the introduction, “The beginnings of this story lie far back in time, and its reverberations still sound today… a central incandescent moment, one that illuminates long decades before and after, is a flash of… moral recognition” (Hochschild 1). He maintains this claim throughout the story by recounting the devastating atrocities that only occurred because of the greedy proclivities of European empires in that time period. Although the book did not maintain a complete chronological order, Hochschild’s fundamental thesis was still manifestly supported and
Moral Ambiguity and History within The Assault Harry Mulisch’s The Assault is a self-proclaimed “story of an incident” (3) wherein “the rest [of the events are] a postscript” (55). The incident in question is the murder of Anton Steenwijk’s parents, and the postscript refers to the future, where Anton uncovers details relating to the incident. Despite Mulisch’s definitive distinction between events, however, the incident itself is convoluted and its details shift over the span of the work. Through the development of major and supporting characters, Mulisch brings forth a diverse range of perspectives and reconstructs the history of the incident, thereby exploring the motif of moral ambiguity within The Assault.
Indifference is the lack of interest, concern, or sympathy for a subject. It is one of the many problems man suffers from today. Both Niemoller and Wiesel’s works talk about indifference. They discuss apathy, about the lack of interest for your fellow man. Niemoller 's poem, “First they Came…” and Wiesel’s speech, “The Perils of Indifference” are quite similar in terms of the message.
As the family returned to power, he was dismissed and wrote what he was best known for, The Prince. The book is examined the imperfect conduct of
In order to be objective, Haskell believes you have to be able to be ascetic and detachment from your own personal bias and deny yourself. In the conclusion Haskell discusses historians that aren’t objective,
Many historians have also made the same exact claims. She explains, “The book's tone and presentation betray a journalistic obsession with “the scoop.” Getting the scoop can be the life’s blood of journalism. It does not work so well for writing history, which is not always (or almost ever, really) about discovering things previously unknown.” She then goes on to state that he did not find out information that was entirely unknown.
The struggle for truth has arguably inspired and produced the greatest achievements in human history. Truth is only attainable through change, and to change is to be open to truth. History's overwhelming presence of biases and dogmatism has contributed to stifled progress and deprived men from pursuing the truth. To oppose a viewpoint contrary to one that is strongly believed in, is characteristic of humans; however, few are open to change, even when confronted by the status quo. If observed, further, it is found that views which substitute the consensus for an objective standard have certain consequences which few would accept.
Sir Thomas More’s talent for writing has been influential for when learning about the early modern period in the United Kingdom. Having mastered writing in his lifetime, More’s works have withstood the test of time and are continually studied in order to understand the time in which they were written. More’s “Utopia”, which was originally published in 1516, is a short book written about political philosophy as seen through More’s eyes. One aspect of Book I of “Utopia” that really stood out was the heading entitled Military Affairs and the way in which the people and characters within the book viewed war. “Was, as an activity fit only for beats and yet practiced by no kind of beast so constantly as by man, they regard with utter loathing” is
On the opposite end, there are those who question the triumphant representations of Napoleon and dispute the claims that his success was based upon his conquest of Europe. One such historian, in his 1997 work titled, Napoleon, Geoffrey Ellis reassesses the glorious depictions of Napoleon and the nature of Napoleonic power to assert his claim that Napoleon’s true legacy was left by his lasting political endeavors. In an attempt to prove his argument, Ellis begins his work by presenting Napoleon’s upbringing and military background. He claims Napoleon’s Corsican background and French education were key components in molding his personality that would later define his imperial
Objectivism Pros • Advocates for “independent thinking, productiveness, justice, honesty, and self-responsibility” (Biddle, 2014). o As educators we encourage independent thinking and when it comes to online learning, one will need to be able to think independently as sometimes the course will be asynchronous. • Objectivism advocates scientific advancement, industrial progress, objective (as opposed to “progressive” or faith-based) education” (Biddle, 2014). • “Every principle is derived from the observable facts of reality and the demonstrable requirements of human life and happiness” (Biddle, 2014). o I feel that my district is doing this currently with their “visible learning walkthroughs.”
However, his true morals are revealed when the narrator shows signs of guilt like “My head ached, and I fancied a ringing in my ears.” The narrator’s transition from superiority to guilt represents the reality that the acknowledgement of wrongdoings can either be done consciously or unconsciously, and that the latter has considerable negative
