Before we started our first unit in history class, I did not know anything about the reconstruction. I only knew about the beginning of the civil war up to when Abraham Lincoln was killed and then there was a huge gap in in history before westward expansion started. I think the reason for this is all of my history classes until this year have been very concentrated on the civil war itself because it was so important, but barely touched on the reconstruction of the South. One thing that we learned this unit that stood out to me was the fact that the north didn't push harder against segregation. I felt like congress turned their back to it because they did not want more conflict with the South. One things that I did know about the events during the reconstruction was that Lincoln was assassinated and the southerners weren't sad about it. I didn't know that Lincoln's death would effect them negatively in the long run.
I feel that it is important and beneficial for people to know and understand the history of the place that they live in. History is a series of lessons. Records are kept so the same mistakes aren't made twice. Huntsville's history is very important to the people who live here because it has made Huntsville an engineering and space exploration hub. It is also important that we understand that the south has had the worst education system throughout history so that we can strive to make it better.