Essay Sample on History Repeats Itself

“History repeats itself”(George Elliot) is a quote that can be proven true throught the actions perpetrated by men in not only disffernt subjects but also different time periods too. Change has been what drives men for hundreds of years, from the beggining of America to the civil war, to world wars to present day we can see a reapting pattern of change leading to conflict, no matter the motives of war; power, land, revenge, or revolution, change is usually at the root. The problem that can be seen when analyzing history is morals, right or wrong. The question or answer to history isnt about morals as it is about human nature, the behavior of men throught history, that is where this quote comes into play. History has infact repeated itself many times, more than one person might think and possibly in more forms too. Firstly, a prime example of change causing war is with the Native Americans, the English people started to colonize on indigenous land, soon enforcing laws, creating problems and implementing a leering sense of superiority. The pilgrim people were the newcomers, the visitors, except instead of adapting to life with the Native people they tried to wash it out, and with that exterminate the traditions, culture and way of life. Another example can be seen with slavery, african american people being bought and sold was no way of life, many people could see this flaw. Soon slavery would be abloished however this threated many people, mostly southern land owners, politicians and the slave trade industry, essentially leading to the Civil War. Most people prefer to argue the morality of war through the motives and perspectives they see in the timline of the conflict yet human nature in combination with behavioral patterns is not a common topic. Although undicussed, human nature has a gigantic role in history and its politics, the basis for war no matter morality has a frequent theme appertaining to tolerance for change and not to mention the fact that fear of political and societal reform has resulted in the failure of compromise to end wars and violence alike. Therefore it is human nature coupled with primitive behavior that can connect history with modern day through the disdain and reluctantness for revolution.

First off, around the time of the colonization of the new land there are settlers, men, women and children, coming to America to build towns and make a life for themselves. They have encountered the Native American people who they believe to be savages with little intelligence, this started the superiority complex that these Englishmen acquired. Since the Natives do not wear white cotton shirts, speak the proper english language or live in houses then they can be deemed ill of intelligence and savages. In reality these Natives just had a different culture and life, they were not savages and they were not even violent, untill provoked by their hostile invanders, the english. Another important factor was religion, the Native poeple were forced to assimilate to christianty or else they would be enslaved, this cuased a uprising called the Pueblo Revolt. This quote from Charles Wilson Hackett, Revolt of the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico and Otermin's Attempted Reconquest, 1680,“break up and burn the images of the holy Christ, the Virgin Mary and the other saints, the crosses, and everything pertaining to Christianity, and that they burn the temples, break up the bells, and separate from the wives whom God had given them in marriage and take those whom they desired” can show the violence that occured from the revolt. This example of violence was not committed by Natives because they are savages instead because they were being forced to change their ways, specificly religion which is a major cause for conflict considering how sentimental and personal it is. Furthermore, there have been many instances of Native American and white conflict many of which led to the slaughter of the indigenous people especailly since they did not have the advancements in weapons like the settlers did.On the other hand, later on in history one of the most famous wars, the Civil War, is a prime example of reforms leading to violence, this can be seen in the politics and society of the era along with the aftermath and reconstruction. The main reasons for the civil war was the abolition of slavery which the north supported but the south stongly disagreed with due to the fact that slave trade and labor was a huge part of their economy. The south belived that slavery is just the way things are do not need to be changed, they mainly fought for the “preservation” of their way of life. This excerpt from a speech by former vice president of the confederation, Alexander H Stephens, “No citizen is deprived of life, liberty, or property, but by the judgment of his peers under the laws of the land. The great principle of religious liberty, which was the honor and pride of the old constitution, is still maintained and secured. All the essentials of the old constitution, which have endeared it to the hearts of the American people, have been preserved and perpetuated” explains in his own words what the south is fighting for, preservation. This piece of evidence clearly states how the south fought to keep their traditional ways of life or in other words, fought to prevent a change in their society. From the passage above are the words “maintain and secured” and “preserved and perpetuated”, perfect examples to support the southern fear for change as well as support the claim that it is human nature to resort to violence instead of adaptation in times of change. Overall it is not always the morality of the conflict but rather the human nature of society and the majority of people to defend and maintain their ways.

 In contrast there are also many who like change, maybe even need change, in this case these people are the northerners. Although there was a wide variety of viewpoints from pro-slavery to neutral to anti-slavery it is safe to say that there was a vast amount of men, women and formly enlaved who were ready to fight for their cause, their aspired way of life. The difference between the two sides, north and south, is that in the south, slavery was working but in the north slavery was just a societal set back. So the motives for change werent as much about morality as it was about the future, securing a safe future for generations to come and putting an end to a far too long standing tradition that was no longer needed, or wanted. However in the south it was much different, slavery was working, boosting their econmy, and many people liked it so there was no want or need for the reconstruction. In fact the main clause for the southern states succession was that they did not want to be forced into changing anything, it wasnt that they wanted to spread slavery as much as they didnt want the “right” to property taken away from them. The meaning of revolution in of itself can counteract the idea that it is human nature to fear change, except the over arching principle of skeptisism and fear still dominates, this can be shown by just how long it took to abolish slavery, hundreads of years. This long period of time can reflect the doubt and hestitance to change, the revolution in the making that only finally surfaced many years after the fact. It can be argued that the reason this revolution took so many years is because the people's morals were not yet evolved but it could also be said that they were de-sensitized to the issue because that is the way it is and the way it will be, in essence, why change?

To recap, the violence seen in history books cannot be analyzed through morals but instead human nature specifically relating to the fear of change. In early American settlement times to the civil war era this pattern emerged and continues to maintain truth even in today's world even with knowing the storys of the past. In early America the Natives and whites could not maintain peace, this was because of their differences in culture, relligion, clothing and overall ways of life, as unproblematic as this might seem to some it is the root cause of war. The inability to adapt to change has stunted the growth of society since early colonial times although this isnt because of a personal vendetta between the whites and natives as people but instead human nature to be fearful of new customs, languages and people. The same thing can be seen in the civil war time period, the dismay for what change will bring whether it is good or bad, right or wrong. The south's intentions to preserve such an awful institution can be remembered for its inhumane ideals but really, the intent to preserve what they had, no matter the humanity, is the most human thing they could have done. There have been so many instances in which change has brought violence and fear but there have also been moments of revolution, defying human nature and instead advocating for change. Overall the nature of humanity throughout history has held steady and will most likely continue to stay along with patterns of rebellion and revolution.