The Importance of History

Maddie DeGroot
History 134
June 21, 2016

Today wouldnt be possible without yesterday. Modern times could not have been
obtained unless we experienced history. History is a time that has taught people today several
lessons and it has helped to put people on the path to success. Throughout this course, I gained
knowledge about a variety of ancient times and each one has made an impact on me now. History
is important because it teaches values to people but also informs them on how the world used to
be and how people used to live and how they adapted and changed overtime. History is a
lesson: a lesson of intentions, movements, experiments, and human production; a lesson that
builds integrity and character within our children.i It helps us take the events that happened in
the past and apply them to how we live today. When we fully understand history and the way
people thought back then, we can fully use their ideas to further our world today.iiHistory is a
beneficial topic to study and discover how people adjusted to technology, politics, economics,
religion, education, and military tactics. I believe that this class offered me a thorough
explanation of the topics listed above and helped me learn the lessons I gained from studying
ancient world history.
As I reflect on this class, I recognize the true importance of learning about history. Each time
period I learned about was detailed and educational and helped me to realize the value of history
and the people that lived so long ago. Each persons story back then was meaningful and
necessary to create history like they did. Their experiences will now influence the people today
and the generations to come. Although some individuals and groups of people were not perfect in
the world of ancient history, we can still learn great lessons from their accomplishments and
mistakes.
Each time period was unique because I think they all had separate purposes. Some were
more of military times that involved wise and great leaders, while some put a lot of emphasis on

education, and even others that focused on religion and living their life for what they believe in.
Out of all of these options, I think that technology had a large impact on our lives today. Without
the discoveries of some of the processes, tools, and ideas that the people had back then, we
would not be where we are today. Several technologies have revolutionized over time, but the
beginning of them is so crucial to the way that they change.
While reading about the first beings called hominids, I noticed their exploration of
technology. There were different kinds of these hominids that adapted over time, and they
increasingly gained more intelligence and knowledge for daily activities. I saw this specifically
during the time of the Homo Neanderthals. These creatures lived in Europe and southwestern to
central Asia and are the closest extinct human relative.iii They lived such a simple life, but
each day brought new challenges to which they had to find solutions to. Although they were not
as smart as humans, they did have enough knowledge to discover technology that could help
them through their daily life. Neanderthals were some of the first to use sets of tools, control fire,
live in shelters, make and wear clothing, and they also were skilled hunters and ate plants for
food.iv They were very successful at learning about the basics of life and these discoveries still
live on today. If it werent for them, we would not know how to wear clothes or build a shelter.
We wouldnt know where to get our food from and wouldnt know how to prepare or make
anything. David M. Perry discusses politics and the election of the next pope in his article, but it
is still relevant to the time of the hominids. He says that humans need to be passionate and
committed so that we can be ready to respond to the unexpected events that life generates.v I
feel as though Neanderthals were hit by life, and they hit it right back with all of the useful
resources they uncovered. Life was probably always unexpected for them, but they learned how

to change each day in order to fulfil their needs. Although this time period and these creatures
lived several thousand years ago, their impact on the world today is very large.
A second civilization that I observed to be very successful in their technological advancements
was the Minoan civilization. This empire was very established and it flourished in the middle
Bronze Age on the Mediterranean island of Crete.vi They had a large impact on the western
European civilization because of their advancements in unique art and architecture. One of their
biggest achievements in technology was the Palace of Knossos. The legend behind this building
describes the myth about Theseus and the Minotaur. The minotaur was a half man half bull
creature which was created when King Minos won a battle against his brother and received a
white bull from Poseidon. After receiving it, he became selfish and kept the bull for himself
instead of sacrificing it as he was told to do. Poseidon punished the king for this action by having
his wife fall in love with the bull and create a half man half bull creature.vii The palace of
Knossos was then created by the great architect Daedalus which exhibited a labyrinth in which
the minotaur was kept. This type of technology amazes me. It is crazy to witness the creativeness
of the people back then and very unique that they were able to form a labyrinth that housed the
creature and that it could never escape from the palace. This technology supported many
architects today because of how perfectly designed it was. It taught many people that buildings
can be formed in shaped in any way and this brought civilizations in the future to accomplish
many things.
Lastly, I would like to share how impressed I am with one more civilization from this course.
The Egyptians were very talented and created many unbelievable things. Their most prized
achievement comes from the building of the pyramids. It is incredible to see how they used
technology like tools, the land, and other resources to build monstrous pyramids that no one else

has ever created. The Egyptian civilization was home to many great architects that had several
fantastic ideas. This empire had pharaohs as leaders. One of the pharaohs named King Djoser
requested that an architect designed funerary monument.viiiHe went off to create the first pyramid
any one has ever seen. The Great Pyramid was built in later years and was used to house leaders
of the time. I think what impresses me the most about this time is the distinct idea they had to
form a pyramid. No one had ever seen a triangle building before and it just proved how far
advanced the empire was in technology. They knew exactly what tools to use and they used them
in such a way that others could be influenced by them. They also were the great writers of
hieroglyphs. This language that they wrote in is still seen around the world today as people use
pictures to write words. In an article by William H. McNeill, he notes that without individual
memory, a person literally loses his or her identity, and would not know how to act in encounters
with others.ix I believe he is talking about things like hieroglyphics when he says this. We
wouldnt know how to act if we didnt know how to read or write or describe ideas. The
language of hieroglyphics is just one of the many technologies that allows us to express
ourselves. The technology of several thousand years ago is still alive and thriving today, and that
is why I think this empire showed a large amount of talent in technology.
Over the course of this class, I have become more aware of the meaning of history. It may
have occurred several years ago and seem pointless, but I now realize that history can provide us
with lessons to improve our lives today. If it wasnt for the history of the world, we would be
nowhere.

i Michael Postma writes this article to describe the importance of history and what
it means.
ii Blair Hodges notes various ways on how to understand the present by first
understanding the past.
iii This website explores the differences and similarities between different
creatures during the beginning of time.
iv You can also learn more about the history of these creatures on the website.
v This article talks about the election of the pope, but still is very useful.
vi This website also offers a timeline of this civilization.
vii An in depth description of the myth can be found on this website.
viii This website also discusses the other time periods of Egypt.
ix McNeill describes the different levels of understanding history.

Annotated Bibliography

Cartwright, Mark. Minoan Civilization. Ancient History Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 June 2016.
This article talked about the background of the Minoan Civilization and briefly touches on the Greek
mythology of it. It was helpful to get a little information to add to my paper.
History.com Staff. "Ancient Egypt." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 23

June

2016.
This article about Ancient Egypt describes the different time stages of the period. It was very helpful in
describing the building of the pyramids.
Hodges, Blair. "Hodges- Final Essay, On Rhetorical Uses of History to Understand the
Present."Academia.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 June 2016.
This essay was clearly thought out and descriptive. It was the opinion of a student on why we need to
understand the past in order to understand the present. I agreed with most of his points and I thought
this article was very helpful for my paper.
Mark, Joshua, J. Knossos. Ancient History Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 June 2016.
This article described the legend behind the Palace of Knossos. It was very helpful in my research
findings.
Mark, Joshua J. Theseus and the Minotaur: More than a Myth? Ancient History Encyclopedia.
N.p., n.d. Web. 23 June 2016.
This article shared the legend of the Minotaur and how that impacted the building of the Palace of
Knossos. This article was very helpful and I gained a lot of knowledge from it.
McNeill, William H. "Why Study History? (1985)." Why Study History? (1985). N.p., n.d. Web.
23 June 2016.

This article gives the opinion of McNeill and his thoughts about why we should study history. It was
very beneficial and I enjoyed learning about the different levels of understanding history.

Perry, David M. "How History Can Help Us Predict the next Pope." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media
Company, n.d. Web. 23 June 2016.
This article had a lot to do with politics and the election of the next pope. It talked about how it is good
to have a knowledge of history before voting. It wasnt very helpful because it was more about politics,
but I did get some information from it.
Postma, Michael. "What Can History Teach Us Today?" ASCD Express 6.22 -. N.p., n.d. Web.
23 June 2016.
This source shares the thoughts that Postma has about the importance of learning about history today. It
was very helpful and gave me a lot of new insight to how I approach learning about history.
Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. "Homo Neanderthalensis | The Smithsonian
Institution's Human Origins Program." Homo Neanderthalensis | The Smithsonian
Institution's Human Origins Program. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 June 2016.
This article talked about the hominid Neanderthal and its history and discoveries. It also talked about
when it was discovered and where it lived. It was very helpful.