DorisAnn Group1 Blog 2



Intro

My experience in this presentation was noticeably different from my first presentation. Unlike the past presentation where I taught the class, this presentation was simply informing them about specific figures. With this presentation we were supposed to research changemakers through a specific era. Each person in my group was responsible for researching and presenting a different influential figure, and the person I chose was James Madison. At first, I wasn’t really sure what to think of James Madison as he wasn't the flashiest name compared to some of the louder personalities in early American history. In fact I originally was going to choose Alexander Hamilton. But the more I learned, the more I realized how deeply his ideas shaped the foundations of the United States. Preparing and presenting James Madison didn't only just teach to me about American democracy. It also showed me how collaborative work, responsibility and seeing my classmates perspectives across the different periods can completely change how I see history.

My Group

When our teacher presented us with this assignment I found myself excited. I also felt that it would be easy to complete. I personally wanted to do the 1900s because that was the time of women suffrage. However the choice was not mine alone and by the time that every other group picked their period the constitutional authors were all that was left. 

The period my group presented was the constitutional Authors. We all chose our own authors from a list I created. The authors of my group decided on was James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, George Mason, George Washington, and Rod Sherman. These were some of the constitutional authors that had the biggest impact. I personally chose James Madison. I wasn't entirely sure how to feel about James Madison because I never really heard about him. But when I started to research him more, I realized how much influence he actually had. I learned about his leadership at the Constitutional Convention, his push for the Bill of Rights, and his influence on the structure of the early U.S. government. It surprised me how much of today’s political system can be traced back to his ideas. 

When he came to prepare my presentation I had to decide what was important enough to discuss.  I chose to focus on three main contributions: his role in writing the Constitution, his advocacy for the Bill of Rights, and his impact on early American political structure. I find that these points best explains why he is a changemaker. Along with discussing the achievements and goals that he had. I also felt that it was important to discuss Madison's personal life team. I included topics of where he grew up, his schooling, his motivation, and his family. Preparing my part wasn’t always easy, though. There was a lot of information to sort through, and I had to make sure my section connected smoothly with what my group members were presenting. So when it came time to choose a video to input in my presentation, I decided to focus on his personal relationship with others.


Classmates

Beyond my group presentation we have the rest of my classmates. My classmates were split into three other groups, each one focusing on their own time period. The time periods of my classmates ranged from the 1800s, 1900s and the 2000s. Their group covered a wide range of change makers of social activists, political leaders, and innovators that shape our society to this very day. Even though the eras were different, each group showed how people from different time periods can influence the world in different ways. While others were defined by social movements, others by political transformations and some even by technological or cultural shifts. Observing the wide variety of change makers across the centuries help me understand that change doesn't come from just one type of person or just a single movement in time. It comes from many people and each of them contributes something unique to our history.

What Changed

This presentation changed the way I see history. Before this presentation, I found historical figures like the constitutional authors as distant and hard to connect with. There was nothing I had in common with them. Learning about James Madison and how his accomplishments started out as ideas made me feel more related to him, like he was more easier to connect with. James Madison made me realize how much influence a person's ideas have. It helped me understand that history is a list of events. It is a decision that  someone takes the time, the dedication, and the risk to shape their own goals. It also helped me understand and see how complicated the early decisions that the constitutional authors had to make. My classmates presenting changemakers from different periods changed my view on what a change maker is. Before I thought changemakers were just people who fought in wars or civil rights, people who went through more physical struggles in life that could have led to death. But listening to my classmates made me realize that not all change makers are about going through a physical and social struggle. It could also be an internal struggle. It made me realize that no matter what status you came from, background you came from, you can still make a change and difference.

Conclusion

To wrap this up, I learned a lot from this presentation. Learning about James Madison and all the other change makers led me to realize how powerful ideas can be and how just one step forward can make a huge difference. Along with working with my group it taught me how important communicating and flexibility is. How to step out of my comfort zone and take charge when things need to be done. In the end this assignment reminded me that history is built from many different people contributing from their own time. Understanding this makes me feel more appreciation for the individuals who impacted our world.


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