Throughout my time in US History II this year, various lessons specifically from chapters

11 and 13 impacted me tremendously in a positive light. As much as the Women’s Rights

Movement and the Great Depression were heavily frowned upon, much of what we learned
throughout that history and time period laid out a map for the modern day United States as well
as the young adults in our generation. The two paved a way for understanding among how to
treat each other with respect, as well as ourselves, and how to care for money as it is one of the
very things that can carry someone from place to place. At a very young age, we were raised
thinking that “money is happiness” and can get you wherever you want in life. Quickly, people
have come to debacle that saying and combat it with the idea that money gets no one anywhere,
instead it is the person themself that will. As true as this is, I have learned that it takes both a
person’s righteousness as well as understanding how to balance money in order to conquer the
hardest parts of life.
Chapter 13 talks about the difficulties faced during the Great Depression and what the
New Deal would mean for the citizens of the United States during the 30s. After a soaring
success of stocks during the Roaring Twenties led to a decline and eventual collapse of the stock
prices on Black Tuesday, the majority of how the United States functioned began fluctuating.
Chapter 13 of the book explained that with the lack of money after the war,

“…the demand for American crops fell sharply. Despite this drop, postwar production
remained high because of increasingly mechanized farm equipment and more intensive
farming methods. Farms were getting bigger and yielding bumper crops at harvest.
However, farmers were failing to sell off their huge crop surpluses and to pay the debts
they owed banks and other institutions.” (518)

This decrease in just some of the United States’ functionality describes how essential money has
become in life throughout history. I recall my 5th grade teacher explaining to my class that
money comes and goes but in order to maintain it, we needed to focus on our school grades
because they were our “version of a paycheck”. Thinking back to what she expressed, she
explained it perfectly. As much as money is not the only thing that can buy somebody true
happiness, it still plays a role in earning that. The type of person somebody is also heavily
applies to this happiness. For this reason, showing self-respect to oneself as well as to others is
something that many people need to learn and understand as it can get anyone far and is a basic
right that is deserved by everyone.
 This same teacher, Mrs. Green, had explained to us the importance of understanding our
background and to refrain from discriminating against anyone. Chapter 11 had especially stood
out to me as the suffrage movement that the women at the time went through has led to much
change in today’s society in the United States. Without their efforts and losses, people like
myself and my female friends and family would not be here today, in the same place that we are
or with the same privileges that we have today.
Mrs. Green had given us a fair chance at understanding everyone in that classroom,
regardless of color, religion, or ideals. She then gave us the ability to understand the pain and
effort that people had previously gone through to bring every person in that room to where they
were today, and gave us the opportunity to look at each one of us after that. None of us saw any
difference as to us, we were just kids waiting for the recess bell to ring. Looking back at what she
showed us know, and taking the knowledge that I grasped from my US History II class this year,
I am eternally grateful for the vision that I am now able to see in how each one of us have
benefited the other and come from a long line of blood, sweat, and tears that were poured into
making a fair world for our generation.