The First Crusades:

Western Expansion of European Power

Hannah Hodson, Lillianna Gonzales, Huilin Chen Senior Divison Group Website

When deciding on a topic for National History Day, we looked into the world of medieval times. We knew that we wanted a topic involving the Crusades, but we were unsure of which. We found the topic of the First Crusades to be the most interesting. We liked the topic because it had a good historical background, and lasted for hundreds of years. It is definitely an event that has affected history and the spread of religion. Our group began our research by dividing the work. Each of us was responsible for finding three sources. One of the books we found was called Historical Atlas of the Crusades. We also investigated New York Times articles, and primary sources, such as letters written by the crusades themselves. Our group looked into movies, podcasts, and any other type of media to find background knowledge of the First Crusades. Midway through our research we collaborated on a thesis statement revolving around the expansion of Christianity and its impact. After finding all the information we required, we needed to decide on what form we wanted to present our research in. It was a unanimous decision between us; we wanted to make a website. We thought it would be best for people to understand our topic if they could interact with it. We used pictures and quotes to describe our topic, along with an interactive quiz. The format is easy to use and can allow anyone to learn about our subject without having to do a lot of reading. Our thesis is proved through quotes and images, not long paragraphs. Each of us took certain pages as a responsibility, and once again divided the work. We decided on an overall name for our website, The First Crusades: Western Expansion of European Power. With the theme being Turning Points in History, we believe our chosen topic very well suits the driving question. We discovered that without the movement of the First Crusades, history wouldnt have played out as it did. For example, the Christian religion would have never spread to as many places as it did. The crusaders were definitely people who impacted society, even to this day.