Portfolio Reflection

Stephen Lupo

History 151

April 23, 2017

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Stephen Lupo

Professor Kimberly Lark

History 151

April 23, 2017

Portfolio Reflection

Over the past few months, I have learned much about early United States history. I have

become educated on serval different things that have influenced and changed some of the people

I have researched. The idea or principle that I believe has influenced various individuals the most

in early American history is within politics and bureaucracies. Politics and bureaucracies have

been an underlying factor in the development of early American society. Three prominent people

that used politics and bureaucracies to radically change our early American culture for the better

are George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson.

Through the use of politics and bureaucracies, George Washington was able to lay the

building blocks for government bettering the early American society. Washington led the United

States to a better society by becoming the first United States president. He was able to leave a

legacy and create a foundation for a peaceful transfer of power (Module 11 2). President

Washington used politics and bureaucracies to essentially create of one of the greatest countries

today. He not only transformed early American society through politics and bureaucracies, but

also todays society. President Washington changed society through defining what it meant to be

a president. He established the presidential cabinet or bureaucracies and instituted the three

departments of federal government (2). All-in-all, President George Washington used different

forms of politics and bureaucracies to completely change and craft the society and life of the

newly formed country; the United States. George Washington was not the only person to

influence society with politics and bureaucracies, but also Alexander Hamilton.
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Alexander Hamilton was one of the greatest early American founders of his day.

Hamilton was one of President George Washingtons cabinet members, the secretary of the

treasury (2). Hamilton showed that being a part of the presidential cabinet meant that change

could occur. For example, Hamilton proposed a national bank and obtained the support of

President Washington to create the National Bank (5). Hamilton showed that things could be

done on his behalf as a part of bureaucracy. Hamilton also demonstrated that his life would be a

great basis for a musical to be written about him. Alexander Hamilton used politics and

bureaucracies to better the early American society to define the significance and power of any

bureaucratic member of the presidential cabinet. He used politics to get his national bank

approved in order to try and help the young hurting American economy (5). He also was very

involved in politics to the point that he even denounced President Adams and lobbied for

President Jefferson (Module 12 5). In addition to Alexander Hamilton using politics and

bureaucracy to affect the early American society, Thomas Jefferson was able to make an impact

on it as well using the same theme.

Thomas Jefferson was a unique character within early American history because of his

diverse political resume. Thomas Jefferson was a cabinet member for two presidents, George

Washington and John Adams. Jefferson was a part of President George Washingtons cabinet as

secretary of state and was Vice President to President John Adams (4). After serving apart of two

cabinets, Jefferson became the third president of the United States. President Jefferson used

politics and bureaucracies to better American society through his foreign affairs with France in

purchasing the Louisiana Purchase. President Jefferson is also considered one of the greatest

thinkers within American politics (Module 13 3). This is because he changed early America

through adding onto the definition of a president of the United States. Jefferson took stances to

protect civil liberties during his second term in office which has never been done by a president
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of his time (3). Overall, President Thomas Jefferson used politics and bureaucracies to change

and help develop early America through his terms as a cabinet member and his terms as

president.

Because George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson bettered the

early American society through politics and bureaucracies, every person needs to study and

pursue history. It (history) allows us to think critically about narratives that have developed over

time and, in doing so, provides us with a format to develop the meaningful interpretations

necessary to examine the events that shape modern society. Michael Postma. This quote

shows that people are able to learn from the past to form a better present society. For example,

without the format that was developed from George Washington the presidency would have

fallen apart. This would be the same for cabinet members if Alexander Hamilton would not have

pushed the national bank. He also used history to better society was through his reflections given

on the human nature. Hamilton used rhetorical questions that had a basis from the pasts of

Sparta, Rome, Carthage, Venice, Holland, and Britain (Hodges 8). As well as Hamilton, Thomas

Jefferson was able to learn from the past presidents to do the best job he possibly could and

promote civil freedom for all. History allowed him to learn from the mistakes of the past two

presidents and create a better society for everyone (Postma 1). Lastly, all of these men could not

have been able to better society through politics and bureaucracies with an ignorance of history.

But ignorance of history-that is, absent or defective collective memory-does deprive us of the

best available guide for public action, especially in encounters with outsiders, whether the

outsiders are another nation, another civilization, or some special group within national borders.

(McNeill 1). If these men did not know anything about their history background; then there

would be no way for them to have bettered the early American society the way they did.

Altogether, I have learned an enormous amount about politics and bureaucracies through
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the creation of the United States government. I have read many different articles about how

individuals like George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson have used

politics and bureaucracies to better society. I believe that from my knowledge obtained from this

semester about politics and bureaucracies I will be able to become more of an asset to society. I

will be able to vote in the upcoming election of 2018, and through my research I will be able to

make a more educated decision on where to cast my vote. Because of my newly found

knowledge of the political and bureaucratic picture, I have full confidence that whoever I cast my

vote for will be able to improve our society to its fullest potential. All-in-all, I have learned that if

we research our past or history we will be able to not make the same mistakes that our country or

even we will come across in our daily life.

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Works Cited

Hodges, Blair D. "Hodges- Final Essay, On Rhetorical Uses of History to Understand the

Present." Academia.edu. Academia, 12 May 2012. Web. 19 Apr. 2017.

McNeill, William H. "Why Study History?" American Historical Association. American

Historical Association, 1985. Web. 19 Apr. 2017.

Postma, Michael. "What Can History Teach Us Today?" ASCD. ASCD Express, 2011. Web. 19

Apr. 2017.

"Module 11: Unsettled Domestic Issues." Module 11: Domestic Issues (n.d.): n. pag. Schoolcraft

E-Text. Schoolcraft College. Web. 19 Apr. 2017.

"Module 12: Political Turmoil." Module 12: Political Turmoil (n.d.): n. pag. Schoolcraft E-Text.

Schoolcraft College. Web. 19 Apr. 2017.

"Module 13: Jeffersonian America." Module 13: Jefferson (n.d.): n. pag. Schoolcraft E-Text.

Schoolcraft College. Web. 19 Apr. 2017.