Source: Narrated by Zach Lamb
[MUSIC PLAYING] The early 21st century has been a time of growth and forward movement in many ways. But at the same time has already featured its fair share of significant events. The world changed for Americans on September 11, 2001 following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans. And during and after the financial crisis of 2008, millions of Americans lost their savings, homes, and jobs. In cities like Boston, San Bernardino, and Orlando, Americans continued to fall victim to terrorism and intolerance.
Such events make the 21st century seem dangerous. But it is also a time of courage, compassion, and acceptance. Americans commemorate the first responders who ran into the World Trade Center to save lives before the towers fell. Surrounding cities, neighborhoods, and schools accepted many refugees from New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina's devastation. In June 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that same sex marriage was a constitutional right, which reflected rapidly changing views towards gay rights and the LGBTQ community compared to 20 or 30 years ago.
In this world, the historical knowledge and critical thinking skills you've learned in this class are more important than ever. This class was not about memorizing key dates, events, and people, rather it equipped you with the questions, lenses, and perspectives that you can apply to better understand the world around you. By applying the skills and methods associated with the historian's practice, you can interpret different perspectives of the same event and distinguish between valid, objective sources, and invalid biased ones. You can also develop your own conclusions about current events and historical problems. And then express those conclusions clearly in debates and conversations.
Meanwhile, the historians job never ends. Even though we'll have to wait several decades before drawing objective, comprehensive conclusions about the early 21st century, events continue to unfold and new sources are always being discovered. Just imagine how the historians practice might change in the future. For example, a historian investigating the Black Lives Matter movement will likely have to rely on Twitter feeds and other social media sources. How will we preserve these types of data sources?
To investigate the history of the 21st century, future historians might visit archives and libraries that contain rows of servers and computer screens rather than shelves of books and manuscript collections. Using both old and new sources, historians will continue to ask questions, investigate the past, develop conclusions, and tell the American story.
[MUSIC PLAYING]