Historical Methods

It is to be written in the form of a single essay/review using the three sources provided by your Professor. (1st)- Please listen first to the audio of William Jennings Bryan's "Cross of Gold Speech" Professor Johnson also provided a printed transcript of the speech that you can read and follow along as you listen. While this speech has nothing to do with Bryan's latter battle against Evolution, it does help students get to listen to the man himself in his own words..The speech by William Jennings Bryan also provides a primary source so that you can actually not only hear his voice but also, form an idea as to what type of a speaker and person he was. The speech made him famous at the time but may seem a bit boring today, back then, it was very interesting since it affected every common person's pocketbook, (2nd)-Then, watch & listen to the video on WWI, which gives a general overview of the effects of Social Darwinism on WWI and how it affected the German intellectuals, military leaders and colonial administrators prior and during World War I. and (3rd)- finally, read the article by Stephen J. Gould, "William Jennings' Bryan's Last Campaign" The article relates how Gould became facinated by Bryan and caused him to research how Bryan formed his views on evolution. It mentions 3 important books and authors who most influenced Bryan and these should all three be mentioned in your paper and you should demonstrate that you know what they were about…Then, you are to write your essay in response to the prompt below…. BACKGROUND: The article is fascinating, it was written by a Harvard Professor, (now deceased), who was one of the world’s leading proponents of evolution, left-wing in his politics and agnostic, (someone who does not believe there is enough evidence to prove there is or isn’t a God). He wrote about William Jennings Bryan, who was a major politician of a past generation, a fundamentalist Christian, and someone who fiercely opposed the teaching of evolution. At first glance, you would think there could be no possible agreement between these two on anything, and yet, it is very evident that Gould was quite impressed with Bryan and even sympatric with him on some issues. Ask yourself as you read the article if Gould made a few mistakes in his historical analysis of Bryan’s role opposing evolution. Also ask yourself why Gould simply chooses not to mention information that would better explain his topic. For example, he doesn’t even discuss the terminology “Social Darwinism,” even though much of the article is about Bryan confusing the scientific theory of evolution with the unscientific social theory of Social Darwinism. {Social Darwinism is the racial theory which holds simply that some races are inherently superior to others and since the only law of the Social Darwinist is “Survival of the Fittest” then it is O.K. for the superior race to subjugate the inferior races}… Why do you think that he could not bring himself to use the terminology? Nowhere, does Gould break down evolution into component parts. For example, some talk of Macro Evolution (which deals with the origin of life) and Micro Evolution (which deals with changes within living organisms). When Gould talks about evolution being a fact he is speaking of Micro-Evolution, and most lab work in the world today is in the area of Micro-Evolution experiments…for example, if you take fruit flies and bombard them with radiation, you are going to see changes that can be observed, measured and replicated in experiments. Macro-Evolution, however, presents many problems for Science…how do you put the big bang in a test tube??? Who among us observed the beginnings of the universe, or of first life, can that be put in a test tube? Do you think Gould and many of his fellow scientist, perhaps, show a reluctance to even acknowledge that here we approach the realm of philosophy and even theology? Note at the beginning of Gould’s article, he clearly states his reason for writing the article, yet at the end of the article, he launches into a passionate tirade over something he read in “A Civic Biology”, the section on Parasitism…pay close attention to that section and then tell me if the following information I am going to give you indicates that Gould had another hidden agenda for writing the article….Gould had a son that he dearly loved and was severely autistic. Another thing that I would like you to hold in the backs of your mind as you watch the video and read the article, is that both the video and Gould discusses the gross misuse of evolution by the Germans and Scientists both before and during WWI and how Bryan read about it and was very worried and upset .… Gould does not address, however, what happens after World War I, th​‌‍‍‍‌‍‍‌‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‍‌‌‌‍​e rise of the Fascists in Italy and Spain, and Nazi Germany (All based on Social Darwinism) or of the rise of the USSR and Communist China (whose ideology of communism is based largely on a cooperative view of evolution for humanity…however, if you refuse to cooperate, then we ca When one considers that Hitler was credited with killing around 18 million people and Stalin for 20 million and Mao for killing 40 million, (and these are conservative estimates) do you think Gould gives Bryan enough credit for having reason to be worried even if he did not clearly understand everything. Finally, I have said little about Bryan, the subject of this article….I think Gould correctly credits him for his role in reforming American society and his steadfast support for progressive reform…however most modern students’ view of Bryan has been warped by the Movie entitled “Inherit the Wind” loosely based on the Scopes “Monkey Trial” which depicts Bryan as a bigoted yahoo who was trying to suppress academic freedom while his opponent, Clarence Darrow was portrayed as a champion of academic freedom….I would like to simply point out that Clarence Darrow was a lawyer who could argue any side of any argument. Bryan pointed this out in the actual Scopes trial…. When he point blank asked Darrow, if he had always supported academic freedom and the teaching of evolution, Darrow answered yes. Bryan then dramatically proved Darrow was lying when he read verbatim from a trial transcript that Darrow had previously served in as a defense attorney. In the case, Darrow claimed that two college students he was defending for a particularly hideous murder and that the students actually admitted to committing, should nevertheless be found innocent of that murder since the real blame, said Darrow should fall on their college professors who taught them the damnable doctrines of Nietzsche who supported evolution! THE PROMPT: QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED IN YOUR MAJOR ESSAY/REVIEW FOR 100 PTS. O.K. here’s the question which includes several side questions…..After listening to the audio of Bryan's Speech, how would you compare that speech to a political speech today/ After watching the video, just how serious in your view was the problem of Social Darwinism and how was it affecting the Germans prior to and during WWI. After reading the article, in your own words, tell me what you think about Gould’s implying in his article that he thinks that the Arkansas State Supreme Court (some students make the mistake of thinking this was a Federal case since Gould just says 'Supreme Court' in the article) has finally ended the controversy over evolution vs. creation…do you think he was correct to say that there would have never been a legislative attempt to curb evolution without Bryan. To use his favorite word, how does Gould’s view of Bryan “evolve” in the article? What does Gould believe about Bryan? What does he believe Bryan got confused about evolution, and what does he believe Bryan got right? Why do you think Bryan got upset after reading Headquarters Nights and The Science of Power? If you had read these books, what would you think? How accurate were Kellogg’s predictions about Germany? Finally, what did you think about the section where Gould gets very upset about the book that John Scopes used to teach evolution at the school in Dayton Tenn. which touched off the Scopes Monkey Trial….did you get the impression that this leading proponent of teaching evolution would have agreed with Bryan, at least in regard to this book ,“A Civil Biology” that it should not be used in the classroom and why? Worth 100pts. YOUR REVIEW/ESSAY SHOULD CONTAIN THE FOLLOWING ITEMS: Title: Author/s or Producers: (tell me who is writing or producing the article or vid. and why) Thesis: (what is the main point you believe the author or producer is trying to make) Summary: (give a brief overall summary of the article and videos) Author’s and Producers Conclusions: (what major points do the authors of the article or video believes to be true) Your Reactions: (were they well written or produced, how do they compare, did you learn anything, would you recommend them to someone else etc…) Include a bibliography and proper citations and footnotes ***One of the most important parts of your review/essay will be your ability to notice what was historically accurate about the article and videos and what was inaccurate. The review should be based on primarlily the article and videos provided by your Professor, and he will expect to see plenty of foot-noted direct quotations taken from the reading or videos included in the review and many specific examples drawn from these sources as well….the Professor wants evidence that the student read the assignment listened and watched the videos and most importantly, understood them. It is important that each s​‌‍‍‍‌‍‍‌‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‍‌‌‌‍​tudent comes to an understanding of the materials and now can explain it to others.