Hoedown Throw Down

     The past three days my History class prepared for a throw down!!! (Not the Hannah Montana version) It was actually a very silent Throw down because it was a Monday, but it was still effective. The Throw Down was basically a face-off between two groups with the same ideology.  Ideologies are ideas and ideals that form the basis of economic and political authorities. Our class was split into 6 groups and we had Liberalism, Conservatism, or Nationalism. My group had Liberalism.  Our goal was to create an effective video explaining Liberalism.  We then competed against the other team that had Liberalism and the class picked who was the best.  Our videos helped answer the essential question: What were the major political ideologies of the 19th century and how did they influence social and political action? Before creating our video, we learned more about Liberalism using an article to gather information. 

     We created our video using an app called Chatter Pix. In our video, Adam Smith and John Locke explain to their "audience" about Liberalism. Liberal’s believed in freedom and equality for humans.  Socially, Liberalism fought against the aristocracy and monarchies.  They wanted to end the social hierarchy.  Politically, Liberals favored meritocracy.  Meritocracy was the system in which everyone should be rewarded for their hard work, not because of their position on a triangle.  Adam Smith came up with the invisible hand.  The invisible hand lowered prices so that the poor could afford necessities.  It regulates the economy by raising the quality of products and lowering the prices through competition.  John Locke me the argument for the existence of god given natural rights and believed in the promotion of liberty.  

     The other groups with Conservatism and Nationalism had their own throw downs.  Conservatives wanted to keep a traditional monarchy with social classes.  They believed change wasn't a good idea because it resulted in a chaos.  They used the French Revolution as an example.  Without a monarchy, things would pretty much be a blood bath.  They wanted to keep aristocracy and the social hierarchy.  They believed this was the best route for a society.  Nationalists believed in independent nations and unification.  People were unified because shared culture, language and history.  They didn’t want foreign rulers and they called for natural boundaries.  

Brautigam, Jeffrey. “The Rise of New Ideologies in the Nineteenth Century for AP European History.” Education.com. March 4, 2011. http://www.education.com/study-help/article/rise-ideologies- nineteenth-century/ (Accessed October 21, 2013).