Adolescence, the critical time in the life of any person when they transition to adulthood. The rite of passage in many cultures. Nowadays, the perception of teens brings images of a spoiled, coddled generation, glued to their screens. Perhaps our society puts little value in giving the youth responsibility, but rather wants to protect these formative years. As a student of history, I have come across many examples of children and teens holding positions of power and responsibility. Among royalty and commoners alike, the responsibility of youth was to be an equal partner in providing for their families. I’m by no means idealizing the past as a utopia of responsibility. History is full of the horrors of child labor. But I would like to take voyages through time to look into several examples of youth being capable of executing complicated tasks. First, we shall see those who went on to be great. Louis XIV, the Sun King, succeeded his father at five, while France was fighting Habsburg Austria in the Thirty Years’ War. He helped negotiate the Westphalia treaty, but even though France won, this caused bankruptcy. Then, revolution caused collapse and until the end of his reign, Louis would rule the country on his own behalf. To save France, he wisely appointed Jean Colbert as Finance General to improve the economy. Louis increased exports and took power away from the military aristocracy and, cunningly, he supported the Netherlands in a war before defeating them, expanding French territory. In the next decades, he defeated corsairs attacking French shipping, and spread European goods around the world through embassies to Asia. By the times he died, France was a metropolis. Another powerful child ruler worth mentioning is Shapur of Persia. After coming of age, this young emperor set to work removing the effects of a humiliating treaty. Shapur then started a campaign against the Arabs and Eastern Romans. He took over part of Armenia and defeated the mighty Romans in battle. Persia then annexed Armenia. He died in 379. Shapur is considered one of Persia’s greatest kings and left a lasting legacy. On the converse side, there are some ineffective sovereigns who died early, and failed to preserve their nations. One example is Edward the VI. He ascended to the throne at age 10, made several not-so-great decisions, including emptying the English coffers, and caught ill and died at fourteen. Then there was Puyi, the last Emperor, who came to power at the inept age of four. His rule was marked by the Japanese invasion of Korea and civil unrest, leading to his deposition. He was made Manchurian King, but he had his servants beaten or even killed for his own amusement. After the war, he died a commoner in Beijing. In conclusion, this shows us that while some child rulers have excelled, others have not. Which path is right for young people, power or a normal life? The more we teens are allowed to do may (or may not) let us become responsible adults. I’ll let you decide.
history
The Meaning of Boycott: it may surprise you!
According to the Oxford dictionary, boycott means to “withdraw from commercial or social started relations with (a country, organization, or person) as a punishment or protest.” There is a long history related to the term, like where it came from and why. A famous boycott in the 21st century is the Grab Your Wallet boycott, initiated in July 2018, which targeted Donald Trump for not understanding the effects of climate change and discrimination. A more well-known boycott in history was the one led by Rosa Parks in 1955, who refused to give up her seat to a white person. After being forced off the bus, Parks started the Montgomery Bus Boycott through which many activists stopped riding the bus. Black people boycotted for the right to equal seating. Rosa Parks’ protest defined the word boycott for me, but recently, I’ve been doing some research to dig deeper into its meaning. Born in 1932 in Norfolk, England, Charles Boycott made history with just his ego and his name. The time Charles was alive was a hard time for farmers who suffered from high costs for rent. Feeling sympathy for their cause, Charles, the head landlord, told his worker, Erne, to lower rents by 10%. The farmers, sensing weakness, got greedy and asked for 25% lower, and Erne said no. Charles got mad at them for being ungrateful and started to evict farmers. Now it was the workers’ turn to get mad; those who still had their houses refused to pay rent at all, and the farmers without houses stopped farming, depriving the people of England of necessities like milk and eggs. Charles decided to give back the houses because he, and all the townspeople, needed the food. England decided to name this action boycotting, after the person who was targeted by this protest. In conclusion, I am always impressed how understanding the derivation of a word can deepen its meaning. When reading about the current boycotts in the newspaper, or using my voice to stand up for what I believe in, I will always remember Charles, and I hope you do too.
A Very Special Beach
Like all other beaches, Omaha Beach had sand, rocks, and water. But this beach was different. This one had a history. Last summer I went to Paris, France for a seven-day trip with my whole family, and we experienced all of the traditional tourist sites of Paris. Some of my favorites were the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, and the Arc De Triomphe, but the part I was most excited for was our day trip to a region 2 hours outside of Paris, called Normandy. Visiting Normandy allowed me to learn about World War II and America’s opposition to the Nazis. When Adolf Hitler was the leader of the Nazis in the 1930’s and 1940’s, his aim was to conquer all of Europe. At the same time, the Nazis also led an effort to kill millions of European Jews in the Holocaust. The German military began conquering different parts of Europe, including France, and they built bunkers and army bases to defend their territory. In 1944, England and the US joined together to try to free the French from German control. With help from other allies like Canada and England, the U.S. devised a plan called Operation Overlord in which they aimed to attack Nazi armies in France. Once Germany successfully took over France, they used the bunkers to store ammunition. Our family toured one bunker into which a Nazi soldier carelessly loaded ammo, setting off a bomb in the bunker and destroying it. The importance of Omaha Beach is that it was the destination of England and the US when they were attacking Germany. They put out misleading signals to make the Germans think that an attack was going to happen elsewhere in France. But really, on June 6, 1944, more than 150,000 soldiers landed on the beach, and caught the Nazis by surprise. They had to confront seasickness and overcome wind and poor weather conditions to make it onto the shore and then had to run onto the beach to fight the German soldiers. The bravery they had to show will always stick with me, and I am grateful for all that they did for our country. Though many died that day, it was a turning point in the war. As President Barack Obama said, “So much of the progress that would define the 20th century, on both sides of the Atlantic, came down to the battle for a slice of beach only six miles long and two miles wide.” Omaha Beach in Normandy, France, is a popular tourist destination because of its extensive history. While we were there we saw many plaques, memorials, cannons, and even toured a cemetery where many of the soldiers who were killed are buried. But for me, the time I spent on the beach in Normandy will be an experience I will always remember.
