Making the History Books

We are making the history books right now. We all know this last year has been full of one thing after another, making history. The Impeachment of Donald Trump was something that many had been working toward for the last four years. COVID-19 took over everyone’s lives and the vaccine being released is our only chance to get back to normal. Finally, the huge movement of BLM (Black Lives Matter) this year wanting to defund the Police. In a “This Moment in History” starter pack, Americans would need to include the impeachment of Donald Trump, COVID-19, and BLM wanting to defund the police, because these things stand out more than anything over the past year. 

In the United States we have only had three Presidents get impeached. Donald Trump being one of them this year is a huge current event that should be included in the starter pack. Alexander Hamilton wrote that impeachment is "a method of national inquest into the conduct of public men'' accused of violating the “public trust” (US Senate Impeachment). This makes it very clear as to why this was such a historical event. Donald Trump was a man who was either hated or loved. Many who hated him lost every ounce of trust for their very own president. Donald Trump did one thing after another to lose respect and trust over his four years in office. After the results of the 2020 election were released, Trump handled it in a very poor way. In the article cited Mr. Trump’s week long campaign to falsely discredit the results of the November election, it quotes directly from the speech he gave on the day of the siege in which he told his supporters to go to the Capitol. “If you don’t fight like hell,” he said, “you’re not going to have a country anymore” (Edmondson). This behavior leads to many riots and things that are simply not okay to take place. When these things take place, it leads to an impeachment.

The COVID-19 Pandemic has been a huge deal to everyone around the world. It has given us no choice but to completely turn our lives upside down. Americans absolutely have to involve this in the starter pack. The COVID-19 pandemic is something that came at us so fast. None of us knew what was ahead for our country. Beginning in March, different places began to go into lockdown and new COVID regulations such as social distancing and masks came into play. The CDC website tells us that 27,669,556 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the US since the pandemic started (CDC). With this pandemic came businesses shutting down, people losing jobs, distance learning, and the death of many loved ones. The effects of this pandemic are countless. People have been waiting for the vaccine to come out for so long so we can finally feel safe again. “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) work together through an established system to ensure vaccines distributed in the U.S. are as safe as possible” (Timeline of the COVID-19 Vaccine Development). The vaccine distribution is something many are skeptical of, but the CDC reassures us that it has gone through testing and can in fact be trusted. The CDC shows us that the total number of doses that have been administered in the US is 57,737,767. We have seen some of the lowest numbers of cases in months because of this. COVID-19 is no joke, and is making history right now. 

The last thing that is making history right now is the movement of BLM wanting to defund the police. This movement was established in 2013 but in 2020 they were given a voice with the killing of George Floyd by a police officer. Time after time we have seen black people be mistreated by police officers. People say the solution to this is defunding the police. “In the aftermath of the police murder of George Floyd, protests erupted in Minneapolis and across the U.S., with activists and community members demanding that Black lives matter—and with many calling to defund the police” (Kerkel). Their solution to defund the police later shows us the negative effects of that decision. National Police Support tells us, “Police officers around the country keep us safe from drugs, violence, gangs, domestic abuse, and myriad other threats to the American way of life. No other branch of government or social service agency can do the job in quite the same way” (3 Reasons Why Defunding the Police is a Bad Idea). We have seen in Minneapolis, Seattle, New York City, Chicago, Portland, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. the bad effects of defunding the police. Crime rates have gone up and the National Guard has been called in to protect people. While the BLM movement is a good thing in America, defunding the police is not. We are making history right now because we will see the effects of this for years to come. 

In a “This Moment in History” starter pack, Americans would need to include the impeachment of Donald Trump, COVID-19, and BLM wanting to defund the police, because these things stand out more than anything over the past year.  Some might say that there are more important things happening right now, but I think that these things are affecting our future more than anything. These are three big things that should be included in a “This Moment in History” starter pack. Donald Trump getting impeached was a huge deal because of the work it took to make it happen and because he is only the third president ever to be impeached. COVID-19 took over everyones lives this past year and we have lived through history. Lastly, the BLM movement and defunding the police has been a huge deal over the last year. It is so important to use these things we are living through right now and learn from them. We need to educate other people and do our best to make the world a better place for the generations to come. Think about these things and how they are affecting your life now, and how it will affect your life later.

Works Cited

“3 Reasons Why Defunding the Police Is a Bad Idea.” National Police Support Fund, 21 Jan. 2021, nationalpolicesupportfund.com/3-reasons-why-defunding-the-police-is-a-bad-idea/#:~:text=Hinders%20officer%20recruitment%20and%20retention&text=But%20it. Accessed 19 Feb. 2021.

CDC. “Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 28 Dec. 2018, www.cdc.gov/.

Edmondson, Catie. “Why Remove Trump Now? A Guide to the Second Impeachment of a President.” The New York Times, 14 Jan. 2021, www.nytimes.com/article/why-impeach-remove-trump-now.html.

Ray, Rashawn. “What Does ‘Defund the Police’ Mean and Does It Have Merit?” Brookings, 19 June 2020, www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2020/06/19/what-does-defund-the-police-mean-and-does-it-have-merit/.

“Timeline of the COVID-19 Vaccine Development.” BJC HealthCare, 14 Jan. 2021, www.bjc.org/Newsroom/Article/ArtMID/5522/ArticleID/4617/Timeline-of-the-COVID-19-vaccine-development. Accessed 19 Feb. 2021.

“U.S. Senate: Impeachment.” Senate.gov, 22 Oct. 2019, www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Senate_Impeachment_Role.htm.

Zerkel, Mary. “6 Reasons Why It’s Time to Defund the Police.” American Friends Service Committee, 4 June 2020, www.afsc.org/blogs/news-and-commentary/6-reasons-why-its-time-to-defund-police.