Understanding American History: Master Key Events & Vocabulary in English | Complete English Course

hello everybody and welcome to another lesson we're going to practice our comprehension and listening skills and finding the main idea finding implicit and explicit meaning through about 200 years of American History we're going to jump uh 100 years at a time to just get a little bit of a sampling of our famous texts letters speeches and music that we are taught in our schools in America and things that all of us know all of us know because they are taught so well and honestly this pool of media and American history is huge there is so much out there to take in and great options for practicing English but I've narrowed them down quite a bit to give you just a little bit of a sampling of what comprehending American history is like and we're also doing this to practice uh understanding and recognizing con context we're going to be really practicing a lot of implicit meaning in this lesson so stay tuned and get ready to practice well yeah here you go so birth of America in about 1776 to the Civil War in the 1860s in the civil rights movement in America which is the 1960s so there's going to be quite a sampling and we're also going to see a little bit of how much the rhetoric and the English and the style of speeches and music has been in these different areas of American History so let's get into it remember to understand the time and culture from which something is communicated that is absolutely integral and necessary to understanding implicit and explicit meaning you've got to understand what the original audience understood what did they understand from the song that you're listening to what did they understand when they read the Declaration of Independence these are very important things to understand from their point of view there are lots of dangerous mistakes that can happen in understanding if people take a document that's 200 years old and apply it to their lives directly today without thinking about what it could have meant back then so definitely understand why something was communicated before you jump to comprehending something is important in understanding all right so the beginnings of America let's look at the Declaration of Independence I'm sure some of you are actually familiar with what it says so I want you to watch an intro video a little bit to understand the context this videos describing the context of the Declaration of Independence the culture at the time the circumstances and the whole text we it's also an overview of the whole text so go ahead and give it a listen the Declaration of Independence for me is one of the best pieces of writing I've ever seen it's a revolutionary document for a revolutionary statement you cannot help but be stirred when you read those [Music] words Thomas Jefferson's writing um is absolutely magnificent and when he wrote we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal that was the first time anybody had bothered to write that down and then you turn the clock back and think of when he was writing how young he was what a statement it was given the history of the world at that point and you feel the excitement of being on the cusp of something so profound that it's hard to put it into words if you review our Declaration of Independence it has those beautiful words about all men are created equal and governments are formed among men to represent the people it was a good statement of what we were all about and that's the only thing people remember about the Declaration of Independence that it was about all men are created equal but it's really a roughly a 28c count indictment against King George and therefore because of the the way in which the British crown treated us we now declare that we are a free country and we want to let you know why now if we're going to have a war we going to have a war in 1776 you have the Continental Congress meeting in uh in Philadelphia debating uh a unified position for the colonies with respect to the hostilities that have already broken out and the fundamental issue uh between them is are they fighting for their rights as Englishmen within the British Empire uh or are they going to fight uh for Independence and they're seriously divided people who are perfectly willing to Res uh resist the tyranny of the British government are not necessarily willing to strike for Independence but there's a ground swell in favor of it I think in large measure because they recognize that having provoked the lion this far uh there's no going back okay okay guys so now that you have watched that video I want you to tell me why was it written why was the Declaration of Independence written the culture is colonial America back in the 13 colonies of America it's 1776 this is a hot bed of political unrest at the time there's a lot of trouble with people trying to decide whether they go they are going to remain Englishmen even though they're getting lots of unjust treatment or are they going to stand stand up and make a nation and America the American colonies were very divided over this they feel many of them feel Britain is taking advantage of them not fulfilling the promises not upholding the law but instead oppressing them with taxes and soldiers being housed in their homes and there's a lot of mixed feelings here with that there are plenty who are very loyal to the king as well so there's there's a lot of disagreement going on at the time so the whole text what the whole declaration is about is not just saying we are going to make our own Nation now it was hey here's a list of grievances here's a list of things that you are not fulfilling that you said you will these are the reasons that we have trouble and these are the things that we have brought up to the king multiple times over the last years and we are not getting any kind of help we're not seeing anything improve instead things are getting worse and this is what we're going to do about it we have a moral obligation to our people on this side of the pond to create a nation will look out for its people and so it's actually a really interesting text to read but is also very surprising to read something like this they're standing up to Britain which at the time is a colonial power right so is it's truly truly surprising and amazing so here's a little bit of the Preamble of the Declaration of Independence I am going to read it to you out loud but first I want you to pause and read it for yourself and then I will highlight some words vocabulary words and we'll read over it aloud with you okay so in Congress July 4th 1776 the unanimous Declaration of the 13 United States of America when in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the Earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of Nature's God entitle them a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it and to Institute new government laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness that was a bombshell to drop back then I can assure you here are some words that intermediate speakers tend to struggle with in the Preamble of the Constitution uh we have unanimous up here at the beginning here the unanimous means everybody everyone agreed uh to dissolve means to to make it go away usually you can dissolve something in water you can dissolve like a certain chalky substance you can dissolve sugar and water for example political bands bands is an idea of uh political things holding them together to separate means to pull apart uh station this is the station of which you hold this is maybe your title or your status decent respect a decent respect to the opinions of mankind so to show decent respect to someone is something where you it's it's good and right for you to respect them to a degree uh should declare to declare an impel impel them to the separation we hold these truths to be self-evident obvious means obvious owed means it was given by a higher authority unalienable rights these are things that cannot be taken away they are part of who you are Pursuit of Happiness means to chase to go after to secure obviously to protect to hold them secure uh instituted among men instituted means created put into place put into effect deriving their just power so deriving means to to gain to get from to come from something else and be made into something the consent okay you're giving permission of the governed those who are under the government are the governed to alter or change to abolish to destroy to get rid of it completely wipe it out to Institute we talked about that one before and then principles principles are like rules but they're rules that are universally true okay so a principle of life is that we all die that just happens that is a principle of life on earth right so it's things that are true regardless of culture regardless of country regardless of government a principle of something something that does not change it is universal okay so if you break down the text what is the main point why was it written and how did the original audience receive it what is the main point of this document go ahead and consider that for a minute I'll let you pause okay so if you're back here here we go to break down the text so what is the main point the American colonies must break from Great Britain they state that must essentially do it they must bu God's design they must bu uh Great Britain's grievances they they must is how they've painted it how they've designed this Preamble uh there's a list of grievances that follow or things that Great Britain was not fulfilling in their promises rights are given by God not by the king so to control their own destiny as a country or to take care of their own people and to announce a separation from Great Britain that is the reason it was written that's why it's the Declaration of Independence right that's the very meaning and then the original audience well a war broke out the American Revolutionary War broke out so history you may know how history took its course from there so I want you to watch this next video about the Declaration of Independence I want you to think about how different it is from the first video that you watched it's designed for a different audience so definitely think about how this one is so different from the other one go ahead and take a listen the year is 1776 tensions had been rising in the American colonies for years and emotions read a Tipping Point the Second Continental Congress was already in session in Philadelphia Pennsylvania when the cries for Independence grew too Fierce to ignore the time had come to formally separate from Great Britain on June 11th 1776 a committee of five men were chosen to draft the UL imate breakup letter John Adams Benjamin Franklin Roger Sherman Thomas Jefferson and Robert Livingston over the course of 17 days a document was penned that would impact the lives of generations of people the Declaration of [Music] Independence Thomas Jefferson was the leader of the committee and was a main author of the Declaration of Independence he organized the document into different parts the Preamble The Declaration of natural rights the list of Grievances and the resolution of [Music] Independence the Preamble was the introduction to the document and Jefferson didn't mince words it says when in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the Earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of Nature's God entitle them a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation in the words of a modern breakup letter Great Britain we're breaking up with you and you're about to find out why the next section is referred to as the Declaration of natural rights in words that have been immortalized in the minds of generations of people this section explains that every citizen is born with certain rights that should never be taken away we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness it goes on to state that the power of government comes from the people and if the government abuses the rights of the people they have a right to throw off such government and to provide new guards for their future security by this point in the document if it wasn't yet clear to Great Britain why America was separating from them the colonists were about to bring their [Music] receipts Thomas Jefferson really spilled the tea in the list of grievances where he set out to list all the complaints that the colonists had against King George III what were the complaints you ask let's take a peek yeah he did that and that he definitely did [Music] that oh yeah that's a bad one even worse oh yeah there was a lot sh in the final section of the decoration of independence the colonists solemnly publish and declare that these United Colonies are and have right to be free and independent states with those words the American colonists had charted A New Path towards freedom on July 4th 1776 the Declaration of Independence was officially adopted by the second Continental Congress and a new nation was [Music] born okay so that one was rather patriotic right it's not that the other one is not patriotic it's just this one is even more so for one it is older that is something to note the second video is older so the first video you can see is designed for young viewers for kids in school for maybe high school students middle schoolers especially it is to explain to them the history around it and what the document says without them having to actually directly read it whereas the second video is designed for young adults to middle-aged Americans it's designed for showing you the context what is happening at the time and why was it written okay so very different the first video is designed for internet viewing it was designed for YouTube while the other one was designed for TV so the second one is much more cinematic you see a lot more cutcenes where the first one is animated by somebody probably in their own home the purpose of the first video is to break down what the Declaration of Independence said so there's a quick history a summary of the different sections of the Declaration of Independence and how it came across whereas the second video it wants to explain the significance of the Declaration of Independence at the time at that time 1776 and today so it talked about its impact on the people at the time and the struggle that they had to generate such a document and then uphold it in coming years but then it also talks about how important it is to us today why is it significant why is it important that we still read and uphold this document in our government today all right so it is very important to understand the intended audience of any type of media you take in throughout this course we are going to see a lot of different types of media we're going to see lots of literature we're going to read short stories we're going to read all kinds of texts and letters but we're also going to hear speeches and we're going to hear music and we're going to hear all kinds of things but I want you to always keep in your mind understand what what it says why it is said and who is receiving that who did the author or the speaker intend to hear or read this text that is incredibly important because how something is said is determined by who you are talking to so for an example let's take a very famous quote from Benjamin Franklin in this world nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes all right so how would you explain this quote to a child well you'd probably have to explain what death in taxes are right and why they are so certain compared to other things why other elements of life change and honestly a kid is not going to listen for very long to that depending on how old they are to a friend you might bring up this quote and say hey this is something that Benjamin Franklin said that I I saw in my English video this week and talk about that and as equals you can probably talk about that rather Loos ly talk about whether you agree or disagree but if you bring this up to a teacher this really depends on your culture if your teacher is held in high Authority and high esteem you're probably going to bring it up with a question what do you think about this but if you're talking to a teacher who's more like a friend then maybe you might just talk about it and practice your English while doing so right so how you talk about things and how you write or speak something is determined by who you're talking to in addition to further context of your culture and the time period and what's being said and why all right so let's fast forward about almost 100 years in American history and let's look at the Gettysburg Address this speech was spoken by Abraham Lincoln after the battlefield the Battle of Gettysburg Gettysburg for those of you who don't know was a battle that happened in the American Civil War which was from 1860 to 1864 this battle was a turning point in the war but it was also one of the most deadly there are 51,000 men who died on this battlefield and this was a very moving and emotional speech at the time delivered by a favored American president to commemorate the dead but it was also just so iconic in so many ways in American schools we memorize this speech this is one of the reasons I wanted to give it to you today I want you to read it and notice the differences in the language and what its implications are what the meaning is and also to read something that we actually memorize in our schools today so here you go give it a read and come back and we'll talk about vocabulary and I'll read it aloud as well okay I hope you were able to pause and read this I'm going to read it aloud to you and we're going to pull up the vocabulary so four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal now we are engaged in a great civil war testing whether whether that Nation or any Nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure we are met here on a great battlefield of that war we have come to dedicate a portion of it as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that Nation might live it is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this but in a larger sense we cannot dedicate we cannot consecrate we cannot hallow this ground the brave men living and dead who struggled here have consecrated far above our poor pow to add or detract the world will little note nor long remember what we say here but we can never forget what they did here it is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to The Unfinished work which they have thus far so nobly carried on it is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us that from these honored dead we take increased Devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom and that this government of the People by the people for the people shall not perish from the earth I don't know if you can tell but this is why we memorize the speech in school it is a very powerful speech so let's talk about vocabulary four score and seven years ago score would be about 20 years it is an old term we no longer use this term I think really this is the only time I ever see it is when I'm reading or listening to the Gettysburg Address brought forth brought forth is to bring forth to bring from is would be a more modern way to say it but brought forth would be a phrasal verb here they are meant to go together conceived conceived in Liberty this is talking about like birth conceive is a word that we use for birth you can say the birth of a person the birth of an animal or you can say the birth of an idea which is how it is used here dedicated dedicated to the proposition dedicated means to give your time your energy your everything to something dedic to dedicate something is to donate and give fully to something the proposition is the idea that all men are created equal we are now engaged engaged means we are now taking part in a great civil war Civil War means when a country fights itself people on one side and people on the other in our case in American history it was the North and the South fought over multiple issues uh one of which was the issue of slavery so endure again is to last a long time Battlefield we a place that you fight a war in uh a portion a portion is a piece you can think of it as a piece but we wouldn't say a piece of land is being dedicated we would say a portion of land or a battlefield is being dedicated a final resting place is where people are buried the dead are buried uh and we say fitting and proper fitting and proper means it is proper it is two words meaning the same thing so it is proper and proper that we should do this it is fitting and proper that we should do this in a larger sense okay this would be in the big picture we cannot consecrate or Hollow both of those words mean the same thing which means to make holy or to set apart as special um detract detract means to take away the world will little note means not pay any attention nor long remember it will not remember nobly carried on nobly over here means kind of like a noble uh nobly is to have a UPS an upstanding attitude an upstanding to walk with honor essentially to nobly carry something on is to have honor and here we see honored again increased devotion or dedication to something the last full measure full measure here means everything the last bit of everything they had they gave which would mean their entire life resolve resolve means your determination to do something vain means meaningless meaningless they will not have died in meaninglessness and perish pass from or uh die from the earth so it will not perish from the earth or pass away okay so what is the context what is the main idea and why was the speech delivered you can tell there's very lofty language happening here but is also very short and to the point so you can tell it is talking about something that happened that was tragic and upsetting and it's something that was done because of a certain Battle of ideals right this war was fought over ideals and it's something where they will not have died in vain we will remember them as the idea and so you can kind of see from the language that this is a delivered on the battlefield of Gettysburg in 1863 to hallow that ground to set it apart to establish the Gettysburg Cemetery which is still there today the main idea those who died there will not be forgotten we appreciate their sacrifice we will remember them as a country 51,000 people died in this battle 23,000 to the North or the union troops and 28,000 from the south or Confederate troops this loss was significant but it was also turning point in the war it was the first major battle that the north technically won so it's something the president wanted to do as a war where America especially the north they needed some encouragement and so he was saying that there is a purpose in this war we are going to keep going it is for a good cause and we will not forget these men so definitely a moving speech in our history all right so speaking of moving speeches here's another one I have a dream by Martin Luther King Jr I want you to watch this speech and the excerpt that I have given I want you to consider these questions I have the pleasure to present to you Dr Martin Luther King Jr I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation five score years ago a great American in whose symbolic Shadow We Stand today signed the Emancipation Proclamation this momentous decree came as a great Beacon Light Of Hope to millions of negro slaves who had been seared in the Flames of withering Injustice it came as a joyous Daybreak to end the long night of their captivity but 100 years later the Negro still is not free 100 years later the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination 100 years later the Negro lives on a Lonely Island upon Propet I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its Creed we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created [Applause] equal I have a dream that one day on the Red Hills of georia Sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will they be able to sit down together at the table of Brotherhood I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi a state sweltering with the heat of Injustice sweltering with the heat of Oppression will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and Justice I have a dream my poor little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character I have a dream okay if you are back now I want you to think who does King refer to at the beginning of his speech who is he referring to he uses the similar word score that Abraham Lincoln used in his speech so I want you to consider that for a minute go back and look if you need to number two how long had it been since the Emancipation Proclamation I considered putting the Emancipation Proclamation in this PBT but I decided against it in favor of the Gettysburg address because the Gettysburg Address is the one that we memorize from Abraham Lincoln during that time the am's proc Emancipation Proclamation was important it basically abolished slavery formally in the north um Abraham Lincoln also was the one to deliver that one but yeah he actually King uses it for btim in his speech so how long has it been since that Proclamation number three summarize his dream he uses I have a dream multiple times in that speech and in the section that I gave you to listen to what's the context and why is King delivering the speech so King is referring to to Abraham Lincoln and it was it's been a hundred years since the Emancipation Proclamation King's dream he's delivering the speech I'm going to just jump down a little bit he's delivering the speech to cast a vision of what equality in America could and should be based off of the Declaration of Independence and the Emancipation Proclamation but it was not yet there in the 1960s the 1960s this is the hot bed of the American Civil Rights movement and this is for women rights and for African-American rights and so King delivered this speech during the watch the March on Washington in April 1963 people are there to protest multiple things but King and uh he was he was a leader of the civil rights movement and he was delivering the speech to cast a vision of what it should be in a hundred years America was still not there they were still segregated between white and black and women still did not have the right to vote so it was one of those things that is a very moving speech and people in our schools today still memorize the speech and give presentations on it as I am to you today all right so along the notes along the line of the American Civil Rights Movement I want you to listen to this song Glory by Common and John Legend how do the lyrics that you hear and I will show you on the next page how do these lyrics uphold the explicit and implicit meaning meaning of Kings I Have a Dream speech go ahead and listen to that here are the lyrics one day when the glory comes it will be ours it will be ours oh one day when the war is won we will be sh we will be sure Oh Glory Glory glor Oh glor Glory hands to the heavens no man no weapon formed against yes glory is Destin every day women and men become Legends sins that go against our skin become blessings the movement is a rhythm to us freedom is like religion to Us justice is J up position in US justice for all just ain't specific enough one son died his spirit is revisiting us true and living living in US resistance is us that's why roses out on the bus that's why we walk through Ferguson with our hands up when it go down we woman and man up they say stay down and we stand up shots we on the ground the camera pinned up King pointed to the mountain top and we ran up one day when the glory comes it will be ours it will be ours Oh Glory glor glor Oh glor Glory now the war is not over Victory isn't water but we'll fight all to the finish and then when it's all will cry Glory Oh [Music] Glory okay so very powerful song obviously and it was made for a movie called Selma which was reflecting on the civil rights movement and King's work in it definitely a good movie to see but lots of complicated language in it for sure so you see here that they're referring to Glory what is this Glory that they're singing about here it's the vision it's the vision coming it's the dream Martin Luther King called it a dream it's this equality this recognition of blacks and whites being equal in America and this is this is what this is about here so the answer to our question the implicit and explicit meaning keep pursuing freedom and equality until we have it it is a song that's talking about just keep going the war is not over Victory isn't won and we'll fight on to the Finish then when it's all down will cry Glory very powerful music speaking of impactful music I'm going to give you two more songs from this era of the civil rights movement in America and these two songs we know very very well everybody knows this song in America very good songs to listen to so here you go artha Franklin's respect from 1967 [Music] what you want baby I got what you need do you know I got it all I'm asking for little respect when you come home hey baby little just a little bit M just a little bit I ain't going to do your wrong while you gone ain't going to do it wrong cuz I don't want all I'm asking [Music] for AIT I about to give it all my money all I'm asking in the turn honey give me my prose when you get home [Music] oh just a little all right so what is artha singing about in this song What is the context of the song and why is it impactful in American culture she's singing about respect in the home and the marriage when you come home all I want is a little respect she's talking about what is the context of the song it's the 1960s silver Right movement in America for women's rights for black rights there are all kinds of Rights going on at at the time and why was this song impactful a wife deserves respect from her husband that is her implicit meaning and the background of the 1960 Civil Rights Movement makes the song make sense all right so let's listen to another one by Ben E King Stand By Me this one's older now it's 1961 so let's get into it [Music] when the night has [Music] come and the land is dark and the Moon is the only light we'll see no I won't be afraid oh I won't be afraid just as long as you stand stand by me so darling darling stand by me oh Stand By Me Oh stand stand by me stand by me if the sky that we look upon just tumble and fall all the mountain should crumble to the sea I won't cry I won't cry no I won't up dear just as long as you stand stand by me and darling daring Stand By Me oh Stand By Me w stand now [Music] stand all right so what is Ben singing about in this song What is the context and what made this one impactful from what you know from what we've gone over in this lesson so far Ben is singing about an explicit meaning faithfulness in marriage Stand By Me stand Stand By Me do not leave stand with me through all the scary difficult things that are happening right now the context of the song is the civil rights movement in America there's a lot of change happening this was a very tumultuous time in our history so he's saying Stand By Me wife stand with me despite all the scary stuff that's happening why is the song impactful The implicit meaning or why the song was sung at the time it's the turbulence of the culture in the times in America the wars and rumors of wars and stuff happening the Civil Rights Movement all of these things everything was changing strong marriages were needed don't leave your spouse because of how scary the world is right you need to stand together Stand By Me This song is incredible in so many ways and we actually still use it in our weddings today so comprehension things to remember listening and reading comprehension require understanding the context that something was written or spoken in you need to understand to understand implicit meaning which is what comprehension requires you've got to be able to pay attention to the culture that it was spoken in the time period in which it was written the political climate what's happening in their culture at that time the intended audience how did the original audience understand that piece of text or that media and the surrounding text listen to the whole thing not just pieces in this course we can only do little pieces and Snippets of different types of media but I encourage you to go find these listen to them read them the whole thing and really just understand where the stuff is coming from and draw conclusions based off of that as you navigate the rest of this course do not just stop at understanding what something says work to understand the implicit meaning why it was said this is comprehension and this is how you can Ace all of your English tests as well all right so let's move on we are going to go into exploring various genres of music TV movies and stories in the coming lessons I am excited about this part because we're getting into some really fun stuff some really funny stuff but some also really cool aspects of our culture learning how we perceive life lessons and principles in America through our media all right that's it for this one I'll catch you on the next one