Born Thomas Woodrow Wilson in 1856 Virginia, a president in the making entered the world. Later opting to drop his first name and become just Woodrow Wilson, much of his young life shaped his philosophy and morals during his presidency ranging from 1912 to 1920.
Wilson was born with the onset of Civil War. Living in the South, he witnessed Union soldiers marching through his home, while President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, enacted Confederate policy. Moreover, his mother tended to Confederate soldier's wounds as she served as a nurse during those times of war. Wilson's upbringing during times of such horrid aggression and war tearing the United States apart obviously contributed to his passion for ending all wars later in life. His peaceful policies were a result of his earliest days in America.
In addition, Wilson as mentioned before, Wilson was brought up in the South and his father had cemented Southern values. It is for this reason that Wilson would later revert on his promises to expand rights for African Americans, as his childhood lead him to believe that policies that enacted and perpetuated segregation were fair and just in society.
Wilson also was raised in an extremely pious household - being of presbyterian faith himself. His father was a reverend. In addition, Wilson's education primarily came from his father as public schools in the South were little to none and thus Wilson's schooling was extremely religious and oriented around morality. Thus, we start to understand why Wilson stressed the importance of "right" and "wrong" when going about enacting policy. His moral compass was shaped by his childhood education.
When analyzing any figure of history, it is important to trace back to their early days. As re-iterated multiple times in class, historical giants are still people and their childhood and upbringing will clearly have affects on the adult they become.
Source:
http://millercenter.org/president/biography/wilson-life-before-the-presidency
This is a good blog post to help us see why Wilson was the way he was. I can now understand why Wilson did not do much to help African Americans, because we was raised in the south. Also this post helped to make us understand why Wilson had very strong certitude and would not compromise because he thought he was morally right, like he would not compromise on The League of Nations for example.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you included his education in your post. It really showed why he always believed that he was right and how he thinks that god made him the president. Growing up on only his dad's values and believes explains for many of decisions such as wanting to create the League of Nations, and fighting in the Mexican Civil War.
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