Ashton Wassack

Ashton Wassack

I was inspired to pursue my passion of history during high school, when I took my first U.S history class. At the beginning, I was not very interested in history. I just assumed the class would be like any other history class I had taken, and I would be extremely bored but I was pleasantly surprised. The knowledge of history consumed me, and I knew I had to discover more about the history of this vast country. Even though the United States did not have a long history compared to Europe or many Middle Eastern countries, I was still captured by the battles we had won and lost to become the nation we are today. I chose this picture to be my primary source because I believe it captures the essence of this country. It shows the signing of the Declaration of Independence by the original 13 colonies and it was painted by John Trumbull in 1832. This document states who the country is as a unit and the goals of our fore fathers. I believe signing this document is the pivotal point for the nation and as a history student I want to study the history of America to discover how this one document created our culture. In turn, I want to teach the importance of this document and our history to students so they can gain knowledge of our history. Many students do not understand how this document and our founding fathers changed the world just by signing a piece of paper that is still a symbol of hope and freedom for many people around the world. I want to be the teacher that teaches the past, in order to gain a better understanding of the present.

John Trumbull

"My Declaration of Independence", EV World.com, accessed October 29, 2014, http://www.evworld.com/article.cfm?storyid=716.

1832-XX-XX

Still Image

Painting