Great Authors of the 20th Century

8G History Lesson 125 Assignment

Today I will be writing about 2 great authors of the 20th century, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.

J.R.R. Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on January 3, 1892. He lived in South Africa until he was 4, when he moved to England because his father had passed away. Sadly, his mother also died in 1904, leaving Tolkien and his younger brother orphans. They were taken into the care of a Catholic priest. Tolkien attended Exeter College in Oxford, and after graduating he became a teacher. He was an English professor for most of his life. Tolkien met C.S. Lewis at school, and they became friends. They started going to a writing group called the Inklings.

Tolkien wrote many books, but by far his most well-known and best-selling is The Lord of the Rings. It is a fantastical epic, with creatures such as dwarves, elves, ogres, etc. It is usually published in three separate volumes, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. There is also an immensely popular prequel, The Hobbit, (published before LOTR) which sets a background for the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The books remain very popular today, and all of the books have movie adaptations, which are very popular. Tolkien has also published a few other books relating to Middle Earth, the fictional world he created, but they are not as popular as the main series.

Tolkien died on September 3, 1973. Some of his works were published after his death.

C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis was born on November 29, 1898. He was interested in writing even at an early age, encouraged by his parents. He attended many boarding schools, and later studied at Oxford college. He was an atheist until fellow writer and friend J.R.R. Tolkien encouraged Lewis to pursue faith.

His first successful work was Out of the Silent Planet, a science fiction book. He followed this up with two others that completed the trilogy. They were reviewed in the Inklings group.

C.S. Lewis’ most famous work is the Narnia series. The first book, the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, was published in 1950. The books have Christian symbolism woven into them.

Lewis died on November 22, 1963.

Both of these authors were very influential, and their books are still wildly popular today.

References:

www.britannica.com/biography/J-R-R-Tolkien

www.britannica.com/biography/C-S-Lewis

World War II

8G History Lesson 120 Assignment

Overview

World War II, also called the Second World War, was an international conflict that involved almost the whole world. There were two main sides, the Axis, which was made up of the Italian, German, and Japanese forces, and the Allies, which were the French, British, Russian, and later American forces.

History of WWII

The war was mostly caused by the German invasion of Poland. This led Great Britain and the U.S. to declare war on Germany. Hitler made a pact with Russia and split up Poland with them.

Germany attacked France and the Netherlands, occupying both countries. Hitler also authorized massive bombing raids of Britain. By this time, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania had joined the Axis powers. Germany broke its agreement with Russia, and launched a surprise attack on the Russian forces. The Germans were stopped by the winter weather, and were forced to abandon the mission.

Japan played a major role in the war, attacking European colonial bases in China. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked the American military base of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The U.S. made the decision to enter the war. Japan went on to conquer almost all of southeast Asia.

The Allies steadily pushed back against the Axis powers, and were able to take back the countries that Germany had claimed. They eventually defeated the Germans and split up the country between France, Britain, Russia, and the U.S.

But the war continued to rage in the Pacific. The U.S. retaliated on the Japanese attacks by dropping not one, but two atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, resulting in the loss of more than 150,000 lives, but it forced the Japanese to surrender.

World War II was another tragic war, and it is estimated that over 40 million people died as a result. But there were some positive developments and inventions that saved people’s lives, like penicillin, radar, and duct tape. Still, I hope you have learned (if you haven’t already) that war is never a good idea!

Reference:

https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-II

The Great Depression

8G History Lesson 115 Assignment

This week’s school assignment was on the Great Depression and its effects on America.

Overview

The Great Depression was a time period from 1929 until about 1939, where countries around the world, mostly the U.S. experienced crashes in their economy. People suffered and the workforces crashed.

Causes

There were many factors that contributed to starting the Great Depression. One of them was the stock market crash. On October 24, 1929, the U.S. stock prices crashed. Investors everywhere panicked, and this led to mass selling of stocks. Another factor was the banking panics. People were beginning to lose trust in the banks, due to some of the new government policies. This led people to withdraw large sums of money from banks, and by 1933 1/5 of the banks that were there in 1930 went bankrupt.

Additionally, a number of government policies played a role in bringing the great depression. Tariffs were raised significantly by Herbert Hoover.

Culture and Society

The culture of the 1930’s was different than the so-called Roaring 20’s. Many families who were doing just fine before the depression were now struggling to get by. Families that were struggling before were now in a very bad position. Many women started working during the depression to help their families out. Children had more responsibilities and jobs than they did before, and some of them contributed in the work force.

The 1930s saw the rise of swing music, and jazz was popular too. The board game Monopoly was very popular during this time.

Conclusion

The Great Depression is remembered as one of the most difficult times in America’s history. People struggled to recover for many years after the depression was over. Hopefully we will never have such a devastating crash ever again.

Reference:

https://www.britannica.com/event/Great-Depression

Warren Harding

8G History Lesson 110 Assignment – Part 1

This week I was to write about presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge. I decided to split it into two essays, this is the first part.

Overview

Warren Harding was the 29th president. He promised to help the U.S. return to normalcy after World War 1, but he accomplished little in office. His short time as president was marked by many scandals, which upset many people. Most people consider Warren Harding’s time in office as one of the worst.

Life and Presidency of Harding

Warren G. Harding was born on November 2, 1865 in the state of Ohio. He grew up on a farm, but his father later abandoned farming and became a physician. Warren grew up the oldest of 8 children. He tried many different careers, and bought a small newspaper company in Ohio. He became interested in politics, and slowly became more well-known.

Harding served as a senator, and was a member of the Republican party. He ran for president in 1920, under the slogan “Return to Normalcy.”

Harding didn’t do much in office. His biggest acts were to increase tariffs, and lower taxes on business. But the thing he is most remembered for is the scandals that took place during his presidency. Harding wasn’t the most honest man, and he didn’t appoint very trustworthy people.

Harding died of a heart attack while returning from a vacation in 1923. This marked the end of his presidency, and Calvin Coolidge took over.

Reference:

www.britannica.com/biography/Warren-G-Harding

11
Apr, 2025

Calvin Coolidge

8G History Lesson 110 Assignment – Part 2

This is part two of my assignment for this week.

Overview

Calvin Coolidge was our 30th president. He became president after Harding died in office. In my opinion, he was one of the best presidents ever, but he is often forgotten.

Life and Presidency of Coolidge

Calvin Coolidge was born on July 4, 1872. He was an only child, and his parents raised him well. His father was a storekeeper, and taught Calvin many Puritan virtues. Coolidge loved reading and nature as a child.

Coolidge decided to pursue a career in law, starting in 1897. He married Grace Goodhue in 1905. Coolidge was chosen as mayor of Northampton in 1909, and was active in the Massachusetts government. He was a popular republican cantidate for Vice President, and made it onto the ballot with president Harding. They were easily elected into office by a 60 percent popular vote.

Coolidge was thrust into the presidency when Harding unexpectedly died. Harding had left Coolidge a seat surrounded by scandals. However, Coolidge was determined to restore the people’s trust. In 1924, he was nominated for president. He won more than half of the popular vote under the campaign “Keep Cool with Coolidge”.

Coolidge improved the U.S. economy and government in many ways. He was very supportive of business and the free market, and dramatically lowered the income and property tax rates. He also supported smaller government. His Secretary of the Treasury was Andrew Mellon. He believed that lowering taxes would help expand the economy. Coolidge vetoed the McNary Haugen bill 2 times, which Congress was trying to approve. This bill was a plan for the government to subsidize American crops. Coolidge’s move to veto it was a controversial one, and some people were not happy. He was also a supporter of racial equality, and tried to move the U.S. towards it.

Some people criticize Coolidge for his “lack of action”, and blamed the Great Depression on him. They thought that he should have taxed the rich more, and enact more laws that subsidized the economy.

Coolidge oversaw almost a decade of prosperity, and in 1928, he decided not to run again. 1929 saw the election of Herbert Hoover, and the biggest economic crash in United States history.

In summary, Calvin Coolidge was a somewhat controversial president, but I think the things that he did (and the things that he didn’t do) helped the economy and America as a whole.

Reference:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Calvin-Coolidge