This is a cowboy:

Possibly one of the last, true, American cowboys. He tends to cattle, lives on low wage, and doesn't receive much respect, in truth. He is simply a farm hand. One can imagine that he himself plays up the image of the "traditional cowboy," but the reality is harsh and unromantic. A typical cowboy of the west in the late 19th century probably wasn't far from this.They worked hard and lived on low wages, with long periods of loneliness. Their life was dirty and uncomfortable, with grime and sweat caking up on long rides and impregnating their clothing and skin. Most were average men earning their way through life, living day by day. Being a cowboy was probably the only job they could get, and for many it was probably a last resort. 

This is Clint Eastwood:

The man, that is, is Clint Eastwood. Clint Eastwood is an actor born in the mid-20th century who played a cowboy in many movies. His image is bold, attractive, sun tanned, tough, and violent, but at the same time compassionate and romantic. This is the image of the cowboy drummed up in the late 19th century during the rapid immigration to the West. This image of cowboys symbolized everything that individuals fantasized about the West. They were seen as free, independent, and in touch with nature. This is vastly different from the true cowboy of the west. This distorted image came

Another aspect of the west that was distorted in the public's mind in the 19th century is the image of it being an uninhabited frontier. While it was not as populous as the East, there was a huge Indian population and Spanish, European, and Chinese settlers already making complex communities before the rapid migration of Americans to the West.

Before this unit, I knew very little about post-civil war US history in general. I had never covered it in school. I knew tensions existed between the South and North and that things were not easy for African Americans, even after the 13th amendment. I also knew that many white Southerners  after the war yearned for the antebellum culture that they perceived to have existed before the war.

What really stood out to me in this unit was the political and emotional nature of Reconstruction and post Reconstruction. I was very surprised that the Republicans would allow northern troops to leave the south in return for having a Republican president.  This is especially surprising because they had created so much power for themselves in the Senate and House. At that point, it seemed to me that the president was losing more and more power to the Representatives and Senators, and the Republicans should have focused on maintaining their majority. In addition, It was also interesting how much emotion played in to the post war US. I would have thought that after such a taxing war, Southerners would have been much more open to joining the Union to make everything easier for themselves. Instead, it seems, Southerners were more concerned with maintaining the feeling of power. They wanted to feel independent from the North and powerful compared to the African Americans, even though they lost the war. From a distant observer, it is clear that the way of life would never be sustainable like it was in the South. Because a large part of the population in the South was black, the lifestyle would not be sustainable if this group was discontent. In addition, the way of life in the South was actively opposed by many people in the North.

It is beneficial for people to understand the history of the place they live because history provides a context for laws and customs that may still be present today. People can learn from how a culture, or individuals within the culture, acted. In addition, it provides an explanation for how life is today and where it might go in the future.