The Past Controls the Future 'Who controls the past,' ran the Party slogan, 'controls the

future: who controls the present controls the past. (Orwell 35). This important quote from the novel 1984 perfectly summarizes the struggle to keep the citizens of our great nation, The United States of America, educated on important issues and historical events in history. Because without history and its teachings we are more susceptible to being controlled and to have their natural rights such and freedom of speech and freedom of religion taken away by the ever growing government. If people are ignorant to the past facts can be changed and is become truth engraved into historys stone without any back checking. This coniotes to the scene in the novel 1984 in which the protagonist ,Winston Smith, has to replace the name of comrade Olgivey to that of Comrade Withers because Olgivey had betrayed the party in some way and now had to be a unperson which is essentially the worst thing all the Party can commit, they manipulate the people ion the past In history there have been horrible people who have done evil acts of terror and committed crimes against humanity questioning everything there is to human nature and in other cases there have been leaders and heroes who shape the way we thin today. But it is important to know all of these people good or evil because knowledge is power. Also there are events in history that are just too grand to be forge,t but what is important, is the facts, the facts separate the fiction from the reality. The Holocaust is one of humanities greatest tragedies and a terrible act against humanity. The facts surrounding the Holocaust must never be forgotten in order to protect future generations from something as terrible as the Holocaust. For example it is estimated that over 5,860,000 Jews were killed in the holocaust, but a simple change of the numbers and suddenly the number is in half and most of them were not civilians but soldiers, of course is not true (36 Questions). So it is important to remember key events in history to learn and reflect on the wrongs and rights of those in the past. Remembering sed events helps ensure our freedom and peace because it enables us to call out the lies that people or big government might try to spread to benefit them. There are lessons in history were the power of fear and hated is used to fuel the masss ignorance and leads to innocent lives being lost because of it.

"The thought police would get him just the same. He had committed--would have committed, even if he had never set pen to paper--the essential crime that contained all others in itself. Thoughtcrime, they called it.(Orwell 17). A thought crime, this simple crime could be punished by torture, imprisonment, or even death in Orwells Big Brother society. The thought of such laws in the history of the United States seems very far-fetched. But in reality, like the Salem Witch trials emulate Orwells thoughtcrime concept to the letter. The Salem Witch trials were a set of trials in order to prove whether or not a certain man or women was in fact a satanic worshiping witch. These people were met with horrific executions or died while in prison. These acts against humanity were committed because people were ignorant and others took advantage of their fear and unfamiliarity and used it for their own political and sometimes monetary gains. The witch trials are a brutal lesson that if others have the chance to control what ones think they will most likely take that opportunity to for their own gain. In conclusion the past and its teachings are the most valuable and effective ways of preserving ones rights and liberties. Knowledge is power and used properly can be used to prevent terrible events like the Salem Witch Trials because people saw what was going on and say something to stop it. The past can be preserved in doing so will in turn the natural rights and liberties that all citizens are entitled to.

Works Cited Orwell, George. 1984. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1984. Print. "36 Questions About the Holocaust (1-18)." Jewish Virtual Library - Homepage. Web. 26 Sept. 2011. <http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/36quest1.html>.