pro-history+essay

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Dear Fellow Sixth Grader,

Americans are famous for knowing next to nothing about history – neither the history of their own country, nor that of any other. You can see talk show host Jay Leno walking around asking very basic questions to the “man on the street” who then embarrasses himself on camera for the amusement of the audience.

Perhaps this is because, for the most part, we Americans have been blessed with a successful history and therefore can afford to remain ignorant of it. The people in Poland, being invaded so often by the Germans on one side of their country and the Russians on the other, do not let their children remain ignorant to the deadly tragic influence of history. The Jews do not forget their history.media type="file" key="history-i.mp4" align="right" width="300" height="300"

But Americans too often could care less about the past. In 2011 when Newsweek Magazine asked 1,000 U.S. citizens to take America’s official citizenship test, the results were depressing: “29 percent couldn’t name the vice president. Seventy-three percent couldn’t correctly say why we fought the Cold War. Forty-four percent were unable to define the Bill of Rights. And 6 percent couldn’t even circle Independence Day on a calendar.” It is hard to imagine, but think about what would happen if you just asked a random person on the street these questions. They probably wouldn’t know either. And Americans not knowing history is not new news.

A Roman named Cicero once claimed, //“To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child.”// In this sense ahistorical Americans are essentials “childlike,” no? They don’t know or appreciate the people and events that shaped the world they were born into. Instead of looking backwards to understand they focus on the present for entertainment and to the future to make money. There you have the two factors that define much of contemporary America: entertainment and money (ie. greed). We are a people who hustle and bustle here and there in a fury of noise and fury which signify little of lasting value. So much noise and heat, so little clarity or understanding.

In school we can correct this, to some degree. We can supposedly sit and hear ourselves think. We can appreciate the various events and developments in history that make us who we are – for surely, who we are today depends on what we were then. This is as true of our earliest and remotest homo sapiens ancestors as it is for our parents and grandparents in 20th century America (as well as everyone else in between).

The study of history can make us wise. We learn history so as not to make the same mistakes many have made in the past – to not be that fool who has to learn from his own mistakes, and not rather learn from the mistakes of others! History is often a list of tragic and painful disasters – and this is as true for countries as it is for individuals. //(“Rome fell to barbarians invasions!” “Uncle Bob drank himself to an early grave!”)// Only a foolish person thinks the rules and lessons of history do not apply to them. Only a people hugely at risk for repeating its hardest lessons refuse to learn about history. In fact, a school that does not teach history is not really a “school” at all. I certainly would not want to attend there.

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