History And Its Impact On Society

Some people look at history as a boring subject, but that’s because they haven’t thought of it like a marvelous tale of action, drama, tragedy, and whole lot of chaos. By thinking of it that way, it will make the subject much more interesting.

History intrigues me because, unlike other branches of education, it tells a story. The problem with telling a story is that over time, certain events are altered or omitted by those in power to suit their needs. I was once told that History is written by the victors. This includes not just the winners in war, but the political victors, champions of power, and the wealthy patronage of scoundrels seeking to whitewash their history of shame and corruption. History books, therefore rarely tell the whole story. An example could be when a noble, who just survived a political

History class in itself has a specific purpose which seems to be frequently forgotten. We learn about violent and horrible events in our past, as well as life- changing and positively impacting ones. From the negative events, we learn what went wrong and how to prevent similar tragedies from happening. From the positive, we gather knowledge and comprehension of the basis of our modern society. We are a self- repairing race, analyzing every flaw and figuring out what caused it. It's an ancient practice, trial and error is human nature.

“I don’t understand why I have to take this class. All that old history stuff has no relevance to my life, and it is a waste of time to fool with it. My life today is more important than the lives of all those dead and boring people.” This remark is said more frequently than we realize. History is a combination of events that created our present and future today. The past it what simply gives our present it’s value. Another way to look at history is it can be compared to our ancestry line. Without our ancestors we wouldn’t have the make-up of genes that we do today. For example, the Columbian exchange is one of the events in history that has really impacted our world. Not only did one change come from the event but a variety including food, plants, animals, goods and knowledge. History also exposes knowledge to us. It is the resource that allows us to better our lives and expand our knowledge. Believe it or not, our life we peruse everyday consist of history. Including languages, we inherited, religions that weren’t just created on the spot, technologies that have been upgraded in the past years, and the clothing we decided to put on our backs everyday that has evolved from different materials to different fittings. The world has evolved in many ways in the past and it continues to evolve.

“History is the study of any past or present happening or events for which there is physical, written or oral evidence available to substantiate the happenings or events. Some students of history have difficulty with their motivation for the subject because they cannot identify with the personal value of history” (A Guide to Critical Thinking in the Social Studies 1). Clearly, there are many approaches to the study of an era or theme, but those most frequently relied upon in all levels of education are those which seek to present facts, documented from a wide number of sources, primary and secondary, as objectively as possible, a practice which detaches students from their studies and seemingly takes the “story” out of history. Relying upon

The history that is discussed in classrooms today is not what it once was. History is no longer held with the same value as it was once before. History repeats itself. We can learn the story of history and unpack it to understand. Through history we can learn the effects of change. Through history we learn so much.

Many people do not realize the way history has impacted today’s life and find it a waste of time to be learning. When really our lives would not be anything near to what they are today.

The subject of history is described as many things among high schoolers. A boring subject about people long since dead, a class with WAY too much homework or with a professor who enjoys giving droning lectures. Therefore, most students look at history classes as just another set of credits to get out of the way for graduation. However, in my case, it is viewed a bit differently. I believe history is a gift, a window into the past that gives us a chance to learn from the people who lived before us, and to prevent the recurring of their mistakes in our world today.

"History never seems like history when you are living through it." This quote by John W. Gardner accurately depicts the inability of most young people to understand the importance of history. Every decision that is made creates an outcome. Once that outcome occurs, it becomes history. To many, history is seen as simply cluster of sequential events of the past. Rather, it is a record of the emotional and physical hardships generations have gone through to bring us to the present and also affect our future. In order for history to be taught well, it must be understood that the people of the past were more similar to us than we know,

Can the subject of history be seen as a huge turn off for students and the general public? After reading the works of Roy Rosenzweig, David Thelen, Sam Wineburg, and Jared Diamond it has been seen that students and the general public view history as a subject that consists of many hurdles to engage with the topic. Throughout the works of these authors, they all demonstrate how difficult it is for students and the general public to engage with the subject of history by the use of different strategies. The strategies that were used to bring such as conducting surveys and interviewing assumed non experts and experts after analyzing a historical document. Seen throughout the units we’ve studied it has been evident that the works of these authors

Loewen states that textbooks “devote forty-nine pages to the 1930s and forty-seven pages to the 1940s, but few than twenty to the 1980s and 1990s (even tossing the first few years of the millennium) …” (Loewen 260). This allows for history of the past to be more accurate of that than the future because of the controversies that arise. Although it may be good to get a clear picture of what happened in the past, information may be withheld for more recent events and the truth of these issues could be told later to future generations. This is interesting because there may be more intelligence for example on 9/11 that we do not know and will be publicized later. So, all the facts may not be as clear as they would be in the future. A key point that I found very interesting was that history becomes more accurate through the passing of time. Knowing this, is a very important perspective to have and look at recent event today with this in

History is taught to students for multiple reasons. It is not just to make students remember dates so they can get a credit towards their graduation plan. History is taught to students to prevent history from repeating itself and to also teach students how to learn from the mistakes from others. There are many interesting time periods to live in, such as the 1980’s where their hair was bigger than the state of Texas or the 1960’s, when the mashed potato left the dinner table and became a dance. However, if I was given an opportunity to live in a different time period, I would choose to live in the 1920’s because it was a very creative time period for America.

By not being taught the actual events that took place on the specific date in time, this could hinder their knowledge of their own country, and that can affect the student in crucial future endeavors. Contrary to the pros of selective and biased history, another con is that the US is “never wrong”. We seem to forget on a day-to-day basis that our America has done some bad things. If the US had an event where they were at fault or considered wrong, then they should be shown as wrong and at fault, not as a country “who despite setbacks, made the best of it and overcame these obstacles” My opinion heavily agrees with the last statement. The history curriculum within the US is teaching the students lies, and if the class is to be taught, the most crucial points should be chosen and taught as truthfully as possible.

Throughout slavery, African-Americans fought hard for their rights and freedom. Slavery began as Africans were forced to move to what is now the United States. Primarily, slavery was very prominent in the South as the North was more against slavery. Throughout this time, many African Americans stepped out of their fear of the lethal hand of the white man and stood firm for their rights. An enslaved African American, Nat Turner, was one of many who stood against slavery to fight for the rights of all slaves. Nat Turner started a rebellion against slavery while actively being a slave. His contribution to African American history led to many enslaved blacks to gain their rights that they deserved no longer having to serve the black man. It is his contribution that allowed the way African Americans live equally and intergraded today.

there are many versions of history. often, the last person to tell the story, creates the definitive history. this is particularly true when long time spans are involved and multicultural influences are at work. histories should be prefaced by the phrase, “from my point of view…………………” and so it is with art history. its origin, development and influence can be assessed differently by different observers who’s particular backgrounds and experiences shape their understanding.