History Vs American History

America has dealt with many things that shaped our history including major wars, fighting for freedoms of all people, and terrorist attacks, but they all give us a reason to continue strengthening our country. The events that we have encountered shaped our history today. In many ways, America has changed greatly for the best interest of the people.

American culture has changed over time as the country has grown. It is important to know our history so we can avoid the same mistakes that our ancestors made before us. With knowledge of our history and our prior mistakes, we can learn from them and make better decisions in the future.

Never was I taught my ancestor’s side of the story until high school. Never have I heard of the Joseon Dynasty, Kublai Khan, or Qin Shi Huang, the history that was my forefather’s life. I always knew Columbus’s achievements as the discoverer of America, but I was not taught his abhorrent treatment to the Native Americans. I was told about the British royal family founded by Alfred the Great, but they never mentioned about the Japanese emperor. I was forced to memorize the facts from a Western-based history textbook, but never have they told me to remember even one date of the Vietnamese, Indian, Chinese, or Japanese history.

“The arc of American history almost inevitably moves toward freedom. Whether it 's Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation, the expansion of women 's rights or, now, gay rights, I think there is an almost-inevitable march toward greater civil liberties.” -James McGreevey

It’s a complicated task to find a general consensus among Americans. We are a melting pot of different ethnicities, cultures, and backgrounds, so controversy and disagreement are inherent. American history is no exception to this concept. People are taught about history differently while growing up, and the manner in which they are taught, along with their personal beliefs, shape the way they define historic events. For instance, after thorough interviews, I found that many people explain why the Europeans were able to conquer and colonize North America differently. However, there were two generalized themes which I observed the most.

Modern history cannot be written as the rise of the West or generally as a narrative. An exclusion of a plethora of accounts from people who lived at very important times in history is able to prove this point accurately. For example, many of the people who had opinions that were seen as useful and valuable were the male, European settlers who not made decisions about what occurred in society but also were the ones who held most of the power and had a very high status or job. By only having the European settlers make many major decisions, as well as have an important opinion, the slaves and women were excluded from divulging everything they had seen, therefore, allowing history to be erased. Additionally, the Native Americans also represent

A - The Louisiana Purchase greatly affected the United States because the area of the country doubled.

Unsurprisingly, many historic cultures have not been accurately studied in modernity. Due to personal biases, incomplete data, or a multitude of other issues, incorrect perceptions about these collapsed societies remain. However, modern studies are beginning to reveal the inaccuracies of those enduring, false notions. It is valuable to compare misunderstandings to the historic reality in addition to discovering why the past happened as it did. Although newer, more factual information will not erase long-taught misconceptions about collapsed societies like Jamestown, El Dorado, or the Norse Greenlanders, it provides the chance to better understand historic events in an effort to help guide decisions that could affect the near and distant future.

American history began at the battle of Lexington and Concord. It was the first military engagement of the American Revolutionary War and was fought on April 19, 1775. On April 19, around 700 British troops marched to Concord to search for and confiscate rebel weapons. However, the 77 militiamen gathered to stop the British. The British troops retreated after suffering some minor losses, and eventually ran back all the way to Charlestown Neck, where they had naval support and was safe. This battle was the first example of actual fighting and showed the world that America was serious about declaring their independence, as opposed to being some silly protestors. While one might argue that the Declaration of

The 14th and 15th centuries were a period of great change which caused many vital aspects of American history to be lost, however, through science, archaeology, and other techniques, historians have been able to make new discoveries about the Americas detailed in 1491 by Charles C. Mann. These revelations beg the question: When should U.S. History officially begin? While the U.S. was not founded until after 1492, U.S. history should start before 1492 because Native Americans have had lasting impacts on parts of nature which could give insight into important scientific questions, and more education of the pre-Columbian era combats the ethnocentric idea that Native Americans were largely savages and not as civilized as other ancient societies. Finally, we need to include this aspect of human history because it gives us

American culture has changed over time as the country has grown. It is important to know our history so we can avoid the same mistakes that our ancestors made before us. With knowledge of our history and our prior mistakes, we can learn from them and make better decisions in the future.

One of the greatest violent and horrifying forms of American history was the establishment of slavery. In 1619 Slavery began in Jamestown, Virginia when the very fewest slaves were brought to America from Africa. African-Americans were known to be very healthy people and in good shape because of their hard work of surviving in Africa. Many Africans had to do work, walk miles everyday to just get water for their families. As the slaves entered America, they were dispersed throughout the colonies. The main source for money and cheap labor in America was the tobacco agriculture. Slaves were put to work in the tobacco fields. This was an unnatural state for the human soul to be in bondage and captivity ever since the beginning of civilization. Patrick Henry stated, “Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!” Through these centuries the slaves rose up and rebelled.

Moyers cites in this document reasons why Americans might not be interested in studying history. He said Americans are the people of future. Americans always look ahead, not behind. They spend more time on improving and developing for the future more than looking back to history. They consider study of history is going back, while their goal is coming up for the future. They don’t like they idea going backward, they learn to step forward. Moyers says that his mother, who is also American, said often to him, “be sure your headlights are brighter than your tail-lights.” Headlights are in the front and tail-lights, of course, are on the back. Americans believe in concept future is more important than history. They rely more on television rather

American society is known for having the highest standard of living across the globe; this is solely due to the consumerist culture that is brought forth by capitalism. Americans in the U.S. take pride in these standards and in the freedoms that this democratic nation has established. The 20th century will always be remembered in American history as a century of radical changes on the social and political fronts of the nation. Literature, too, evolved quickly from specific, compartmentalized fields which fit into categories, to works which had no set definition—nobody knew what to do with them. These changes also took place in poetry; artistic expression began to change across the arts and so did the mediums. Poets across the nation

Some would say that the U.S. centric history taught in public schools presents a one-sided perspective, encourages over-nationalism, and impedes U.S. foreign relations. Those who carry these beliefs have coined the term “Americentrism”. Americentrism is defined as “the idea or perceived bias to judge other cultures and nations by American standards or to center around America in news” (Rationalwiki). This in turn is derived from the concept of “ethnocentrism,” or the “idea of judging another culture solely by the values and standards of one’s own culture” (Wikipedia). One cannot deny that the United States centers everything it possibly can around itself. This includes everything from the nation’s curriculum taught in public schools to its day-to-day news. However, that is exactly what happens in every country across the globe. It is only normal for a country to center things around itself because its audience is its own population. This is not necessarily a negative thing either. The majority of people are not interested in the world as a whole. Instead, they want to know what is happening around them on a local, state or national level because that is what applies to them personally. In the case of the United States, there is a definite focus on all things American in the classroom, but due to numerous external and internal factors, the effects of this focus are negligible in the grand scheme of things. Nevertheless, that does not mean that people’s perspectives cannot be