Why Is American History Is Important

American history is a very important subject in our education, therefore, this vital topic shouldn’t be thought of as scary. By learning our country’s history, we understand the society we live in, the changes that occurred, and inspire us to do better. For better understanding of the subject some teachers believe that students will benefit from thinking American history as a “story”, while others look down on that idea. There are several pros and cons for the idea for thinking history as a “story”.

History is the framework of every nation. It describes what life was like in a nation, hundreds perhaps thousands of years previously. With history, many citizens are able to examine what lead to a crisis in a nation such as the Stock Market Crash of 1929 or the Civil War in the 1800s in the United States of America. Likewise, the moments of growth and economic success are looked at. From these past endeavors, the people can examine what went wrong and what went right and determine how they can stop themselves from making similar mistakes or act in a way that has been proven to work. In Eve Kornfeld’s “Creating an American Culture 1775-1800,” many different areas of national identity are discussed, including the beginnings of documenting the history of America as an independent nation. This was especially hard for Americans to create a singular national identity because there was bias in the early works, the different colonies or states were extremely diverse, and many intellectuals had different perspectives on the American identity.

As Robert Penn Warren once stated, “History cannot give us a program for the future, but it can give us a fuller understanding of ourselves, and of our common humanity, so that we can better face the future” (Szasz). The comprehension of all historic events is crucial to society’s success. In order for The United States to reach favorable outcomes in the future, its citizens must be knowledgeable of its history to avoid catastrophe or to adopt a beneficial decision-making process. By understanding the background of this staggering nation, the American population can learn of the errors that have been made along with the characteristics of the route to success. Among the numerous significant events that have occurred in the history of The United

[ 1 ]. Hollitz, John. Thinking Through the Past: A Critical Thinking Approach to U.S.

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.

Americas history is what defines us and who we are as a country. We were built on hard work, sacrifice, wanting to be free and independent to be who we want to. Now a-days, we seem to have fallen away from this. Everything is given to us so easily on our computer and through technology that we have no need to work hard anymore. This is the downfall in humanity because as we keep going, life will continue to get easier and we won’t want to do anything. History is our hope so that we can learn from what we did in our past and how things were done then.For starters, we can see what mistakes we did and make sure we don’t do them again. If we continue to the same thing over and over again, there’s no way for our society to improve from this. Our

As the professor James W Loewer, author of the book, referred that Americans have lost touch with their history. Our teachers and textbooks play important roles in our history study. However, it is their eliding and misrepresenting factoids that have been obstacles in our history studying. Because access to too much errors and distortion, many Americans can hardly understand the past of the country. As a result, we lack the ability to reflect on what’s going on right now and in the future.

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.

Whether the history be good or bad we can’t just forget like something never happened because what happens when something similar appears in the future, it could happen all over again! Tirman writes “Forgetting history is a national pastime of the opinion and policy elite” (Tirman 195). He goes on to talk about why America likes to forget the past; it’s because we have done something that might not look good in the public eye so it isn’t taught or talked about. A great example of the past repeating itself because we decided to not pay attention to the past is the resent Great Recession to the Great Depression. While the Great Recession was not as bad as the Great Depression one major key was the cause of both of these economic downtimes, and it was due to irresponsible lending and borrowing from banks and consumers. Could the recession been avoided, possibly if banks and people would pay more attention to the past and also be more careful when it comes to lending and borrowing. Tirman uses the American occupation in many countries as an example of us forgetting the past writing, “American-led genocide in the Philippines in the early 1900s? Never heard of it? Ethnic cleansing of indigenous peoples in what is now America? We call it Manifest Destiny” (Tirman 196). We don’t think, talk, or learn about most of these things because of how diverse America is and we don’t want to be the “bad guy” even if it leads to something similar happening again. I agree with Tirman that no matter how bad something makes us look we still need to pay attention to it because what happens when something similar comes around in the future? Do we want it to happen again? If you ask me, it shouldn’t happen again because we want to look like the good guy and forget our horrible

In this lesson, I have learned more about one of the most important presidency in America's history. To start with, I learned it was one of the most important because of the events that took place. Jackson was president from 1828-1836, during in which time, Whigs referred to the president as King Andrew because he pretended he ruled all like a dictator or king would do. Jackson dealt with many issues during his two terms. One issue he wanted resolved, more like gone, was the National Bank. He despised this bank, mainly because he lost money because of it putting smaller banks out of money. He had a new treasury building be built where he could keep an eye on everyone's money. This is a smart idea because there should be something or someone keeping track of everyone's money at all to ensure no one loses it especially when it is at no fault of their own. Another issue that arose is tariffs that are put on goods. In 1832, the President and Congress raised taxes and people, mainly from the south are outraged. South Carolina attempted to nullify this tariff, it did not work well for them. President Jackson ordered them to be a part of it or he would make them.

First is that we need to remember our history. If we forget our history we will be bound to repeat it. Our history is one of the most important things that we

Despite the state of the situation, Americans have developed a unique sense of identity and we can always seem to be optimistic we can benefit change. Whether we create change, follow change, or need change, this identity which brings it about represents all the people, and serves the good of all. The ability to reform, adapt, and recover as an American is unmatched. This theme of a developing identity continues to develop up to modern day and will never stop evolving. With new challenges arising on the horizon, it is our responsibility as the people to never forget our history, as it defines our identity, destiny, and most importantly, what it means to be

Throughout United States history, several presidents have stood out for making a big impact on shaping the foundation the nation was built on. Thomas Jefferson was elected as the nation’s third president in 1800 and served two terms (249). Andrew Jackson was elected as the nation’s seventh president in 1828 and also served two terms (349). Both presidents ultimately held the same ideals. Jackson actually considered himself a Jeffersonian Republican, although Jefferson did not particularly like Jackson (332). Jackson’s party title changed because the political party system during his election consisted of his supporters, who called themselves the Democratic Republicans, the Democrats, or the Jacksonian Democrats. The opposition called themselves the National Republicans (324). Both presidents were their party leaders. These two presidents were similar in their ability to make a big impact on American history. Jefferson and Jackson were more alike as presidents than they were different through their actions to support an agrarian republic, their desire to uphold states’ rights by shrinking the federal government, and their belief in a strict interpretation of the Constitution.

What I find ironically funny is the statement quote used for this essay topic, “Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it”. This is something our government needs to take heed to, because they are the ones repeating history. Right now as we speak banks are again selling houses to people that cannot really afford the payments, they are signing contracts without reading the fine print of the balloon rates that are going to make it impossible to keep their

Ronald Takaki, in his book, “A Different Mirror,” tackles the traditional narrative of American History. His concern lies in the diversified structure and inclusion of parts of their world, and their relation with daily interaction between people. The problem lies, however, in that the structure of American History, is heavily dependent on a Eurocentric idea of conquering the weak. With Takaki’s narrative experience, from the beginning of Chapter 1, he reveals how through history education, ordinary Americans, generally, are subsequently narrow minded and are ill prepared to adjust to the change in demographics throughout next decades, and thereof.