Why Is So Much of History (Accepted & Taught in American Schools) NOT 'What Actually Happened'?
@mythociate (21437)
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
February 10, 2018 10:26am CST
I think the main reason is: 'What actually happened' isn't really the point.
The point is--and this gets us into why America is thought-of (less-&-less often now ... Thanks Trump Sr.!) as "a Christian Nation" ... not because most of us believe that some Jewish prophet became a zombie who sent our ancestors on a mission, but because--we make things true by agreeing they're the truth. http://www.bing.com/search?q=if%20two%20agree&rrid=_4a4d8ca6-d007-c59d-34cf-7b40dfa07200
(Matthew 18:19 (Jesus speaking) "Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.")
I thought of this when watching CRACKED "Hilarious Helmet History" on Amazon Prime (tho I think it- and most of CRACKED-'started' on YouTube), in which Alex Schmidt tells us how history-class and pop-culture have told us falsehood-after-falsehood about the world's past ...
... how history-class has us believing that 'all ancient Scandinavians were Vikings, Samurai were supernatural bastions of chivalry, Benedict Arnold was just evil (with no real human reason for 'switching sides' in the American Revolution,' etc.
And it's all stuff you could find out with a little bit of specific research (beyond your history-classes' textbooks). But I think it's important (more-&-more important as 'research beyond the textbook' becomes easier-&-easier) that history-teachers remember- & remind their students of-the point of the class:
It's not "that the class finds out what actually happened" (though it's important to learn how to do that, in a different class), the point is 'that the class learns what all the classes before and most of the current- and future-classes all agree is "the story we'll tell our children."'
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2 responses
@AKRao24 (27424)
• India
10 Feb 18
This is not only happening in America in India also we are getting to hear new history of our country....these politicians are more efficient than the actual historians dear friend @mythociate ! thanks for the intelligent discussion! 
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@mythociate (21437)
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
10 Feb 18
It reminds me of the infamous Senator whom President Trump calls "Senator Pocahontas," because of how she even 'wrote in official documents' that she's part-'Indian' ("Native American," I forget which tribe) when there's no real evidence that she actually is Native American.
Speaking of which, I wonder why 'Native Americans' are still referred to as "Indians" even though we've known for centuries that the two are barely even the same species (human)!
(Apparently, 'Indian' is an acceptable term because it's related to the Spanish/Latin/Mexican en Dios (of God).)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search The Native American name controversy is an ongoing discussion about the changing terminology used by indigenous peoples of the Americas to describe themselves, as well as how they prefer to
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@AKRao24 (27424)
• India
10 Feb 18
I know these people are responsible for distorting the history dear @mythociate ! Thanks!
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@mythociate (21437)
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
13 Feb 18
@AKRao24 maybe, but not exactly. No-matter who actually distorted history; the responsibility lies with each individual who believes- and passes the story down to future history-keepers.
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@cupkitties (7421)
• United States
10 Feb 18
Makes me glad to have had teachers that encouraged their students to learn outside the class room. Even more so to be an avid reader that I was actually able to follow their advice. Many student are too lazy to bother. There is history and there is the public school systems version of it. I'm fairly certainly for the latter, there are political reasons tied to it.
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@mythociate (21437)
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
13 Feb 18
"Political" ... I'm afraid you might mean the 'conniving, sneaky, rumor-telling, popularity-contest' meaning that the word has taken-on, but I hope you know the original meaning of the word: Managing the People of one's City.
And that second definition ... is the reason for the public-schools' version of history. They don't want revolution or warfare at home, and so they convince all the people that "we're done with it---that we live in peace now because we had the war before already!"
As for today's "politicians" using those teachings to 'gain votes'---it reminds me of what they say about 'history': "The history-books are written by The Winners!"
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