US History - different perspectives...

There is already an interest entitled "history." The icon is a stack of books with a clock on top. You can always add a topic as one of your interests and if the category doesn't already exist, MyLot will add it.

Oh I think we have a completely perspective based history. For one, history is written by the winners. What do you think our history would be coming from the ones who fought and died for the confederacy in the Civil War? For that matter, how would our history sound from the mouth of a black slave in the early 1800's?

For something more modern, take the perspective of the war in Vietnam. One person went there and fought the Vietnamese, one person stayed here and protested against it and slandered the first person when he came back. They would both say the war was horrible, but their perspectives of what happened during that time would be vastly different. Both in the sense of what actually happened there, but how they felt when they were back in the U.S.

I don't claim I "know" what happened in the past...but I also don't believe everything I read either. History is just that HIS-STORY....funny how the name says it all. It is other peoples accounts as to how they would like to portray the events of the past.

I have had the pleasure of having both types of teachers myself- the traditional one; you know, the one that teaches about how the mayflower came over and made friends with the Indians and had a Thanksgiving. And I also had the one that taught that Thanksgiving didn't "happen" the way traditionals taught it....it was more like a slaughtering of the Indians and taking over of the land type of deal. I have come to respect both but in the same sense it has taught me to form my own opinion and base it on the evidence I myself find. Never just believe what is in any textbook or what someone tells you- always question it for yourself and research it. I believe the reason some may call me a bit of a "conspieracy theorist" these days is mainly due to having teachers that were not afraid to teach the differences people actually believe in the world- rather then what is just in the textbooks;)

Please keep us (or at least me;)) informed on any differences you may find in thier teachings...as Religion alot of the time has a VERY different view on what may have happened;)

Even though history is supposed to be based on facts, you'll get many different versions of almost any historical occurrence, based on the individual perspectives of whoever writes the books. I generally form my own opinions based on what I read from several different sources. That is why I never liked history when I was in school, as I usually had very different opinions from what was taught in the history books. I do find that the different perspectives and versions make for interesting discussions, except they can turn into quite heated arguments when there is something I feel very strongly about.

That would certainly be an interesting comparison of the textbooks and lectures. I can even remember waaay back when I was in school how American and World History textbooks were presented. Many chapters are just about the same now but some "peoples" and themes have changed since I learned history.

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I think a very good discussion...but hard for me to chime in, as a Canadian! There are many forms, versions, ideas about how all evolved, and you get great respect from me allowing your children to experience it all! Please keep us informed as to the different teaching methods & versions. Cheers!

Everything depends on your point of view.I don't care as long as the kids are taught the correct dates.I was lucky.I had some great history teachers.I like studying history to this day.But a class could get a teacher who has a completely point of view of history.You are right .This should be a interesting year.ps.History is an interest you can add here.It's on my list.

Most historical records are biased. History is often written from an author's viewpoint, and if the author is biased and dishonest, then the record will most definitely be one-sided. For instance, when we talk about Thanksgiving, we often talk of our forefathers celebrating and giving thanks but rarely talk about the fact that there are Native Americans to whom the same event brings nothing but sorrow; when we talk about the Alama, we talk about Sam Houston and his troop beating the daylights out of Santa Ana but never talk about the fact that there are Mexicans who never relinquished their annexed homelands. This is why I am of the habit of reading various perspectives on any topic before coming to conclusion.

I'm sure thata ll of history is someone's version. It's like this...I saw a documentary about this black man's descendents 150 years ago. The historical version was much tamer than the version passed down to this man through the generations.