Have we ever actually sat and thought to ourselfs, "What are we learning in history class?", or maybe "How Do We Know This Point Of History Happned The Way It Was Told?". Alot of times I wonder to my self why so many figures in history portrey themselves as hero's, and Native Americans as savages. Even thought its 2005 some history books still insist that the Native Americans were the aggressors and still refered to as Indians in most cases. I didnt see this as a existing post so someone help me out with theories and hypothosis.

Read Lies My History Teacher Told Me. Quite an interesting book, listing many of the half truths, outright lies, and misconceptions taught in current high school courses.

People's history of the United states is a good book to read. It tells it all from the POV of the Oppressed.

Well it is a long-known fact that history is written by the winning side.

I don't remember whom I should credit for this quote, I have a hairy feeling that it was Napoleon, but I could very well be mistaken.

The answer unfortunatly is not much! I have 3 children in the school system, one in elementary, one in middle school, and one in high school, the schools all follow the old curriculum they learn about the Greeks , Romans, and pyramids in great depth, but none of them know anything about Korea, Vietnam, WWI or WW11. The think Christopher Columbus is a great guy and they are pretty sure Hitler was little guy with a mustache. Thats about the extent of what they learn. I holding out hope that the schools districts wake up before it is too late!

For introduction:
I'm from Estonia that was until 1989 occupied by the Soviet Union.

*******************

I remember when I started learning about history, I guess it must've been in 86-88 somewhere, then since all the literature was preapproved by the Soviet propaganda machine, we got to know a totally different angle of WWII. As it was tought to us the SU played the central role in winning the war, the remaining allied forces only gave some minimal support, and it was actually the soviet heroism that the saved the world from bearing a svastika on its flag for the rest of the days.

There were also other issues, but those make sense only locally and this goes to prove the quote I posted earlier.

I wonder what will the following generations read about the Gulf War and the invasion of Iraq? Will the history books exclude the small notion, that actually there was no real evidence supporting the attack?

I have been an avid reader all my life I never stop with one source of information I thing our children has been brought up to believe what its though by their teacher in school, parents should always take upon themselves to make you children always to want more from books.

Book and information are not an enemy but the best way you have to learn the truth and to be able to come out with your own conclusions. I always tell my children that one book is not enough you have to see the subject by different sides and different opinions and facts.

A well informed mind is a healthy mind and a more interesting person in a conversation.

"What are we learning in history class?", or maybe "How Do We Know This Point Of History

Alot of stuff in history books is probably wrong. I remember seeing a report a long time ago on the news where they did a study that showed all the erros they found in one school.

One thing that really pisses me off is That in my sisters history book it sais that Serbs and Croats attacked the Bosnians. I dont evan know where to begin to explain how thats wrong. There is no Bosnian ethnicity. Everyone living there is croatian or serb. They dont evan talk about all the horrible things the serbs did. In my opinion it was more terrifiying then the holocost cause in the holocost you had a chance to survive. There they would just shoot u, but last year during history class i was like finally there gonna say what happened. The teacher spent 2 minuttes on it. 2 f`in minutes. He didnt evan say How Vukovar was almost completely destroyed or how they wanted everything and wanted to kill everyone who was already there. If i didnt talk to the teacher after class he wouldnt have said anything the next day. I also know that genocide was going on in Riwonda at the same time and i was wondering why that wasnt tought. Whats happening in the sudan might not be tought some day. So much ignorance

History is often written by the victors but even that is not always the case. A good example is Ghengis Khan and the people of Mongolia in their case history was written by the losers. Mongolia at that time had no written language. So all accounts we have of him are from the people he conquered and they were not unbaised or kind.

He was portrayed him as a muderous dumb barbarian and this was not true. He even started some modern ideals such as freedom of religon and a early version of free trade.

He made people he invaded pay taxes to him but many times they were less then the taxes they had to pay before Mongolians invaded.

The problem is that the history we are taught is often biased... liberally biased. I am 16 and in high school. I've taken World History (2 years), US History (2 years, one AP), and I'm in AP European History and AP Economics right now. I've tried to be critical of everything that I've been taught and question it and I've found that there is a great liberal bias there. Last year in AP US history we spent 2 weeks on JFK and 2 days on Ronald Reagan. Our real early history, Judeo-christian based, is being taken out our books by radical groups like the ACLU. I just don't understand how they can just censor such an integral part of our history and what makes America what it is today. But, our US history really blows out of proportion most events that happen and tries to make foreign events just relevant to us, without telling their real importance. I'm taking Ap Euro right now so I'm seeing everything from the European's perspective and it's quit interesting. We need an unbiased textbook company so students would stop being forced to read liberal propaganda

I went to K-12 a long time ago. I was in school when JFK was assassinated.
We learned what the previous poster mentioned about Native Americans. I had to supplement my knowledge later in life with "Bury my heart at Wounded Knee."
We learned that almost everyone important person was a white male. The only black I remember is Geroge Washinton Carver. Later, I read "Before the Mayflower." I really cannot think of a woman in history, maybe Pochantas.

My education in georgraphy was quite good. Nowadays, I need a refresher with all the changes in Europe, Asia and Africa. I'm betting most kids now know less than I was taught.
I know where all the US states are and most of the capitols. I know many of the capitols of foreign countries. I venture a guess that is something most students today cannot boast.

[edit on 4-12-2004 by DontTreadOnMe]

Acually the education we recieve is quite different from what you recieved. There is such a focus on non-white people and women now. It has gotten to the point where we are learning about less significant people and events just because the people involved were minorities or women. My history teacher right now complains about it all the time and blames it on groups like the ACLU. It's just not right for politics and political correctness to get in the way of our education .

My school system is messed up. I live in Illinios and it just so happens that we're the only state that pays for the schools exclusivly by property taxes. That and the school district is really messed up. For what ever reason a lower class town is funded better per student than a the middle class town I live in. So we're stuck with old beaten up textbooks and a lack of teachers too split the classes. In fact there was a news report that showed that our current history textbook is full of mistakes such as when Columbus first sailed.

Anyhow our cirriculum is very biased. In history class the textbooks refer to native Americans as "Indians", luckily my 8th grade history teacher (one of the best history teachers ever) had a pet peeve about native Americans being called "Indians". Next the textbooks make it look like Columbus discovered America (which he didn't, the native Americans did, followed by the Vikings) and the books fail to mention the numerous native Americans he killed. In fact Columbus was arrested by the Spanish for whiping out an entire tribe and numerous other accounts of manslaugter to the natives.

Ok then our cirriculum dictates that for some reason the history class has to completly skip over Asian history. The only two peices of Asian history are the first Chinese civilization and Japan during WWII. Add in the fact that the textbooks forget to mention that not all of the German people were Nazi's or that Hitler was actually elected by democracy. Another interesting thing is that it makes democracy and capatilism look like the best systems, then they don't tell you any of the pro's of communism, they don't hesitate to tell you the cons however.

I would like to thank ATS in helping me deny my ignorance concerning history. Next I would like to thank my 8th and 9th grade history teachers for teaching me what the textbook didn't. I also thank the literature that I read outside of class for helping me understand history. And last but not least I thank the History Channel for giving me the details that I love.

Originally posted by serenitynow
Acually the education we recieve is quite different from what you recieved. There is such a focus on non-white people and women now. It has gotten to the point where we are learning about less significant people and events just because the people involved were minorities or women. My history teacher right now complains about it all the time and blames it on groups like the ACLU. It's just not right for politics and political correctness to get in the way of our education .

Wow, now you know half way what it feels like to be none white. BTW, the ACLU is defending rush limbaugh.

God, conservatives whine so much. boo hoo, they are telling more of the story instead of how those savages raped our white women.

In the History class I was taking right before I dropped out of High School officially, (I just love mentioning that), I was sitting in History class, reading along in the text book as the teacher read it aloud, when he stopped. He said, "Okay class, I know it says this in the text book, but this is wrong. America likes to portray this as us being the good guys, but this is what really happened." I think it had something to do with us annexing Hawaii or whatever. Something about how Hawaii had a queen who let us put a military base on her islands, then we just took over her country and made it the 50th state or whatever. I dunno, I wasn't really paying attention to that. (Actually I'm going to go start a thread about that because I just read something interesting about it.) I'm not sure if the teacher was right, although it made sense. I started to wonder, though, how much of the things they teach as facts in school are actually not the whole truth. It makes sense that the United States would alter history in their favor, other countries do it, right?

Queen Liliuokalani was pretty much held at gunpoint (surrounded by american military personnel) until she died. She was forced to sign over her power and abdicate her throne. In retrospect, the Hawai'ian monarchy slowly began losing it's power, as European influences began taking it's toll on the islands.

"On the third day, God created Remington bolt actions, so that we could defend ourselves from the dinosaurs and the homosexuals..."

(from Mean Girls...movie I just rented for the wife, hehe...)

Seriously though, I still cringe when realizing that only myself and one other student could point out Vietnam on a world map (with the names on the countries even), when I was in tenth grade. I mean really...., most didn't even know to look in the Orient for Christ's sake!!!

Originally posted by IKnowNothing
Queen Liliuokalani was pretty much held at gunpoint (surrounded by american military personnel) until she died. She was forced to sign over her power and abdicate her throne. In retrospect, the Hawai'ian monarchy slowly began losing it's power, as European influences began taking it's toll on the islands.

I assume you didn't learn that in History class?

The greater population of ATS is American. Daily, I get to see the horrors of your country's education system, especially when it comes to history and geography. I'm Canadian, had an entirely different sort of learning system imposed on me. It's pretty funny to see all these posters saying stuff like "America is out there defending liberty and democracy and freedom!"

I had the advantage of a rather neutral view of world politics, because our school system has a heavy multicultural bent. Everyone's from all over, so we learn about prettymuch everywhere. That's what I love about our school system- that our classes transcend borders. I've read an american textbook or two, and I was just stuck shaking my head. Everything I read glorified teh American nation in one way or another. Fault was not admitted. I'm in first year college, taking Canadian history, and even ehre we admit stuff about our country, like how we refused a boatload of Jews during the holocaust. We learn both sides of the story.

I admit, I have a thing for history. It's sad to see the events of the past so quickly buried with patriotism and a blind eye.

DE