Why does the Education System put so much emphasis on US history?

Being one who not long ago finished high school, I can point out something VERY suspicious about the System.



Students have to take United States history either in college, or Advanced Placement US history in high school to graduate college.



So, the message is: take an in-depth US history class if you want to be successful.




I took it as a junior in high school, and I can say that it is TOTALLY unnecessary.





They feed mainstream BS, TOTALLY useless facts (forgot over 70% of them by now), without a SINGLE reference to Freemasonry.



The books also seemed keen to drive the idea of "checks and balances" being the "holy shield" against corruption. They seem VERY keen to point out that our government is INCORRUPTIBLE!




What I find suspicious is WHY the government puts so much emphasis on, of all subjects, HISTORY, especially US history.



"He who controls the past controls the future"
-George Orwell


I see, plain as day, the indoctrination.



They bombard you with useless facts to memorize, suppressing any desire to do any REAL research into TRUE history.


Information control (government is very careful about what to write in the textbooks!), including the suppressed desire to look "outside the box" and do some REAL, INDEPENDENT research, sleep deprivation (stayed up till 1 AM most nights; memorizing useless facts consumed 60% of my time), so much memorization of useless, sometimes incorrect, facts mirror common, well-known indoctrination tactics.


I noticed subliminal messages from the System to accept mainstream views, watch mainstream news, and reject ANYTHING alternative. Always good to teach people to ridicule the alternative, just in case they happen to stumble upon it.



And there is no true "critical thinking"; just memorizing and "applying" state-given facts.




So, in conclusion, the state involvement in the Education System looks VERY suspicious.

VERY INTERESTING I ALSO GRADUATED WITHIN THE LAST FEW YEARS AND I DISTINCTLY ONE TIME IN MY ECONOMICS CLASS WE WERE BEING LECTURE ON SOCIALIZED HEALTH CARE AND AT LEAST 15 TIME MY TEACHER TOLD US THAT THERE WAS NO WAY IT COULD WORK WHEN ASKED ABOUT OTHER COUNTRIES IT OWRKS IN HE SIMPLY SHRUGGED IT OFF

History lessons are going to be biased no matter what country you're a student. I would recommend that you try to find some English translations of some Asian country's history books to its students - they are all bent towards their own interests too. The message in most history books is "and today that is why we are so great", no matter what the nation.

The last time I checked, the schools are government-funded. Why would any government teach its young citizens to be disgusted with their own nation? Yes, it is propaganda. Grin and bear it, give them the answers they want on the tests, burn your books when you want, but I hope never, because it makes for interesting reading later on. Ah, memories of the days when we believed what we read...

"Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
- George Santayana

Truth77, do you have no idea what the United States of America has meant to the 20th century? Or the 18th century? Or the 21st?

Please lift your head out of your relativistic texts and understand that We, the People, are the future.

Everything you, as an American, have been shown and taught is no lie. This is who we are. Honest. Honorable. Straight-forward. Free.

To seek "peace" when confronted by a tyrant is to surrender to a tyrant. Americans don't do that.

Sure-up, you man, and it'll only get better.

Sic semper tyranus.

Gee, let me think about this for a minute. You live in the US. Apparently, you're a citizen, and you're complaining about having to study the history of your own country.

If you can't answer your own question, you shouldn't have graduated from high school. In fact, I'm not certain you should have made it into high school. I hope to hell you're not in college.

Originally posted by salparadise
VERY INTERESTING I ALSO GRADUATED WITHIN THE LAST FEW YEARS AND I DISTINCTLY ONE TIME IN MY ECONOMICS CLASS WE WERE BEING LECTURE ON SOCIALIZED HEALTH CARE AND AT LEAST 15 TIME MY TEACHER TOLD US THAT THERE WAS NO WAY IT COULD WORK WHEN ASKED ABOUT OTHER COUNTRIES IT OWRKS IN HE SIMPLY SHRUGGED IT OFF

Looks like the English classes worked for you

Anyway, it's pretty obvious that most schools only teach you the BS. Not only in history either that's just where it's most apparent. You just have to accept the system for a short time before you plan to go Tyler Durden style and wreck it.

reply to post by lnaphx



If we don't trust the government to be the supplier of news to a country, why do we trust them to be the supplier of education? Both are powerful avenues of deceit, manipulation, propaganda, and corruption.

Originally posted by thetruth777
"He who controls the past controls the future"
-George Orwell


I see, plain as day, the indoctrination.

There you go, you answered your own question. History books contain two things. Facts and interpretation of those facts by the writer. The school board buys history books that conform to their interpretation of history, and indoctrinate the students with their beliefs.

Everyone in the US needs to study US history, minus most of the interpretations. Just the facts ma'am...

Whats sad is that the US teaches primarily US history (and very inaccurately) then, hate to say it white western european history and then maybe a day or two glossing over the rest of the worlds history.

The average american student gets such a whitewashed version of US history that they don't even know that America was guilty of one of the largest intentional genocides in the history of mankind. These students think of the US history and think only george washington, abraham lincoln and apple pies.

wow are they mislead

Originally posted by Tuning Spork
Truth77, do you have no idea what the United States of America has meant to the 20th century? Or the 18th century? Or the 21st?

Please lift your head out of your relativistic texts and understand that We, the People, are the future.

Everything you, as an American, have been shown and taught is no lie. This is who we are. Honest. Honorable. Straight-forward. Free.

To seek "peace" when confronted by a tyrant is to surrender to a tyrant. Americans don't do that.

Sure-up, you man, and it'll only get better.

Sic semper tyranus.

Wow, what a bunch overly sentimental crap!



[edit on 30-3-2008 by dodgygeeza]

Originally posted by Tuning Spork
Everything you, as an American, have been shown and taught is no lie. This is who we are. Honest. Honorable. Straight-forward. Free.
[snip]
Sic semper tyranus.

And Tuning Spork? On behalf of Canadians everywhere, in retrospect we thank the New England states for keeping the Canadas fed during the War of 1812 as well as providing the bulk of the anti-war sentiment at the time to balance out the War Hawks.

In case you weren't aware, Uncle Sam was a trader at the time and your predecessors realised that the War was a fool's pursuit. Don't assume that all that your country does is purity and light.

And I find suspicious that there were absolutely NO mentions of MKULTRA, PHEONIX program, operation PAPERCLIP, and Wall Street finding the Nazis.



But I DO remember a quote from the book, and I even have it copied down somewhere (dont have time to look). It was from Bismark, how he "predicted" the already pre-planned "Great War".


I mean, they get SO ARROGANT, they put it out IN THE OPEN, and they DON'T expect us to pick up on the subtle hint. That's how LOWLY they think of us!

the answer is rather simple
"History is written by victor
It is an old adage that history belongs to the winners, and archives and libraries have long been aware that whole segments of societies, and whole societies for that matter, are underrepresented, misrepresented, or just plain not represented in the record of the past.

everyone knows the first to vanish are the decenters and naysayers.

When I was in high school we had to take world history as well as American history.

In college, American history was not required but we had to take a course called western civilization.

In U.S. history it's true mostly only the good and noble aspects were stressed, although we did learn about slavery and the bloodbath that was the civil war. It's not that the good things were untrue, exactly, it's just they were distorted by all that was left out.

World history and western civilization also stressed the great achievements, but they did include some of the negatives.

Today I'm still glad I learned the basics of my country's history as well as important events in western civilization and world history. They are the framework on which I have built a more complex and comprehensive understanding of each period.

People applying for American citizenship are tested for a basic understanding of U.S. history. How much more important it is for those already citizens to know something about the society in which they live and how it came about.

Current I am a Senior in High School and I love History.

I am close to completing every possible history class my school has to offer.
6 in total, Fresh-Senior Required, and selective Military and World History.
In my years of history classes I found that many text books are bias, incorrect about history.

Back in the stone ages, when I was in school, we had so much world history, we usually only made it up to the Korean War in basic History class. (US citizen here)

I think the better point is, according to today's news, why are half the U.S public school students not even graduating?

latimesblogs.latimes.com...

Some teachers don't really damn about the student anymore.
Some students don't really damn about school anymore.
Teens control their parents or the parents don't care.
That leads to dropping out.

I have to say its also the parents fault allow their teenage son
or daughter to drop out. The parents need to do something called
tough love, get on their backs when their start to slip, award them
when grades are high. One thing I have been seeing in my school
that allot of teens control their parents, not the parents controlling
teens.

While it is true that Americans tend to have a more parochial view of the world relative to other nationalities, this does not mean that American schools should not focus on American history.

Students can surely benefit from learning about the history and cultures of other nations, but this does not mean they need to have an understanding of their own nation's culture and history. Today's students will be tomorrows citizens. Citizens must have an awareness of their own nation's history and institutions in order to make informed decisions in the voting booth. Citizens' knowledge of US history and institutions also informs them of what their rights and obligations to society are.

Originally posted by thetruth777



"He who controls the past controls the future"
-George Orwell



They bombard you with useless facts to memorize, suppressing any desire to do any REAL research into TRUE history.

Im glad other people see this...it makes me happy that this will eventually spread and perhaps during this translation period on earth, people will begin to see the truth for what it is before its too late.
I think Universities are great for meeting people who will encourage you to independently find your own info and ''do the research''..however if you have already been indoctrinated, you won't really get much out of it, as you would rather be at home watching the television and seeking to be constantly entertained by extraneous stimuli.

I believe that grades are one of the biggest manipulation tactics used on children. It makes them compete for other people's(teachers, family, et c) energy and causes unnecessary stress in the students life. It also creates a kind of ''keep up with the joneses'' mindset in the parents as well.

I believe that the retelling and rewriting of history is atrocious! Oh the truths of our beloved nation will make you puke if you learn them. If you knew you would certainly stop celebrating certain holidays..

I loved history throughout school and was fascinated by it. I remember researching different native tribes and writing essays that really did nothing for me. Its this kind of meaningless and mindless repetitive # that keeps people from really taking action.
I dropped out of highschool and moved to the Navajo rez in AZ and damn, I learned more in two weeks than I did in all my years in school about the real history of America, pertaining to Native abuse and incremental genocide.
It was this event that made me become a true seeker of knowledge and eventually led me to this website and others!
So yeah OP Im glad you can read between the lines man!
Good luck in the future!

Seems so that fictitious history is burned in their brains maybe to make them a lil patriotic??

"Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has 'closed', the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. AND I AM CAESAR." -Julius Caesar