History is a subject that is often either loved or hated. If you were to poll the kids sitting in my classroom, they would either tell you they loved it or they hated it without much in between. My goal is to light the historical fire in their soul. This got me to think about how little people remember from their history classes.
I don’t know about you, but a lot of those dates really slip my mind. Now, as a history teacher, I have relearned a lot of them. So much so that I was listening to a lecture the other day and out of nowhere the speaker made a reference to the Magna Carta and I had to keep myself from yelling with excitement. No one else in the room really knew what that was, and that depressed the government part of my heart. I’m not saying that you need to know the Law of April 6, 1830 by heart or what date the Battle of Vicksburg happened on, but you should know the big ones by heart.
I could get on my high horse and start complaining about civic duty and why no one remembers why they are so important, but I’ll try and limit myself. I don’t like jury duty any more than anyone else, but I’ll happily participate to make sure there is justice in our country is carried out. I also don’t like keeping up with what/whom I can vote for on the few times a year I’m asked to vote, but I do so I can place an informed vote. Most of us like the idea of civic duty, but when push comes to shove not many of us (as a nation) do a good job of living up to the expectations of our country.
My wife sometimes wonders why I choose to read the things I do. For instance, we’re going on a trip over Thanksgiving and I’ve downloaded three history books to listen to. Two Texas history books and one English history book. Maybe it’s because I’m historically inclined, but I think it’s important to know what’s happened and why it’s important that I remember it.
So that leads me back to my initial thought, how much history do we remember? Would this city/state/country/world be better off if we remembered (maybe even put a little emphasis) on a little more history? I don’t know the answers for sure…but I bet you can tell which way I lean.