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David Mccullough Knowing History And Knowing Who We Are Analysis

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To know the past is to know the future. In his essay Knowing History and Knowing Who We Are, David McCullough argues about the importance of studying and teaching history. In his essay, he explains that there are three main points about history: character and its effect upon destiny, our failure of teaching the future generation, and the importance of learning and listening to history. David McCullough strongly advocates that audience should start to listen to and teach about the past in order to learn about the way a person’s character can affect their destiny. McCullough’s first point is about one’s character and how his or her character affects his destiny. He explains that “We are not just know by our failings...We are known by being …show more content…

McCullough claims that “[we] are raising a generation of young Americans who are...historically illiterate.” He further explains that as the generation, “we have to get across the idea that we have to know who we were if we’re to know who we are and where we’re headed.” Furthering his point, he places the responsibility upon the teachers who “major in education...but they do not know a subject...and of course they cannot perform as they should.” According to Margaret McFarland, if a teacher is more enthusiastic towards a subject, the student is more likely to enjoy learning. A consequence from the lack of enthusiasm for learning, specifically from the past, is the current generation’s failure to improve upon themselves. McCullough explains the Panama Canal “cost less than it was expected to cost, was finished before it was expected to be finished, and is still running today exactly the same as it was in 1914,” showing the efficiency of the construction of the canal. Furthermore, “when we go and drill into those concrete locks now, we find deterioration is practically nil and we don't know how they did it.” Because we never truly looked back and learned how the engineers of the canal were able to keep the canal from decay, many of our canals to date are not of the same quality. Along the same lines, there …show more content…

He explains that history “will help us to behave better...[because] you can’t understand [something] unless you see it that way.” In other words, history teaches us to understand someone or his actions in order to fully respect his character and his actions. Furthermore, by understanding his rationale, the values of his surrounding time become apparent. For example, McCullough explains that he read a line from Abigail Adams that says “‘We can’t guarantee success in this war, but we can do something better. We can deserve it.’” He uses that quotation to highlight his point because he later found “some correspondence written by George Washington and there was the same line.” He further explains that both Washington and Adams quoted a line from the play Cato, which he deemed “[a] scripture of a kind, a kind of secular creed if you will.” Because the play represents a lot of the ideology of the time “you can’t understand why honor was so important to them and why there were truly ready to put...their sacred honor on the line.” Strictly speaking, it’s not only the words that need to be learned, but rather the beliefs and the philosophies that need to be learned in order to fully understand someone and his actions. Likewise, in order to understand contemporary times, reading modern books and searching through websites proves to be an efficient way to learn about modern times. For

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