Telling The Truth About History Summary

Why is there racial tension and political dissension in America? Why did Russia feel its Crimean invasion was justifiable? How did China become an economic power? These questions are answered by a proper understanding of history, helping us to better comprehend the world of 2015. Education’s role needs to be thus: to prepare students as learned individuals and to exist in such an international community. This is why I think history is still incredibly relevant despite focusing on the

As people further their educational careers they gain a greater understanding who was present certain times in history. Yet students that are in K-12 are often taught history in a limited way so that the master narrative makes sense to the students. An article was written by Sohyun An regarding the visibility of diversity within the curriculum which is very limited. An states “research found numerous distortions have remained and historical agency and voice of Native Americans has been denied in the latest generation of textbooks,” meaning that the textbooks are including the natives but they are still invisible. The invisibility of the Natives proves that the curriculum is not diverse because it

A more pressing matter is that of the history in the classroom. With the one sided history being instructed to Native students bring a message that “Their history does not matter,” alienation begins to form and all motivation soon leaves the students (Laura).

This study would closely analyze various aspects related to “Thinking Through the Past” by John Hollitz. The author attempts to bring forth certain critical factors, which are closely knitted U.S. history. It can be stated that the major challenge is to identify actual facts embedded in the past. There is a need to reflect upon particular questions and determine probable explanations. When we become skilled at historical reasoning, we are able to better acquire knowledge about the world. History texts usually encompass a practical purpose. In this study, the main aim is to focus on historical evidences associated with U.S. history. Historians are often witnessed to contradict one another. This is simply due to source of motivation, which eventually drags a historian towards a standpoint. “Thinking Through the Past” is an approach undertaken by John Hollitz in order to make students aware about specific reasons that had triggered some well-known battles of U.S. This study shall revolve around the debate, which took place over Philippines, and significance of gender in such controversy. There shall be some views highlighted given by Kristin L. Hoganson on gender concerns.

As the professor James W Loewer, author of the book, referred that Americans have lost touch with their history. Our teachers and textbooks play important roles in our history study. However, it is their eliding and misrepresenting factoids that have been obstacles in our history studying. Because access to too much errors and distortion, many Americans can hardly understand the past of the country. As a result, we lack the ability to reflect on what’s going on right now and in the future.

Is history always the way it has been told, or are there multiple truths that meet in one point and intersect? Presentism is what modern historians do to the past. The way in which presentism reveals and formats information about history is simplified and modified. This, for the most part, is not the exact way these events took place. Important parts and concepts are changed in order to fit into modern views and interpretation. Many historians are accepting of either the victim's or perpetrator's side. Sometimes picking one particular side may skew the hard facts of the situation or event. Failure of telling the accurate past can lead

Although, their conclusions can still be questioned, they have applied intensive and through analysis to their material, widening their subjects and have given legitimate reasoning for their views. While Brown has proven how terms such as War Hawks can be misleading, Horsman has provided enough evidence to prove that the War Hawks did exist and has successfully defined the term War Hawk with greater accuracy than other historians. Both the essays exhibit how historians should be aware of the material they use and careful about their generalizations when explaining such broad

To begin, a major flaw in the way American history courses are taught is due to the fact that textbooks do not allow students to form their own opinions, for everything is presented as “fact”. This is exemplified through the way early American life is taught. For example, a controversial topic is the specific destination of the Mayflower during the Pilgrim’s journey to America. Some historians believe their arrival in Massachusetts was on purpose to be far from Anglican control in Virginia, while others believe violent storms lead them off track, or there were just navigation errors. The flaw then arises for all textbooks only pick one, and present it as fact to their readers for they believe it is the students’ only way to “learn” about the past (81).

In the book “Lies My teacher Told Me”, Professor James, Loewen has criticisms of the misreading and deliberately forgotten of the figures, events, and social form in American history from American high school’s history textbooks. Also, he discussed why American history teacher cannot guide students to treat and study history in a positive attitude. From this book, I realized many lies in American history from textbook. However, distortion of contemporary history was not only in America, since other countries had the same situation as well. Many Chinese and Koreans points that some description in Japanese history textbook between 1905 and 1945 are full of prejudices and errors. Iran's textbook also denies Nazi for the massacre of the Jews.

In the book "Lies my Teacher Told - James W. Loewen" embarked on a journey to dismantle the common misreporting of history that traditional textbook practices. He introduces the idea that the knowledge passed down through books utilized in schools are misreporting history at the expense of students and in favors of "Settlers" to mask barbaric / inhumane territorial acts of the European as justifiable in the name of progress. He argues that this knowledge is then recycled to create new textbooks that cites the previous misreporting as sources for their study. He argues that modern day writers are consumers, instead of true disciples of the relevant disciplines such as Anthropology, ethnohistory, folklore studies etc. Chapter Four tackles and

As Benjamin has shown us violence has existed throughout the histories of time, commonly implemented in an instrumental manner, (if not meant to profess through a mythic, some moral) as (justified) means towards a specific (equivocal) end. In eulogy to UCSCs Hayden White, the onerous work of representation for the historicist is illustrated in his book Metahistory as a “verbal structure in the form of a narrative prose discourse that purports to be a model, or icon, of past structures and processes in the interest of explaining that they were by representing them” (1973 pg. 3).

From reviewing the questions from my professor, I gained a wider knowledge about the state of historians, improvements in the gathering of resources, and some great methods to conduct research. Over the last decades, it seems as if change in methodology and inclusivity has occurred. This is a great asset to historians or anyone in general because it opens more historical topics or more jobs. This may affect the future of the historic field, for the use is not as limited.

This methodology presents the exact same problems to historians themselves, especially when attempting to present the most objective account and analysis of their subject. By weighing the importance of various examples of evidence against the analysis accompanying them, I was able to find my own conclusion. Now, it is impossible to present the exact truth about such a question, simply because of the scarcity of a collection of firsthand accounts that can provide analysis considering all of the events objectively, which could best be used to arrive at a more definitive

Rowse states that ‘human society, its story and how it has come to be what it is, is due to the factors that operate in them’ (Rowse, 1963). This is especially true when looking at history from an oral historian’s perspective. Oral history has always been a topic open to much debate – whether or not it is a method worthy of one’s time; often branded as ‘radical history’. History very much depends on how one presents it to those looking to seek out the truth. There are various methods to investigate the past but ‘oral history’ is one method which this exploration will focus on. When one looks at ‘oral history’, it is

I believe that my academic background and personal interests provide a solid foundation for contributing to the graduate history program at Sacramento State. My primary interests are in exploring the interplay between race, gender, and culture in 20th century American and European history and its influence on issues of cultural identity and memory. In addition, my coursework introduced me to theoretical and interdisciplinary approaches such as critical race theory and postcolonial studies. Through courses such as History and Theory (HIST 200) and History and Memory (HIST 282F), I hope to continue developing my interests, knowledge of theory and historiography, and learn more about history as a discipline.