WHY STUDY HISTORY?

Background  In 2008, a group of educators and researchers called Common Core gave a test over the phone to 1200 American 17-year olds about history and literature. There were 32 multiple choice questions total (questions similar to the U.S. citizenship test). Students scored 73% on the history and 57% on the lit. These findings led them to question the emphasis on math and reading tests and the impact of leaving history and other subjects behind.

Question #1  Who were Plato and Aristotle?  A) Hebrew prophets  B) Greek philosophers  C) Medieval poets  D) Roman playwrights  Answer: B (86% got it right)

Question #2  When did Christopher Columbus sail for the New World?  A) Before 1750  B)  C)  D)  E)  F) After 1950  Answer: A (74% got it right)

Question #3  The Renaissance was the period in European history noted for:  A) religious persecution  B) technological and cultural advances  C) widespread famine and pestilence  D) the rise of democracy  Answer: B (61% got it right)

Question #4  The first permanent English colony in North America was:  A) Salem, Massachusetts  B) Jamestown, Virginia  C) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania  D) Providence, Rhode Island  Answer: B (77% got it right)

Question #5  Who was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence?  A) Paul Revere  B) Thomas Jefferson  C) Thomas Paine  D) George Washington  Answer: B (87% got it right)

Question #6  Where do you find the guarantee of freedom of speech and religion?  A) Common Sense  B) The Constitution  C) The Bill of Rights  D) The Articles of Confederation  Answer: C (67% got it right)

Question #7  The idea that each branch of the federal government should keep the other branches from becoming too strong is called:  A) the system of checks and balances  B) strict constructionism  C) federalism  D) implied powers  Answer: A (80% got it right)

Question #8  When was the First World War?  A) Before 1750  B) 1750–1800  C) 1800–1850  D) 1850–1900  E) 1900–1950  F) After 1950  Answer: E (60% got it right)

Question #9  During the Second World War, the major enemies of the United States were:  A) Vietnam and Korea  B) the Soviet Union and China  C) Cuba and Iran  D) Germany and Japan  Answer: D (82% got it right)

Question #10  Who was Adolf Hitler?  A) The German munitions manufacturer between the two World Wars  B) The Kaiser during the First World War  C) The Premier of Austria who advocated union with Germany  D) The Chancellor of Germany during the Second World War  Answer: D (77% got it right)

Question #11  What event led to the entry of the United States into the Second World War?  A) the sinking of the Lusitania  B) the German occupation of France  C) the bombing of Pearl Harbor  D) the signing of a secret Nazi-Soviet pact  Answer: C (88% got it right)

Question #12  “I have a dream my…children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” These words are from a speech by:  A) Lyndon Johnson  B) Martin Luther King, Jr.  C) Frederick Douglass  D) Abraham Lincoln  Answer: B (97% got it right)

Yeah, so…?  Why study this stuff?  I won’t ever need it or use it.  This stuff is boring.  It happened so long ago; it’s done.  It’s just dates and dead people.  Can’t touch it-learning history doesn’t help build highways or do surgeries.  Etc., etc. etc…

Here’s why.  What happened in the past affected you (hand on the stove, family situations, etc.). The same thing goes for countries (Vietnam/Iraq).  Most things build on the past and connect to the FUTURE (inventions, knowledge of diseases, etc.).  History can relate to people on a personal level (individual stories, general analogies).  Moral dilemmas (debate over controversial issues like slavery; controversy today over immigration)

And here’s more.  In a democracy, people need to make informed decisions. (Dumb people=bad voters) “Enlighten the people and tyrrany…will vanish like evil spirits.”-Thomas Jefferson  With more immigration and technology, keep a national identity (both good and bad aspects)-- e pluribus unum

And yet more…  Connection/competition with other countries (like China and India).  Know history’s connection with the news (Obama/MLK, McCain/Vietnam, anti-illegal immigration group in Albert Lea).  Used in any job: research skills, looking at different perspectives, analyzing data, etc.  Famous history quote from George Satayana: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

And if those don’t convince you.  The school district and state of Minnesota require it for graduation!!