“The supreme purpose of history is a better world.” -Herbert Hoover.

““The supreme purpose of The supreme purpose of history is a better world.”history is a better world.”-Herbert Hoover-Herbert Hoover

Where are we going?Where are we going?

Have you ever wondered: Why do we have Have you ever wondered: Why do we have to learn about history? Why do we have to to learn about history? Why do we have to go to history class year after year and learn go to history class year after year and learn about the past when we could be learning about the past when we could be learning about what’s going on RIGHT NOW?!about what’s going on RIGHT NOW?!

Who Makes Up the Who Makes Up the History?History?

Many students don’t like history at all. They believe that learning about the past is totally pointless.

I’m here to tell you that it’s not! Like Herbert Hoover, I believe that the study of history makes the world a better place. Today I will give you 8 reasons why we NEED this history class.

#1: History Illuminates the #1: History Illuminates the PresentPresent

“I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know no way of judging the future but by the past.”◦ Edward Gibbon

“If you would understand anything, observe its beginning and its development.” ◦ Aristotle

#1: History Illuminates the #1: History Illuminates the PresentPresent History helps us understand and survive

the world we live in. Without understanding the history of issues facing us today, we will not be able to solve them.

#1- Examples#1- Examples In order to address

inequalities in the United States, we must look to our history to find out how some people ended up with so much and others with so little.

In order to try and solve the conflict between Israel and Palestine today, we must understand the origins of that conflict thousands of years ago.

#2: Skills#2: Skills Studying history gives us an

opportunity to develop extremely important skills that will help us in all stages of our lives, no matter who we are or what we do.

#2- Examples#2- Examples Evaluating the reliability and

credibility of different sources, including TV, films, textbooks, etc.

Thinking for yourself; formulating and depending independent thoughts.

Reading, writing, research, public speaking and listening.

Technology; build websites, make movies, publish magazines.

Teamwork Organization and

Responsibility

#3: History Equals Power!#3: History Equals Power!“Who controls the past controls the future. Who

controls the present controls the past”- George Orwell.

By manipulating what people believe learn about the past, people and institutions may control what people believe and how they behave in the present.

During Saddam Hussein’s rule in Iraq, students were taught that all of their nation’s wars were just and ended victoriously. ◦ How might these history lessons have impacted students in

Iraq?

#3: Example#3: Example Thousands of Native Americans were taught the following in schools

during the late 1800s: "They told us that Indian ways were bad. They said we must get ‘civilized’....It means ‘be like the white man’... And the books told how bad the Indians had been to the white men —- burning their towns and killing their women and children. But I had seen white men do that to Indians. We all wore white man's clothes and ate white man's food and went to white man's churches and spoke white man's talk. And so after a while we also began to say Indians were bad. We laughed at our own people...”◦ How might this type of education have affected the beliefs of Native American

students?

◦ Compare the two photos of the same student form the Carlisle Indian Industrial School taken three years apart.

#4: Inspiration Through #4: Inspiration Through HistoryHistory

Through history we find INSPIRATION in the great individuals, groups, and events of the past.

#4- Examples#4- Examples

Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights movement

Gandhi, non-violent protest and independence for India

Harriett Tubman and the Underground Railroad

#5: Avoiding Mistakes of the #5: Avoiding Mistakes of the PastPast

“History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.”◦Maya Angelou

Through history we learn to avoid repeating the terrible mistakes of the past.

#5#5

Examples: ◦ Slavery◦ The Holocaust◦ Child Labor◦ Unjust forms

of Government

#6: Decision Making #6: Decision Making “History is the only

laboratory we have in which to test the consequences of thought.”◦Etienne Gilson

“History is a guide to navigation in perilous times.”◦David McCullough

#6: Decision Making#6: Decision Making By examining complex questions and issues from the

past, we can learn to make good decisions in the present.◦ History is not about memorizing dates and names- it’s about

learning how to THINK!◦ In class we will: deliberate, debate, persuade, simulate, roll-

play,

Examples: The Cuban Missile Crisis, The Atomic Bomb, The Declaration of Independence in 1776

#7: A Common Culture#7: A Common CultureHistory helps to provide us with a common

culture, or common identity that unites us.Imagine if you woke up one morning and

couldn’t remember anything about yourself. How would that make you feel? How would that affect your life?

Our history provides Americans with a common bond that ties us together.

In order to understand books, movies, television shows, cartoons, the news and every-day conversations in your own country, you must share in this “cultural literacy.”

#7: A Common Culture#7: A Common Culture“History is especially important for Americans.

In many nations- Japan or Sweden, for instance- most citizens share a common background. They have a similar look. They may worship in the same church. That isn’t true of us. Some of us were once Chinese, or Italian, or Turkish, or Ethiopian. Americans don’t all look alike. Sometimes we don’t think alike. But as Americans we do share something. It is our history. We Americans share a common heritage. If you are an American, then the Indians, the Vikings, the Pilgrims, and the slaves are all your ancestors. You will want to know their stories.” Joy Hakim, historian.

#8: Current Events#8: Current Events “History is the present. That’s why every

generation writes it anew.” –E.L. Doctorow Through the study of current events,

history gives us the opportunity to evaluate what’s happening in our world RIGHT NOW and to make an immediate impact.

#8- Examples#8- Examples Wars in

Afghanistan and Iraq

Gang Violence in Chicago

Independence in South Sudan

Economic Hardships

Elections