American History or the lack thereof..

[shadowkat]

Posting from work on my lunch break because it's too bloody hot outside to walk around the park, which is never a great idea (posting on lj at work not park walking) but what the heck - as long as I don't post about work.



According to Momster - the news had done a survey of the American public and discovered that over 29% or 27% (can't remember which) did not know who the US fought for and got independence from way back in 1776. Sure they knew that the 4th of July was about getting our independence from another country that we happened to be a colony of, but they didn't appear to know which country.

Now this blew my mind. So, bewildered, I asked Momster, "out of curiousity - who do people think we won independence from?"

Momster: Spain and France - were the leading candidates.

Okay, could be worse. (hint - in case you don't know the answer - what language do the vast majority of Americans speak? I mean seriously folks, if we won our independence from France or Spain, don't you think we'd all be speaking Spainish or French? ) Maybe they are confusing the French/Indian Wars with the Revol War (which was earlier) or the Spainish/American War which was much much later?

Of course this wasn't all - about 29% don't know who the first President of the US is. Uhm okay. That's just sad. Hint - look at the American Dollar Bill or Nickle, and what is the name of Capital of the US? I mean this is not hard people.

And...they can't tell you who the first four Presidents of the US are? Okay, that I can sort of understand - took me a while to get them into the correct order.

Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison...then I think John Quincy Addams.
John Quincy was also Sec of State.

I don't know. Methinks people are spending far too much time on twitter, facebook and the internet in general for their own good. Googling whenever they have to know the answer to anything. As a result, Generation Tech (Gen T)is rapidly turning into Generation Spoiled Stupid (Gen SS).


It would be amusing, if it weren't so sad and pathetic. There's an old adage - those who do not learn from history, let alone remember it, are doomed to repeat it. Which is exactly what we are doing.


Okay - back to work.

Comments

[cactuswatcher.livejournal.com]

Try Madison, Monroe then J. Q. Adams.

Don't worry about it. There have been a lot more presidents since I was a kid!

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

That's right Monroe came first. The first big election fight was between Addams and Jefferson.

Didn't help that the history courses in school sort of skimmed over Monroe - Wilson. We spent six months on the Revol War. A Week on the period between it and Lincoln. Two months on Civil War, then another week on the period between Lincoln-Roosevelt.

As a result the presidents between Madison and Lincoln are foggy. And the ones between Lincoln and Wilson are foggy - although I do remember Grant and Jackson.

[owenthurman.livejournal.com]

They skip all the good times and stick to when it really stunk to be American. Wars, depressions, protests, revolts, scandals sure are interesting. Cleaning up afterwards and building a nation where people get along and have enough to eat is dull.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

LOL! (Considering she recently visited Canada, that must have come as a shock for some people. Also isn't she on your currency?)

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

This reminds me of the time I went to see that perfectly horrible Mel Gibson movie "The Patriot". Before the movie started I heard a father and his two teenaged daughters talking behind me. I swear to God, this was the conversation they had (I remember because I had to restrain myself from turning around to tell them they were stupid).

Father: The movie is about the Revolutionary War.

Daughter One: Who did we fight in the Revolutionary War?

Daughter Two: The North. Duh.


::head desk::

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

So...what do they think - that the South rules the US now? Is that it? ;-)

They not only mixed up the wars, they got the victors wrong.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I know! The fail... it had levels!

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

Sadly, I can do even worse than that. The local High School gives the students a local history assignment which includes really difficult things like spelling the name of the City you live in correctly, naming the current Mayor, the current Governor of your State, etc.

Guess how many students have no clue about any of those - including how to spell the name of the City you live in.

[embers-log.livejournal.com]

I'm lucky, in the small town where I'm currently living they have numbered and lettered streets going North and South, but all the East/West cross town avenues are named after the Presidents, in the order in which they served... it is a constant reminder of the correct order. lol

Personally I blame the idea of too many kids being badly home schooled or going to religious schools which have agendas other than teaching history, or Government, or languages or or or...
sigh.

I hope you are able to stay cool and hydrated! It isn't so hot here, it has been raining for days.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

I'm lucky, in the small town where I'm currently living they have numbered and lettered streets going North and South, but all the East/West cross town avenues are named after the Presidents, in the order in which they served... it is a constant reminder of the correct order. lol

Where are you? Texas? Or still in Ithaca?

Personally I blame the idea of too many kids being badly home schooled or going to religious schools which have agendas other than teaching history, or Government, or languages or or or...
sigh.

Yep. That and the emphasis on standardized testing. People don't learn through lectures and tests, they learn through interactive discussion and being forced to write papers and essays. I forget lectures - they go in one ear and out the other. But if I have to read, discuss, and write about it - I remember.

That said - how can you not know who we fought in the Revolutionary War, and who our first President is? Unless you are living under a rock? Both are integral parts of our culture.
Be like not knowing what baseball is.

[embers-log.livejournal.com]

Oh I'm back in Fairfield, Iowa... it is hot and humid (actually cloudy/rainy)... and not really where I want to be... but so many of my friends are here!

And yeah, I cannot imagine anyone (even someone illiterate) not picking up on Geo Washington... or knowing that we fought the British ('the British are coming! The British are coming!' certainly cartoons still use that as a punch line like they did when I was a kid?).
Oh well.

[stormwreath.livejournal.com]

and what is the name of Capital of the US?

The first President of the United States was a Mr W. Deecee? :-)


Mind you, I doubt that one British person in a thousand could name the first four prime ministers. I certainly can't, though I know Walpole was the first. First four kings of England? No idea without looking it up, although I'm pretty sure there was an Edgar and an Athelstan in there. First four monarchs of the UK is a bit easier (George III, George IV, William IV and Victoria, unless George III was already dead when the act of union was signed?).

[angearia.livejournal.com]

Ah, but your British history is all with the long and epic. And does England only start with William the Conqueror? I mean, when does your country even draw the line? What of Alfred the Great? When does England officially begin as England?

With America, we have a more finite and recent history. And the first presidents and the Revolutionary Period are taught in every school. So as you find it easier to list off the first four monarchs... well, that's the equivalent, I suppose.

First presidents in order off the top of my head: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, John Quincey Adams, and that's all I've got. *checks* Yep.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

We also celebrate George Washington's Birthday every year in Feb along with Lincoln's - granted it is called President's Day, but the Calendar does state George Washington's Birthday. His face is on our currency. Plus we have little songs about him that are taught to kids in grade school.

Not sure how you'd not know he wasn't the first President, unless, well - you were living under a rock?

[stormwreath.livejournal.com]

When does England officially begin as England?

AD 927. That's when Alfred the Great's grandson Aethelstan conquered the Kingdom of York and "brought under his rule all the kings who were in this island" and began issuing charters as "King of the English" (rex anglorum / engla cyning) rather than King of the West Saxons.

But I should probably point out that I'm fascinated by history, have a degree in it, and even so I had to look that up before writing the paragraph above. It's not something most people would know.

More "traditional" English history only counted the kings since 1066. There's even a mnemonic song for them:

Willy, Willy, Harry, Ste,
Harry, Dick, John, Harry three,
One, two, three Neds, Richard two,
Henries four, five, six – then who?
Edwards four, five, Dick the bad,
Harries twain and Ned the lad,
Mary, Bessie, James the vain,
Charlie, Charlie, James again,
William & Mary, Anna Gloria,
Four Georges, William and Victoria.

(There are several different versons of the poem after that dealing with the 20th century.)

And England became part of Great Britain in 1707, and Great Britain became part of the United Kingdom in 1801.

[angearia.livejournal.com]

Ah, that would have been my guess. Starting with William the Conqueror in 1066. Not the more detailed note above.

[stormwreath.livejournal.com]

Back in a less enlightened age, the common thought was "Until 1066 Britain was constantly being invaded; after 1066 we were the ones invading everyone else". So it made a good dividing line...

[maidenjedi]

Maybe they're confusing the 4th of July with the 5th of May. Cinco de Mayo is the Mexican date for independence from Spain. So there's always a chance it's just kids mixing up independence days.

The France thing....is a stretch.

But, in any event, this whole thing just made me so sad and angry.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

The France thing....is a stretch.

Well, they could, I suppose, be confusing it with, July 14th, which I think is Bastille Day - the French Independence Day - for the French Revolution (which was sort of inspired by the US revolution - but with far less positive results and happened in France, and not in a colony, and actually had more in common with our civil war.)

[maidenjedi]

Well, I call it a stretch only because France isn't on this continent, and to my knowledge celebrating Bastille Day isn't a big deal over here. Cinco de Mayo, on the other hand....

But even my idea is way out there, because Cinco de Mayo has been nothing more than a drinking holiday in the States for a long time.

[angearia.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's a generational thing. I remember growing up watching Jay Leno and his questions on the street segment. And well... I think some people are just ignorant. And this was long before Facebook and Twitter, also before the internet really got up and moving.

Some people just don't give a crap about history or general knowledge, never bother to learn it and certainly wouldn't bother remembering it if they happened to learn it. In one ear and out the other.

I'm cynical about this sort of thing. But in general, I despise this sort of attitude and I've definitely come across it in RL. Maybe it's gotten worse with the all the tech around, but it's always been around us--maybe we were all just less aware of it.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

True. I've seen similar street surveys done in the 1980s. So it may have always been the case. But I think the dependence on technology is having a derogatory effect in some respects.
Tech is a double-edged sword. It's a bit like calculators - before they were invented, people added, subtracted, multiplied in their heads - now they just pull out that trusty calculator.
(Not that I'm not happy about the invention - love calculators).