U.S. History is a One-Dimensional, Ground-Level Affair
History has a funny way of being written. Some may say it is the “winning side” that writes history. Others say it is the dominant group that decides what is history. Yet history is not just this. History is the cold hard facts of what happened in the past. Events that were both horrific and pleasant are constantly left out and have been forgotten about in U.S. history. There is a plethora of history that has occurred in this great country that will soon be completely forgotten unless something is done to remind students and others where we have come from. History of hope and aspiration that can inspire future generations. History of evil and disheartening events that should remind ourselves why change is necessary. All of it is necessary for students to understand how the United States came to be. History is not just a study of the past, but a study of why we are what we are today.
In most secondary level schools, U.S. history is taught under a simple narrative of how white people built this country. In many instances, this can be true. The issue here is how little we know of other races and cultures. When these races are mentioned, it is only in short bits and pieces. Once that area of study is over, it may be quite sometime before another mention of that group of people is brought up again. There is also the issue of how ground-level U.S. history is taught. Students are taught larger parts of U.S. history in brief detail. Using the Great Depression, for example, Adam Sanchez wrote “Who Made the New Deal Part 1: What Caused the Great Depression?” which details how students never really are taught how the Great Depression came to be. Students are taught that it was the stock market crash of 1929 that caused it to happen. What students never are taught is what caused the crash. Crashes do not happen for no reason; there is a reason for them. He goes on to explain how it actually occurred, and how he was able to explain it to his students. This is an incredibly important thing to understand, especially after the Great Recession that effected most American households. Not to mention the constant chatter of another recession that could be coming and could be larger than the previous one due to the pension crisis.
A lot of this stems back to issues with how textbooks are made. U.S. History can be hard to include so much into one book on, but students are being robbed of really knowing how this country came to be. Large key details are left out as Sanchez noted. Anya Kamenetz’s article, “How American History Can Be Used as a Weapon” talks about her encounter with this textbook issue after reading “Lies My Teacher Told Me” by James Loewen. She writes, “Lies My Teacher Told Me, by James Loewen, explained how history textbooks got the story of America wrong, usually by soft-pedaling, oversimplifying and burying the thorny drama and uncertainties of the past under a blanket of dull, voice-of-God narration.” Not all the blame should be put on textbooks though as teachers share blame for students not having a true understanding of what U.S. history includes. Textbooks should be meant to guide you through the timeline that is U.S. history holds. From here, teachers need to be going in more depth, pushing their students to learn the nitty-gritty and glorious moments in our history that make us the country we are. Challenge students to ask questions and make them want to do their own research. Not simply follow along with a basic history of the United States.
In order to do this, teachers need to immerse themselves in U.S. history. They need to understand the perspectives of the people of the time. Not just the predominate cultures and groups. That means knowing what was going on for Native Americans during the Civil War, African Americans during the educational movement of reconstruction, Asian Americans during the roaring twenties, Hispanic Americans during the Spanish-American War, etc. Teachers should be wondering what was going on for these people during these times so students can better understand where not just their own race and cultures come from, but the other races and cultures during the period being studied.
Not one person or group writes history; instead, everyone does. With this said, not everyone remembers history. Teachers need to rise up above the traditional, textbook-style ways of teaching history to open the minds of their students to the real events of history. Otherwise, parts of history will be forgotten and lost to time leaving us to have a one-dimensional view of how our country came to be.
