We spend a lot of time teaching people stuff that isn’t really useful. I mean honestly if you’re not actually teaching history when was the last time it mattered in your life if the Revolutionary War and Civil War came first? There’s some level of “good American” that probably should know that, but it’s just not part of life, it doesn’t make me better at my job, doesn’t put food on the table. And really even on the “good American” level the dates aren’t nearly as important as the whys, that’s the part that shaped the country.
Painless.
It doesn't take a week.
I reject your assertion and will continue to teach kids 'useless' stuff that actually turns out to be useful.
/johnny
I so disagree.
If you don’t know which war came first, then the chances of you knowing anything relevant or even fundamentally necessary are also pretty slim.
Is it really important to know the Revolutionary War came first? Is it really necessary to know how to dress for a job interview? Really necessary to know that babies can’t be left alone while you go drinking?
BruceDeitrickPrice
We spend a lot of time teaching people stuff that isn’t really useful. I mean honestly if you’re not actually teaching history when was the last time it mattered in your life if the Revolutionary War and Civil War came first? There’s some level of “good American” that probably should know that, but it’s just not part of life, it doesn’t make me better at my job, doesn’t put food on the table. And really even on the “good American” level the dates aren’t nearly as important as the whys, that’s the part that shaped the country.
____________________
Being historically literate is like being literate in other areas of life. It gives you a framework to hang the information you run into in life. And to test its reality. Someone once said that and education basically teaches you what is rot and what is not.
“..aren’t nearly as important as the whys...”
Agreed, all those dates I knew back in high school don’t mean much now. But not knowing the order of the two major wars on our land is huge. Especially that one was in large part an attempt to resolve issues not fully taken care of after the first one, as well as abuses of matters that had been resolved after the first one.