Why Study History?
Everything you always
wanted to know but were
afraid to ask.
What some others have
said….
• History: gossip well
told. ~Elbert Hubbard
• Historians are gossips
who tease the
dead. ~Voltaire,
• The past actually
happened but history is
only what someone
wrote down. ~A.
Whitney Brown,
•
•
History is indeed little
more than the register of
the crimes, follies and
misfortunes of mankind.
Edward Gibbon (1737 1794)
…still more great minds…
• To many of the modern generations,
history, like God, is dead. ~Derek Heather
• History is who we are and why we are the
way we are. ~David McCullough
…do you know who this is?
• I don't know much
about history, and I
wouldn't give a nickel
for all the history in the
world. History is more
or less bunk. It is a
tradition. We want to
live in the present, and
the only history that is
worth a tinker's damn
is the history we make
today. ~Henry Ford
Do you think….
• Henry could
have made even
one car without
a good
understanding
of history?
Explain your
answer.
…interesting….
•
"History is for human selfknowledge. Knowing yourself
means knowing, first, what it
is to be a person; secondly,
knowing what it is to be the
kind of person you are; and
thirdly, knowing what it is to
be the person you are and
nobody else is. Knowing
yourself means knowing
what you can do; and since
nobody knows what they can
do until they try, the only
clue to what man can do is
what man has done. The
value of history, then, is that
it teaches us what man has
done and thus what man is."
R. G. Collingwood
A very deep question here.
• Do you think it is important to
know who you are?
• Explain why or why not
• Do you think it is important to
know who we are as a country?
• Explain why or why not
What do you think?
• Why are you here?
• How will you use
history today and in
the future?
• What use is history in
today’s age?
• Don’t we live in the
present…. So why
study the past?
• What use is old facts
and date that really
don’t mean anything
anyway?
Lets get started and find
out……..#1… the cost…
•
So that we can learn from the experience of
others without paying the price it cost them.
•
“We may profit by their experience without paying the price
which it cost them.”
John Jay (1745-1829 A.D.) The Federalist, No. 5
Your turn..
• List 3 examples where someone did something in
the past that made your life safer, easier or better
today.
• What did it cost them?
• Explain your answer in complete sentences.
#2…great men/women have led
the way….if only we are willing
to learn and follow….
• In order to
improve
ourselves by
following the
examples of great
men and women
of the past.
Your thoughts…….
• Who do you admire?
• Who is your hero? Why?
• What traits of your hero do you
try to emulate?
# 3…. Dealing with life…
• To learn the
constant and
universal principles
of human nature by
seeing men reacting
in different kinds of
situations and
circumstances.
• (Ex. Humans still love, hate,
hope, and need friends.)
What do you think?
• What is “human nature” ?
• Can we control human nature?
• How do you think human nature
helps or hurts mankind.
#4… survival…….
• In order to understand, live, and
exist in our present world.
Do you have a plan?
• What are some problems we face in
today’s world?
• What does it take to “live” in the
world today?
• How do you plan on surviving in the
next 10 years? Give examples how
you will achieve this.
#5… truth…..
• In order to learn
the truth of the
past which still
applies to our
present world.
What lies????????
• Who do you think lies to you the
most?
• Why do you think people lie?
• Do you think America or
“Americans” are lied to? Explain
• Why does truth have value?
# 6… learning by examples…..
• So that our nation
can learn from the
experience of
nations in the past.
•
(Ex. Reasons the Roman
Empire fell and how to avoid
it from happening to our own
nation.)
What should be done….
• What lessons do you think
America has learned from other
countries?
• What lessons do you think
America needs to learn?
# 7…soul searching….
• In order to judge
our own customs
and actions better
by examining the
customs of
different peoples.
Customs….. What makes
us who we are….
• What are customs?
• What customs define America?
• Do you have personal customs
that define who you are.
# 8… can’t we all just
get along?...
•
•
To insure order in Society by having
an informed, educated people.
(Voting, participating, caring etc.)
How………………
• How much education do you
think one person needs? Explain
• How should “the people” be
informed?
• How important do you think the
“free press” is?
• How important is an education?
# 9… seeing with new
eyes….
• It teaches us to put
things in perspective.
• Life…..
• Events…
• Problems….
• Environment…
• Wars…..
• economics….
• Governments
• Cultures
• Sci/tech…..
• More……?
# 10…onward….not
backwards….
• In order to
preserve
discoveries and
inventions.
What do you think?
• What is the greatest invention
ever? Why
• What invention do you think has
had the greatest effect on
mankind in the last 100 years?
• …………….in the last 50 years?
• …………… in the last 10 years?
# 11…always moving on..
• 11. In order to develop
new inventions and
make new discoveries
which are based on
knowledge of the old
ones.
•
(Ex. The gasoline engine
made the car and airplane
possible.)
What do we need to do ?
• What invention(s) need to be
discovered to help the world?
•
# 12…if it works…keep doing
it…..if it doesn’t, change………..
• To help solve our problems by defining the
problem and showing us what has and has
not worked in the past.
# 13…. Live and learn
•
To avoid the
errors of past
people and to
profit from their
good ideas.
# 14.. History frees us from
the chains of ignorance…
• In order to remove
prejudices and
increase
understanding.
# 15… looking at
ourselves…
• To learn from
our own past
mistakes.
# 16…a guard of sorts…
• To praise the worthy
acts of the past and
• KEEP MEN FROM
DOING EVIL FOR FEAR
OF HOW THEY WILL BE
VIEWED BY HISTORY.
What would you do?
• Do you think the record of history
will keep men or women from doing
certain things…..?
• Would you not do something, if you
knew History would record your
actions?
• Would you do something if you knew
History would not record your
actions?
# 17… time travel….
• In order to “travel”
to another place
and time by
“listening” to
people describe
their time and
country.
•
(We can “talk” to the
great and heroic men of
the past.)
# 18… order…
• In order to see which laws help to preserve our
country, …
• …which ones are useful and good,….
• and which ones are no longer useful.
• To help us in making laws.
•
(Ex. Blue Laws -- Sitting on garbage cans in Georgia, kissing for longer than five
minutes in Iowa, etc.)
# 19… who we are or who
we want to be?...
• In order to keep
our principles alive
by keeping those
thoughts alive.
• (Freedom, honor,
trust, loyalty,
respect,
dedication,
fairness, selfless,
forgiving, …..)
Who are we?
• What makes an American, an
American?
• What defines the United States
of America?
• What makes us different than
other countries in the world?
# 20… evaluating…..
• In order to judge what can be
done by what has been done.
# 21… applying our
knowledge….
• To help (to some
extent) predict
the future.
#22… moving forward…
• In order to
advance man’s
knowledge.
How do we….?
• How do we make the world a
better place using our
knowledge?
• If you could change something,
what would you change and
how?
# 23… we have to run
this country…..
• To LEARN
CITIZENSHIP.
Let’s find out..
• What dose citizenship mean to
you?
• Why is citizenship important?
# 24…the brave….
• To LEARN
PATRIOTISM.
Patriotism……
• What is patriotism to you?
• How do you show patriotism?
• Why is patriotism important to a
country?
• What is wrong with patriotism?
# 25….what it is…..
•
•
•
•
•
•
25. IT’S FUN!
History is the MOTHER OF TRUTH,
RIVAL OF TIME ,
STOREHOUSE OF DEEDS,
WITNESS FOR THE PAST,
EXAMPLE AND COUNCIL FOR THE
PRESENT,
• AND THE WARNING FOR THE FUTURE.
# 26… and last but not least…
• IT’S THE ______. Our government has realized the
importance of the above reasons for studying
history. There are some things in life that we must
do. (Work to eat, etc.)