--+RANDOM: U.S. History+--
 

A gf and I just had a stellar dinner...BUT...

3% of our convo was a discussion of what our plans are for the July 4th weekend...

1% of the convo was her going on her "I hate Obama" rant which then got her to get into...

96% of our (one sided) conversation for the night: Her bombarding me with EVERY fact of the founding of the United States of America (from the beginning to present time).

I pride myself on being a SMART chick, but as I sat there, I couldnt help but feel a little stupid bc I dont remember half of what she does...

...so, in the spirit of Independence Day being around the corner, I want to know:

(1) How much U.S. History do you remember from your studies?
(2) When you think "U.S. History/American History" what are the first few things that come to mind?
(3) As an American (or not) do you even care about the who's / what's / when's / where's / why's / or how's of how this country came to be?!

I know this isnt a "provacative" discussion...Im just curious about my fellow GFYers...

My Answers:
(1) Clearly not as much as my friend.
(2) In NO particular order: Constitution, Jamestown/Virginia Colony/John Smith, 13 original colonies, Boston Tea Party, Taxes, Wars, Our Founding Fathers, Revolution, 1776
(3) I suppose I care, but I am more interested in the future.

Watching the American Experience special on PBS lately, especially the Native American centered mini series was pretty fuckin eye opening to say the absolute least, and I def. kept myself pretty schooled up, coming from a family of teachers.

What did I learn that I still know today overall... America has always had a habit of walking around with a big fucking stick, poking it around right or wrong, and coming up with half assed apologies for whatever happened later. Rinse wash repeat.

Im dutch - Ill be working :)

In the past ten years for some reason I've become a huge fan of WWII and read all books I can about it. The one thing I've discovered is that what we were taught in high school was slanted, making American look great while barely touching on the sacrifices other countries made.

At the same time, a few years back a friend of mine decided to become a US citizen and had to pass his test. Although this guy was ten times smarter than me, I helped him study. There was like fifty facts he had to memorize, stuff like "who was the original 13 colonies?". The first time around I think I got twenty of them right.

Those who fail to remember history are doomed to repeat it.

American History goes back further than 1967. Definitely in this conversation. We were hardly "walking around with a big fucking stick, poking it" in 1776. :2 cents:

i dont remember shit

We poked the bear around 1776, the bear underestimated us...

Then there was the lil thing...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trail_of_Tears

And it goes on...

Might hit a friends b-day party

i was there

i remember sitting at a dinner with some friends from the US when one of them said how sad it is that they learned so little about history in general at school. and then one of their girlfriends got really upset and said how much more important the 250 years of US history are compared to thousands of years of world history.

I was taught nothing about our history in school actually. I vaguely remember doing a play about Donner Pass and a term paper about the Beatles...THAT'S IT!

My history teachers were all coaches so our class environment involved projection movies about random shit like tape worms in Latin America so the coach/teacher could work out his plays for the game that night. And if we lost that game...the next day was a nightmare in class.

Not only did I not learn about any presidents, our geography as a nation in general or any wars, I learned nothing of slavery, Martin Luther King, Malcom X, Rosa Parks, or any other african american history.

Coastal Orange County schools leave quite a bit to be desired as I aced many classes without taking my book out of my locker and I am not Mensa-ish, lol.:(

Read Zinn.

.

I attended high school in Hawaii and had one semester of US history and the rest of the time learned world history especially focusing on Asian history, same with geography. Then again, Hawaii was always a reluctant addition to the states and are still wanting independence from the US govt.

Damn... this girl was beautiful.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ol._Pascal.jpg

"History is a guide to navigation in perilous times." -- David C. McCullough

"History is the only laboratory we have in which to test the consequences of thought." -- Etienne Gilson

"Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." -- George Santayana

"We can learn from history how past generations thought and acted, how they responded to the demands of their time and how they solved their problems. We can learn by analogy, not by example, for our circumstances will always be different than theirs were. The main thing history can teach us is that human actions have consequences and that certain choices, once made, cannot be undone. They foreclose the possibility of making other choices and thus they determine future events." -- Gerda Lerner

I learned a lot about history but unfortunately i did not study in the US.

Where you are going is partially determined by where you have been. Learn History, It repeats it's self and it will help you stop making the same mistakes in the future.

As for me., My family was on the Mayflower. So I always think about it.

Guess we will have to agree to disagree.

Taxation without representation doesn't sound like poking the bear and the trail of tears, while a bummer, was an internal issue, not exactly the same as invading foreign countries (which I presume was your original point with the "walking around with a big fucking stick, poking it" comment.

Dream characters worrying about clearly remembering the first part of the weird dream they had.

From the British' point of view, what happened in Boston was an "internal issue"...

Your point?

Don't test my knowledge Kristen, I'll be more than happy to school you when it comes to world history. If you need any :helpme, feel free to come by my office for History 101 @ 4pm today. Thank you, class has been dismissed :thumbsup

1. I don't remember as much as I should but at least I can name who are pres and VP are compared to most dumbasses in this country

2. Same as you...I also think of the Civil War and how far we've come...well and how far we still have yet to go (which is pathetic)

3. I care about the present..not the past, especially because right now our country seems to be really messed up...health care, an expensive war...to name just a few. But I know it's important to know the past in order to understand how we got to where we are today...blah blah I feel like I'm quoting a movie.

And btw I will be out and about prancing around MDR on Sat Kristen...text me if you are around, cocktails on the beach, am having a partaaaaaaay. Happy 4th!

raped the indians and the land

That's a great way of summing it up in 6 words :1orglaugh

That was a great special :thumbsup

I thought you only schooled burritos, Moe.

This is what the History channel was invented for. The one thing that I like learning about are our past presidents. So much shit gets swept under the rug, it's crazy.

Quite true, like it has been suspected that Lincoln was GHEY, and the civil war was thought to be started over an affair between a Senators wife and another Congressman.

' you really have to ask?

As a non American (as of yet):

1776 - 1791 forming the shape of the the US bill of rights
[/QUOTE]

James Madison, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, John Adams

- those who are an everlasting inspiration and I tend to read about those a lot, I own a biography of John Adams and I read a lot about Ben Franklin, looking forward to get full biographies of all of them

extremely exciting time period, extremely exciting personalities, those that tend to inspire me a lot, those who had the balls to make it on their own, those who made a huge deal for what became the American character

Fight for independence, no compromise with the past, new order, citizen fighting for his rights, passion and warfare, something wild, exciting, adventurous, courage and will

Extremely, as a citizen of a country that came through a decades of total humilation and without direct and public opposition I'm extremely interested in how the only country in this world that made its rules "on their own" and the "new way" does, US is a mirror of how will many other countries do in the future

My mistake. I thought you had one. I should have known better.

1) alot

2) how the white man ( cracker ) is made out to be the devils race :2 cents:

3) this country was started by freemasons


the trail of tears was caused by the yankees , the indians were helping the rebels . But u dont hear much about that heh Now all indians hate the white man as well. The yankees prolly killed more indians then anybody. Most people are fucking stupid and could care less about history as long as they can watch their american idol

Two great books that will fill you with a ton of information and are written by a great author who keeps things interesting (David McCullogh).

- 1776
- John Adams

Thoughts then on the theory of The Illuminati running the U.S. and the world NOW?!?!?

I have freemasons in my lineage, my maternal grandfather (who was tight with the Gettys - way up there in their oil dealings) was the last one...not that that means anything but interesting to note.

You should sue your school system. How the hell were the Indians helping the "rebels" 30 years before the war?

so why would the indians help the rebels if the rebels were the ones that caused the trail of tears ?

Let me see if I can explain it to you:

Trail of Tears - 1831
Civil War - 1861

the illuminati died out about the time the freemasons came to be ? If any group of people out there that has control over the world or trying to rule the world would be zions, not nazis like this country would like for you to believe.

u have to explain nothing, 31 years isnt much in between, let me ask u one more time. why would the indians help the rebels if they were the ones who caused them leave their land? does that make sense to you ?

read em both. good stuff in there.:thumbsup

Man I am pissed. I prepared a long detailed response and GFY went and refreshed the page on me, deleting everything.

Rebels - Confederacy
Yankees - Union

No Confederacy at time of Trail of Tears
Indians been fighting Union long before they were called Yankees
The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

http://www.civilwarhome.com/nativeamericans.htm

http://www.historynet.com/american-i...the-crater.htm

Again, sue the school district.