[Ansteorra] World History in High School

Richard Threlkeld rjt at softwareinnovation.com
Fri Jul 18 11:24:22 PDT 2008


I give you your major premise, that dates are important. My statement was
they are the least important of the historical elements. The things that
happened, why they happened, and how they affected what happened after them,
IMHO, are more important than the exact date. The order of things is
important and dates are how we keep track of that ordering, but I've seen
quite a few kids, including my own, sitting and memorizing a date and a half
a line description of something that happened on that date. They did not
learn much about any of the happenings, only the name and date. 

The phrase "If you don't learn about history, you are condemned to repeat
it" is often given as a reason to learn about history. Learning the dates
and a title for each does little to help you make decisions about what to do
now. Learning what other people did in similar circumstances and how it
turned out for them, on the other hand, may well keep you from having a bad
outcome.

In service,
Caelin on Andrede

-----Original Message-----
From: ansteorra-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org
[mailto:ansteorra-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org] On Behalf Of Michael Kahn
Sent: Friday, July 18, 2008 12:21 PM
To: Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc.
Subject: Re: [Ansteorra] World History in High School

Richard Threlkeld wrote:
> The date is the least important
> part of the things to be learned. Of course, it is the easiest to test.

The date anchors the event in history.  The date tells you the relative
time of the event compared to other events, providing you context to help
understand the world at the time of the event.  No historical event
happens in a vacuum.  That which has gone before and that which is
contemporary have great influence.  Time is the driving force that
determines the who, the what, and the why.

For a trivial example, how do we know William Wallace did not wear a kilt?
 Mel Gibson would have us believe he did.  How do we know he did not
father a child with the princess in question (Princess Isabelle, I
believe)?  You can't just look that stuff up in a book, but you can
research the *dates* of the various events and realize that the Princess'
child was born *years* after Wallace died, or that not even the belted
plaid existed until centuries after Wallace's bones had decayed to dust. 
It is the dates that tell you such things.

Why didn't the Germans use the atomic bomb on London or Moscow?

Why didn't the Crusaders load their cannons with grapeshot and mow down
the Saracens by the bushel?

Why do are the Three Musketeers always depicted as great swordsmen when
the musket played such a pivotal role in wars such as the American
Revolution, the Napoleaonic wars, and even our Civil War?

Why weren't Civil War prisoners (on both sides) given the treatment
required by the Geneva Conventions?

Why didn't the Colonials use Gatling guns against the British and Hessians
who lined up and marched in close order?

Anachronisms.  But you're aware of an anachronism only if you know the
relevant dates.  Here's another date for you, one that means everything to
the date of 1517:  1439.  Without it, Martin Luther's posting of his 95
theses would have been but the forgotten act of an insignificant man that
the world would little note nor long remember.

  Miles Grey


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