Friday, June 26, 2009

Good and bad history

Were there incidents of "fake history" that especially stood out as something you remember learning as a kid? And did any aspects of the real history surprise you?
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3 comments:

Erin said...

Yeah, there were a few. The history I heard wasn't completely untrue, it just didn't tell the whole story. Like all I remember hearing about Coronado was that he was looking for the Seven Cities of Gold. And that Ponce de Leon was looking for the Fountain of Youth. In elementary school we were definitely led to believe that it was all peace and brotherhood between the Pilgrims and Indians. And I remember hearing vaguely that the Vikings got here first, but not exactly where or why. I pictured them stopping at Plymouth Rock or something.

2:08 PM, June 30, 2009
kc said...

That was my experience, too. All the key people were mentioned at some point, but some were heroicized beyond all measure, like Columbus. They don't teach that he really had nothing to do with the United States and that he believed the New World was the Orient. And, of course, the plight of the American Indian was always just sort of a footnote in all the "discovery" stories.

Funny that you mention "vaguely" hearing about the Vikings. I had that exact same experience — and with Coronado, too. It's sort of like how you learn about the dinosaurs and prehistory when you're also learning about the Christian creation myth. Geology and evolution are mentioned, but most of us probably have more familiarity with the tales of our "biblical ancestors" than with actual facts about our prehistoric human ancestors.

9:11 PM, June 30, 2009
Erin said...

Oh yeah, I think the bulk of the half-truths I learned involved Columbus. It's pretty bizarre when you think about the fact that he had nothing to do with the United States, as you say. Why should we care about him, really? I mean, any more than Coronado or De Soto or whoever.

Also, I do remember learning the John Smith-Pocahontas story, which I always thought sounded a little too cheesy to be true. I find the various bastardizations of her story kind of gross. Especially the way she was turned into a voluptuous hottie in a low-cut deerskin dress when she was in fact only about 10 years old.

1:14 PM, July 01, 2009

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