abusing history

Things Shakespeare Got Wrong About the Ides of March | History News Network

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In a new article Barry Strauss explains what Shakespeare got wrong in his play the Ides of March.

“Why did Shakespeare get so much wrong? He did not have access to the full range of ancient sources and all their details that we have today. Yet even had he known more, the Bard would surely not have told all. The dramatist was thinking about the footlights, not the footnotes. And maybe that is for the best. Without Shakespeare’s immortal verses the assassination of Julius Caesar might be no better known today than the assassination of Aurelian (who?). Hooray for poetry, for making us care about the story of Julius Caesar, and hooray for history, for getting it right.”

To read the full article go here:

History News Network | Things Shakespeare Got Wrong About the Ides of March.

The Death of Caesar

UK teaching “invented” history as EU propaganda, says Cambridge professor | Cambridge News

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“David Abulafia, a professor of Mediterranean history, told the Daily Telegraph schools were ‘papering over’ past disunity on the continent to further integration under the European Union.” If true, this would unlikely lead to the desired results. The best way to promote unity is to honestly confront the past. It was not pretty and most people would not want to repeat it. Let students learn from that past. Repressing the past as a way to build unity has not been successful. This was tried and failed in the former Yugoslavia.

The Defeat of the Spanish Armada (1588)

The Defeat of the Spanish Armada (1588)

Sticks, Stones, and American Exceptionalism : We’re History

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R. B. Bernstein, author of Thomas Jefferson and The Founding Fathers Reconsidered, examines the conservative mantra of American Exceptionalism and wonders “[h]ow are we to take these polemicists’ rhetoric seriously, when it celebrates a past and a nation that never was.” We can’t! As Bernstein points out: “Their vision of the nation is of one with a pure and virtuous past, with nothing to complain about or apologize for; of a nation that has always treated everyone fairly, justly, and equally; of a nation whose past is a triumph of justice and progress. To these critics, any critical thinking about that past, any investigation of its less savory elements, is hating America. To them, any acknowledgment that the nation’s record is less than sacrosanct, is hating America. Any attention to those who challenged American injustice or inequality, is hating America.”

Read the entire article at:

Sticks, Stones, and American Exceptionalism : We’re History.

(Thanks HNN for the pointer!)

The link to this cartoon no longer exists but it looks like it originated at truthdig.com

The link to this cartoon no longer exists but it looks like it originated at truthdig.com

The New, More Patriotic AP History Test from Pat O’Brien and FOD News

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This is a comical “More Patriotic AP history test” from Funny or Die. It’s just what the conservatives ordered! This is my favorite question:

It was okay to use civil disobedience tactics during the Boston Tea Party because:
a.) it was white people doing it
b.) just shut up, alright?
c.) hey, look over there! >>>>>>>>>>
d.) seriously, there’s this really cute dog doing something crazy! you’re missing it!!! >>>>>>>>>>>

To see the entire test go to:

The New, More Patriotic AP History Test from Pat O’Brien and FOD News.

american-flag

Oklahoma Lawmakers Vote Overwhelmingly To Ban Advanced Placement U.S. History | ThinkProgress

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Oklahoma makes Arizona seem reasonable (at least for now!). There is a new bill in Oklahoma intended to defund AP U.S. History. Conservatives complain that students are taught only a negative view of America.  Apparently they want students to be indoctrinated in a patriotic history that ignores what actually happened!

From Think Progress: “Oklahoma Rep. Dan Fisher (R) has introduced ’emergency’ legislation ‘prohibiting the expenditure of funds on the Advanced Placement United States History course.’ Fisher is part of a group called the “Black Robe Regiment” which argues ‘the church and God himself has been under assault, marginalized, and diminished by the progressives and secularists.’ The group attacks the ‘false wall of separation of church and state.’ The Black Robe Regiment claims that a ‘growing tide of special interest groups indoctrinating our youth at the exclusion of the Christian perspective.’”

Oklahoma Lawmakers Vote Overwhelmingly To Ban Advanced Placement U.S. History | ThinkProgress.

apush

History News Network | “So Help Me God” and the Presidential Oath

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In an article at the History News Network David B. Parker debunks the “so help me God” myth. He notes that it was created “[t]o shore up our Godly credentials.” And this is only one of the Cold War inventions to shore up our religious bona fides in our battle with the godless Soviet Union. “It joined “one nation, under God” and “In God we trust” to create a trinity of Cold War religious phrases. And like several other legacies of our Cold War heritage, this one has stuck with us.”

History News Network | “So Help Me God” and the Presidential Oath.

George_Washington_taking_oath_crNA

Why Movie ‘Facts’ Prevail – NYTimes.com

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Based on several studies the psychologist Jeffery M. Zacks concludes that “if you watch a film — even one concerning historical events about which you are informed — your beliefs may be reshaped by ‘facts’ that are not factual.” This is not good news! And it gets even worse. In one of the studies they asked the viewers to watch the movies for inaccuracies, but instead of changing their views it made them more likely to accept the incorrect facts! Is there any hope? They did find that “[h]aving the misinformation explicitly pointed out and corrected at the time it was encountered substantially reduced its influence.” The only problem with this technique, as Zacks points out,  “could be a challenge.” Based on this information, it is even more critical that we call out those in the movie industry who irresponsibly misrepresent historical events in ways that go beyond artistic license. Some misrepresentations are probably of no consequence (Queen Elizabeth’s “affair” with Sir Walter Raleigh in Elizabeth: The Golden Age) but others can have profound consequences (JFK).

Why Movie ‘Facts’ Prevail – NYTimes.com.

Movie-Industry_6986017

Review: The ‘Sons of Liberty’ Confirms that the History Channel No Longer Cares About History

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This past weekend I finished watching the History Channel’s Sons of Liberty. While watching it I had the same feeling I had while watching The Patriot with Mel Gibson: queasy. The docudrama was not billed as a documentary so I expected some artistic license, but it turned out to be more drama than “docu.” I suppose it was entertaining in a B movie sort of way! The story, for the most part, was an idealized patriotic version without the profound and revolutionary thought behind it. A young and handsome (unlike the real one) Samuel Adams (played by Ben Barnes) was the protagonist, who almost singlehandedly drug his fellow revolutionaries to independence. In reality Samuel did play a major role in driving the Revolution, but he was not the only major player. And the beer-drinking man of action portrayed in the series leaves out Samuel’s major contribution as a polemical writer.  Continue reading →

History News Network | Europeans Need to Reconsider the Lessons of the Great Depression

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Here is another perspective on the lessons from the Great Depression, but in this case the focus is Europe. Barry Eichengreen has some great insights into the current European situation, particularly in his observation that “Across Europe, anti-system parties of Left and Right are gaining political traction. That perverse policies and economic hard times feed political extremism is another important implication of the 1930s. It is still not too late for European policy makers – and historians – to get this lesson right.”

History News Network | Europeans Need to Reconsider the Lessons of the Great Depression.

Hall of Mirrors Great Depression

History News Network | Does Texas Care About the Truth in the Textbooks It Approves?

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Christopher Rose discusses his experience with the Texas State Board of Education and textbook approval in this article on the HNN. He concludes: “What I have learned from this experience is that it is important for scholars like those in the Department of History to get their voice out there. As Dr. Jones pointed out in her testimony, what’s being taught in Texas schools has a direct bearing on what happens in university classrooms. We have to be active as public scholars and historians—and for me that’s the most important lesson I’ve learned.” Read his interesting account at:

History News Network | Does Texas Care About the Truth in the Textbooks It Approves?.

us-history-revised-by-texas