American History

I think there is an important distinction to be made between “American History” and “American” History.  One is the factual representation, or evidence-based interpretation, of historic events throughout America’s past.  The latter is the star-spangled romanticization of these events.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t a particularly great history student, so some of the things in America’s history that are less than flattering were likely taught to me at some point, but certainly weren’t retained.  That said, the cautionary lessons of these historic missteps weren’t a recurring discussion in my family’s celebrations of American history.  While it could be argued that celebrations of our greater historic events shouldn’t be marred with discussions of our troubled history that may or may not be related to that celebration (e.g. let’s not talk slavery & civil rights when we’re celebrating our independence, save that for Martin Luther King Jr. Day), ignoring these events or dismissing these discussions perpetuates the fallacy that America is infallible.  Ignoring the darker chapters of American history diminishes the struggle of the people who moved the nation forward.