The Historian's Archives

OK, so I will be blogging about history. But why bother studying history? Isn't it such a boring subject, only fit for boring people who spend hours memorizing frivolous names, places, and dates, when they could be watching sports, playing video-games, or shopping at the mall? On the contrary, history is not boring, nor does it consist merely of memorizing facts, and (In My Humble Opinion), watching sports, playing video-games (for countless hours), and shopping at malls are boring! People have not changed the world or made their lives or others' lives better by watching sports, or doing other activities. I do not think that those who do those things are not leading worthy lives, but if such activities are one's priority, than one does not really have much to live for.

But why bother studying history? And why talk and write about it? Why blog about it?

Whether or not we realize it, history is indeed important. History, though it may not be the hobby of everyone, should nevertheless be respected and prized by the citizens of any great nation, such as the United States. And in a nation so unique in the world, how can American history possibly be boring? And when one realizes that much of our history has been ignored, hidden, and slighted by mainstream scholars over the past century, one realizes the treasure troves of historical knowledge yet undiscovered, unappreciated, and unrealized by several generations of Americans.

But there is more to history than just fascinating and new knowledge. The significance of that knowledge is what counts. And how is knowing historical facts significant? In America, we have something that almost no other nation in the history of the world has had or has now -- true liberty, a wonderful heritage, and a prosperous land. These things did not befall us by accident. Our ancestors labored to achieve them with their blood and their energy. But unfortunately we so ealisy become complacent, and think that liberty is not important, or that it does not require the same kind of care and vigilant protection that it did when Patrick Henry thundered "Give me liberty or give me death!" We so easily part with our liberty for the feeling of security or comfort, and then we wake up the next morning and wonder why the politicians can be so corrupt. No; liberty must be guarded by all the generations who wish to enjoy it. Thomas Jefferson once said that "eternal vigilance is the cost of liberty." In comparison to what our forefathers paid on the fields of the Revolutionary War and afterwards, this "eternal vigilance" is nothing. It is the least we could do. Part of this eternal vigilance is guided by the study of our history. Unless we know our history, and learn from it, we are not going to learn what made the American Experiment successful in the early years of our republic, and we are going to make the same failures that previous generations have made.

The Founding Fathers fervently desired that American children, from an early age, take the history of this country seriously.

Every child in America should be acquainted with the history of his own country. He should read books that furnish him with ideas that will be useful to him in life and practice. As soon as he opens his lips, he should rehearse the history of his own country; he should lisp the praise of liberty, and of those illustrious heroes and statesmen who have wrought a revolution in her favor.
Noah Webster, On the Education of Youth in America (1788)