I woke up in Escher's World today my mother said it was ok up's down, down is out, out is in stairways circle back to where you've been time falls, water crawls, are you listenin'? -Chagall Guevera Picture on Left By Official M. C. Escher website, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6847499 |
Sometimes, the deepest, most meaningful questions you can ask yourself about life are found in the simplest phrases, such as…
Why am I here? How you answer the question will be based on your own understanding or desire of what it is asking. For example, is it asking “Why am I here?” as in, what is my purpose on the earth. A very noble question, but one beyond the intent of this book. You can ask it in the literal sense of “Why am I in the town, in this state, in this country?”. And that is a matter of history, both your family history, why did your ancestors or parents come to America, or in the macro sense, why did anyone from the “Old World” come to the “New World”? Of course “Why am I here?” can also be asked in the very literal sense, “Why are you in this class?”. You look on your schedule and it says Social Studies 7, but why do you have to take this course? Have you ever thought about that? In this class, we will look spend our focus on the last two views of how we can ask the question “Why am I here?”. Most of our time, we will look at the progression of events that led to the founding of America. However, for that to make sense, we should spend some time on the question that is more burning for you. |
Why do you have to take a Social Studies class?
1.1 What is Social Studies?
History is one of the subjects in a category called Social Studies. There may be more emphasis in school on Math, English, and Science, but Social Studies courses are the most practical ones that you take in school. The reason for this is that Social Studies deals with a subject that you cannot escape no matter what you do for a living, interaction with people. Social Studies makes you think about your interactions with others. Several courses you can take in social studies are part of a group of other courses you take in school known as the Humanities. The Humanities are courses that separate us from other animals on the earth, because they stress our intellectual and creative side rather than focusing on an occupation or science. Social Studies, Arts, Music, Philosophy, Literature, are classes that are considered part of the humanities. Biology is the study of how living organisms operate. Social Studies are subjects that specifically deal with the study of how people operate in the world. Social Studies is the study of human relationships. |
What is Social Studies? (Video)
What are Humanities Courses? (Video)
|
Social Studies Classes
Psychology -The study of people’s behavior
Sociology -The study of society, its organization and institutions
Economics -The study of how people use resources
Political Science -The study of how people and government relate to one another
Geography -the study of the relationship between places on the earth, the environment that is there, and the people
who live there.
Perhaps you asked yourself one of the following questions:
-What do I have in my lunch bag to get the Oreos from the kid sitting next to me?
-What kind of clothes should I pack for my trip to Minnesota this August?
-Why do girls like Justin Bieber? (or whoever the teen idol is now)
-What can I say to put my teacher in a good mood before I tell him I don’t have my homework?
-Who would be the better choice for class president?
If you have answered questions similar to these you have used Social Studies knowledge. And now for the course you are taking. What is history and why is it important? Why do I need to know what happened in the past?
IT’S OVER!!!
Psychology -The study of people’s behavior
Sociology -The study of society, its organization and institutions
Economics -The study of how people use resources
Political Science -The study of how people and government relate to one another
Geography -the study of the relationship between places on the earth, the environment that is there, and the people
who live there.
Perhaps you asked yourself one of the following questions:
-What do I have in my lunch bag to get the Oreos from the kid sitting next to me?
-What kind of clothes should I pack for my trip to Minnesota this August?
-Why do girls like Justin Bieber? (or whoever the teen idol is now)
-What can I say to put my teacher in a good mood before I tell him I don’t have my homework?
-Who would be the better choice for class president?
If you have answered questions similar to these you have used Social Studies knowledge. And now for the course you are taking. What is history and why is it important? Why do I need to know what happened in the past?
IT’S OVER!!!
1.2 Why Study History?
History -The study of people’s past Reason #1 The Lessons We Can Learn The 20th century philosopher George Satayana once said “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Reason #2 The Past is Still Relevant Although most known for his children books, the Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis was also a world renowned scholar on ancient literature. “In the first place he made short work of what I have called my "chronological snobbery," the uncritical acceptance of the intellectual climate common to our own age and the assumption that whatever has gone out of date is on that account discredited. You must find why it went out of date. Was it ever refuted (and if so by whom, where, and how conclusively) or did it merely die away as fashions do? If the latter, this tells us nothing about its truth or falsehood.” What Lewis is saying is that because we live today, we think we know better than those people who lived in the past just because we live in the present. We may know more than people in the past, and can use that knowledge to judge their actions, but we cannot reject beliefs and/or actions just because "their old" or "not modern". And just because it's new doesn't mean it's right or the best just because it is the latest. Or in a simpler way, we believe that “the latest isn't always the greatest because it is the latest.” If we believe that we are superior than people from the past just because we live in the present than we are conceited snobs and need to remember what we believe today will soon be someone else’s past. Everything we know today is built upon what others discovered or accomplished in the past, and they still have something to teach us. When we dismiss the past and glorify the present, we have a small view of the world and an over important view of ourselves in the annals of history. It will also limit our ability to think critically since we have dismissed the ideas, people, and events of the past as unimportant just because they are in the past. Sometimes we are directly impacted by events in history. For example, living in the United States, you are directly impacted by the Constitution written by a group of men over 200 years ago. At the same time, we cannot only study the history that is about ourselves, that is a form of arrogance too. We study history to understand others in our world because the world is sooooo much bigger than us.
Reason #3 It Creates Your Present and Can Change Your Present In 1948, British author George Orwell wrote 1984 where he stated the following: “He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.” In the book, the government regularly changes the what is told in history in order for it to match the actions of the government. If something in the past contradicts what they are doing, they change the history or just erase the event from the history books. In this way they can control what their citizens believe about what is going on in the present. Our beliefs about the role of government and rights of people are based upon our understanding of the past and, in America, rooted in the foundation of our nation. Change a people’s understanding of their past and you will affect their future. Reason #4 History is Philosophy with Examples Why do we believe what we believe? Should we maintain that belief, alter it a little, or fully change it? What is the right course action? History allows us to peer into real-life examples and the ramifications of the choices that were taken. Historical examples become the evidence to support our opinions. In history we often talk about issues like cause and effect. For example, answers to the questions “What happened to western Europe after Rome fell?” or “What caused the American Revolution?” When we begin to think critically for those answers, we are analyzing the situation. History trains your mind to process and analyze information. And in all areas of life you analyze information, from buying a house to choosing your spouse. When reading history, have you ever wondered why you study certain people, cultures, and empires and not others. Why do we spend more time talking about the ancient Greeks rather than the ancient Persians? Why are certain people, places, and events significant? Is there anything we can learn from the actions of the past? Philosophy gives us a way to see life, but history allows us to see how our thoughts and beliefs play out in reality. In order to understand how history connects and relates to our present, we will need to utilize several of the other courses in the field of Social Studies. In our study this year, we will focus on Geography, Government, Sociology (specifically what shapes people’s view of the world), and Economics. |
Two British authors have some great things to say about more than just why history education is important.
Two Reasons to Study History Some people believe that we study history to explain the foundations of institutions, beliefs, and/or practices that we hold today. Why does the United States follow a Republican form of government? Why is English the predominant language?
Another view is that the study of cultures and events of the past is valuable even if the culture or time period in question is not directly relatable to our own. The past serves as a reference point upon which we can compare and contrast our own civilization. We do not know the future, but we do know the past, so we look to actions taken in the past in order to help us determine what the best course of action today. Think About It...The Presidential Election of 2016 is a great reminder of why history is important. Both campaigns ask voters to consider the history of the United States & determine whose view of the present is correct.
|
1.3 How Do We View History?
What is the purpose of history? In today’s academic world we tend to be more focused on trying to know “what really happened?”. Historians will look at primary sources, documents and artifacts from the era being studied in order to understand what happened. They also attempt to examine it free from bias from the original writers and free from bias that he or she is reading into it. Since we all bring a worldview into our study of history, this is typically impossible to do. Even in deciding that one needs to read history free from bias to best understand what really happened is choosing a solution based on a worldview. A worldview is a framework we use to understand the world. For example, the most common influence on a person’s worldview is “Do you believe in God?”. How you answer that question will affect how you see the world, life, and the best course of action one should take. Another question that will affect how you see the world is “What is most important, the individual or the community?” There are many aspects within your culture that influences your worldview. Does this mean we cannot trust history? No. We know something happened, and that it influenced our present in some way even if we do not know precisely the accuracy of every detail. There is another reason history is written. Sometimes it is to teach a lesson or help define a worldview. Accuracy is secondary to the lesson being taught. In ancient histories, even chronological order takes a back seat to the lesson. |
The Greeks SpeakWhat do three Ancient Greek scholars teach us about history?
Heraclitus, a philosopher, said we can never enter the same river twice because it is always changing. And that is what history teaches us, life is change. As one educator puts it, "History is change over time". Herodotus is considered the "Father of History". He traveled throughout the Mediterranean world in order to preserve how the Greek city states defeated the mighty Perisans , but he often mixed real events and fables. He said he wrote the history, "so that neither what has come to be from man in time might become faded, nor that great and wondrous deeds, those shown forth by Greeks and those by barbarians (Persians), might be without their glory; and together with all this, also through what cause they warred with each other." Thucydides was considered the "First Scientific Historian" because he wanted to find just the facts free from bias of the events of the war fought between Athens and the other city states led by Sparta. Thucydides wrote, "The absence of romance in my history will, I fear, detract somewhat from its interest; but if it be judged useful by those inquirers who desire an exact knowledge of the past as an aid to the understanding of the future, which in the course of human things must resemble if it does not reflect it, I shall be content. In fine, I have written my work, not as an essay which is to win the applause of the moment, but as a possession for all time." |
1.4 Where Are We Going?
The scope of history we will be looking at will begin at the split of the Roman Empire around the year 300 A.D. and conclude with the establishment of British colonies in the Americas through the mid 1700’s. In doing so, we will be connecting the stories you learned in ancient history in sixth grade to the birth and formation of the United States you will learn in eighth. Often pre-U.S. history only focuses on the events of Europe. Hopefully you will not only come to realize that the rest of the world had colorful and rich cultures (and at times superior to Europe) in the years before America’s foundation, but that these cultures are at times interconnected and played a role in leading people to settle in the New World.
We will begin our studies learning of a city named Constantinople for the emperor that built it, that was built on the Greek city of Byzantium. People from Rome left to be a part of all that was happening in the “New Rome”. We will end the year studying the people who left England on ships, for a new life, and new opportunities, wanting to be part of “New England” in the city of Boston. In between, we will see the rise of non-European powers, cultures that lie outside of what we call Western Civilization, and their effects on the decisions and explorations that eventually led to the founding of the United States.
The scope of history we will be looking at will begin at the split of the Roman Empire around the year 300 A.D. and conclude with the establishment of British colonies in the Americas through the mid 1700’s. In doing so, we will be connecting the stories you learned in ancient history in sixth grade to the birth and formation of the United States you will learn in eighth. Often pre-U.S. history only focuses on the events of Europe. Hopefully you will not only come to realize that the rest of the world had colorful and rich cultures (and at times superior to Europe) in the years before America’s foundation, but that these cultures are at times interconnected and played a role in leading people to settle in the New World.
We will begin our studies learning of a city named Constantinople for the emperor that built it, that was built on the Greek city of Byzantium. People from Rome left to be a part of all that was happening in the “New Rome”. We will end the year studying the people who left England on ships, for a new life, and new opportunities, wanting to be part of “New England” in the city of Boston. In between, we will see the rise of non-European powers, cultures that lie outside of what we call Western Civilization, and their effects on the decisions and explorations that eventually led to the founding of the United States.