Comments on: Young people don’t know much history http://www.hjblogs.com/young-people-dont-know-much-history/ HJblogs.com Tue, 30 Sep 2008 23:39:15 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: The Big Easy http://www.hjblogs.com/young-people-dont-know-much-history/#comment-420 The Big Easy Thu, 08 May 2008 18:05:28 +0000 http://www.hjblogs.com/young-people-dont-know-much-history/#comment-420 You are asking for politician to be more specific. Are you crazy? They lie for a living. You are asking for politician to be more specific. Are
you crazy? They lie for a living.

]]> By: Stephen Wiblemo http://www.hjblogs.com/young-people-dont-know-much-history/#comment-419 Stephen Wiblemo Thu, 08 May 2008 17:23:54 +0000 http://www.hjblogs.com/young-people-dont-know-much-history/#comment-419 FDR may not have talked to Hitler, but I wouldn't say he wanted to wipe Nazis off the face of the Earth. Remember, WWII started in 1937 with Japan invading China and Russia threw in its support for China. Then Germany invaded Poland in 1939 and allied with Italy and Japan. It wasn't until after Pearl Harbor, 1941, that the US declared war on Japan, years after WWII started. Shortly after, Hitler declared war on the U.S. and then the U.S. declared war on Germany. I think Obama's point may have been to show that America has a history of waiting to be provoked before jumping into an unpopular war. That's a history lesson from a young person. FDR may not have talked to Hitler, but I wouldn’t say he wanted to wipe Nazis off the face of the Earth.
Remember, WWII started in 1937 with Japan invading China and Russia threw in its support for China. Then Germany invaded Poland in 1939 and allied with Italy and Japan.
It wasn’t until after Pearl Harbor, 1941, that the US declared war on Japan, years after WWII started.
Shortly after, Hitler declared war on the U.S. and then the U.S. declared war on Germany.
I think Obama’s point may have been to show that America has a history of waiting to be provoked before jumping into an unpopular war.

That’s a history lesson from a young person.

]]> By: HikingStick http://www.hjblogs.com/young-people-dont-know-much-history/#comment-418 HikingStick Thu, 08 May 2008 16:32:21 +0000 http://www.hjblogs.com/young-people-dont-know-much-history/#comment-418 Your headline hit home for me a few weeks ago. I found a high-school U.S. History text from the late 1930s. It was the size of a small paperback, but it contained more details about American History than I ever remembered from my schooling (and we had a lot of history back then). One might even consider it more of a civics text because of the amount of information presented on the founding documents and our form of government. It made me realize that, while our schools are doing well in educating students overall, it seems we have (intentionally or not) lowered expectations on subjects like history. I took a stab at the examination practice questions that appeared in the back of the book, and I was shocked by how little I know (or remember). Your headline hit home for me a few weeks ago. I found a high-school U.S. History text from the late 1930s. It was the size of a small paperback, but it contained more details about American History than I ever remembered from my schooling (and we had a lot of history back then). One might even consider it more of a civics text because of the amount of information presented on the founding documents and our form of government. It made me realize that, while our schools are doing well in educating students overall, it seems we have (intentionally or not) lowered expectations on subjects like history. I took a stab at the examination practice questions that appeared in the back of the book, and I was shocked by how little I know (or remember).

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