Month: September 2013
FDR and the “Real” Deal..
Having to find specific sources for research can be frustrating and difficult, but it is also a great feeling when you find the perfect ones. My topic for my paper is Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his involvement in the great depression. This was an easy choice for me because growing up, I had noticed that all of my history textbooks ranted and raved about his presidency during the great depression. There is a general misconception that it was FDR who single-handedly recovered America from the depression. As I got older, understood more about the time and developed new ways of thinking, I found myself disagreeing strongly with what my textbooks had been teaching me for years. In my research I have encountered some difficulties, mainly because most articles do just what textbooks do and endlessly praise him.
In writing my paper I have found and hope to continue to find primary sources that are potentially letters, diary entries or songs. I feel that any of these primary sources would be beneficial to my paper because they are very personal pieces of history. They are going to be the most effective in proving my point because knowing they came straight from someone affected gives it credibility and makes it relatable. For example, finding a song about unemployed Americans in the great depression could really help get my reader to feel the way the writers had felt at the time of its origination, and what inspired it.
Perhaps the reason why FDR is glorified is because textbooks (a tertiary source) love to over generalize history. Perhaps it would take too long to explain problems with the new deal, what happened after FDR’s presidency effectively ended, and how long the great depression continued after he was no longer in office. Maybe these details would ruin the story?
I expect to find more letters and diaries than songs, but I am not sure how many of them will be the type I am looking for. Many letters I have already found are letters of praise written to the president. This is because FDR was put on a pedestal and emulated a form of “savior” to those affected by the depression. But contrary to popular opinion, I am confident that I will find letters or diaries expressing dissatisfaction and anger.
Its definitely going to be a challenge to balance my primary and secondary sources with my tertiary sources solely because anyone who reads my argument has already been inherently swayed by the tertiary belief. However, with persistence I can dig deep past the millions of tertiary biased documents and in doing so find many truthful, emotional and intelligent pieces of work. In finding these primary documents, I will have succeeded in debunking the myth that textbooks print year after year.
“History for Dummies”
Students in high school rarely think about what their history textbook really is. They know that it’s a hassle to drag home and that it’s a lot of size 10 boring text, page after page. Are they wrong in feeling this way? Absolutely not. Large textbooks often distributed at the high school level have one goal and that is coverage. They aim to squeeze history into a condensed timeline composed of events deemed far more important than others.
I argue that textbooks are the equivalent of classic “history for dummies” books. Where basic information is laid out plain and simple for you. In this regard, textbooks are somewhat valuable because they introduce us to history and help chronologically assort it so that it flows in our minds. However it is not necessarily the best way to learn about history by any means. Textbooks dumb down content because they only seek to explain how, and when it started, and how it ended. This method robs history completely of its true nature! The content of history is nothing without its stories. Hypothetically, what good would it be to just know that the colonies rebelled, started a revolution, and then gained independence years later? What meaning would that event in time have without getting to know the characters involved, the struggles faced, the battles fought and the documents signed. This is the problem with textbooks; that they leave out the “fluff” so undesired by the common core. Leaving out the “fluff” of other subjects would be just as detrimental. Imagine trying to teach the Pythagorean theorem but leaving out the fluff of how to use it. It is the least practical approach to truly educating students.
Textbooks should be used loosely both inside and outside of the classroom. They should be used to make a rough timeline that one can build on to fill in the gaps in order to gain a true understanding of history. They are tertiary sources, which one should never rely heavily on. It is always advised to value primary and secondary sources more; and for obvious reasons. They are far more credible and open for your interpretation. I find it ironic that sometimes the bigger books are way less informative than the small skinny ones. It is often that smaller books tell a better story, and that they are able to bring history to life. Another benefit to smaller books is that they are generally focused on getting one or two points across to the reader, not thousands. Textbooks do not have the ability to get personal with the reader because there is no time to waste in getting through the major events.
Throughout my years of education I have increasingly found a knack for detecting bias. Sometimes I agree with it whole-heartedly and other times I disagree with it completely. It is definitely harder to detect bias in a tertiary source such as a textbook than it is in a secondary or primary. When I learned about certain historical events in high school it never really crossed my mind that my textbook was biased. I took what it said and assumed it was true. This is yet another problem textbooks present. They are flawing education by not allowing the student to think independently. I do not recall a single review question ever prompting me to question the chapter’s validity. Instead the questions have you define key terms and answer why this particular term is important. If one cannot form their own opinions and think outside the box then learning history will never be more than task for them. It will never amount to anything other than names and dates we were “forced” to remember.
We cannot change the impact made by textbooks in the field of history. However, we can change the ways that they are used. It is up to historians and educators alike to enlighten the world to think deeper and encourage students that it is okay to raise questions and to be curious. After all, what would history be if no one ever challenged authority? The answer is simple; it wouldn’t exist.
“Who we are is who we were”
History provides the world with fundamental understandings, theories, and practices that still exist in the modern day. History is one of the most complex subjects one can study, but perhaps it is the complexity that makes it so fascinating, exciting and intriguing.
In my personal opinion, history is infinite. I tend to have multiple outlooks and opinions on each event throughout history. I feel that this in turn makes me a theoretical historian. I do value facts, but more as a starting point. I am always curious to dig deeper and in doing so discover various meanings that almost never coincide with each other. That may sound absolutely torturous to other historians, but for me I love the suspense.
I think it is just as acceptable to be unsure, as it is to be positively sure, about your opinion on a topic because it leads to the evaluation of each perspective on a topic. This is not to say that I don’t have solid opinions on certain topics, because I most certainly do. However, I think that having an open mind is a wonderful trait to have when talking about, teaching or studying history.
It is easy to say, “I love everything about history,” but that would be a lie. I think every historian has those time periods or elements of history that they aren’t particularly interested in. For example, I am not a huge fan of ancient history. The area of history that interest me more than all of the others is the World War II era including, the rise of Hitler and the holocaust, FDR’s isolationist policy, the American economy during the war, etc. Of course there are many interests I have other than the World War II era, however this particular era is extremely interesting to me. I think I became infatuated with studying this time period because of the action. There were so many historical figures, movements, and tragedies during this time that impacted the world forever.
I hope to consistently further my education in history. I would love to one day contribute my knowledge to museums or historical documentaries and potentially history based motion pictures. I have always believed that movies with the ability to replicate a specific time in history are amazing, and to be apart of a production would be a dream come true. I also want to travel and see historical places in person.
I hope to become an educator. I am currently studying to become a secondary education teacher however; I strive to teach at the collegiate level further down the line. When I become a teacher I want to be able teach history in a meaningful and exciting way. Students often get bored in history classes because the teacher cares more about the names and dates than the story and the figures in them. I want my students to understand history in a new way that incorporates meaning and true understanding.
Ultimately I strive to do history justice. In doing so, I intend to never stop analyzing, learning, and wondering.
Courtney Allen 