Historical Hubris

plenty are a product of the environment in which they actualise decisions. If readers of history want to make judgements, they must do so only when they aim sufficient knowledge of bearing in the times they are judging. David McCullough writes We would do well to propel young citizenry that nobody ever lived in the past. Jefferson, Adams, and working capital did not walk around thinking, Isnt it fascinating lifetime in the past? They lived in the present, of course, just as we do today, every bit uncertain of the future as we are. How palmy it is for historians and biographers or any of us to look backward in time and judge the actions of others. Yet we are not fashioning those tough decisions in real time with definite uncertainties. In this quote from History and Knowing Who We Are, McCullough attempts to instill the thought that people in the past did not have the same value and standards we have today. Behaviors in the past were based on the brotherly order of the environment in which people lived. teachers and students alike make the mistake of using the present to judge the past. In Lies My Teacher Told Me, James Loewen states that The present is not a source of schooling for writers of history textbooks.

Reputable historians understand the significance of this quote because they have been taught to analyze without a present-day bias. A commonly-used example when describing diachronic hubris is the story of George Washington. Beginning in kindergarten, children are taught that George Washington was the superior person in the Statesn History. He led the colonists to achievement in the American Revolution and was the first to hold the US Presidency. While the Revolution was underway, he stressed freedom and par for all, but at that time all meant white, land-owning, rich men. People tend to be perplexed that Washington was both an American hero and knuckle down owner, but they neglect the fact that slave owning was a common practice in Colonial America and was not... If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: Orderessay

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