I started college this year at the tender young age of 35. I’m enjoying it so far. Due to leftist bias in higher education, my American history class has been somewhat challenging.

I recently wrote a short essay on the subject of history. I’ve aced all my essays so far, so I hope the prof. is fair in judging this one. I thought it was fairly brilliant so I figured I’d share it with my Redstate friends. The assigned subject is “favorite aspect of American history”. I’m afraid I may have gone off-topic somewhat, but I hope it gets me at least a B. Of course, I think it deserves an A!

To quote George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it.”

National as well as world history is critical knowledge for the citizens of any nation. We can learn a lot from the achievements and mistakes of our ancestors. The history of the printed word is relatively short compared to the history of man, yet it contains critical lessons that help us to make informed decisions regarding current events.

One must also draw on many sources of historical records to gain well-rounded knowledge. Critical thinking is crucial because along with plenty of good information, there is no shortage of bad information and outright lies regarding history and historical figures.

A good example of such distortions can be made regarding the Civil Rights Act. It was the Republican party that pushed for the Act and it was the Democrats who opposed it, even to the point of filibuster. Yet somehow, a large number of people believe the Republican party stands for racism when nothing could be further from the truth. [It will be interesting to see if this legislative fact is mentioned in the text.]

Our text is a good source of basic historical knowledge, but it’s lacking in details and filled with liberal bias and I think that’s unfortunate. As a conservative Republican who studies politics and history as a pastime, I’m often amazed by the language that’s disparaging of capitalism and takes what I would consider a soft view on communism/socialism. In all fairness, I admit there is at least some criticism of the Democratic party. I’m only on chapter 27 so my opinion of the text may change, but I doubt it.

Regardless of my annoyances, there are many things I’m learning that I didn’t know before so I’m enjoying the class overall.