Improving our Knowledge of America

[Paisley]

Several Loungers agreed that knowledge of American history and civics is important. But some of us (like me) didn't like social studies or history, don't memorize facts well, have been out of school for awhile, etc.

How to get the knowledge back--or learn it anew?

I think historical novels, education TV, and personal stories make it easy to learn and remember. Even photos help: I knew the era that women got the vote (nationally) by recalling how the suffragettes were dressed.

Along those same lines, I took a military history class a few years ago and learned about the forage caps and spats of the Civil War. The instructor was so enthusiastic that it made me interested, too.

The PBS documentary Liberty! helped me get to know the Revolutionary War. Even my mother, who hated history as much as I did, sat through 4 hours of this program one night.

Any other recommendations?

 

[Hemingway Jones]

The Sunday New York Times. It is rich in all sorts of information and be sure to read The Book Review. The Book Review is written in a style that provides a broad context for each book reviewed; you can learn a lot that way.

Local reenactors can teach you much about history. We have an amazing reenactment of The Battle of Lexington and Concord each Patriot's Day. We also have tall ships in the harbor and Plimoth Planation for living history of the early European settlements here.

Visit the sources of history: Mt. Vernon, Montecello, The Adams Homestead, Independence Hall, Capitol Hill. -You get the idea. I learned so much about early New England History by visiting historic houses in Salem, Boston, Cambridge, and even along The Kancamagus Highway.

Just some ideas.

 

[Samsa]

I too am bad at memorizing facts, despite a general interest in American history. I don't know if I have any ideas for curing that particular ill. But the last history book I read - McCullough's 1776 - was excellent, and read like a novel. It gives a good portrait (though somewhat narrow as far as time is concerned) of the Revolutionary War. I definitely recommend it, though can't promise it will help one memorize the minutiae.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Just some GOOD ideas, Hem

Houses, fashion, music, stories, museums, even cookbooks are good sources for piqueing someone's interest in something they didn't even know they liked. Youngsters enjoy looking at old magazines and commercials to see not only what people back then did that was different, but mostly they exclaim about the things that that are the same as today.

 

[Story]

Try the study guides for new Citizens

http://www.usimmigrationsupport.org/citizenship_test.html?NS_cid=10

And for all it's fault, the History Channel's THIS DAY IN HISTORY is a good memory jogger.
http://www.history.com/tdih.do