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The Importance of Studying History: Lessons for Better Citizenship and Critical Thinking

Studying history is essential for fostering better citizens who understand societal causes and consequences. As George Santayana said, “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” By examining historical events, we develop critical thinking skills and the ability to discern truths from fabrications. History empowers us to resist ethnocentrism and sociology's constraints, promotes honesty about the past, and helps us advocate for better policies today. Learning from history makes us informed individuals capable of holding power accountable.

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The Importance of Studying History: Lessons for Better Citizenship and Critical Thinking

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  1. Why should we study history? “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it” - George santayana Material taken from “Teaching What Really Matters” by James Loewen.

  2. #1 Causation History helps you be better citizens by enabling you to understand what causes what in society. Even when an event seems to be new, the causes of the acts and feelings are deeply embedded in the past. Thus, to understand an event (an election, an act of terror, a policy decision, etc.) we must start in the past.

  3. #2 Critical Thinking History helps you become critical thinkers about the past and present. Sometimes no one knows the right answer.

  4. #3 History is a weapon!! Knowing and correctly understanding the past will enable you to see through fabrications and oversimplifications. Understanding what happened in the past empowers you to argue for better policies in the present.

  5. #4 To resist your stereotype. As the wealthiest, most culturally influential and militarily powerful country in the world, we are inevitably ethnocentric. Ethnocentric – the belief that one’s own culture is the best, and that others should be ranked by how much they resemble ours. Ethnocentrism is a form of arrogance, and leads to American exceptionalism.

  6. #5 To resist sociology. Sociology - Social structure pushes people around, influences their careers, and even affects how they think.

  7. #6 To be honest. There is a direct relationship between justice in the present and honesty about the past. Telling the truth about the past can help us make it right from here on.

  8. #7 To be smarter than Britney Spears.

  9. #8 • Howard Zinn: • History is important. If you don't know history it is as if you were born yesterday. And if you were born yesterday, anybody up there in a position of power can tell you anything, and you have no way of checking up on it. 

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