Do you love History?Why?

Answer 1

Why? Wow, guess I never analyzed my reasons before.

High school history classes were hours of horror - memorizing dates and places and names that really held no meaning and no interest for me. I hated it, like just about every other red-blooded teenager. Then, when I was about 20, someone that I respected gave me a copy of Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With The Wind."

I was fascinated! Here was history, American history, all wrapped up in novel form, but still giving names of places that I could visit, places I'd heard of before in other contexts; but most importantly, there were characters - people - who were living through those things, and I came to understand so much about the war itself because I saw the events unfolding, and how it affected those people - why they cared, why things mattered... and I began to care, too. When I finished the book, I was hooked on History. I had to read everything I could get my hands on about the American Civil War.

That was just the beginning. Once I could look at History as things that happened to real people, I realized that I was living in what would some day be History for other people. That made it all real to me. I didn't need to understand military strategy, as that still has little interest for me, but the every day lives and decisions people make as they muddle their way through their lives and the circumstances that surround them - THAT was interesting to me.

For instance - I've always known that my great grandmother had eleven kids. Fine. Large family. Good for her. It wasn't until I was an adult, and really looked at those dates on paper, that I realized this woman was pregnant almost constantly for more than twenty years! And all that time she is helping her husband eek out a living on a dry land farm in Kansas - making her own bread and butter, scrubbing unbelievable amounts of laundry by hand, butchering her own chickens or whatever for meals, doing all these things while cooking food in some form all day long. She had no grocery store, no microwave, no refrigerator, no running water, no electricity for most of her life - we're talking hard, physical labor on a constant basis - and all the time she was pregnant! She was washing diapers almost constantly from 1896 through 1916! Yet for all of that, she was a happy person - upbeat, positive, loving. She died at 92 in 1963, and I remember her and her funeral. She was alive before airplanes flew and cars drove - the events that unfolded in her lifetime alone are staggering. Knowing how those events shaped her life and her decisions makes the events themselves more noteworthy.

It's the understanding of history as PEOPLE, not events, that hooked me, that fascinates me and keeps me interested. If high school teachers could only learn to translate that into a method of teaching, I think they would be able to succeed much better in their chosen field.

Answer 2

I really hated history at school.
In the first lesson at Secondary School we were taught about the ancient Britons, nomads etc. It didn't make any sense and didn't fit in to may way of thinking as an 11 year old.
I think that I was about 25 when I visited Corfe Castle. I touched a part of the wall of the castle - and it was quite electric! It was amazing to realise who might have touched that same spot!
Then I was on a roll!
My quest now is to find out the truth of the better Plantagenet King. Was it Richard, so well portrayed as the 'Good King' or was John really the better King - forcing taxes (mostly to pay for Richard's Crusades), but by doing so ensuring that England remained an independent state?
Our entire security may have started at that time - and that is another reason why I love history!

Answer 3

This is simple to answer. I love history because i feel it is up to our generation to preserve it for future generations and, as other people have already answered, we can learn a lot from the past.

Think of it like this... In a hundred years time, how would it be if everyone didn't want to know about us and our lives?

I think it would be quite sad.

So it is of paramount importance that we make sure NO-ONE FORGETS all our world wars and what people did to make our world a better and safer place.

It is greatly important that people take part in history groups and become members of re-enactment groups. Especially those who stand as a tribute to the allied forces of the second world war.

History is a constant shadow that remains with us each day.

Whether it be what happened yesterday, or what happened 100 years ago....

...History must never be Forgotten.

Answer 4

Yes.. I appreciate it even more since I left school. I remember a quote by Oliver Wendal Holmes... He said: ""A page of history is worth a page of logic"

As you know, it has been commonly acknowledged that an understanding of the past is fundamental to an understanding of the present. In other words, the analysis and interpretation of history provide an essential context for evaluating our present day contemporary institutions, politics, and cultures. Understanding the present configuration of society is not the only reason to study the past; history also provides unique insight into human nature and human civilization. By demanding that we see the world through the eyes of others, that we develop a sense of context and coherence while recognizing complexity and ambiguity, and that we confront the record not only of human achievement but also of human failure, cruelty, and barbarity, the study of history provides us with a richly-textured, substantive framework for understanding the human condition and grappling with moral questions and problems. History is essential to the traditional objectives of the liberal arts, the quest for wisdom and virtue.

And besides all that.. we can look at history in another way... IT IS FUN..History combines the excitement of exploration and discovery with the sense of reward born of successfully confronting and making sense of complex and challenging problems.

Answer 5

I've a history degree and although I found it a bit much at the time, history is fascinating. I think human beings have always had the same flaws throughout time and it's interesting what you can learn from lessons in the past.

Answer 6

I love History 'coz it tells me about the heritage of my country and the great deeds that people have done in the past. It's basically an easy subject if we are able to remember the dates and the events.

Answer 7

Yes I love History because it helps to discover who I am, where my family came from, and why they moved here to North America when they did. It also gives me idea about what live was like for members of my family way back when they were still alive; and who were the mover and shakes i.e. the politicians and kings and queens of various countries that made my family lives happy or miserable.

Answer 8

If this history lessons in school, then yes. They're intersting, I like being able to debate and I just generally like it.

If it's all history in generall, even better! I love things like the Aztecks and I've suddenly become really interested in the Medieval Era. (Swords, shields and dragon fan).

Answer 9

I do love history. Have always loved history. Unfortunately, history no longer returns my calls.

Answer 10

Oliver Wendal Holmes