How is an understanding of history important to the health of a democracy?

Answer 1

You have to know where you have been before. Without a knowedge of history we will be doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past. mistakes like rounding up and imprisoning thousands of Japanese during WWII. Mistakes such as telling black men and women they were not human and not entitled to the rights of a citizen. Mistakes such as the US military blowing up US troops in Havanna Harbor to start the Spanish American War, or the lie of the Gulf of Tonkin used to justify Vietnam.

Unfortunately 9/11 showed us that we as a people have failed to learn a lesson from the pages of history (Germany and the Riechstag) and we the USA are the new imperial force out to conquer the world, and like the empires before us (Babylon, Ancient Egypt, Rome, Alexander the Great, the Persian Empire, the British Empire) we are doomed to fail.

Answer 2

Back in the early 70's the teadhing of history took a back seat to other subjects. Big mistake. Now, even the brightest students know little about history unless they go on to institutions of higher learning.Uhderstanding history helps in every aspect of life, not just the "health of a democracy".

Answer 3

To learn from mistakes