why is it that when i watch the History Channel, it doesn't jive with what i was told in history class?

Answer 1

Good for you for watching the History Channel.

For any event of historical importance, there are many different accounts that survive the actual event, and most often there are no living witnesses left. Take the holocaust for instance--there are people who claim that it never happened, but you can't doubt that it did when you read THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK which was published just a few years after WWII. I read it the first time during the '50's.

Sometimes the people who write the history books or teach history classes are biased. Even today's news that we hear on our TV's is biased. (You can tell who loves Bush and who doesn't.)

When the History Channel produces a program, they research it thoroughly, drawing from many different sources and sifting through the garbage. They make history interesting in that it seems to come alive. Keep watching, and don't be afraid to speak up in class and challenge your teacher (politely, of course).

Answer 2

well 2 reasons, 1 because history books have been teaching the same thing for years and while the books are updated the people who right them are not usually,..neither are the teachers.
New things are discovered every day and schools are basically taught to rose wash everythign so it is sweet and safe to teach to kids.
As well public schools are government run so the government teaches what they WANT you to know. They wouldn't make a president look bad just like they don't want to tell you about allt he details about how their European anscestors were so disgusting in how they treated Native Americans, Africans, Asians, ect...it might make them look bad.

The history channel to me seems to be more open, and more based on recent scientific facts. It seems to have more details that schools are afraid to teach. But at the same time the history channel is still corperate owned and run so take it all with a grain of salt, there is still stuff they'd rather leave out.

Answer 3

It's nonetheless my fav channel as Pawn Stars and American Pickers reruns are nonetheless higher than a few of the leisure of TV. I track into History International and Military History for History editions. However, your factor is highly legitimate. The first time I noticed the HC was once on a few one elses cable (approximately 15 yrs. in the past ... It wasn't to be had in which I lived) and it featured a so much intriguing application on dentistry. I consider musing to my self how I want I would purchase that channel. That type of programming has on the grounds that been shelved.

Answer 4

I'd say your history teacher is totally out of date.
Maybe he/she should be watching the History Channel too.
I find the History Channel makes history come alive for me.
Whereas, when I was at school, I was bored by it or maybe that was just because of the dry old way it was taught to us.
Looks like nothing has changed in teaching methods.

Answer 5

Sorry, I have to say something about the whole Confederacy paragraph. Both the North and South were racists. The North hated the individuals but accepted the race. The South hated the race but accepted the individuals. Also, although Lincoln and the North were racist and were not abolitionists, it is due to them that slavery is no longer legalized in the United States.
The Confederate Flag may hold different values in your eyes, but just as the Ku Klux Klan white outfit (which by the way is the similar to the one Spanish Priests use) is viewed as racist in American societies, so too is that flag which symbolizes the South and its past slave economy. Therefore, it's totally justified and reasonable to call it racist. Afterall, racist though they may be, the North still started the end of slavery.

Answer 6

school books are the readers digest of the real world. short - and not having a lot of detail. In the US "history" class is a sad case of spending years learning about your own State as the center of the world and slowing building outward as you get much older. New England harped on the Pilgrims, In VA they teach about Williamsburg as the beginning. Fl goes for the Spanish approach.
another thing is the History Channel shows are not all written and produced by people of one country, so you will get a point of view from different origins.

Answer 7

Kelley -- if you want to know why history textbooks are so lousy (and therefore, lots of history teaching), read "Lies My Teacher Told Me" by James Loewen.
It's a great book, that tells the real story behind Columbus (mass murderer who chopped the hands off of slaves), Reconstruction (Blacks did a great job) and all sorts of other interesting historical facts.

A big part of the reason is that textbook publishers print books for one reason: to make money. And who are the two largest buyers of textbooks in America? California and Texas. So what people dictate in Texas determines what kids all across the country read. That alone explains alot.

Answer 8

history books are only updated every five years or more and as a result are can be very far behind in certain facts,eg recently uncovered china discovered americas,austrila,cape hope,azores,cape verde etc islands in 1421 using 3 super fleets that circumnavigated the world atthough never visited mainland europe due to ocea currents.

Answer 9

Most documentaries on History Channel tell the true story, not a propagandised American version.

Answer 10

because they explain it in more detail and show reenactments that your boring history teacher didnt detail.