Truth, History, and the American Way

I love American history!  Full of adventure, perilous journeys, politics, battles, wars, speeches, and men making decisions for everyone!  It's great!  At least that is what we were taught in school.  All so tidy of a history.  Then if we go on to higher education or if we have a love for history which lets us devour books to learn more; we discover the truth.  That's right the truth.  Not the partial propaganda we are fed and grow up on, but the real look at the different perceptions which create history.  Isn't that what truth is?  An assimilation of comprehension toward the views of multiple individuals rather than the one-sided attributes of the victor.  For that is what history has been seen as in the past; the crowing of the victors over those who had been conquered.

Yep, bring on the winners!  And forget about the losers.  They are quickly and quietly silenced, no longer a part of the world as they shrink and finally disappear from the memories of humanity.  You see this is why I am a student of American Studies.  It's an interdisciplinary field of research which looks into all aspects of America.  I do mean all.  Let me see, there's:  History, Literature, gender studies, women studies, African-American studies, Latin American Studies, Asian-American studies, Native American studies, Pop Culture studies, film studies, music studies, humanity studies, and I could go on and on.  Now my particular field is:  well, history, literature, gender, and pop culture.  To narrow it down further, I research in the way women and men are portrayed by the media and society in the United States.  Believe me, there is a lot to look at there.  As a matter of fact, there is so much, have to narrow it down even further to time periods.

So, why did I go into this field?  Simple, there is a great deal of knowledge concerning America (including North, South, and Central America) which has been....hmmmm....shall we say misinterpreted.  Or maybe twisted in order to create the politically correct attitudes of the time periods.  In other words, we were lied to a lot.  Really.  And I, for one am sick of the lies.  The truth might not be pleasant, but it's a lot better than being blindly led.  That is how some people or groups are.  They follow their leaders blindly, without question which leads to all sorts of corruption, atrocities, and hatefulness to spread out through the people.  One of the most important ideals I did learn in high school was to never follow blindly.  I wish I could say I followed it, but there have been many times that I haven't.  I have fallen short, and in doing so condemned myself to foolish actions.  Yet, we can stop this type of exploitation.  All we have to do is ask, Why,What, Where, When Who, and How. Yep, simple questions which can stop anything if we are brave enough to ask.

That is what American Studies is all about.  Asking questions. Searching for answers.  Finding evidence from numerous avenues, including those you might not agree with, but by seeking their reasons you authenticate your perception and might even understand theirs.  So, here is a question for you.  It's one that all American Studies students have to answer.  "When did the colonists stop being British subjects and became instead Americans"?  Have fun...