Second Post

Zinn, Becker and Stearns all raised good values and uses of history. Zinn raised an interesting point in his article when he said that we need to look at historical events such as wars from the standpoint of the enemy, this allows you to look at the evidence in a completely new light. It is important to understand both sides of a war, why each side was fighting and how each side responded to the wars outcome. Sara mentions in her blog a point brought up by Zinn that I also found important, that US history is being taught by isolating the Untied States from other countries. I think it's important to understand US history in relation to the rest of the world and especially from the view of regular people, not just the generals and presidents.

Personally, I found the Stearns article to provide the most uses of history. It allows us to understand people and societies and the changes that have occurred in those societies. He also says that history contributes to our moral understanding, “studying the stories of past individuals and situations allows a student of history to test his or her own moral sense”. Stearns also provides the many useful skills that a student of history develops, such as the ability to assess evidence, assess conflicting interpretations and to assess past examples of change. 

In Becker’s article I found his definition of history to be useful, “history is the memory of things said and done”. He shows that everyone is somewhat of a historian, that we cannot function without the knowledge of our own past and we use our memory of past events everyday.