Greetings, History Minions!
Most of
you did an excellent job with the first post, and I can hardly wait to see what
you do with the next topic!
I liked the way you replied to your classmates. It's ok to disagree, too. Just be respectful and explain WHY you disagree. You might just teach them something! :)
Here are a couple of quotes to get you thinking:
"American history is larger, longer, more various, more beautiful, and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it."
--James Baldwin
"Concealment of the historical truth is a crime against the people."
--Gen. Petro G. Grigorento, letter to a history journal, USSR c. 1975
Why is it important to critically evaluate historical sources and our history books? How does author bias influence our views of history, and can you find examples of it in your reading?? I wonder what we should do about it!
Please keep in mind you should have your posts done by Sunday 10 pm.
Sayra Torres posted via email:
ReplyDeleteHistorical books and sources are full of so much information and facts that it's very important for us to critically evaluate the content it contains. It is important for us to do this so we can learn from the past and get a better understanding. There's a saying that says "history repeats itself". I believe this saying is true and that's why we should always critically evaluate history. Author's bias influence our views in history because they let us see it from different perspectives. We get more than one side of the story! For example I thought Christopher Columbus was a hero or something similar but then I read a passage that made me have a complete different opinion of him! There's many different sides to history that's why it's important to critically evaluate it when we're learning it!
I agree but the textbooks leave out the bad stuff that some of our "supposed" to be heroes did.
DeleteI was also surprised about the Christopher Columbus passage,but using our common knowledge we know that to every good side there's a bad side
I also believe that history repeats itself, i think it is our job to change the way it will be in the future so nothing bad can repeat itself.
DeleteEvaluating references of our history is crucial only after it is taken into account that we are only taught about the "virtuous" side of history, but usually never learn about the "evil" side. We do not have a complete understanding of our entire history, therefore we do not get "the big picture". These historical books and documents tell us how we progressed from our humble beginnings to our present day global environment. The only problem with today's history lessons is that we are not well-informed about the opposing sides of what we consider "human progress". The author's bias shows us a particular perspective that we are supposed to view history from, it can either favor one side of history or simply expose multiple sides, but it usually skews our actual view of history. In Zinn's, " A People's History of the United States", however, he shows us an excerpt from Morison's, "Christopher Columbus, Mariner", which states that genocide was initiated by the Europeans on the Amerindians, but was cleverly concealed with other mass information to ignore the topic. Most facts that are too unappealing to the author end up being underemphasized to make history look "good" to the reader. The perspective which you read history from can have a major influence on how you evaluate what is in your textbooks.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement Edgar. It is true. We hear how glorious it was for the pilgrims to settle in North America, but we NEVER hear how they killed the Native Americans who GAVE them food, clothing, shelter, and so much more. But we, as society, want to feel patriotism within our country. We don't want to hear how some Christian pioneers killed some little Indian babies. We want to hear how we prospered in the new world! We want to hear how we started settling and thinking of all of these ideas of becoming great. That is what we want to hear, according to most historians. On the other hand, we get some authors that want to say the people's words that they never got to the chance to. We get some historians that believe history should be told not through the "rich, white men", but through the low class people and the victims. Alas, no one wants to read about and start questioning their viewpoint of history. So, even if the Echoes of Silence of the dead are still going to be around, they will never be acknowledged.
DeleteI hear many older teachers and historians lament the revisionist approach to history. They believe people like Howard Zinn have attacked American history, destroyed our heroes, and tried to make mainstream Americans feel guilt instead of patriotism. Have they missed the point, are they behind the times, or does there ever come a time when trying to include so many different points of view just makes U.S. history a confusing mess??
DeleteEvaluating History recources is Very Important because it gives us information about our past,about our culure,and about our Failures and Triumphs.Reading our textbooks and recources critically opens new doors of knowledge in our minds.It opens a clearer and better understanding about history.Author bias are very important because it shows us different views of history;It gives us a different perspective.This helps us see the main point or idea in history.Reading"A people's history of the U.S" gave me a negative idea about Christopher Colombus.While in"A Patriot's history"it showed me a more patriotic idea about the conquest.I think that you should read more critically when it comes to reading about history so you as a reader can get a bigger and clearer understanding about it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you completely Marlon. It is important to evaluate historical resources because they provide plenty of helpful information. It is also helpful hearing things from another person's view! :)
DeleteI agree with you in what you said that the Author's bias' is very important because it's important for us to see history from different perspectives. It helps us see two different truths of stories and two different sides.
DeleteI completely agree with you Marlon. We will only get a better understanding of history if we evaluate all of the points of view. We do not have to immediately judge our textbooks and other readings, we read other types of text to understand their reasons better, and to put ourselves in their positions. Good response Marlon.
DeleteI most definetly agree with you. Reading different prespectives of history helps us understand more of that history because two people may see the same event completely diffrently. Being critical of your reading does help you better understand and also helps you realize when that author(s) is/are being biased. Its good to know when you are reading a biased paper or document so you as a reader wont let it influence you in a negative way towards a certain event in history.
Delete" A battle is always told by the winner's side."
ReplyDeleteIt is important to have the history books and our history resources because we need to know what we are learning! It is disappointing to see that this year I learned how bad Christopher Columbus was. I was curious to find out why is this. Why are textbooks telling us how great it was for Christopher Columbus to come to America? This information doesn't tell the other side of the story. He didn't even land in present-day America! He landed in what is now present-day Cuba. For years, we think he is such a hero when, in reality, he was a killer! That is why we need to read a story from both points of view. After that, we are to judge on who believe.
Well, a lot of people in history who are considered heroes killed too, so I don't why 1 article changed your mind.
DeleteI agree with joe about who christopher columbus was and who he was lead to be seen as but the reason that america and historians dont tell kids about the bad past of "heros" is because they believe that all kids are too dumb to understand the truth without overeacting when thats not true at all. I too was shocked about who christopher columbus was and what he did to all the native american and those of cuba and I feel that I shouldve been told about this earlier and that the united states should not have a day to celebrate a killer, its like having a day to celebrate all of hitlers "accomplishments".
DeleteWhat about in "A Patriot's History" when he said there's no way for scientists to say how many people he acctually killed because they don't know the number of people that were originally there before he came. He did kill people but we can't say that he killed as many as Hitler did.
DeleteIt's definitely important to hear both sides of a story before making a judgement. However, sometimes there are more than even two sides. How are we supposed to know which side is accurate and which is exaggerated? People have a tendency of making themselves seem greater and more important than they actually are. It's important to take our readings with an open mind, but always ask questions and keep searching for the other side of the story.
DeleteCritically evaluating historical sources is extreamly important because you never know what the author is trying to manipulate you into thinking. Most of the time when we read about history we automatically think its true because It's in a text book, but we never thing that somethings could be left out, or even exaggerated. The author's main purpose is to get you to think like they do, for instance, in "A People's History" he wants you to think Columbus was a murderer and a liar, but in "A Patriot's History" the author wants you to believe that Columbus was a good person and the people who say otherwise are wrong. I think we need stop believing everthing we read in textbooks, and think about what's true and what's not, there could be all kinds of things left out, or even added.
ReplyDeleteYou are completely right. I learned the same from that passage,. It's somewhat amazing to see that what we have always been taught may not be fully accurate, just like you said above. If I never read "A People's History" I would still be walking around thinking that Colombus is a hero, but having read that I now know he was not a hero at all but just another conqueror that would kill anyone to get land.
DeleteI find it extremely important to evaluate historical resources for many different reasons. They provide us with important information of events that have taken place throughout history. They help us get a clear understanding of past failures and successes, and how we adjusted to them as time went by.
ReplyDeleteAlso, author's bias is helpful because they may go deeper into detail to help us get a better understanding of things. It also shows us how different people may feel about a certain situation and also expresses their opinions. For example, in our recent passage regarding Christopher Columbus, the author emphasized the events and actions that took place that I had never known. Therefore, my thoughts regarding Columbus changed after hearing the story from another person's perspective.
I agree with Ana on how an authors bias is important. I believe knowing more than just one side is crucial because it gives you more information than what you already knew. It may even show us things we've possible never known us, just like Ama mentioned. The same happened with myself, my thoughts regarding Christopher Columbus "discovery" changed after reading it from another perspective.
DeleteI believe that is important to critically evaluate history because of all of the things some textbooks keep out and some put in. Knowing what really went on, not just the good things or just the bad things is very important. Us as students deserve to know what really went on back than. The authors bias influence us by leaving out the things they dont want us to hear. Basically just putting facts, but not all the facts. I certainly found examples in the two passages I read. The Patriots History and also the Peoples History. The authors of each book put what they wanted the students to hear. Maybe we should read the different bias passages of the same history and see ALL the facts we need to know about our history, and than we see how we feel about it!
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with Crystal, she excellently points out how the authors of our history books are very picky on the material that gets put in. I also agree that, we as students should deserve to know an enlightened view on history. We should not ignore tragic events that occurred throughout history that were shunned upon by others. Additionally, I think the people who try to conceal their ancestors' cruel histories make them look just as bad as their ancestors who committed wrongdoings to other peoples. I also think that students should receive an education that does not have a favoring bias. We should learn about the multiple points of view of others.
DeleteIt is important to evaluate historical sources and our history books so we get different prespectives on failures in the past, cultures, and people that had an impact in history. An author's bias can influence the way we view history by showing us the the negative or positive things they see. Like when we read those two articles in class about Columbus one showed him as a murderer and the other defended him by saying it wasn't all his fault. For the most part I saw people react more towards the negative one than the other because we never knew about that side of history. As for me I really wasn't as affected by it, sure it showed me a different side to Christopher Columbus, but I still see him as the man who opened the road to the settlement of the Americas.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point because I think it showed a lot of us a different point of view to Columbus but I see him as the same guy. Which was the one who colonized a part of the Americas.
DeleteI agree with you that the author's bias can influence the way we view history by showing us the the negative or positive things. Also for me he is also the one who revolutionized the Americas by making them more popular and causing the Europeans to settle there. Unfortunatly, after reading Howard Zinn's text my point of view towards Columbus did changed.
DeleteIt's important to critically evaluate our history resources and textbooks because of the fact that somehow the information will be asked in some way again, there's a lot of information to learn,but if you take your time to actually read it and pause every once in a while to see if you understood the stuff they're trying to teach you.
ReplyDeleteAn author's bias influences our views of history because of the fact that it shows us more than one side of the story."To every good side there's a bad side"- that is true so basically for everything in history there's more than one point of view.
For example I also thought that Christopher Columbus was a hero, but as I read the passage I came to realize there was not only one side of the story but two. The people that review this textbooks should put all the information in the books,no matter what it says or how it will affect us. One way or another they always leave out the "bad side" of history and put all the good stuff in the textbook.
I also agree that people in charge of reviewing textbooks should show the truth no matter what. Like you said, most of them will leave out the "bad side," but this fact will only make me want to read even more critically from now on.
DeleteAna Mendoza
I think its extremely critical to study your textbooks and historical evidence in order to give a clear understanding to what you are reading.
DeleteI would like to respond to the quote by James Baldwin. His quote is very much true. History is a great subject and there is a lot to cover, but many historians make it terrible! The two passages we had to read, "A Patriot's History of the U.S" and "A People's History of the U.S", were both about the same topic Christopher Columbus' voyage to the Americas. Although they were about the same topic, they have very many differences.
ReplyDeleteIn the passage "A People's History of the U.S" the information read was shocking, but it was the whole truth, the ugly truth, that no one knew because they all wanted it to seem like a great success that was accomplished in a peaceful manner. Mostly all of us grew up not knowing what REALLY happened and after reading the passage we all saw it a different way, which is what the speaker wanted to do.
In the passage "A Patriot's History of the U.S" the passages information is true, but the speaker "sugarcoated" the passage making the discovery look like not such a bad thing. After 2002 when a terrorist attack happened I understand why the historians wanted to word the passage this way to make America look like a good country.
I think reading two different passages with 2 points of views was a great idea and it gave us all something to think about.
It it important to critically evaluate historical sources and our history books because we learn new things, new information. While many books might be persuasive other books can give us a second point of view. Just like in A Patriot`s History, the author is giving one point of view such as Columbus not being responsible for many deaths. In A People`s History Columbus is thought as a person who caused many deaths. That is why we should read and critically evaluate history books because we can get different point ow views from different books.
ReplyDeleteI agree because we should know both views. There are 2 different sides to be told and heard. It helps us develop an opinion on the matter.
DeleteIt is important to crtitcally evaluate historical sources and textbooks because there are so many viewpoints to it, and sometimes we misjudge our history without knowing the opposing side's view. Our history textbook expresses how some of our nation's heroes and discoverers were great and only breifly mentions their crimes or facts that can damage their image. In "A People's History of the United States", author Howard Zinn expresses the actions of one of our most celebrated discoverers, Christopher Columbus, in an extremely negative way. He states facts about the atrocities that Columbus committed, including the depopulation of the Native Americans. After reading that, my view of Columbus turned negative. The author's point of view and biased attitude influenced me to change my perspective on how I view Columbus and his voyage. "The Patriot's History of the United States" expressed Columbus' actions in a more positive, patriotic way and gave reasons for why Columbus could have not depopulated the Amerindian population. The authors' bias made me think, "Okay, maybe he might not be so bad after all". I never thought that there could be two sides to history, since the textbooks "say the truth". Each view of history is correct in its own way, and we just have to learn to view and understand it with an open mind, and to not immediately judge it.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely. Both of the passages made me have the same feelings. They made me understand not to just look at what information is handed to me, but to dig deeper to get the full story. From now on I will not just go with, "knowing the opposing sides view" as you have said, but I will read and think critically!
DeleteI agree also. It made me think of both sides not just one. Great response Yajaira
DeleteI also agree. Reading both passages made me think over what I had always thought about history.
DeleteIt is important to critically envaluate historical sources and history books so we can have proofs to back up our views on topics. An author's bias influences us because it makes think of a different point of view we never thought of before. Which influences us to agree with the author's view. In "A Patriot's History", the authors tries to show us that Christopher Columbos was not the main cause of the decrees of the Native American population. It trys to show us that Christopher Columbes was a Hero and not a villian.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you're saying about different points of view. We all need to analyze different perspectives. There are always two sides to every story right? Of course, to the natives Christopher was evil but on our side we believe he was a hero. I also like what you said about topics in history do needing proof. I 100% agree with that.
DeleteI personally think it is important to read and evaluate textbooks to simply be mindful of what has happened in the past. With the knowlege we can collect with history, we are able to see the good, the bad, and everything in between. That can soon give us a guide to the future. Many people just have an appreciation for history and are content with what they read in textbooks while others want to know more which brings me to how author bias influences our view on history. Researching multiple sides of just one story leads to choosing sides of what we think is right or wrong. It makes our point of view different from how we use to see a certain topic. An example would be Howard Zinn's, "A People's History." In the reading, they mention how Columbus and his men would make Indians find their gold for them, and if they didn't there hands would be chopped off until they bled to death. Never once was that revealed in the original story about Christoper's Columbus "discovery" of America. Zinn's bias was actually able to make many students reconsider if Columbus was an actual hero. I believe it just depends what you read because different points of views can take a toll on whether you believe something is right or something is wrong.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. It depends on what a person thinks is acceptable and what isn't. Also, it comes down to one's personal mind set and how a person thinks.
DeleteIt is important to critically evaluate historical sources and our history books because authors have different point of views about things, they are bias. The author’s bias influences our views of history in which it just describes the good things that happen but don’t thoroughly tell the whole story. An example of this is “A People’s history of the United States”, which just describes the bad stuff that happened. There is also the other passage we read to that is bias “A Patriot’s History of the United States”, which just describe most of the good things that happened. However, in “A Patriot’s History” they are defend their reasons by saying the Indians were mostly killed by a outbreak of diseases way before Columbus had arrived in the Americas.
ReplyDeleteIban, I agree with you because some authors are bias but not all. There are a few authors that try to tell you both sides of the story. The thing is that if the reader is biased, they will only read the side they want to hear.
DeleteIt is important to critically evaluate historical sources like our textbooks because all have a specific meaning and not just by what we might think it is. Textbooks all have a specific purpose but to get the meaning out of it is to evaluate it carefully. Like in 'A People's History' it showed how Columbus was a bad guy and how he caused many deaths , but in 'A Patriot's History' it made Columbus seem as if he ws a good guy and he wasn't such a bad guy. The author bias influences our points of view in history by how he states things and how they change the point of view of how Columbus was a bad guy in the first reading and a good guy in the second reading. Both sides were techincally correct but they showed how different authors change their points of view.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you because the authors bias does affect our point of view. Up until now we all believed Columbus was some great guy that did nothing but good, but now we see him as some terrible guy that killed off many people.
DeleteIts important to evaluate history so we will have both sides of the story and also not to be studying a completely wrong thing. We see authors bias everyday in the new the anchors always take one side and only talk about the good and not the bad. Another example would be the passages we read last week they were two different views of the discovery of america which i think left all my classmates in shock that the "hero" may not really be a hero.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Kimberly. We need to know both sides of the story before we can say someone is a Hero or a Villan.
DeleteI agree with you Kimberly. An authors bias writing is important. It shows us different point of views and that makes a difference in history. Without it we would just always believe history was all good or all bad.
DeleteI think that in order to judge someone and know whether they were good or bad you need both sides of the story both good and bad
DeleteI think it is important to evaluate history becuase we can't just believe what is written in the History books we have today. From what I learned from A Peoples History is that the History Books we have leave out things that really happened. If we didn't evaluate history then we would all be so nieve and believe that Christopher Columbus was actually a Hero, instead of the curel, murderer he was. So that's why I think it's important that we should evaluate history.
ReplyDeleteYou are right about that because typically people are not going to tell you everything. Weather its good or bad I do think we should evaluate history itself ,ourselves, gathering our own opinions on things rather then someone else's biased opinion.
DeleteIt's important to critically evaluate historical resources and our history books because every different hitorical book or resource contains a different point of view since its author has an agenda in which he has what the purpose of writing that ceratin thing is going to be about. The reader when reading has to critically evaluate the text to be able to see the point of view of the author.
ReplyDeleteThe author bias influences our views of history by writing only half of the history and leaving the other half as an outcast,making us see only the good side of the story and leaving the bad side out. By doing this they affect our views towards our contry's heroes or important people, making us believe that they were good when they had a dark side. For example in "A Patriot's History of the United States" authors Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen make the reader think, that what Chrisopher Columbus and other explorers did against the natives was not has bad as other texts make it seem. In the otherhand, in "A People's History Of The United States" author Howard Zinn dared to say what others didn't, he explain all the atrocities that Columbus committed against the natives wihout mercy. After reading both texts and dicovering the truth my point of view towards Christopher Columbus completely change as he is now a murder and an ambitious person in my eyes.
I believe it is very important to critically analyze all historical readings. Authors are not all the same age so they will always disagree on their writing. This will cause for us students, like myself, to be extremely shocked when the "hero" suddenly isn't the "hero" anymore. Authors bias influences our everyday thinking. They make us see a whole different point of view in history. It's not a bad thing to see history from a different angle though, it helps us to understand our history more. I think that when reading we should really look at the details and find the authors bias statements so that we don't come to various conclusions about the reading.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. It's not bad to see something in a different perspective. It helps us understand and choose our own point of view
DeleteI think that critically evaluating our generations textbooks and historical resources is important because it gives us an understanding of our past and culture. It gives us the truth about what happened in the past and how some people that we might look up to aren't who we really think they are. I feel that the biast opinions that historians lead us to believe influence people in the wrong way because it might either make them believe that certain people are worse than they really are or make them seem better than they really are. I think that historians should just tell the truth about those of the past and what they really did instead of trying to sugarcoat everything. I dont think that this kind of knowledge is for everyone though it should just be told to those who are old enough to understand. In the readings of " A Patriots History" and "A Peoples History" both show biast opinions of the authors because one tries to make Christopher Columbus look like a good person who did nothing bad while the other does the exact opposite. I just think that people should be told the truth about who they might look up to or see as a hero because its unfair to others to value someone who has done bad things.
ReplyDeleteYes, people should be told the truth too. I believe that too. But how are we going to know what is the truth if all these authors say something different? I believe it is really hard to figure out the truth. I would just stick with what I think is right and the truth.
DeleteAs, Ale said, I also believe that the truth must be told. However, Marcelino, I must say that you cannot tell history without "sugar coating". I think your view of sugar coating is making a hero out of someone without showing everyone their bad side. I also am, of course, assuming that you feel this way about historians leaving out the Native's side in the story of Columbus. However, if you arrived to this conclusion because the People's History shed light on their story, can't you see that that passage also leaves out the bad side of the Natives, however small it may be? Isn't that sugar coating history as well? History cannot be told without "sugar coating" or bias because we as humans are not objective. We just have to learn to make our own opinions after having heard everyone else state theirs.
DeleteI dont think there should be an age limit to true knowledge. If youre brought up beliving one thing it will be hard ot change your mind about it later. So just teach the truth.
DeleteCritically evaluating historical sources is important because authors write their own perspective of certain things in history. Also, we have to evaluate the cause and effects of different situations so we can compare and see if there is any repetition around us. An author’s bias influences our view on history by how they explain things and the descriptions they write which always pursues us to think differently. In “People’s History”, Howard Zinn explains how Columbus exaggerated everything, took advantage of the Indians, turned them into slaves and cause genocide. The opposite was written in “A Patriot’s History” and told to us as kids. We grew up only knowing the good Columbus did. In the end though, it’s up to us to see different perspectives and make one of our own.
ReplyDeleteMany people have different points of view on history. Some authors see it one way and others see it a different way. The authors point of view all depends on the age, the time that something is being written, and their own way of seeing things.
ReplyDeleteIt is very important to analyze historical readings because what is true in one book isn't always true in another. You read from different points of view all the time! Its just up to you on which side of history you believe. The good side, or the bad. Some historical readings are influenced by other points of view on history which leads the author to believe that what he/she read is true.
The bias of another has a great affect on what we read and how we understand the book. When we were younger we always thought of certain people as some WONDERFUL person that when you look through clearer glass was not all that great. It all depends on the matter of who is writing it and what type of audience the book was meant for.
Haha i see what you did there.
DeleteAnyhow, I completely agree with the whole timing situation. The viewpoint always depends on the age and the time it was being written.
I think it is important to critically evaluate historical sources, so we can learn from our history.It lets us learn about our culture and the way we think about it. Sometimes though we read something biased and think a certain way about things. In people's history the authors persuades to think of Columbus as a bad person and how horrible he is, However in a patriots history the author tells us about how great he is and then he tells us about the bad stuff followed by reason to justify it.
ReplyDeleteIt is important to critically evaluate historical sources and history books because you need to see and realized where this information is coming from. When you analyze a source or book you ind out who the speaker is, the occasion when they wrote it, the audience it was intended too and purpose. This helps you decide how you see the information. You can also look for themes or the author's intentions. For example is he trying to manipulate you or just stating the facts?
ReplyDeleteThe authors bias influences or views of history by making us understand and feel what he feels is right. The authors tells us what his version of truth is and it may completely contradict the other author. In "A People's History" it showed how many Indians were killed and how the Europeans took diseases to the Americas. In a "Patriots' History" it told us the complete opposite. It said that the Indians were already depopulating and the disease had already been there. To get the truth one must read as many different points of views as possible to believe in the truth one wants to believe in. In many stories they repeat the same facts so those must be truth and the with the other facts that contradict themselves there isn't much you can do other than believing in what you may think is the true story. And maybe all of it is true just the authors tell the story differently.
I agree with you, Ale. Especially regarding the bias part. The authors are more than likely, historians. And historians believe their outlook on history is right/
DeleteIt is very important for us to critcally evaluate/analyze historical sources and history books because we must learn how to identify the author's real purpose. For example, an author might be "hiding" all of the bad details that he/she doesn't want us to know about. It all depends on his or her purpose. Many history books talk about our great triumphs in a such a way that make us believe that there was no bloody or violent actions in order to achieve them. This is all part of the author's bias. Eventhough many historical sources and book hide important details, there are also many of them that only show the bad things, and hide the actual good things. For example,in "A People's History of the United States," Howard Zinn purpose is to make us see the real "monsters" Columbus and other conquerers were. His information is very believable, but he is also hiding other details in order to accomplish his purpose. So, the author's bias can really affect our point of view towards history by giving us either a bad or good impression of it. But, like I said earlier, It all depends on his or her intentions.
ReplyDeleteAna Mendoza
An authors bias point of view can influence our own view in many ways. They may have different intentions and ideas than the actual truth. Its better to actually break down and analyze the facts we do know about history. It will give you your own personal point of view rather than being influenced by another. The facts usually get twisted around in the textbooks. They still hold some truth in them but not the complete truth. In most readings there is going to be a bias point of view because that is how we naturally are. We tend to favor things with our own mindset and opinions.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Simon, understanding all points of views can change your view on the subject. For some growing up with one point of view will be hard to see from another angle.
DeleteI agree because all these different opinions from different authors shape our own opinions on things. It opens up our minds to more than just one person's thoughts.
DeleteEvaluating and analyzing historical sources/history books is important for the fact that we need to see different viewpoints. We shouldn't be one dimensional with our knowledge about history.
ReplyDeleteThe authors bias greatly influences out view on history, especially in the other you read the context. By reading Howard Zinn's "The People's History", I saw his negative viewpoint about Columbus. Shortly after that I read "Patriots History" but I thought it was sugarcoated for the rest of society to read. Therefore i leaned more towards the first one simply because i read it first and was influenced more.
I completely agree with you Rochelly! People are generally only taught one point of view in history. However, they should know that, as you said, "We shouldn't be one dimensional with our knowledge about history." There are plenty of other points of view that can help them learn more about an event.
DeleteI agree with your statement regarding us not being dimensional. We should attempt to read about events with the least biased perspective, if not, at least read various articles stating the similar story, but with different viewpoints.
DeleteIt is important to critically evaluate history and our history books because WE, as Americans, are the past. We are the entirety events: The good, the bad, the ugly, the indifferent, which have all happened to us. We, as the sum product, guides our actions into the future. The only way to understand who we are and how we got that way. People believe history repeats itself, if that's the case, then fools repeat mistakes and expect a different outcome, whereas, wise people learn from prior mistakes.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely LOVE James Baldwin's quote, but i don't really get what he's saying by American History being "Longer", because World History is extremely vast. But looking back, America does have a terrible, yet amazing history. And its very sad that textbooks don't include such great things.
As we have interpreted the stories we have been reading, we saw that the author's from "The People's History" and "A Patriot's history", both had their self views and the articles were bias. It is critical to understand all points of history to not just understand one persons P.O.V. but all P.O.V's. Knowing the whole truth is a key factor to understanding what truly happened.
ReplyDeletei agree with gilbert, knowin all points of view or maybe more than one is important.
DeleteIt's always important to evaluate and analyze history books/history sources. We always need to know whether the author's bias in his writing. We can't let that decide our point of view. The author might only show you the good facts about a certain piece of history, but they're secretive about the bad facts. While another author might do the opposite. It's important we don't judge right away. We have to keep an open mind. Make sure we read all the point of views and decide our thoughts rather than just choose decide after reading just one.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Absalon, authors do keep the bad facts in secret and expect us to just know the good. But when reading we always have to keep an open mind.
DeleteI agree with both of you .Author's main goals are to make the reader believe what they are saying but we can't or shouldn't always do so because within their writing there is always secrets hiding.
DeleteMany reasons would lead to why it is important critically to evaluate historical sources such as our text books. The perplexing part is we do not exactly control the information we are fed through our textbooks. Point being, if I were to study from a text book i can only assume the people who wrote the text books are correct meaning if their opinion is biased so is mine. I was not alive nor born to see history happen before my eyes. For all I know we could be part of some crazy experiment and everything I know in life could be a lie. Therefore we would critically analyze exactly what we are reading ,so if something does not add up it would only make sense to ask questions. That is why to this day people are constantly proving points and questioning those who continue to write history. An author can very much influence the our views of history. Like I mentioned earlier we were not there to witness history during those times. We can only take the view points of others and use that as something to build our knowledge of what happen in the distant past. An easy example would be the article called 'A Patriot's History of the United States'. A couple of authors had took it on themselves to discard utterly everything terrible during the time of colonization and Christopher Columbus's discovery of the modern day America. They acted as if America had the right to do the things that were done. The Indians clearly had no fault in anything but due to this biased opinion it seems as if they were the aggressors. Personally I would never hesitate to question what I am told and to me that is one way to do something about all these opinions we seem to get on a daily basis.
ReplyDeleteIt is important to critically evaluate our historical sources and our history books because its important to know on what side the author is and through whose point of view is he/she telling the story. We writters cant help being biased when telling a story because our true feelings show. Its in human nature. Many of the times authors will make you see a story thru their eyes and try and influence you to see that certain historical event as they see it. Its important to formulate your own opinion on an event and not let a biased document make you think they way the author does. Peoples history showed me the conquest of columbus mainly as bad because it told me about the genocide unlike Patriots history which gave you the feeling of being proud and happy for Columbus because it also defended him alot. It was obvious that Peoples history was against Columbus while Patriots history was all for him. This is why its important to see the history through both sides, so we can analyze the facts and decide for ourselves what we think of it. I think history books should really stick to just stating the facts and keep personal opinions out of it or the little admring tone they use when describing conquests or triumphs. I know its too much to ask for but i honestly think it would be better and make things easier for us history students.
ReplyDeleteWe have to realize that it's really important to evaluate and analyze history books because we can't just have one point of view on an event. The different points of view are needed in order to have a full understanding on what was going during the said event. If we only listen to one point of view, then we will be influenced by that one point of view and reject all others.
ReplyDeleteIn Howard Zinn's "The People's History," I was told of the dark side to Columbus's discovery of the Americas. It told the truth of what else happened during the age of discovery, showing a different point of view from what I had been taught for nearly my whole life.
The "Patriot's History" was a point of view that I was familiar with. It told of Columbus's discovery of the Americas, and that he also contributed to the death of the Native Americans. However, the author tried to make it seem less serious by saying that the number of Native Americans killed wasn't was great as told, and that the Native Americans were already dying out before the Europeans arrived there.
In the end, there will always be different points of view on an event, but we must remember that the history book might as well be biased towards a group and should take other books into mind.
There is never one side to every story. Not everyone thinks the same or has the same opinions. I know now Columbus wasn't this great person that I've had envisioned since 2nd grade when I had to be interviewed as him. But he changed the course of history. What if he had never done what he did and that natives would have killed him? Would there still be an America? True, textbooks do miss major things in history, but as time progresses you start seeing more and more different people's opinions. As a child you don't want to know about Columbus killing so I think that is one reason the school's have never told us about that. We must always know everything from both sides so then we can make our own opinion. We cannot just be clones that think the same because we were not made that way.
ReplyDeleteCritically analyzing and evaluating historical references and sources is essential if in fact, you would like to know even the slight of factual information. Conscious of it or not, every source is in some way bias. Therefore, making it vital to be informed about every perspective of the event to get a clear viewpoint of what in fact did occur, and to see the triumphs, defeats, and mischievousness of every party involved. An apparent example would be "Patriot's History" as America is portrayed to have done no wrong.
ReplyDeleteCritcal analysis of all historical sources and artiacts is exceptionally important, because perception of history in itself is ever changing. When reading a piee of historical information, one should remain open minded and always try to imagine the opposite end of what took place. Since all writing is biased to some extent, we should always try to think of how the opposing side would be affected by or how they interpreted what happened to them. This goes for any student, teacher and historian.
ReplyDeleteThis is very true. An open mind will help open many other door to understand.
DeleteHistory books and historical sources usually are very different from each other . History books usually state what people want to hear like the good things . It is usually written by a group of historians that get together and talk about their views on history .While historical sources come from independent historians that have their own view of history and are willing to put it out even if it makes our history look bad . It is important to evaluate both because it helps you understand what really happened and how some stuff are kept from the people . An author's bias can influence you to think how they want you to do so . But facts help you learn what really went on. I never really saw Christopher Colombus as a heroe or a villain but after reading "A People's History of the U.S" & "A Patriot's History of the U.S" it made me realize that many people did die on the conquest of the new world . Doesn't necissarily mean that Colombus is a bad guy , I'm not justifying what he did was right either but there is no exact number of how many people die and even if he was guilty he was a major contribution to our history.
ReplyDeleteI really like how u described the different types of sources of history(:
DeleteIt is important to critically evaluate historical sources and books because we're shown a whole new side of the story being told. We learn something new and decide whether or not to defend one side or the other. I find that some people choose the patriotic side because its just moving on from many of the deaths and say that it's better now and the natives improved as they created a new race. It's better they say... I don't think so though, they were unfairly treated and they couldn't have defended themselves because of the lack of resources. I think the bias of an author influences us in a way that we learn something new about a story and change our minds a lot. We change because of our own personal opinions. Some find that the wins overpower the loss of native americans. They don't see them as important, but they see our success and progress important. In "the Patriot's history" they focused on progress and the gains we had. The minor details were that the number of deaths were small and the native americans exaggerated. According to them, there were already problems there and probably would have died anyway. On the other hand, in "The People's history" Howard Zinn focused on the dominated. They were defenseless and weak compared to the explorers who had knives and such sharp weapons. It was unfair and they were taken advantage of. They took their land, culture and more and as if they hadn't mattered at all. They were just a small obstacle for the explorers.
ReplyDeleteI Liked the part were u described the different bias that both writers had:)We should explore with detail to learn more.
DeleteIt is important to critically evaluate historical sources and history books because they don't all have the same point, and to only read from one source, would be negligent of us. The bias of the writer is all ways going to affect the information we are acquiring, even though it all may be factual. The author's bias influences our view of history by giving us the information in a way where their point of view is apparent. We can clearly see that this is very apparent in "A People's History of the United States" and "A Patriot's History of the United States". In "A People's History of the United States", Howard Zinn gives us the point of view of the Arawak Indians, explaining to us how before Columbus's arrival, the Indians were mostly peaceful, and very trusting. Within two years of Columbus's arrival, "half of the 250,000 Indians on Haiti were dead," making Columbus out to be a mass murderer. In "A Patriot's History of the United States", Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen give us the point of view of a modern day patriot. They make Columbus out to be a good person, and how most of the deaths to the Indians had been accidentally caused by the European diseases that had been unintentionally brought to the Americas. This is a perfect example of how critical reading is necessary to a reader, if one had only read one of the passages, they would have been lead to the biased works of the historians. I believe that instead of reading one very long passage about a historical event, we should read two passages, one on each point of view.
ReplyDeleteEvery person who writes has their own opinions and their own agenda. When I write, you can almost hear a voice. The same goes for historians. They are influenced by the times in which they live, therefore when one reads the work of historians, they must be critical and be mindful of the times in which the work was written. What happened? What made them think the way they did? If one does that, he or she will hear that "voice" and understand it. The individual will be able to hear that bias and emotion from the author and still be able to read the written work with a clear mind; not swayed or convinced to believe only one side of the story. For example, consider the two readings on the discovery of America. Both passages are truthful but their were written by different authors at different times in history. For instance the People's History was written by a liberal, a person who felt that not enough focus was being put on the natives. This person was writing as a response to times that were full of racism and unfair treatments. His agenda was to shed light on the victim. The Patriot's History was written by a conservative who was reacting to a time of terror against the American people. His agenda was to correct the past history books and display the greatness of America. If a person were to read only one passage without a critical mind, without the knowledge that everyone has their own agenda, he or she would be influenced by one author and their opinion would be , not their own, but that of the writer. I personally hold this to be true. After reading the only the People's History, I had formed a horrible opinion of the explorers of the fifteenth century. I was sympathetic of the Natives. I was not aware of the bias or the agenda of the author; I was absorbed by the author's opinion without educating myself and forming my own. The individual must continue to read other sources in order to get a wider view of the picture and create their own opinion. He or she will develop their own voice with which to explain history. We must study the times in which we live along with those times that have passed. We must make the connections and see the patterns that become evident as we look for them. We must become educated so that we do not become the fools who are convinced by everyone's opinion but their own.
ReplyDeleteI agree entirely, this supports many statements about the biased educational system. The state chooses books that will make America seem flawless, however the students suffer from not getting the whole story.
Deletei agree that when you evaluate history sources and book shows us a new side of a story we never thought of
ReplyDeleteIt's very important to evaluate historical resources and history books. Each one has their own point of view and their own spin on it whether it's a spin all the triumphs and the victories or whether it mentions all the failures or the injustices that happened in the event. There is some many resources and books out in today society that you get so many different views from so many different authors. Authors from today could have been from so many different things when authors back then could be influenced by the opposite. The authors bias influences on what they had felt on the time they wrote it, whether they were feeling patriotic or down and had to point out what events were left out. For example in "The People History" the author spoke about all the injustices and how Columbus destroyed villages. but for example in "The Patriots History" it speaks on how the founding of the Americas was great and no harm was cause except for diseases. You get so much information from different points of view it critical to read, read and read. It doesn't matter if it is on the same subject you will find something different each time.
ReplyDeleteI would say it is very important to keep an open mind when reading history because it allows you to view the history in morethan one way. You see the upsides, the dowmsidesand see how they affect people. Christopher columbus for example was nothing like I thought he was, the history not so much has it wrong but with an open mind I was able to see what really happened, and just to think as kids we use to draw, make paintings of turkeys with our hands in celebration of columbus. That was not critically thought out history. We cam see past just what were taught now.
ReplyDeletei agree with Lisa, you have to be opened minded about things when it comes to history.
DeleteI believe that when i t comes to history there will always be more than one way to see it. Many historians write about history based in what they know but the stories may differ at times. Some historians make things that we thought were heroic and courageous into some horrific genocide that we would have never have know if it weren't for others historians bias on history. In the case of Columbus most of us didn't know about the genocide, we only knew about the good things we were taught.
ReplyDeleteThe importance of critically evaluating history books is that people are are biased. One point of view will only give you half the story, sure they're facts but only the facts the writer wanted to present.
ReplyDeletei agree with you cesar, if a writter wants to try to persuade you to be on their side they're definately NOT going to metion the opposing side of the story.
DeleteI agree with you ceasar but everyone is biased even to this day because that how people persuade and encourage ideas only about their views.
DeleteCritically analyzing our history sources may be in fact one of the most important thing we as people can do. Analysis of these sources can bring us better understanding of this history of our past and this soon to be history of our future. I do believe that history repeats itself it is our job to make sure the mistakes we made are not made again. An authors biasism can only bring on side of an event that is why we must read or learn from another point of view on a topic
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Taylor. History does repeat its self, it wouldn't help or be wise to redo some of the mistakes we did in the past.
Deletecritically reading does indeed allow us to think outside the box. We are able to see more than one point of view and that allows us to engage in our own prespective once have listened to both sides of the story. It also makes a great way to be able to elaborate on things.
ReplyDeleteIt's important to critically evaluate history sources, as well as everything else we read, because anything can be easily manipulated. Facts can be omitted and distorted to make us believe one thing is the truth when it really isn't. Author biases might not be obvious to us, but they're always there. It's the reason why things are written, and it's important that we figure this out while we're reading so that we're not played as fools. We should be open minded, but not naive.
ReplyDeleteIt Is Important To Critically Evaluate Historical Sources And Our History Books Because They Can Easily Be Providing Us The Wrong Message And Image Of An Event. The Author Of Our Books Or Other Sources May Only Be Trying To Pursuade Us Into Believing What They Believe Since We Are Vulnerable Considering The Fact That We May Know Close To Nothing On The Topic Or Event. The Auhtor Bias Influences Our Views Of History Since We Take Their Passage or Book As Our Knowlege On A Topic. The Author However Is Only Trying To Pursuade The Reader Into Believing Whatever They Believe In, Which Very Easily May Not Even Be The Whole Story Or the ''REAL STORY'' . There Are Many Examples Of Author Bias But One We Al Certainly Know Is A Peoples History And A Patriots History. They Both Are Very Bias And If We Didnt Know Any Better On The Columbus America Discovery We May Have Believed And Supported Which Ever One Read First. I Think That To Not Let Any Author Try To Write Their Bias Side Plan On Us That We Should Read More Articles On The Topic And Research It And By Then We Should Notice What Is Actually Fact And What Was Only Exaggerated To Fool Us.
ReplyDeleteIf a student doesn't want to be taught only thinking one certain way then they should ready history books that sort of contradict eachother,like " A people's history" and " A Patriots history." Both state facts the only difference is that the author has his own opinion as would any other author. I think no history book gives us " wrong " information, they're just always trying to persuade us.What we as young gullible students should do is, ready historical resources and books from multiple perspectives and then connect them somewhere in the middle so we can come to a balance.
ReplyDeleteI some what agree whith your idea yet' if there is the opinion of one author on history there isn't much fact left for the person who wants to know the full truth. In the end all resources should be put together to figure out the real history that we all want to know.
DeleteI find it extremely important to evaluate historical resources(like books, research papers)for many different reasons. These books have so much knowledge about the past and provide us with that important information of events that have taken place throughout history. They also help us get a clear understanding about our past failures and successes, and how we managed to live through those moments. An author's bias is also helpful because they give us their point of view on the occasion and having and reading different author's bias lets think and give our own perspectives about our past.
ReplyDeleteIt is important to critically evaluate historical sources and books, as well as any book or source, because any author can lie or tell part of a story. People are biased and only like to hear about the side they want to hear. That is the reason why in courts, they are required to hear from both sides of the story as well as the witness that saw. That is the reason why after we read a story about a huge battle or war, we are left with a feeling of liking the side we hear of disliking the side we heard. For example, the story about Christopher Columbus and his discovery of the New World. Europe claimed he was a hero because her founded new land, spices and gold. But after reading about what he did in the New World, I found out he was really a bad person because he enslaved the local Natives and took advantage of them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Richard, every author can tell his or her own version of history through writing/text. Each author has their own agenda. In my opinion though, the only way to actually know History and actually understand it, is to actually re-live the events yourself.
DeleteWe must critically view and evaluate historical sources to separate fact and reality from false exaggerations and lies. Any author can lie and exaggerate facts in writing, or they can favor their own bias opinions and what they want everybody else to believe. It is important to evaluate and compare documents. Every author has their own agenda. We must look at, "both points of view" as the cliche states.In the passages we read, one states how Columbus was a hero. It describes in detail how he founded the New World and colonized it, but in the other passage, it is stated that Columbus ensalved the natives through the process of colonization and almost killed/wiped out the entire native population.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Alejandro there are many stories but only a few are true.
DeleteI agree with you Alejandro and richard there are many stories but only a few are true.
DeleteHaving just one side of the story being told doesn't give you the large perspective in which there is the idea that starts the so called "history". People view only the side that won the right to give their story in the way that they saw best for them. A person having a bias for the side that they think is best gives us the opportunity to know that the history behind our past may not be as black and white as some of us thought it was. Christopher Columbus being one example of this bias history writers which at one point a person would see him as a respectable figure who found the now called Americas. After reading "A peoples History" gives the dark side of history which many have not seen and would then change how they see Christopher Columbus as such as a villain instead of a hero.
ReplyDeleteIts important to evaluate historical sources and history books because some may not have the content you require in your perspective. There could be stories that are never told in the book that you could learn from a different source. There are many reasons why book arent good backgrounds because they only give the statement but not the details.
ReplyDeleteIT's always better to read more than one resources to check if the history it's being the same as the one before. Sometimes one resource says one thing and another say another thing. We might never know the true of one thing unless you were there to cee it.
ReplyDeletei agree, we have to have af full understanding of history first before we read if not we just might belieave every word the author says.
DeleteIts better to read more then one reasourse because each author has their own point of veiw and some authors might leave out some things or might refrase some facts. I'm not saying every thing the author is saying isn't true, i'm saying if the author doesn't agree he just might bend the truth a little bit. be careful what you read.
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