Knowing history and knowing who we are

[lprgcfrank]

I came across this this morning - I bolded the comment that struck me as key to Appleseed.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/12/025079.php

If interest in the American Revolution abated, it seems to have undergone a revival in recent years. Witness, for example, the first-rate best sellers written by David McCullough on John Adams and on the revolution's seminal year. The popularity of these books is in part a tribute to McCullough's craftsmanship, but their popularity also testifies to the intensity of interest in the subject. Reflecting on the need to know our history, McCullough has observed:

    In the rotunda of the Capitol in Washington hangs John Trumbull's great painting, "The Declaration of Independence, Fourth of July, 1776." It's been seen by more people than any other American painting. It's our best known scene from our past. And almost nothing about it is accurate. The Declaration of Independence wasn't signed on July 4th. They didn't start to sign the Declaration until August 2nd, and only a part of the Congress was then present. They kept coming back in the months that followed from their distant states to take their turn signing the document. The chairs are wrong, the doors are in the wrong place, there were no heavy draperies at the windows, and the display of military flags and banners on the back wall is strictly a figment of Trumbull's imagination. But what is accurate about it are the faces. Every single one of the 47 men in that painting is an identifiable, and thus accountable, individual. We know what they look like. We know who they were. And that's what Trumbull wanted. He wanted us to know them and, by God, not to forget them. Because this momentous step wasn't a paper being handed down by a potentate or a king or a czar, it was the decision of a Congress acting freely.

And yet,

The American Revolution Center has been founded to improve upon the state of affairs acknowledged by McCullough. The center has just published a report on the first national survey to assess adult knowledge of the American Revolution. The survey results document two facts that can be discerned from the report's subtitle: Americans are yearning to learn, failing to know.

The survey results show that a 83 percent of Americans failed a basic test on knowledge of the American Revolution and its principles. But the results also revealed that 90 percent of Americans think that knowledge of the American Revolution and its principles is very important.

Among other things, the results also show that 89 percent of Americans expected to pass a test on basic knowledge of the American Revolution. We do not suffer for lack of self-esteem. But we do suffer for lack of knowledge. More than a third of adults could not place the American Revolution in the correct century. Equal numbers of Americans believe that the Constitution established a direct democracy as correctly identify our form of government as a democratic republic. Survey respondents overall scored an average of 44 percent -- and, I should add, not because the survey was too difficult.

[Rundownfid]

Yes, there seems to be a considerable renewal of interest in the Revolutionary and early Federalist periods.  I know my own interests have slowly shifted over the years from the Civil War to this earlier period. 

I don't know if it is more distressing to know that so many Americans know so little or more heartening to hear that there are so many who believe it is important.  We come on such disparate paths and their signs so quickly disappear I sometimes wonder who we are, outside of pop culture.

On a relaterd note I would recommend David Hackett Fisher's "Albion's Seed: Four Folkways in America".  Reading "Paul Revere's Ride" I keep hearing echos from Albion's Seed"; I wonder if he will mention the New England penchant for baking??

[Fred]

   Why not contact the American Revolution Center and let them know about us, and our program?

   I would think they'd be happy and maybe even supportive, of our efforts...

[FourIze]

I just posted the following to their site under "Contact Us":

"Just wanted to know if you were familiar with, or had heard about, the Revolutionary War Veterans Association and the Appleseed Project?

We are a 501(c)3 organization that teaches Heritage (specifically, the events surrounding April 19th, 1775 and the sacrifices made by our forebears as they began the struggle for our independence) and Marksmanship.

Our goal is to awaken "sleeping Americans" to our history and get them active, involved and engaged in preserving our heritage and the freedoms our forefathers sacrificed to secure for us.

I believe we may have some areas of common interest."

I'll let you know what I hear back.

[Castle Mountain]

Did this ever get followed up on? Did you ever get back the courtesy of a reply?


Cheers,

Castle Mountain

I just posted the following to their site under "Contact Us":

"Just wanted to know if you were familiar with, or had heard about, the Revolutionary War Veterans Association and the Appleseed Project?

We are a 501(c)3 organization that teaches Heritage (specifically, the events surrounding April 19th, 1775 and the sacrifices made by our forebears as they began the struggle for our independence) and Marksmanship.

Our goal is to awaken "sleeping Americans" to our history and get them active, involved and engaged in preserving our heritage and the freedoms our forefathers sacrificed to secure for us.

I believe we may have some areas of common interest."

I'll let you know what I hear back.