Why Study History?

    

Why should we study history? History is the study of people and events that happened in the past. We can learn both how the way society changes over time and what mistakes humanity has made during the past so that we don't make the same mistakes. There have been many civilizations and cultures in the past and they have grown and fallen all over history.

The first reason why we should study history is that many events happened in the past that we can reflect on and try not to make the same mistakes. A famous quote from George Santayana (A Philosopher) is “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Many disastrous events have occurred in the past that we can look back on to try not to make the same mistakes. For example, the Roman Empire ruled all over the Mediterranean sea and had enormous power. They ignored the barbarians in the north but the barbarians made an attack and the Romans fell like a castle of blocks because they were not expecting it. Many leaders in different countries try not to make mistakes like Romans and rule kindly so that there will be no rebellions or rule cruelly to get the same effect.

The second reason why we should study history is that history can shape our own identity. There are many history lessons, it doesn't matter when, where, or how, there always is. We can learn from this history, especially our ancestors; on how they behaved and what harsh and nice periods that our ancestors went through and eventually how they contributed to the society we lived in now. Learning about our background and the truth of who we are and what we can do can help in improving the future. Learning about many different great societies and how they formed can inspire a child's mind into making the child do great stuff later in the future. People can use all this history and knowledge and applying them to our life-experiences can greatly change ourselves depending on what you are aiming at learning.

    The final reason why we should study history is that it can help us acquire the skills needed for any major or job. While students study history, students can cross upon a question. There mostly isn’t any straight up answer in history. Students need to take in vast amounts of information, write/communicate effectively to solve the problem, which means students need to be able to become flexible and have a willingness to solve these questions because these questions need an investigation to find the answer to the question. Doing this from a young age can help you succeed in later life. A recent article from the AHA (American Historical Association) stated that “two national studies show that people that do not succeed in their foundational history courses have the least chance of completing any degree at any place over the 11 years covered by the studies.” Thank you for reading!