Ask a young person (21 and under) if they know who Benedict Arnold is...........

[WILCO]

and see what they tell you. :groner:

[41 mag fan]

Isn't that an egg sandwhich or omellette???

Not many people know the Revolutiuonary War times. Got some episodes recorded i seen on the military channel the other day

[Edubya]

Tried it; How's this: "He's the governor of California."

[Love Life]

He is the guy who invented eggs benedict.

[wildwilly]

And the solution will be....we need more funding for education.

[Love Life]

And the solution will be....we need more funding for education.


In inner city schools only though. Private schools, charter schools, parents who home school are all evil.

In Decemeber, or was it November, a man my age was not aware there was a World War I. I asked him "How do you think we came up with World War II?"

[Smitty's Retired]

Somehow this doesn't surprize me. With the lack of History taught in the school system, the revisionist editions of school books that have changed some historical accounts of events, and the political correctness of those young teachers fresh out of our colledges that are taught by the 'Enlightened Professors", our students are being taught the teachers interpretation.

[waksupi]

Most adults don't know the full story, either. He was pretty much considered a hero for most of his career. Then, as happens with government, he was screwed over. Reacting to that he committed the acts that won him his current reputation. Nowadays, Obama would most likely have given him a medal and a promotion.

[felix]

I am not surprised either, because I still don't REALLY know who that guy was. Also, I have the same personal unknown about Paul Revere. I have read since school days stories that sorta' conflicted when lightly comprehended. What adds to my confusion is my assumption of the very high percentage of non-participants (for real) during the required preparation stage for undertaking such an ordeal. About like now? ... felix

[dakotashooter2]

Wasn't he a POPE?............................................. .......LOL

[runfiverun]

it was only about 10% of the population that participated in some way.
their sacrafice and personal efforts were huge.

[starmac]

I was thinking I had read that only 3% participated, but could be wrong. I have mentioned Pelosi several times and get blank stares, and you expect people to know who Benedict Arnold was. I am not only talking 21 and under either.

[runfiverun]

well judging from what i have seen from today's population you'd be lucky to get 3%.
i'd expect more like 1%.
and they'd be mostly a bunch of 40-60 y.o. cranky guy's

[starmac]

Nothing wrong with cranky. lol

[HighHook]

I was told this morning i am getting Grouchy... That falls into the Cranky category...

[Doc65]

Nothing wrong with 40-60 y.o. either if they can SHOOT & not just "spray & pray"


well judging from what i have seen from today's population you'd be lucky to get 3%.
i'd expect more like 1%.
and they'd be mostly a bunch of 40-60 y.o. cranky guy's

[Hamish]

A great majority of the skin bags walking around could not tell you 5 of the 10 that allow them to be the worthless CO2 producers that they are.

[starmac]

A great majority of the skin bags walking around could not tell you 5 of the 10 that allow them to be the worthless CO2 producers that they are.

You are expecting too much, lots of them can't tell you who their daddy is.

[shooter93]

Armold was a great leader, maybe the best we had at the time until...well you know. Revere is famous in song but there were many of such riders through the colonies. And a pile of young folks don't even know the name of the Vice President let alone Arnold.

[brstevns]

Same for the civil War. Mention the Conferderate Flag and you get the KKK.

[jhickdog]

It is very unfortunate, but thank "no student left behind". With all the attention on "testing" and "getting better scores" on standardized tests, kids are taught to the test not the diversified education we are all used to.

[bakrzdzn]

Cranky, grouchy, I am known as grumpy @my house. I am not in the 21 or less crowd. only know him from the last deeds he is accused of too.

[brstevns]

Once asked a teen who Jesse James was, answer the guy that makes motorcycles and was marry to Sandra Bullock

[waksupi]

Same for the civil War. Mention the Confederate Flag and you get the KKK.

And most wouldn't recognize the Confederate flag, being accustomed to seeing the Confederate BATTLE flag!

[runfiverun]

i find it odd that benedict arnold is err was such a household name when you had general lee who was a british officer before becoming an american one.
that argued about strategy [he was even removed and la fayette was appointed in his position he then groveled his position back] and finally disobeyed a direct battle strategy order from general washington at monmouth.
he was fired and sent packing in disgrace on the spot,and then washington took charge of lee's troops added them to his own and returned back to the ensuing battle.
changing his battle strategy in the time it took to fire lee and return the troops to the field to start the battle against general clinton.
we hear nothing about this very important moment in history.
had washington not stopped the retreat of lee's troops his other troops [can't remember the general leading this group] were coming in on a pinser movement and would have been wiped out.
this would have completly crippled the american army.

[xs11jack]

The main reason the kids in school don't get taught history is because the teachers are molding them into little communists. When the female teachers got control of the teachers unions, it was all down hill from there. Along comes the social agenda, complete with situation ethics, mother Earth, recycling, Green ****, and of course higher school taxes to pay these idiots to destroy our children. It's no wonder that the U.S. is in such bad shape.
Jack (the ole crank)

[Hamish]

Run, for a second there, I thought I was losing my mind,,,,,,,

[starmac]

I don't know that female teachers had anything to do with it, many of them were taught by wacky, virtually communist professors.

[mpmarty]

And the beat goes on and on and on. I'm one of the ones the gov needs to keep an eye on I guess. I'm a curmudgeonly 74 yrs old this month and would gladly stand and deliver as needed.

[jcwit]

A few weeks ago I happened to have the chance to look thru an Amish grade school's American history book. It gave a complete history from the Pilgrims, Revolutionary War, Civil War, Indian Wars, Wars 1 & 2. Touched on the Holocaust, by a little, not much but then thats not American History. Was really surprised by how much and how accurate they covered it. The Amish no less.


Heck, ask an English kid who the first President was and you'll probably get a plank stare!

[runfiverun]

had the wrong general Lee there eh, hamish? :lol:

[Hamish]

Uh, yeah. Picture that mess playing out.

[Blacksmith]

Lots of Lee's. In addition to General Charles and in a different family, the ancestors and relatives of later General Robert E. including Harry, Arthur, Thomas, Richard, and Francis all were active in the Revolution.
http://www.stratfordhall.org/meet-the-lee-family/

Now Benedict Arnold is a personal interest of mine because he lead the British forces in their attack on New London Connecticut that lead to the British massacre of the defenders of Fort Griswold at the battle of Groton Heights resulting in the death of one of my direct ancestors and the wounding and death of a number of other indirect relatives. Here is an account of those actions:
http://www.ct.gov/dep/lib/dep/stateparks/general_info/the_battle_of_groton_heights_and_the_burning_of_ne w_london.pdf

And here is an eye witness account of the massacre:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gmasue/griswold.htm

So I know who Benedict Arnold is as do my grandchildren. Never forget.

[brstevns]

And most wouldn't recognize the Confederate flag, being accustomed to seeing the Confederate BATTLE flag!

If they saw the last flag they would think it was for the Red Cross.
Not to mention asking who Stonewall Jackson was. Answer; I heard everything for it being a drink to Micheal's brother!

[1Shirt]

When political correctness coupled with the unionism of teachers came about, the teaching of history as it was got tossed in the crapper. It will remain in the crapper as long as political correctness and unionism of the teaching industry continues. And I agree with whoever said, to not forget that most of the teachers have been taught by socialist professors.
1Shirt!

[dakotashooter2]

How is it said? "Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it"....................

Teachers have zero flexibility under No Child Left Behind. In my area there was a lot of early retirement directly related to this program. Many good, experienced teachers that may have taught for another 5-10 years were lost. My ex told me that within any given grade that all the teachers for that grade are expected to be on the exact same page of the prescribed lesson on the same day. Our schools which actually ranked pretty high before this program are struggling under it.

[Doc65]

Close & often mis-quoted(meaning is the same)

George Santayana (1863-1952) actually said: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" (from "Life of Reason I").



Teachers have zero flexibility under No Child Left Behind. In my area there was a lot of early retirement directly related to this program. Many good, experienced teachers that may have taught for another 5-10 years were lost. My ex told me that within any given grade that all the teachers for that grade are expected to be on the exact same page of the prescribed lesson on the same day. Our schools which actually ranked pretty high before this program are struggling under it.[/QUOTE]

[ErikO]

If you ask me, he's someone who should have 'accidently' shot Ethan Allen. ;)

[Kent Fowler]

I knew things were bad when our youngest was a junior in high school and didn't have a clue who Douglas MacArthur was.

[montana_charlie]

When political correctness coupled with the unionism of teachers came about, the teaching of history as it was got tossed in the crapper. It will remain in the crapper as long as political correctness and unionism of the teaching industry continues. And I agree with whoever said, to not forget that most of the teachers have been taught by socialist professors.
It will also remain in the crapper as long as "A People's History of the United States" by Howard Zinn is being used as a textbook to teach our history.

CM

[smokeywolf]

Even when I was in school in the 60s American history wasn't given the emphasis it should have been accorded.
My father's father was a Civil War (The War of Northern Aggression) buff and my father was a Western History buff. Much of what I learned of our history was gleaned on Saturday or Sunday mornings when my father, between mouthfuls of waffles, pancakes and sausage, or bacon & eggs and grits and toast, would read to the family from a history book. Also, because of his love of firearms, he would tell me the history of the firearms he had or was currently reading about. Plus, the history leading up to their conception or creation.

They aren't going to teach American History as it really was, because then they would have admit that without firearms in the hands of American citizens, this country could not have been made free from tyranny, built to be the envy of every other country on the planet (a status it probably no longer holds), and kept free from tyranny and subversion by "all enemies, foreign and domestic". The domestic enemies are now the greatest threat, and becoming greater as they try to disarm those whom they wish to control.

Sorry if I wandered off topic a little.

smokeywolf

[StrawHat]

It only takes 3 or 4 generations until historical events are shelved for something new. Armistice Day, Remember the Alamo, and many other days of historical importance are forgotten 50-70 years after they happen. D-Day and Dec 7 are fast being put aside.

[shdwlkr]

Let's Arnold wasn't he the guy married to Rosie O'Donald no that was some other dude.
Lets see what was the battle of the Gettysburg, wasn't that over a some kind of burger?
Let's see Iwo Gima wasn't that a failed style of jeans
Let's see khe Sanh isn't that what used to pull the cannons in some point in history.
yep kids today sure understand what it means to be Americans.
I remember a time when if you had a US passport your respect from every nation in the world now you get looked at like you are from some weird place no one has heard of

[midnight]

You mean it's not World War eleven?

Bob

[tanstafl10]

Please do not lump all of us teachers in that socialist category. I have been fighting this as a teacher in PA public schools for 38 years and have the scares to prove it.
-
I am NOT taking offense from what you say, so keep going. I think about what is said here and try to figure ways of making it better.
-
One example only, so that I do not hijack the thread---- I am the only teacher in the district who has a portrait of George Washington hung next to the U.S. flag for my students to see when we say the Pledge EVERY day. And I had a ell of time finding one. Could NOT find one of Lincoln. I really wanted both! Oh!, I teach science not history.
-
Again, I take no offense. It saddens me that you are right, but a few of us are trying and will keep on until I retire or die on the job.

[jcwit]

Please do not lump all of us teachers in that socialist category. I have been fighting this as a teacher in PA public schools for 38 years and have the scares to prove it.
-
I am NOT taking offense from what you say, so keep going. I think about what is said here and try to figure ways of making it better.
-
One example only, so that I do not hijack the thread---- I am the only teacher in the district who has a portrait of George Washington hung next to the U.S. flag for my students to see when we say the Pledge EVERY day. And I had a ell of time finding one. Could NOT find one of Lincoln. I really wanted both! Oh!, I teach science not history.
-
Again, I take no offense. It saddens me that you are right, but a few of us are trying and will keep on until I retire or die on the job.

Not really that hard to find a picture of old Abe, took maybe all of 2 minutes on E-Bay.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_nkw=abraham+lincoln+picture&_frs=1

[tanstafl10]

jcwit

not like the one I have of Washington----- must be 1940's vintage or so--- wanted them to match
-
large 2' X 4' versions of these were in the classrooms where I spent my 1st through 6th grade days (ca. early 1960's)
-
thanks though

[Gliden07]

My Father was a Teacher in Mass, a few years back the state went to a test called an MCAS Test (Mass Comprehensive Assessment Test) this is a state wide test that decides where and how much money your school district gets. The better your test scores the more money you get! My Father was disgusted with the way this went. His argument was that the School and Teachers were no longer giving the students a real world education just teaching them how to pass a test!! He retired shortly after that!!

Back to that Benedict Arnold thing, you wanna see a real Deer in the Headlight look ask a young person to make Popcorn when you don't have a microwave (True Story)!!

[jcwit]

jcwit

not like the one I have of Washington----- must be 1940's vintage or so--- wanted them to match
-
large 2' X 4' versions of these were in the classrooms where I spent my 1st through 6th grade days (ca. early 1960's)
-
thanks though

Well one that may not match would be better than none at all, as in the blank wall you now show. But then I'm not a teacher, and at times think outside of the box.

Its of no consequence of how the answer is gotten as long as its correct! Ask any cancer survivor if that is not true!

Well I spent 5 minutes on a search on Amazon, here you go, might need to buy a matching picture of good ol' George.

http://www.amazon.com/Abraham-Lincoln-Poster-24-x36/dp/B004IJDVBY/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1357695643&sr=8-7&keywords=abraham+lincoln+poster

http://www.amazon.com/Abraham-Lincoln-Gettysburg-Educational-Poster/dp/B001VMWJWI/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1357701150&sr=8-10&keywords=abraham+lincoln+poster

[runfiverun]

tanstafl10.
you aren't the only teacher on the sight.
we have a shop teacher and another [bruce drake] is about to get his teaching certificate.
i know dk-17hmr's wife is a teacher also.

i remember the pictures you are speaking of vividly.
i have seen them and portraits of other presidents in the stlye you are speaking of, but not for years.

[jcwit]

If they were once available they're still available.

[1Shirt]

Got to thinking about the initial question, and made me think about other things related to American history like:
How many people today (Young or Old) can name 10 or more American Presidents?
How many can name the number of wars that America fought in the last century?
How many can accurately say the pledge of Alegance to the flag from beginning to end?
And the list could go on and on I am sure, because our history is not being taught in schools, and as the old saying so often quoted says we are doomed to repeat it.
1Shirt1

[leftiye]

Wasn't B.A. , B.O.'s great great etc uncle?

[Gliden07]

Got to thinking about the initial question, and made me think about other things related to American history like:
How many people today (Young or Old) can name 10 or more American Presidents?
How many can name the number of wars that America fought in the last century?
How many can accurately say the pledge of Alegance to the flag from beginning to end?
And the list could go on and on I am sure, because our history is not being taught in schools, and as the old saying so often quoted says we are doomed to repeat it.
1Shirt1


You are right!! The problem is its not politically correct to talk about our past. Talk Religion in school "YOU CAN"T DO THAT!!", Pledge alligance to the flag!! I think not!! Spank your kid to teach them there are consequences for there actions!! Your going to JAIL!! But take away your God givin right to protect yourself... Sure no problem!!