“The very ink with which history is written is merely fluid prejudice.” – Mark Twain.

History, it’s a rather touchy subject, from interpretations and misconceptions to selfish interests and senseless wars over lines on a map. Its ambiguity leads the human story open to different interpretations such as, were we good people? Were we bad people? How could we learn and evolve from a specific event? How does a certain event affect society as a whole? It’s merely a rabbit hole of questions to try and define a clearer understanding of history. Being literate in this field is a challenging task for many. Some people tend to misinterpret history and warp certain events to fit a certain narrative of theirs. These dangerous repercussions will be discussed in this article.  

People encounter history from a multitude of areas, the most common one being school. In school, you’re taught about events such as the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, the Black Death, the French Revolution, George Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River, the great expansion westward, and the American Civil War to name a few. These events may seem random, but they have their places in understanding the development of society as a whole. It’s when some of these events are warped, and flat out lied about, that the real issues happen. In an article by Sabine Leitner titled, The Danger of Historical Illiteracy, she mentions that “It is sad that history as a subject also seems to be on the decline across several European countries. In the UK for instance, only a third of students take it for their GCSEs and in the German-speaking world the amount of history lessons in schools have been severely reduced (by up to 50%).” A GCSE for context is an academic qualification for secondary education in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It is equivalent to an American high school diploma. The statistic that history lessons in German schools have decreased by 50% is proof that history is starting to be less valued and viewed as a redundant subject. This is the beginning of actively replacing it. If history is replaced in schools, then society as a whole could be in jeopardy. 

Another reason why historical illiteracy is an issue is because learning history properly further develops our critical thinking skills. Being able to decipher which event came first, or why this event indirectly caused the other event, forces people to become detectives- by connecting the dots between each major event in history. How do critical thinking skills help people in everyday life? Simple, it allows people to be able to tell what true and fake news is, such as fake stories or misleading headlines. In an article from the Columbian College of Arts & Sciences, it suggests that historical illiteracy also threatens public opinion on matters, or warp actually events, in people’s perceptions, in a recent USA Today op-ed, Christopher Brick blames, “America’s ongoing crisis,” in humanities skills for producing the kind of conspiracy theories that fomented the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. He claims, “These false narratives have been allowed to gain a foothold in the culture in part because we have not invested in historical literacy as a component of citizenship…We just haven’t done a good job creating that skillset among Americans as a whole.” Brick suggests the current political climate Americans experience is the product of poor historical literacy. When people say crime is the worst it’s ever been, it’s a lie. Sure the perception that crime is rising is true, and it may even be true with some statistics, but it wouldn’t be on levels seen in the 90s or 80s. In an article titled, Fear of Rampant Crime is Derailing New York City’s Recovery, by By Fola Akinnibi and Raeedah Wahi, it has a section which states, “Incidents of violent crime remain at historic lows in New York City. But people’s views on guns and crime are often more influenced by what they see and hear, rather than by hard numbers. While homicide is the most high-profile type of crime, larceny, burglary and assault show similar trends. A rash of high-profile incidents in subway stations and tourist hubs—and an outspoken new mayor who’s made crime-fighting his signature issue—has intensified scrutiny on public safety. A generation of younger New Yorkers are seeing a sustained rise in crime, instead of a decline, for the first time in their lifetimes.” In a sense, the media has an influence on people’s precautionary crimes, amongst other things. For example, when reviewing the statistics for murder rates in NYC from 1960 to 2019, (https://www.disastercenter.com/crime/nycrime.htm) the murder rate in 1990 was 14.5 per 100,000 people, while the murder rate in 2019 is 2.9 per 100,000 people. It’s a dramatic decrease. Even with violent crimes in general per 100,000 people, there were 1,180.9 violent crimes compared to 2019 with 358.6 violent crimes per 100,000 people. With all this data, what gives people the illusion that crime is up? Could be, people simply having a bias for believing in that it’s worse now due to external factors- like increased immigration or a decline of jobs. It really is historical illiteracy. If you’re literate in history, you would have the critical thinking skills to challenge what others say. You would be able to understand and see that crime is actually at an all-time low compared to the 1980s and 90s. Some might say, “why would the media even do that?” To answer that, its simple, yellow journalism is more profitable than telling the real or true story. 

In conclusion, history is important because not only does it make us more aware of the past and how we got to where we are today, but it also builds our critical thinking skills. In enables us to challenge and prove to someone, or multiple people, that they are wrong. Next time you watch the news or read your newspaper, think to yourself, “is this really true or are they lying?” Then, do some research!