Is History Accurate?
By
Staten Island, NY Posted: 11/27/2016 1:00:00 AM
If we can't agree on the events of our own time, how can we trust that the history we read is accurate?
If you picked up The New York Times and The New York Post and read a story about an event that took place yesterday, there's a pretty good chance that the two newspapers won't agree on what took place. Regardless of which side you agree with, you can't deny the fact that the they both see the event differently.
This isn't something new. People always will always see things differently, depending on their point of view. If you asked people during the days of the American Revolution what they thought about the events of the day, there would be just as many differing opinions about the war, the British, and the formation of our new government.
I'm sure the majority of those opinions were spread by word of mouth, and some opinions ended up being printed in letters, books, and newspapers of the day. While it's impossible to know what was said verbally, a small percentage of the writings of the day have survived and they became the basis of our history books.
Even if 100% of the documents which are the basis of our history books were proven to be authentic, we still can't be 100% sure that they accurately represent the events they describe, because most of those writings were affected by the opinions of the authors.
That's something to think about. If we can't agree on the events of today because they come from two different newspapers in the same city, how can we know how much of what we read about the events of the past is accurate?
To make matters worse, our history books are not only influenced by differing opinions written in the past, they are also influenced by the opinions of the historians who interpreted them.
Just something to think about.
Joe Crescenzi, Founder
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