The second justification for history as a field is the most familiar. It presumes something about the human condition, namely that we are happier when we can better understand the world around us, and that we are richer when we can draw upon many sources of knowledge and many patterns of thinking with which to appreciate the arts, the public events, and the small moments that make our personal lives special. History does this in several ways. It lets us confront and experience many different ways of life. It allows us to contrast what we are experiencing with what others have experienced elsewhere in the past, and thus to better understand what we are going through at the moment.
History can provide that multiculturalism.
Finally, history is one of the best ways to socialize the rising generation. It lets us show them how we got to be where we are, what choices were made in the past and what the consequences of those choices were. Too often teens and young adults are apathetic or non-political. History teaches how the national political system came to be, and it can demonstrate how that system has worked in the past. Unlike traditional government classes, however, history will emphasize the causes and consequences of political action.