The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-11-17
HISTORY AS 1T Is KNOWN
HIGHLY UNCOMPLIMENTARY OPIN-
ION OF POPULAR KNOWLEDGE.
Theory that n Very Large Number OF
American Citizens Are Ignorant
of American History.
New York Tribune.

lEllE liz AA1l1 0L - -
ever portion of his exploits may be left to
his credit by too jealous expurgators Of
popular traditions, every man. woman and
child not absolutely without education feels
more or less intimately acquainted with the
faultless King. But it is doubtful whether
even Alfred would have achieved this fame
merely through his driving out of tn
Danes and his making of laws for the king
dom. If he had not burnt the cakes of the
connding woman in the cottage he. too,
might have been relegated TO popular mes
lect. For it is unhappily true that the peo-
pie of a country, no matter what their
patriotism, are for the most part extremely
ignorant of it's history. Patriotism is an
easy virtue when there is no fighting to be
done, and, indeed, not difficult at any time.
being most frequently simply a firm be-
lief in ones own country's ability to lick
anything under the sun. And in this re-
spect, despite the public school system Of
America, the United States is not great
ahead of Europe. Perhaps the new teach
ing will do something toward making II
rising generation more sensibly and broad
mindedly patriotic, leading them to dis
eliminate between intelligent appreciation
of a cOuntry's past and complacent sell
satisfaction over their own forethOught IN
having themselves born in the greatest
country on earth.
THERE WAS A REVOLUTION.
Everybody outside Of asylums for the
feeble-minded knows that there was once
a great revolution in America. This, ex-
cept the fact that Christopher Columbus
discovered the country, is the one anchor
on which everybody makes fast when ques-
toned as to knowledge of American his
tory. But, although the fact that this
country fought a great war with England
is known, there are s~tartlingly few who
can tell anything about the causes which
led up TO the war. These statements do
not apply, of course. to boys and girls in
the city who have attended school to the
proper age. They apply, however, to the
great mass Of middle-aged, poor Amer
leans brought up in the country, as We'll as
to many of them in the cities, and to the
mass of voting foreigners. The stamp tax,
the attitude of the British people in gen.
eral, the speeches of this countryS great
friends in the English Parliament, all these
things are utterly unknown TO the mass of
the people. They do not know who settled
this country, except that the English had
something to do with it. In New England
there is everywhere a shadOwy tradition
of Puritans. and the word May1ower may
sound familiar, but the names of such men
as Winthrop and Captain Smith and King
Philip convey absolutely no idea. Even the
Boston tea party means nothing, although
one might think that the p-icturesqueness
of that incident would fix it in the popular
memory. The Spaniards are regarded as
people who We're cruel, but whether this
idea is derived from recent events in Cuba
thing in the history book il is hard to say.
THREE GREAT MEN.
Three men only stand out prominently in
American history. These are Washington,
Lincoln and Grant. Garfield is also known
even by those who have no recollection of
his assassination, because the story of his
p,,rrlar l. of+or to1J b,f % ,ooD 70
membered through their achievements the
three above constitute the entire list. In
fact. it is rather too much to say that
Grant is revered for what he did, as the
popular idea of his exploits is vague. In
New York he has a tomb which is visited
on fine summer afternoons, and that makes
him known to the people Of this city at
least. Robert Z. Lee, outside of the South,
Is not even a name. AS TO thinking that the
country was once small, and that II has
grown through exploration and purchase,
that is a hidden thing to the wayfaring
man. French and Indian wars exist not
for him. He does not know whether or not
the British soldiers in the revolution were
all British born or whether the French
gave any help to the continental side. All
this is subtlety and confusion to him. He
never heard of the war of 1872 or of the
Mexican war.
These observations apply, as before said,
to the ignorant American and to the fairly
intelligent but not highly educated foreign
er. They are about on a par as to such
matters. 1t is difficult to generalize be-
cause there are innumerable gradations
above and below this level. One woman
aged thirty-ive, Connecticut born and bred,
whose youth was spent between New
Haven and Hartford, when questioned as
to her knowledge of history made a Show
ing almost incredibly bad. She had heard
of George Washington, but FASTENED to ex-
plain that this was merely hearsay-she
had never seen him. She had never heard
of the settlement of this country, although
she knew who discovered it. She had no
idea when it was. however. She could give
only the name of Washington among pub
lie men whom she did not herself remem-
Der. She confused the revolution and the
civil war, but she knew that this country
once belonged to England. Questions as to
the Indians brought out the fact that she
had heard that there were once a lot OF
them. What had become of them she did
not know. This woman is doubtless an eX-
ceptionally i'll Informed person, but she
does not lack intelligence in ordinary mat
tiers. although she admits that she neglected
her school as a child.
KNEW THE CONSTITUTION.
An ignorant. poor foreigner, fifteen years
over here, not especially intelligent, but
perhaps a fairly average person, did better
than this in that he could tell the difference
between the Revolution and the civil war
and had a vague idea that Columbus lived
four or five hundred years ago. He knew
Lincoln, knew also Grant, and realized that
the civil war had to do with slavery in
some way, and that the North won the
fight under General Grant. He knew who
Garfield was, as everybody else does
Further back than the Revolution he could
not go, and from Washington to Lincoln
was a blank. He was far more typical OF
his class than the Connecticut woman. Be-
low him are depths of ignorance u~nsounded
by the plummet of the justice who ex-
amines would-be citizens. One man In BOs-
ton recently examined for his papers said
that he had been eighteen years in this
country. and he was thought a promising
candidate until he was asked what the
Constitution was. Oh, I hat seen her an
chored off Chelsea" he affirmed in happy
confidence. The magistrate observed that
this was not the Constitution referred
TO, and the man admitted that h
had never heard of any other. Indeed, h
was better informed than most of his kind
to whom the word calls UP nothing so def
mite. How some of the voters ever manage
to pass the required examination is a mys-
terry TO those who are subsequently priv
LEGGED TO converse with them on the subject
of American history. But in justice i
should be said that even these ignorant cit
liens are capable of discriminating when
the time comes for them to exercise their
privilege of citizenship.
Ii seems a pity when American histor,
offers so much that is picturesque that so
little OF its charm should stick in the popu-
lar mind POcahOntas, for m is an
attractive young woman. but few have the
privilege of her acquaintance. The taking
OF quebec, the masSacres OF the Indian
wars, the h%ardships OF the Puritans. the
cruelty Of the Spaniards. the discovery of
the Pacific. and so on, seem to have failed
to catch the fancy Of the mass OF the peo-
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