History From The Horse's Mouth

I'm tired of spoon-fed lies.

Aren't you?

Or maybe you are where I was a few years ago, and you still think everyone has your best interest at heart. I don't think I could say anything here to convince you otherwise, but you'll wake up someday. When you do, I'll be here to help.

As indicated in the title, this is a club designed to help me (and anyone who cares to join me) learn about the history of liberty--specifically, United States history, but a few other documents as well--from the horse's mouth. I want to hear history from the people who lived it, not from the people interpreting/whitewashing/erasing it and rewriting it into textbooks.

Each week (or so, give me a break, I'm a mom with 2 young kiddos) I want to read a primary source document (or a section of one) and discuss it here with you. I keep trying to find something to join locally, but let's face it, I live in a town with fewer than 10,000 people, and the nearest civilization is about a 2-3 hour drive, depending on which direction you head.

Moving right along, this week's assignment is The Magna Carta.

A few tips for reading primary source documents:

1. Don't be discouraged by the language.

Even if you're an excellent reader, reading old texts, you might wonder if what you're reading is really in English. Happens to everyone, just hold tight. It gets easier the more you do it.

2. Summarize every sentence in your own words.

You'll only have to do this at first, but it's a good practice to continue anyway. I sometimes find it helpful to actually write it out in a word document.

3. Recognize everyone has a bias.

It's called point of view. Anyone who claims to be unbiased is a liar. It's simply impossible to do, because everyone is influenced by their personal experiences. It may not always be easy to identify a person's bias, but if you can learn this skill, you're well on your way to becoming a historian.

4. So what, who cares?

This lovely mantra was oft repeated by an old history teacher of mine. After you read something, think why does it matter? Once you figure out why the document might matter historically, wonder why (or if) it matters today!

Meet back here in a week and we'll talk about it...okay, so I'll talk about it and you can post comments, but the hope is that The Magna Carta can inspire a healthy discussion in the comments section.

Vulgar comments will be removed (including comments containing the F-bomb and excessive swearing). Name calling defeats the purpose of this blog as well, so please refrain from doing it.

See you in a week!