Is It Never Done Learning - 1488 Words

The most significant thing I have learned from this class was that one is never done learning. I say this because I had previously thought I knew the basics of our history, so I was expecting a class that resembled what I had learned in my previous classes. But, this course was the exact opposite. My mind has been expanded and fixed with knowledge that seems too controversial to be taught. Once a great Roman author, Cicero, had said â€Å"To know nothing of what happened before you were born is to remain forever a child. And going back to this quote, I feel as though I was a child as I begun this history course. Throughout this entire course, everything previously taught proved to be either a lie or half the story. The complexity of history†¦show more content†¦And now, suddenly I am questioning everything that has been originally taught, and Zinn and Loewen showed me the truth to the myths of Columbus, Pilgrims, etc., making me right to feel suspicious. In elementary, the year 1492 was embedded in our brains always associated with Columbus, the hero, the â€Å"discoverer† of America. There was always little to none mentions of the Native Americans. Of course, mentioning on how Columbus killed and enslaved these Indians would taint the image of Columbus. Perhaps this was the beginning of twisting history, starting by making false claims of the voyage of Columbus. Loewen tore apart the idea of Columbus as a â€Å"discoverer† as in â€Å"Lies My Teacher Told Me† he brought up multiple times and evidence of Africans and the Spanish encountering the Indians. From the â€Å"similarities in blowguns†¦similar pottery†¦ cultural similarities†¦[and] Negroid and Caucasoid likenesses in sculpture and ceramics† (Loewen 2), it is undeniable that these Indians were never completely isolated from the outside world as textbooks claim them to be. It is ridiculous to celebrate a day dedicated to Columbus, when all he had done was kill Indians when they were unable provide him gold and enslave them (Zinn). The mistreatment towards Indians goes on, specifically speaking in the events of the first Thanksgiving, an event where Pilgrims and Indians supposedly united. There was always this image of pilgrims as pure people with good intentions, and that perhaps they