Very few Americans, even those at prestigious universities, know American history, as numerous surveys attest. This should scare everyone.
History may not win students a job, but it?s crucial for the future of this country.
Anyone who has watched “John Adams” on HBO knows why. The miniseries, based on the book by David McCullough, chronicles the founding of the country through the life of a Massachusetts patriot, lawyer and fierce defender of his country abroad.
It makes real why liberty is important. And that cousin Sam Adams did not exist to brew tasty beer but to help spur our independence from England and found a nation that holds all men are created equal as its basis and freedom its highest principle.
Not freedom for all. But once codified, the principle gave moral basis to the emancipation and women?s and civil rights movements to follow.
The show reminds us that freedom does not come easy and must be defended rigorously in the courts and sometimes in battle. And that a desire for freedom must bind all of us more than the issues that divide us. Those lessons are no less relevant today as we battle terrorists abroad and at home and debate the proper role of immigration in today?s society.
Coming in an election year, it reminds us that our vote counts and that public service is an admirable calling.
The Bill of Rights Institute?s essay contest for high schoolers on “Being an American” is another essential tool for teaching younger generations why freedom matters. As Eugene Hickok, a former U.S. deputy secretary of education, said at the group?s awards dinner Thursday, “One has to learn to be an American.”
This year the contest (bill
ofrightsinstitute.org) drew 13,000 essays from students in 19 states and the District of Columbia. Next year the program will expand to all 50 states.
For those teachers who want to aid their students in that process of becoming an American, the institute offers curriculum, summer programs and professional training through its Constitutional Seminars. Their knowledge is the light that will guide and protect us in the coming century. We need as much of it as possible.
