[DOWNLOAD] "Has the Texas Revolution Changed? A Study of U.S. History Textbooks from 1897-2003 (ARTICLE 5) (Report)" by American Education History Journal * eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Has the Texas Revolution Changed? A Study of U.S. History Textbooks from 1897-2003 (ARTICLE 5) (Report)
- Author : American Education History Journal
- Release Date : January 01, 2009
- Genre: Education,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 223 KB
Description
What is history? Merriam Webster's Dictionary defines the subject as "a chronological record of significant events (as affecting a nation or institution) often including an explanation of their causes." Encyclopedia Britannica defines history as "The discipline that studies the chronological record of events (as affecting a nation or people), based on a critical examination of source materials and usually presenting an explanation of their causes." Maria Aguilar, a seventh grade student in one of our classes (Ms. Duran's), defines it as, "that stuff we have to learn about what happened a long time ago, you know people, dates and events." When we asked three adults (non-historians) about what history is, they said that history is the facts about what happened in the past. When all of these same individuals were asked whether or not history changes, they all said no. Instead, they responded that facts are facts and that unless researchers uncover new information, history will always stay the same. Historians, on the other hand, know that history changes depending upon the person who writes it, the background she brings to the task (including interests and precedents), and the historical context that surrounds an author when she writes a particular book or article. For more than a century, high school students in the United States have been required to take at least one course in United States History. Almost every U.S. history textbook used for these courses covers the Texas Revolution in one way or another. Since the Texas Revolution is a significant part of American history, we chose to focus this study on the way this pivotal event has been presented to students over time. The authors selected the Texas Revolution for its uniqueness as an event that captures the imagination of historians and students alike as a significant historical time in both national and state history The success of the Texas Revolution initially established a separate country known as the Republic of Texas, but when later annexed to the United States triggered a war with Mexico resulting in the addition of massive territory being added to the United States that included the present day states of California, Nevada, and Utah, and parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming. We began the study with several central questions in mind. How has the description of how the Texas Revolution took place and why it matters changed when we compare textbooks from the late 1800s to the early 2000s? How has the description been influenced by the historical context of the era in which the text was written? Finally, to what extent have new theories and publications produced by historians influenced the various descriptions of the Texas Revolution that are present in these U.S. history textbooks?