Having enjoyed stormwreath 's presentation of British history, I thought it would be fun to write up the American version. As it happens, I need to give two versions.
Huh. Texas high schools very much downplay the massive racism, the genocide of the Native Americans, and the importance of slavery in the Civil War (really. It was all about "states' rights" to own slaves).
The Mexicans surrounded a bunch of us at the Alamo and killed everybody and we are never going to forget this, though nobody really knows what any of that was about.
Hey! The battle at the Alamo was about the persevering Texan spirit! ...or something...
...Santa Ana doesn't come from the North Pole. Thanks, I'll be here all night.
Hell, I've been to the Alamo multiple times, and I still can't remember what the damn thing was about. All I know is I resented having to watch some stupid John Wayne movie about it in junior high. Oh, and Bowie had a bad-ass knife of some sort. And Davy Crockett was some Gary Stu. Actually, I think all the Alamo dudes were Gary Stus. Maybe that's why I lost interest.
Though I didn't know they taught about the Alamo outside of Texas. As I recall, the events went down before Texas became a state, so...
They don't *teach* about it in Britain, but the John Wayne film was shown here. (And I was quoting a line from a Donovan song.)
'Remember the Alamo', the Gunfight at the OK Corrall, General Custer, High Noon, stagecoaches, steam trains with cow-catchers on the front, cowboys and Indians, Clint Eastwood in a poncho, deserts and cacti, and "We'll head them off at the pass!" all blend together in a big dusty bundle called "American history in the 19th century" for us.
Yeah... well... all history sort of passes through my head that way
Dust bowl, women on the factory line, prohibition, OK Corral, everyone having outhouses, people using phones with hand cranks, Model T's - except in horses only towns, ...
It all happened at the same time in this little period called, "Life kind of sucked back then"... which encompasses any period in which there were no toilets that flushed.
Actually I did get the states rights version of the Civil War in fourth grade in Alabama -- but I thought putting up *three* versions of American history would be a bit much.
The Mexicans surrounded a bunch of us at the Alamo and killed everybody and we are never going to forget this, though nobody really knows what any of that was about.
Hey! The battle at the Alamo was about the persevering Texan spirit! ...or something...
...Santa Ana doesn't come from the North Pole. Thanks, I'll be here all night.
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Almost all I know about the Alamo is that Travis drew a line in the sand, and over the line crossed a hundred and seventy-nine. :-)
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Though I didn't know they taught about the Alamo outside of Texas. As I recall, the events went down before Texas became a state, so...
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'Remember the Alamo', the Gunfight at the OK Corrall, General Custer, High Noon, stagecoaches, steam trains with cow-catchers on the front, cowboys and Indians, Clint Eastwood in a poncho, deserts and cacti, and "We'll head them off at the pass!" all blend together in a big dusty bundle called "American history in the 19th century" for us.
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Dust bowl, women on the factory line, prohibition, OK Corral, everyone having outhouses, people using phones with hand cranks, Model T's - except in horses only towns, ...
It all happened at the same time in this little period called, "Life kind of sucked back then"... which encompasses any period in which there were no toilets that flushed.
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My high school teacher was kind of a radical...
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