This is true? - Geographic oddities that defy conventional wisdom

[J N Winkler]

At my high school, US history was split into two years, with the first spent on colonization up to Reconstruction, and the second (also the AP US History section) dedicated to Reconstruction to LBJ's Great Society, the latter being about 25 years in the past at that point.  My APUSH teacher, who died almost a decade later of cancer, had grown up in Arkansas and spoke of missing her first opportunity to vote because poll taxes were still required (they had not been banned at that point) and had not been paid on her behalf.

[Scott5114]

In my school, 10th and 11th grade were split so that 1877 (end of Reconstruction) was the cutoff point between grades and the two grades covered everything, but since I took AP in 11th, the earlier stuff got covered twice.

history began at the American Revolution

Massachusetts definitely doesn't have the issue where things before the American Revolution were skipped. Part of this could be because my current location was settled around 1640, and back two more decades closer to the coast, meaning that local history would be skipped if we started in the late 1700s.

If I remember correctly, some years they would get into the colonial era more than others, but generally the year opened with something like the Stamp Act or the Boston Tea Party or something like that.

The Trail of Tears got less coverage than most people from outside Oklahoma would think it would.

Because of when history ended, generally one got the impression that Oklahoma didn't factor into history at all. We had a one-semester Oklahoma History class that was absolutely fascinating, but didn't really explore themes other than 'Charles Haskell was the first governor, the Legislature was fucking crazy for the first few decades and would impeach anything that moved, we had a governor who was in the KKK, and now here's a whole unit on William H. "Alfalfa Bill" Murray.' We also had to draw a map of the counties for some reason, which was fun but not really history since we didn't get into anything like the creation of Swanson County.

[ethanhopkin14]

In my school, 10th and 11th grade were split so that 1877 (end of Reconstruction) was the cutoff point between grades and the two grades covered everything, but since I took AP in 11th, the earlier stuff got covered twice.

history began at the American Revolution

Massachusetts definitely doesn't have the issue where things before the American Revolution were skipped. Part of this could be because my current location was settled around 1640, and back two more decades closer to the coast, meaning that local history would be skipped if we started in the late 1700s.

If I remember correctly, some years they would get into the colonial era more than others, but generally the year opened with something like the Stamp Act or the Boston Tea Party or something like that.

The Trail of Tears got less coverage than most people from outside Oklahoma would think it would.

Because of when history ended, generally one got the impression that Oklahoma didn't factor into history at all. We had a one-semester Oklahoma History class that was absolutely fascinating, but didn't really explore themes other than 'Charles Haskell was the first governor, the Legislature was fucking crazy for the first few decades and would impeach anything that moved, we had a governor who was in the KKK, and now here's a whole unit on William H. "Alfalfa Bill" Murray.' We also had to draw a map of the counties for some reason, which was fun but not really history since we didn't get into anything like the creation of Swanson County.

What about Greer County, Texas?  The only former Texas county now in another state and was resolved by a Supreme Court ruling and is now Greer, Harmon, Jackson and Beckham counties, Oklahoma.  I just learned about this two weeks ago and I have to say, it was a very interesting subject. 

[J N Winkler]

What about Greer County, Texas?  The only former Texas county now in another state and was resolved by a Supreme Court ruling and is now Greer, Harmon, Jackson and Beckham counties, Oklahoma.  I just learned about this two weeks ago and I have to say, it was a very interesting subject.

A little over five years ago, I made a trip specifically to see Greer County, Texas.

I've found Wikipedia to be a useful resource for backfilling my knowledge of the more regional aspects of US history--not just territorial disputes arising from imperfect knowledge of geography (like Greer County or the Northwest Angle), but also county formation in various states, the role ANCSA played in formation of the National Parks in Alaska, regional economic disputes such as the Johnson County War in Wyoming, and so on.

Especially at the high-school level, core history classes are an exercise in choosing what not to teach--this is an inevitability of the format, quite aside from bias on the part of bodies that regulate what textbooks can be used in schools.

[Scott5114]

What about Greer County, Texas?  The only former Texas county now in another state and was resolved by a Supreme Court ruling and is now Greer, Harmon, Jackson and Beckham counties, Oklahoma.  I just learned about this two weeks ago and I have to say, it was a very interesting subject. 

Nope, they didn't teach us any of that. I only learned about it because I am interested in county counting.

We did learn about the Red River Bridge War, though, which inspired me to write the Wikipedia article on it.

... county formation in various states ...

An excellent resource for this is the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries Project.

[ethanhopkin14]

What about Greer County, Texas?  The only former Texas county now in another state and was resolved by a Supreme Court ruling and is now Greer, Harmon, Jackson and Beckham counties, Oklahoma.  I just learned about this two weeks ago and I have to say, it was a very interesting subject. 

Nope, they didn't teach us any of that. I only learned about it because I am interested in county counting.

We did learn about the Red River Bridge War, though, which inspired me to write the Wikipedia article on it.

I read that, also fascinating.  One of the few times a US state went to war with another US state. 

[bulldog1979]

The most recent event the history curriculum covered was Reconstruction, because every year history began at the American Revolution and by the time we got done with the Civil War the school year was about out.

The most recent event that we were actually taught was the Kennedy assassination, simply because the teacher enjoyed teaching it. It wasn't on the state standardized test.

In my district, the history portion of social studies was similar for most of elementary school, covering the period from the Age of Exploration up through the American Civil War at varying levels of detail. The curriculum had a different focus for 6th grade, covering classical history. In 7th grade, social studies was more geography focused, and we had units on Europe, Russia and Japan. In 8th grade, we used the first of a two-volume set of textbooks that had the same focus on American history from before the Age of Exploration up to Reconstruction. The second volume of the set was used in 11th American History, so we covered up to the Civil Rights Era, which was only about 30 years behind the modern day at the time.

For 10th grade, we had a class in Modern History, which covered the late 19th and the 20th centuries from a global perspective, things like the Race for Africa, the background to World War  I and the war itself, the Great Depression and the background to World War II, and then separate units on the European and Pacific theaters in WW II. We got up to some early Cold War topics like the Korea War, the Berlin Wall and the background to the Vietnam War.

[vdeane]

Interesting.  I want to say middle school got up to the Gulf War and high school to around 9/11.  This would have been in the 2000s too, so pretty current.  I don't remember much in the way of structure through around 6th grade or so, but 7th grade on was fairly logical:
-7th: US history, colonial era to Civil War
-8th: US history, Reconstruction to Gulf War
-9th: World history, Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Latin America (each region was broken down by geography, early history, European imperialism, and modern history)
-10th: World history, Europe and the Middle East (chronological, at least for those of us in the enriched section; no idea how the regular sections covered it)
-11th: US history, colonial era to 9/11 (at least for the AP American classes; less sure what the regular classes did, but I think the most recent stuff was in supplemental handouts after the AP exam, so they're probably similar)
-12th: instead of a regular class, it's broken down into two half-year long classes, one on Economics, and the other on Law and Government; can't speak much for the latter, since I took the year-long AP Government and Politics (first half, US government, second half, comparative) instead

[CoreySamson]

My homeschool curriculum history went something like this:

7th: General World History
8th: General American History
9th: Complete Church History
10th: 20th Century World History
11th: American Civics, Law, and Government (as well as Economics)
12th: World Literature and Worldview Studies

I liked that I got an entire year dedicated to the 20th Century. That was a really interesting course.

[kphoger]

I had one year of American History and one year of World History in high school.

Don't ask me what they taught in either class.  I do remember excelling at labeling the map of the US states and the map of European countries, because I'm a map geek.  I also remember there was some stuff about the Civil War.  And the World Wars.  Probably some other stuff too.  I annoyed my World History teacher by learning how to write like the US Constitution and then using that script on all my assignments.  With a fountain pen.

[Rothman]

In high school, I took a semester class on the Holocaust and another on the American West on top of the typical U.S. and world history classes.

[JayhawkCO]

In high school we had world history freshman year and American history sophomore year. I also happen to take AP American History my senior year. My favorite history class I ever took was the Rise and Fall of Apartheid my sophomore year of college.

[kirbykart]

 For the title question, did you know that Kingston is closer to Copenhagen than to San Diego?

[hotdogPi]

For the title question, did you know that Kingston is closer to Copenhagen than to San Diego?

Kingston, Jamaica
San Diego – 2700 miles
Copenhagen – 5170 miles

Kingston, Ontario
San Diego – 2300 miles
Copenhagen – 3750 miles

[kirbykart]

For the title question, did you know that Kingston is closer to Copenhagen than to San Diego?

Kingston, Jamaica
San Diego – 2700 miles
Copenhagen – 5170 miles

Kingston, Ontario
San Diego – 2300 miles
Copenhagen – 3750 miles

I was obviously referring to Copenhagen, NY. 

[CoreySamson]

Kingston upon Hull is closer to both Copenhagen, DK, and Copenhagen, NY than it is to San Diego.

[Scott5114]

There is probably a ton of kings closer to Copenhagen than San Diego.

[kphoger]

I was obviously referring to Copenhagen, NY.

Referring to Copenhagen, NY, would certainly defy conventional wisdom.  But I don't think that's the spirit of this thread.

[Rothman]

For the title question, did you know that Kingston is closer to Copenhagen than to San Diego?

Kingston, Jamaica
San Diego – 2700 miles
Copenhagen – 5170 miles

Kingston, Ontario
San Diego – 2300 miles
Copenhagen – 3750 miles

I was obviously referring to Copenhagen, NY. 

Ugh.  Go pound sand.

[bwana39]

My kid was in middle school in the mid-90's. The textbook was a little older. The teacher was still teaching about the Soviet Union which was 5 years dissolved by that point.

Well, I should hope teachers haven't stopped teaching about the Soviet Union.   

He was teaching it as a current construct, not as something from the past.

[kirbykart]

I was obviously referring to Copenhagen, NY.

Referring to Copenhagen, NY, would certainly defy conventional wisdom.  But I don't think that's the spirit of this thread.

Using these little towns, you can do things like:
Geneva (PA) is closer to Warsaw (NY) than to Paris (TX or France)
This could be its own thread.

[dlsterner]

Using these little towns, you can do things like:
Geneva (PA) is closer to Warsaw (NY) than to Paris (TX or France)
This could be its own thread.

Just because it could be doesn't mean it should be

[CtrlAltDel]

My homeschool curriculum history went something like this:

9th: Complete Church History

Just out of idle curiosity, the complete history of which church?

[kkt]

It should just be Eurasia

I know this is just a vocabulary thing, but in my view at least, the whole thing should be just Asia, with Europe being the westernmost part of it.

Also, the French tend to think of North America and South America as two parts of the same continent (called l'Amérique), and I wish they would stop.

The Olympic flag also thinks of the Americas as a single continent. Thus only five rings instead of six.

They need to stop as well.

The most extreme case of continent count would combines Europe, Asia and Africa into one continuous land mass (Suez canal being man-made after all!), as well as North and South Americas. Disregarding Antarctic is also an option as actual above sea level rock area is minimal. That brings us down to 2 major continents and Australia.  I don't think anyone relegates Australia to an island status, though...

Actually many British geography texts call Australia an island that is part of Oceania, making the continents five:  Europe, Asia, North America, South America, and Oceania.

[vdeane]

^ Are Africa and Antarctica not continents as well?