About

The Idea

This started with the idea that I wanted somewhere to keep notes as I studied US History, or rather re-studied it.

Obviously, like most, I learned about US History in school, thought I knew it all, and went on my merry way. Only as an adult am I realizing that I didn’t understand much. Some of the stuff I thought I knew was seemingly false, and I was just confused in general.

So I set out to study US History, by myself, as an adult. I wanted to find out what was actually true. What was actual history and what was sensationalized mythology? What led to the America I live in today?

Why this matters

There is a really high sensitivity around US History today. If you speak ill of the founding fathers, original intents, or atrocities of the past you can be labeled as unpatriotic and unamerican. In the inverse, if you celebrate or try to defend the America many are taught about in school you can be labelled as ignorant and bigoted.

Our history is messy, and I believe requires more nuance than being wholly good or wholly bad. We gain nothing from choosing to ignore the atrocities our nation was built on, nor do we gain anything from ignoring that there were good moments and good people too.

I want to try to understand the history and systems and policies and laws that led to the America we’re all living in, and I want to share what I find in ways that will hopefully be easy to understand for other people like me who have a fuzzy recollection of high school US History and nothing more.

There is a lot of really good stuff in America, both historically and now, but there is also a lot of really bad stuff that needs to be examined, acknowledged, and learned from.

Disclaimer

I am 100% not a historian, by any means. I work in the tech industry and have a communications degree. I am obviously doing a lot of research for this and I am making sure to use what seem to be reputable sources, but it is important to note that I am not an actual historian. Also, my sources will probably not be cited in a way that is compliant with actual research, but I will make sure the sources I read from are always mentioned, even if it isn’t 100% up to the modern standards for MLA or APA or whatever we are using now.