So, we all, engineers and politicians, fast food workers and stock brokers, math professors and history professors, have our own set of presuppositions and agendas.
I gave you some of mine, in regard to the Civil War. I’ve given you some of my agendas (or, rather, my bias against certain agendas) regarding history in general. Let me see if I can’t flesh it all out a little bit, give you the big picture, so you can see where it all is coming from.
Here, in a nutshell, are my agendas, biases, and presuppositions:
- All people are born free into this world, and that these freedoms ought to be guaranteed.
- I believe that the United States, throughout its history, has been a beacon for freedom, even during the rough times, and the times when we have missed some significant things in regard to freedom.
- There is real, undeniable, solid truth out there to be found. We can know truly, but not exhaustively. This applies to history as well as everything else in life.
- History makes us who we are as people. Beyond this, history serves to teach us lessons about life; about what works and what doesn’t, about what is good and about what is evil.
- Ideas have consequences. Nothing in history happens absent of an idea of one sort or another.
- Actions have consequences, as well. There are laws in the universe; gravity is one; sowing what you reap is another.
- There are other forces at work in history, beyond the actions of human beings, and beyond these laws. Pay your money and pick your term, whether it’s luck, Providence, karma, or whatever. I like Providence.
- History, if ignored, will result in the ultimate destruction of a civilization. Yeah, it’s that serious.
- Learning the “Grand Narrative” of history – dates, names, places, and events – is the first step in understanding history. However, if you stop there, you will never see the benefits of studying history.
So, there you have it. That’s where I start, whether I’m giving a lecture, writing a blog post, or doing research.
