Story of All Things, Retold

History has always been important to me and to my life in general. I have been interesting in history and politics since early childhood, beginning with my earliest imaginings and ending with my mature adult understanding of history and society. These imaginings included such things as "Old" England and the Roman "Umpire." My early interest in England was inspired by Mary Poppins. I already knew about "New" England, since my aunt and her family had recently moved there, but my mom told me that the England of Mary Poppins was a different "England;" that is why I thought of it as "Old" England. My misreading of Roman "Empire" originated in a morality tale about society told me by my mom around the same time. She told me that our society at that time was headed for a fall, similar to that of the Roman Empire. My early education was an integrated mix of religion, morality and politics.

The civic knowledge that I gained during my childhood also contributed to my later interest in history. I knew President Ronald Reagan as "Ronald," "like Donald" from my Donald Duck kids' books; he was the president when I was born in 1983. My mother taught me about Washington, D.C. being our nation's capital in order to increase my civic knowledge. She read me a photo book about Washington, D.C. in the summer of 1992. I then visited our nation's capital with my parents in June 1993. We visited the Smithsonian and the Washington Monument.

Around this time, I was also aware of the presidency of George H.W. Bush, which included the Persian Gulf War and his loss to Bill Clinton in the 1992 U.S. presidential election. I saw democracy in action, as the American people were free to decide to vote their leader out of office, in favor of a new one. It was during Bush’s presidency, in 1989, that I learned about the White House, along with its importance and symbolism. I came to understand the role of symbolism in American power. My newfound knowledge of this was expanded when I learned that the Pentagon was the center of U.S. military might. I thought the Pentagon was cool, because it was a huge five-sided buildingt! From my exposure to the Persian Gulf War I came to understand that there are different countries in the world, and there are often wars between them. I was telling everyone about the war in my 1st grade class, as I pretended to be a news reporter!

As I became older, I enjoyed learning a little in school about American history, beginning to learn what it meant to be American. My education about American history began by learning a little bit about slavery and the Civil War. My 8-year-old self was appalled by slavery. I never understood the wisdom and desire of owning another human being based on skin color. I was also horrified by the Civil War, as it was "brother against brother." I was horrified by this because I loved my family and I could never imagine family members treating each other this way!

In fourth and fifth grades, we learned about the American Revolution and the colonial period leading up to it. My civic knowledge was greatly expanded. During those years, we also learned about the state capitals and about Pennsylvania history. In fourth grade, we had a very basic treatment of American history, covering mainly the French & Indian War and the American Revolution. We learned that the Declaration of Independence was the reason for the 4th of July - "Independence Day." We were also introduced to Washington, Franklin, Benjamin, Revere and other figures in the pantheon of traditional American heroes. At the end of fourth grade, we learned the state capitals of the northeastern states; we learned the state capitals of the rest of the country in fifth grade. It was fun to learn about some of the cities I heard referenced on the Weather Channel during the brutal, stormy winter of 1994.

I learned in Fourth grade about the Lehigh Valley's location relative to the Megalopolis and the East Coast of the United States. I came to appreciate the Lehigh Valley's place in America! Learning the states and capitals made taught me the size and geographic diversity of the United States. America is a vast continent of mountains, rivers, plains, hills, lakes and sea coasts! It was America's geography that first made me proud to be American.

In fourth grade, we also learned all about the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and its history. We learned about its varied geography and its industrial past, focusing on that of the Lehigh Valley, Philadelphia and the Poconos. We came to appreciate the true size of our state. We learned that Pennsylvania had been a hotbed of industry for many decades, important to the nation’s economy! That explained the abandoned factories all over the place.

In fifth grade, we had a more in-depth study of American history, learning about the colonization of the New World by European settlers - Spanish, French and English. I was surprised to learn that Spain had such an active role in conquering and settling the New World. I was also surprised at how late the English got into the game. We came to appreciate the relative barbarity of colonial America. It was through blood, sweat and tears that America was settled. The settlers weren't very smart, so they created a lot of their own problems. We learned a little about the generals and battles of the American Revolution. I came to realize that history happens through the efforts of a large number of important individuals. It was still, however, a sanitized, largely patriotic version of our story.

It wasn't until sixth grade, however, that I absolutely fell in love with history, becoming obsessed with medieval history. I was very much interested in knighthood and medieval battle. There was always a desire to learn more about chivalry and the ceremonies of knighthood, as well as weapons that included lances, swords and arrows. The architecture of the period also captivated me; I enjoyed reading about castles and stone cathedrals. Castles were always a favorite of mine, ever since I played with LEGO castles as a kid! I loved how castles developed and changed over time, based upon changes in how wars were waged, including the introduction of the cannon in the 14th century.

I also enjoyed looking at cool photographs of many of Europe’s finest Gothic cathedrals. I was absolutely entranced by the beauty of medieval Gothic cathedrals. The medieval monasteries were equally appealing to me. I was intrigued by the dark beauty of stone monasteries in the Middle Ages. I always thought it was sad that Henry VIII destroyed so many of England’s finest monasteries.

I was eager to learn about the political development of Western European kingdoms in the Early Middle Ages. I enjoyed learning about how kingdoms formed and fell apart, which was usually based on continual warfare in that period. I learned that it was feudalism and manorialism that defined the economic and power structures of medieval European society. Amazingly, over 90% of people in Europe at that time were either serfs or peasants. I eventually became interested in how the church and state became intertwined in medieval society. This odd relationship between church and state decided much of the world’s future.

In the spring and summer of 1997 my love of everything medieval led me to play a lot of the PC game Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, which I got for my 14th birthday. I loved the awesome castles and the cool warriors. I enjoyed playing with the many fantastical creatures, the state-of-the-art medieval weapons and the amazing spells used by mages, ogre-mages, paladins and death knights. I was also mildly intrigued by the occult symbolism.

My love of medieval fantasy ultimately led me to Magic: The Gathering in my freshman year of high school. That interactive card game delved deeper into the world of medieval fantasy. There was a much greater emphasis on the occult. For me it was a point of connection to the dark, Gothic world of the late 1990s. It was a game that was great for trading cards, having tournaments, or impromptu games in which you would connect with other young people!

In my early adolescence, I was completely obsessed with religion, related closely to my historical interests. The historical development of the Roman Catholic Church was a topic interesting to me as a boy being raised Catholic. Over time, the men of the cloth transformed themselves from traveling preachers in rags to well-dressed clerics. I was mesmerized by the frequent conflict between church and state. The Church's theology and doctrine also became more clearly defined. New devotions were constantly being added and saints being canonized. I soon lamented the decline of religion in the modern world, viewing 13th-century Europe as the ideal time in human history. Due to further learning and experiences, I have since adopted a much more secular worldview.

I also loved the cool habits worn by medieval monks. These habits made monks look mysterious, like characters from some cool video game. I dressed as a monk for Halloween in 7th grade. I think I wanted to appear as some medieval saint or something!

Due to morbid curiosity, I enjoyed learning about the brutality of the Roman persecutions of Christians. The Romans employed some very creative forms of torture and execution! History often shows the madness of mankind and the extreme depravity of certain individuals. I also became completely fascinated by the Protestant Reformation. I wanted to know the reason for the disunity and myriad of denominations that define modern Christendom. I was amazed by the 16th century and how quickly everything changed - how can someone's beliefs change overnight, and on such a large scale? I also wondered why the Christians killed one another instead of trying to understand each other.

The history classes I had in high school fueled my fascination with history, while adding to the historical topics and eras that I was interested in. Mr. Dennis Fenton was my freshman history teacher and homeroom moderator at Notre Dame High School. He made American history fun and interesting, and brought to life the period from the end of Reconstruction to the Vietnam War! He could tell a story like no one else! He got us to understand our place in history on a deep, emotional level. He taught us that we were born into the midst of an unbroken chain of events and that much of what affects us in our world was the result of some things that happened or existed before we were born.

I also learned a lot from Miss Evans' World Cultures class. Ancient history was covered as I had never yet experienced. We learned about the Fertile Crescent and some very ancient civilizations that predated the Greeks and Egyptians. We also had in-depth coverage of the ancient Greeks and learned about how Rome grew from a tiny kingdom into a great empire. She related the history to us and to our modern world; she made world history accessible to the average teenager.

Mr. Harder continued to feed my love of history in AP U.S. History in my junior year. I loved the props that he used to teach his class. He brought objects and artifacts into the discussion of history. Harder even gave me an extra college-level textbook from the back of his classroom - one that I still have to this day and enjoy reading! I also enjoyed his folksy, calm demeanor and speaking style. By the summer after my junior year, I had a strong desire to be a history major in college, as I toured Westchester University and began to think about my future.

My historical thinking became more emotional and personal once I studied history at Northampton Community College (NCC). I had two very important history professors at NCC: Margaret Borene and Earl Page. Professor Borene taught that history isn't just about dates and events, but also about individuals with their own aspirations and personalities. She really helped bring our distant past to life. Professor Page also explored the human element of history, just in a slightly later time period. He used his life experiences to bring historical events to us on a human level and was a very engaging and charismatic speaker (He taught class dressed in overalls, a turtle-neck and a winter hat!). Not surprisingly, he was very popular among NCC students. History, like the news, is about people; if you truly understand history, you will truly understand people

I came to believe there was a history to be discovered, one other than the sanitized version people are often taught between 3rd and 12th grades. I was both enlightened and scandalized when I learned about the sexual misconduct among the medieval and Renaissance clergy. The way medieval society appeared on the surface didn't always reflect the reality of people's everyday lives. I was also surprised to learn that there were a number of influential women in medieval times, contrary to the view that the Middle Ages were entirely male-dominated. The Middle Ages also featured crime and prostitution, which countered the conservative Catholic position that the era was a golden age, an "Age of Faith." Society under the Inquisition was brutal and repressive. Crime and illicit activities occur in every society. The state and other powers-that-be just put the lid on such activity as much as they can.

In my adult life, I increased my understanding of history by reviewing primary sources and reading online. Primary sources don't have the spin give by historians, and I can interpret for myself the material I'm reading. These sources always take history down to the most basic human level. I use my life experiences to give context to the history that I am processing, while using my newfound knowledge to give structure to these same experiences! These primary sources have shown me that people remain basically the same in every period of history, but that they do change somewhat from time to time, often in repetitive cycles. One type of societal excess leads to another type of excess. People are often reactive and extreme (and most foolish).

To access primary sources, I have frequently visited college libraries over the years, perusing archives of old magazines, as well as reviewing the New York Times on microfilm. The Times provides copious details about a lot of newsworthy events. I also read old copies of Time Magazine and The New Yorker Magazine, which are housed in old, hardcover volumes. Time Magazine shows the society of each time period on a deeper level than a major newspaper would. The New Yorker showcases the nature of high society in every era, and the intellectual endeavors of its thinkers. As an adult, I not only indulge in the dark side of history, but also read between the lines of that history to find underlying human factors, including vices and primal urges. How people seem and how people are often two different things, and this can be applied to whole societies.

History is very important in the grand scheme of things. History sheds a light on human nature, both of its dark side and of the heroism and sacrifices made to ensure our survival. Our dark side is on display in the atrocities of history. The greatest sacrifices are those of veterans in wars throughout history; they are truly to be admired! When we understand the basics of human nature, and how it played out in the past, we can figure out what is going on in the world today, and how we can expect society to look in the future! When a person understands where the world is going, one can plan one’s life around those social/political/economic trends.

Like many people interested in history, I have some historical periods I like reading about more than others. My favorite historical periods include Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, the Middle Ages, the Age of Piracy and 20th-century America. With Ancient Greece, I like to focus on Greek mythology, the Greek city-states and the Hellenistic Period.

As for Ancient Rome, I enjoy learning about the Etruscans; the Roman Republic, which lasted for 446 years; the Roman Empire and its long, slow decline – and how Roman culture continued to provide continuity and structure to the people, even as the political and economic systems collapsed all around them; and the final collapse of ancient Roman civilization, including how the Barbarian hordes filled the power vacuum created by Rome's fall - and provided the source material for some cool video games!

In medieval history, I enjoyed the Dark Ages/Early Middle Ages, the England of the High Middle Age (1066-1307); the Crusades, including the armor, castles, battles and politics of the era; the Inquisition and how the Church used force to keep people in line, the Hundred Years' War - a fine example of medieval warfare; and the England of Geoffrey Chaucer, which was a period of social unrest and depravity in late-medieval England.

The Age of Piracy was interesting due to Captain Morgan – a real pirate of Welsh origin, Blackbeard (a.k.a. Edward Teach, one of the most fearsome pirates in history) and the Pirates of the Caribbean, a movie series which fused the history and fantasy of seafaring and pirates into a thrilling, gripping saga. There are also modern-day pirates from Somalia and other places who are successors to the likes of Morgan and Blackbeard.

Finally, in the America of the 20th century, I enjoy learning about the 1920s, the Great Depression and New Deal, World War II America, the 1960s, the 1970s and the 1980s. 1920s-America was essentially a sex-saturated alcohol binge. In World War II America, our nation’s existence was threatened by both Germany and Japan, until our military veterans made tremendous sacrifices to save it from fascist oppression! The 1960s was the decade of President John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Vietnam War, Woodstock and the Apollo 11 moon landing. The 1970s gave rise to the Kent State Massacre, Watergate, and disco music. The 1980s - the decade of my birth - were known for President Ronald Reagan, the War on Drugs, Cocaine as king, MTV, VCRs and, finally, the Cold War coming to an end.

We may be heading into a difficult period of history, in which humanity's weaknesses are multiplied, creating great social conflict and change - at warp speed! If we can understand history a little better, we may use its lessons to prevent any catastrophes that loom on the horizon. If we understand humanity's weaknesses, we may be able to compensate for these weaknesses. This foresight will preserve civilization and make it feasible for future generations. We need to try to be happy and make our lives enjoyable and positive as possible as we face the uncertainties of a challenging world.

In short, history is a gift to mankind. Recorded history is symbolic of civilization itself, separating us from pre-historic savages. It provides us with illuminating self-understanding and enables us to plan for society's future.