Why do we call history our past

A generation ago, America’s Founding Fathers were venerated. Today, they’re more likely to be under attack from the media, teachers, and politicians. And it’s not just the Founders, but our founding documents, institutions, and other leaders from our past. Our colleague, Jarrett Stepman, has written about all this in a new book called We also cover these stories: • Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejects House efforts to get testimony from top State Department officials amid whistleblower feud. • U.S. manufacturing hits 10-year low amid trade war. • A sixth-grade student in Virginia recants her accusation against three boys. The Daily Signal podcast is available on Kate Trinko: Jarrett Stepman, my colleague here at The Daily Signal, is out with a new book. We’re very excited. It’s called “The War on History,” and you can If you’re a regular Daily Signal reader, you’ve been reading Jarrett’s excellent analysis of history for years. I know that I personally have learned a lot from him. Of course, he’s really gifted at pointing out what’s great about America’s history, and he’s really great at pushing back at why the left is wrong that everything is terrible and we are a nation of terrible people and all that fun stuff. But before I go any further, Jarrett, thanks for joining us. Jarrett Stepman:Thank you very much, Kate. Trinko: Let’s talk about what’s going on. We’ve seen a lot of fighting about history in recent years, whether it’s Christopher Columbus and if we should stil...

Imagine we're traveling through time, jumping ahead whole decades and winding up in an entirely new century. It's the year 2100, and we're at the dawn of the 22nd century. Yep, that's what's coming next: the 22nd century. Its years will all* start with 21, proceeding up to the distant 2199. And as we all know, we're currently in the 21st century, but the years start with 20. And in the 20th century, they all started with 19, and in the 19th, with 18, and so on. No 22nd century spoilers, please. It can be hard to remember this, especially when you go back a few hundred years, which is why we sometimes see people use, say, 16th century (which should refer to years that begin with 15) when they really mean 1600s, which clearly refers to years that begin with 16. We also sometimes see people confuse the "hundreds" form with the "century" one, referring to a date like 1528 as occurring in the "1600s." To be clear, 1528 is a card-carrying member of the 1500s and the 16th century. The thing to remember is that the number in the name of the century (the 16th century, for example) is always one higher than the number that starts the century's years: the years of the 16th century start with 15. There's logic behind it, of course. The first century of the current era (aka the 1st century CE or AD) didn't start with 100; it started with 1 (more on the implications of that below). It wasn't until the second century, aka the 2nd century, that the years had a digit in the hundreds column...

• Scholars define prehistory as events that occurred before the existence of written records in a given culture or society. • History refers to the time period after the invention of written records in a given culture or society. • Archaeologists have discovered written records in Egypt from as early as 3200 BCE, which is the accepted date at which history "begins" there. • Written records give historians resources to deal with that are more detailed in some ways than other records, such as archaeological or biological remains. For context, 200,000 years would represent at least 6,000 generations of your ancestors (your grandparents are only 2 generations from you). 200,000 years is also nearly 1,000 times as long as the United States has been a country. It is 100 times as distant in the past as the time of Jesus and the Roman Empire. It's also 40 times as distant in the past as the earliest written records we have found. Our main tool as historians is what has been written by those who came before us. In fact, this is what formally defines history and sometimes sets it apart from archaeology and anthropology. For example, the oldest written records archaeologists have discovered in Egypt are from over 5,000 years ago; the date when they were created is the currently accepted date at which formal history (as opposed to "prehistory") begins in that part of the world. Of course, we might one day find older records! Many times, narratives are only written down after generatio...

This file video grab image shows part of an unclassified video taken by US navy pilots showing interactions with ‘unidentified aerial phenomena’. Photograph: DoD/AFP/Getty Images This file video grab image shows part of an unclassified video taken by US navy pilots showing interactions with ‘unidentified aerial phenomena’. Photograph: DoD/AFP/Getty Images Read more Information on these vehicles is being illegally withheld from Congress, Grusch Jonathan Grey, a current US intelligence official at the National Air and The disclosures come after a swell of credible sightings and reports have revived attention in alien ships, and potentially visits, in recent years. In 2021, the Pentagon released a report on UAP – the term is preferred to UFO by much of the extraterrestrial community – The report followed In an interview with the Debrief journalists Leslie Kean and Ralph Blumenthal, who previously “We are not talking about prosaic origins or identities,” Grusch said. “The material includes intact and partially intact vehicles.” Grusch told the Debrief that analysis determined that this material is “of exotic origin” – meaning “non-human intelligence, whether extraterrestrial or unknown origin”. “[This assessment is] based on the vehicle morphologies and material science testing and the possession of unique atomic arrangements and radiological signatures,” Grusch said. Grey, who, according to the Debrief, analyzes unexplained anomalous phenomena within the Nasic, confirmed Grus...

Imagine we're traveling through time, jumping ahead whole decades and winding up in an entirely new century. It's the year 2100, and we're at the dawn of the 22nd century. Yep, that's what's coming next: the 22nd century. Its years will all* start with 21, proceeding up to the distant 2199. And as we all know, we're currently in the 21st century, but the years start with 20. And in the 20th century, they all started with 19, and in the 19th, with 18, and so on. No 22nd century spoilers, please. It can be hard to remember this, especially when you go back a few hundred years, which is why we sometimes see people use, say, 16th century (which should refer to years that begin with 15) when they really mean 1600s, which clearly refers to years that begin with 16. We also sometimes see people confuse the "hundreds" form with the "century" one, referring to a date like 1528 as occurring in the "1600s." To be clear, 1528 is a card-carrying member of the 1500s and the 16th century. The thing to remember is that the number in the name of the century (the 16th century, for example) is always one higher than the number that starts the century's years: the years of the 16th century start with 15. There's logic behind it, of course. The first century of the current era (aka the 1st century CE or AD) didn't start with 100; it started with 1 (more on the implications of that below). It wasn't until the second century, aka the 2nd century, that the years had a digit in the hundreds column...

• Scholars define prehistory as events that occurred before the existence of written records in a given culture or society. • History refers to the time period after the invention of written records in a given culture or society. • Archaeologists have discovered written records in Egypt from as early as 3200 BCE, which is the accepted date at which history "begins" there. • Written records give historians resources to deal with that are more detailed in some ways than other records, such as archaeological or biological remains. For context, 200,000 years would represent at least 6,000 generations of your ancestors (your grandparents are only 2 generations from you). 200,000 years is also nearly 1,000 times as long as the United States has been a country. It is 100 times as distant in the past as the time of Jesus and the Roman Empire. It's also 40 times as distant in the past as the earliest written records we have found. Our main tool as historians is what has been written by those who came before us. In fact, this is what formally defines history and sometimes sets it apart from archaeology and anthropology. For example, the oldest written records archaeologists have discovered in Egypt are from over 5,000 years ago; the date when they were created is the currently accepted date at which formal history (as opposed to "prehistory") begins in that part of the world. Of course, we might one day find older records! Many times, narratives are only written down after generatio...

A generation ago, America’s Founding Fathers were venerated. Today, they’re more likely to be under attack from the media, teachers, and politicians. And it’s not just the Founders, but our founding documents, institutions, and other leaders from our past. Our colleague, Jarrett Stepman, has written about all this in a new book called We also cover these stories: • Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejects House efforts to get testimony from top State Department officials amid whistleblower feud. • U.S. manufacturing hits 10-year low amid trade war. • A sixth-grade student in Virginia recants her accusation against three boys. The Daily Signal podcast is available on Kate Trinko: Jarrett Stepman, my colleague here at The Daily Signal, is out with a new book. We’re very excited. It’s called “The War on History,” and you can If you’re a regular Daily Signal reader, you’ve been reading Jarrett’s excellent analysis of history for years. I know that I personally have learned a lot from him. Of course, he’s really gifted at pointing out what’s great about America’s history, and he’s really great at pushing back at why the left is wrong that everything is terrible and we are a nation of terrible people and all that fun stuff. But before I go any further, Jarrett, thanks for joining us. Jarrett Stepman:Thank you very much, Kate. Trinko: Let’s talk about what’s going on. We’ve seen a lot of fighting about history in recent years, whether it’s Christopher Columbus and if we should stil...

This file video grab image shows part of an unclassified video taken by US navy pilots showing interactions with ‘unidentified aerial phenomena’. Photograph: DoD/AFP/Getty Images This file video grab image shows part of an unclassified video taken by US navy pilots showing interactions with ‘unidentified aerial phenomena’. Photograph: DoD/AFP/Getty Images Read more Information on these vehicles is being illegally withheld from Congress, Grusch Jonathan Grey, a current US intelligence official at the National Air and The disclosures come after a swell of credible sightings and reports have revived attention in alien ships, and potentially visits, in recent years. In 2021, the Pentagon released a report on UAP – the term is preferred to UFO by much of the extraterrestrial community – The report followed In an interview with the Debrief journalists Leslie Kean and Ralph Blumenthal, who previously “We are not talking about prosaic origins or identities,” Grusch said. “The material includes intact and partially intact vehicles.” Grusch told the Debrief that analysis determined that this material is “of exotic origin” – meaning “non-human intelligence, whether extraterrestrial or unknown origin”. “[This assessment is] based on the vehicle morphologies and material science testing and the possession of unique atomic arrangements and radiological signatures,” Grusch said. Grey, who, according to the Debrief, analyzes unexplained anomalous phenomena within the Nasic, confirmed Grus...