Went to my book club oday. Discussed an excellent historical biography of James Monroe. Most of our members commented on how little they knew about Monroe. From that we concluded that "History" as taught 60 years ago was not complete. Nor was it particularly thorough. We contrasted our experiences with middle school and high school education today. The quick conclusion is that no matter how bad or incomplete our schools were 60 years ago - they are considerably worse now. This generation of young students is not overcoming the huge number of handicaps in their education process. We mentioned a few:
- single parent homes.
- unemployed family members.
- relentless generational poverty.
- resistance to church advice and authority.
- inevitability of military service.
- the "keep no child behind disaster".
- the overwhelming flood of immigrants.
- acceptance of english as a 2nd language.
This list could be continued on additional pages but the examples given suffice.
James Monroe and essentially all of the other Founding Fathers were educated in the manner common in their day. Many, if not most, never attended school as we know it. Their curriculum followed the classical models that prevailed in Great Britain and Europe. They read of the Greek civilizations and the Romans. Ancient Books on philosophy, manners, right and wrong. Reading the Holy Bible was not uncommon. On their own initiative they studied mathematics, sciences, biology, and chemistry. They gained knowledge from their parents, other members of their family, tutors and teaching friends. As adults, as Founding Fathers, it is remarkable how literate, worldly, and knowledgeable they were. These were impressive leaders.
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