Assignment One: The History Wars

Assignment One: The History Wars
History is complicated because of the constant change in views and perspectives over time. Historians, philosophers, and public intellectuals have taken upon themselves to record, study, and analyze history to come up with explanations for why things are the way they are. For countries, history is a component of its identity that represents the good and the ugly. This gives birth to political narratives for and against what the country’s history stands for. This essay, therefore, looks at stakes in the fight for political dominance being the cause of history wars and how it plays into successfully controlling narratives of a country’s history. Consequently, it explains why history causes so much controversy since it is required for stable nation-building and the cultivation of national values. Therefore, history should teach children about the strengths and weaknesses of their nation to be more inclusive in fostering love and loyalty to the country.
To understand why we have history wars, it is important to consider the impact of historical narrative on countries’ and the process of nations’ building. According to the article “In the Matter of History”: “History is unceasingly controversial because it provides so much of substance for the way society defines itself and considers what it wants to be”(Nash 7). A government with a common identity and structure is more likely to elicit a sense of loyalty and patriotism within the citizens. A firmly established and peaceful political state is dependent on recognized principles therefore, the government relies on school curriculums to maintain the status quo. History curriculums are therefore an important tool for governments therefore, political elites are incentivized to control the narrative of a nation. The governments go about it will bring out oppositions from different factions that don’t agree with the narrative. Aspiring political candidates are also incentivized to use the history of a country to garner the support of factions that are unsatisfied with the current government. History wars are the outcome of the push and pull of political narratives that intend to acquire or retain power.
The controversy arises because the curriculum provided in schools has a major impact on the post-school occupation of individuals and conditioning their minds to accept political views. In the lecture, the professor uses a quote from Napoleon I: “If the child is not taught from infancy that he ought to be a republican or a monarchist, a Catholic or a free-thinker, the state will not constitute a nation; it will rest on uncertain and shifting foundations, and it will be constantly exposed to disorder and change.” When done effectively, countries enjoy a shared sense of identity and are satisfied with the dealings of the government. However, the opposite is also possible as the ugliest periods in history involved oppression, empire-building, and constructing racial hierarchies that utilized information as a radical control tactic. During the colonial period in Kenya, the colonial government designed a curriculum that stressed vocational and religious education. The vocational education was to condition the Africans to perform hard labor while religious education intended to erase their cultural values and embrace those of the oppressor. 
Such confrontations have played out similarly by being successful in almost all settings from colonization in Kenya by the British government, to US territory in Puerto Rico and the slavery of the black community in its background. The British government Kenya managed to control “97% of the population” despite them constituting “1% of the population” (Mwiria 262). The education offered to Africans was minimal in contrast to that of the Europeans explaining why the Briton managed to dominate the large-scale and profitable enterprise of agriculture and relegated the Africans and original landowners to low-paid laborers and squatters. These forms of oppression show how powerful the control o...