A Year of History

Here's a detail from a commissioned oil painting I just finished. It's titled, "Common Sense" as a reference to what the Continental Soldier is studying so intently (yeah, I know, very creative title). To understand the world that soldier lived in, we are still studying that document today.

For me, the study of a particular historical period has always had a spreading, or creeping, effect. To understand a moment in time, you must have an understanding of what happened before it and eventually you will get curious about what happened after it. For instance, in the past I have given some friends and family a brief tour of the Gettysburg battlefield and I always start the talk with the Battle of Chancellorsville. It's the set-up event. That Northern loss gets Hooker fired and gives Lee the confidence to invade the northern states. See what I mean? Then, when I'm done with the tour, folks will always ask, "Well, what happened after the battle?". Has anyone else noticed this besides me? If you're not careful, the creep effect will get you going around in circles.

Well, there's one person who isn't going to get dizzy studying American history. Susan. She's decided to spend a year studying American history from beginning to end. Her blog is appropriately called "American History in One Year." It seems rare that a person would suddenly realise that they know little about the history of their own country and then decide to do something about it. But that's just what she's doing. She's also smart enough to know that American history starts well before 1776. I mean, how can you get a grip on what led the colonists to revolt if you don't understand that they had already lived in America for generations and were starting to feel less and less like Britton's each year? See that? There I go again, creeping back.

Ok, so creep back to Susan's blog every once in a while and be sure and leave a comment. History geeks love to share their knowledge, so help out a budding geekette! Plus, it's well written and informative so you might learn something yourself. I know I have. For easy reference, I've added her blog to my links section. Enjoy!