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Pretty much every child in the US learns about the war of 1812 and the burning of the white house. Many 8th grade history textbooks even perpetuate the myth tha

by ghc 6y ago

Pretty much every child in the US learns about the war of 1812 and the burning of the white house. Many 8th grade history textbooks even perpetuate the myth that it's painted white to cover the damage from the burning. But it's no surprise that 14 year olds might not remember what they are taught in Early American History into adulthood.

ghaff 6y ago
I think you're overstating the degree to which the War of 1812 is remembered by most people. I'm relatively familiar with American history and I could tell you it involved the burning of the White House, the writing of the national anthem, a border dispute with Canada, and something about impressing American sailors. But that's about it.
- ghc 6y ago
  I certainly wasn't claiming most people remember the war of 1812 -- I was just stating that it's not as if the events are glossed over or not taught in school. It is well covered in early American history curriculum; it just gets taught during the peak of puberty, which is pretty unfortunate. In my experience, most people remember a few fragments like you do, and particularly famous events from the war (old ironsides, burning of the white house, carrying out the portrait of Washington to save it) might not even be associated with that war in people's minds. Most people seem to erroneously associate many of those events with the revolutionary war, similar to how they often associate the Constitution with the revolutionary war even though it came later.
disgrunt 6y ago
It's not even the same building. The exterior walls survived the fire, but the first White House was torn down and rebuilt. Apparently the British took everything they could, all that survived was a painting of Washington and a jewelry box. [0] [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House#Early_use,_the_1814_fire,_and_rebuilding https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House#Early_use,_the_181...
nickik 6y ago
Its pretty well known that people don't remember the waste majority from school if you don't actively test them.

by ghc 6y ago

ghaff 6y ago

I think you're overstating the degree to which the War of 1812 is remembered by most people. I'm relatively familiar with American history and I could tell you it involved the burning of the White House, the writing of the national anthem, a border dispute with Canada, and something about impressing American sailors. But that's about it.

ghc 6y ago
I certainly wasn't claiming most people remember the war of 1812 -- I was just stating that it's not as if the events are glossed over or not taught in school. It is well covered in early American history curriculum; it just gets taught during the peak of puberty, which is pretty unfortunate. In my experience, most people remember a few fragments like you do, and particularly famous events from the war (old ironsides, burning of the white house, carrying out the portrait of Washington to save it) might not even be associated with that war in people's minds. Most people seem to erroneously associate many of those events with the revolutionary war, similar to how they often associate the Constitution with the revolutionary war even though it came later.

disgrunt 6y ago

It's not even the same building. The exterior walls survived the fire, but the first White House was torn down and rebuilt. Apparently the British took everything they could, all that survived was a painting of Washington and a jewelry box. [0] [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House#Early_use,_the_1814_fire,_and_rebuilding https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House#Early_use,_the_181...

nickik 6y ago

Its pretty well known that people don't remember the waste majority from school if you don't actively test them.