David Mccullough's Essay Knowing History And Knowing Who We Are

What does the word inspiration mean to you, what motivates you, what drives you, and more importantly, what inspires you to learn? Historian David McCullough says that many young people are uninspired to learn about history, and he has compared them to trying to plant cut flowers; it just won't work, trying to teach someone about a certain subject, in which they have no interest, or are uninspired to learn, you might as well teach a brick wall. This is one of the main topics David McCullough’s essay, Knowing History and Knowing Who We Are, covers. In this essay you can find many themes, but the main three that have stuck out to me, are: History could have gone off in any number of different directions in any number of different ways at

any point along the way, just as your own life can, one thing leads to another, and nothing had to happen the way it happened.
First, I think we can all agree that just the smallest action could’ve changed history; as it could have gone off in many different directions; no matter how small the change, the outcome would be huge. Life and History are very similar, they both have paths, in history, many people have made choices that lead them down a certain path, just like the choices you make in life lead you down a certain path. For example, the world would be very different if Adolf Hitler would have never discriminated against the jewish, if he never would have invaded poland, if he never would have tried to invade russia, the list goes on and on, but it all boils down to: World War II never would have happened if Hitler wouldn't have been power hungry; had he not been power hungry, World War II would have never occurred.
History and life are like newton balls, you pull one back, and it launches the opposite one, just like when you make a decision, it will have consequences, may they be good or bad; it is the age old theory of cause and effect.

As referenced earlier, newton balls are the best demonstration of cause and effect; but another demonstration of cause and effect would be when The Imperial Army of Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941; pulling and releasing a ball from the end; which brought The United States of America into World War II; the ball that gets launched due to the force of the pulled ball.
Bad thing have happened in the past, bad thing happen in the present, and bad things will happen in the future. No one has the answer as to why things happen like they do, but they don't always have to happen like that. The Civil War didn’t have to happen the way it did. If the southern states would have just abolished slavery like president Lincoln ordered, the Civil War never would have taken place; such like divorce. If the parents that break up act like adult for their kid(s), then the child would behave much better than if the parents used the children as pawns.
History has many examples of these three themes, and to record them all, you would need to write a book. The three themes discussed in this paper have been used to inform and teach young students that history is important; Therefore, it is important to know your history; if you don't learn from history, then you are doomed to repeat

it.