12-28-2022, 03:16 PM
I don't know how common this is around the world, but here at least we are taught "light" versions of important historical events to help us understand them from a very young age. It isn't so much about the fact being accurate as it is about it being an accurate representation of the fact. There are many noteworthy examples of this, but I'm gonna go with the biggest one (feel free to add your own down below).
The story we are told relentlessly from Grade 1 is that patriots French and Beruti started distributing cockades around the Plaza de Mayo in order to "hype people for the upcoming republic". This is a good story to be sure, but the reality is so different that I'm honestly not surprised that they choose to teach this version instead.
So, what actually happened? French and Beruti did distribute all those cockades around the plaza, but it wasn't a symbol of unity... they distributed them to help them distinguish those who were friends of the revolution from those who were not (or were open royalists still loyal to the Spanish throne). That way the revolutionary forces could murder the "right" people in the heat of the battle without much thought and without risking killing a revolutionary ally along the way.
Considering that this kind of "tagging" would become associated with our country's darkest times in the next century (and that it was done using a national symbol most associated with Army and Government) it honestly comes as a no shock that they chose to "sidestep it" like that. Otherwise, it would be too hard to explain to young minds still in their formative years and there would be an air of unpleasantness hanging about the classroom that honestly would have no place in an Elementary School history class.
What about you, though? Were you taught "sugar-coated" facts too? If so, which ones?
The story we are told relentlessly from Grade 1 is that patriots French and Beruti started distributing cockades around the Plaza de Mayo in order to "hype people for the upcoming republic". This is a good story to be sure, but the reality is so different that I'm honestly not surprised that they choose to teach this version instead.
So, what actually happened? French and Beruti did distribute all those cockades around the plaza, but it wasn't a symbol of unity... they distributed them to help them distinguish those who were friends of the revolution from those who were not (or were open royalists still loyal to the Spanish throne). That way the revolutionary forces could murder the "right" people in the heat of the battle without much thought and without risking killing a revolutionary ally along the way.
Considering that this kind of "tagging" would become associated with our country's darkest times in the next century (and that it was done using a national symbol most associated with Army and Government) it honestly comes as a no shock that they chose to "sidestep it" like that. Otherwise, it would be too hard to explain to young minds still in their formative years and there would be an air of unpleasantness hanging about the classroom that honestly would have no place in an Elementary School history class.
What about you, though? Were you taught "sugar-coated" facts too? If so, which ones?
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