Monday, February 16, 2015

President's Day: Diluting History

By Douglas V. Gibbs

When I was a kid, we celebrated George Washington's Birthday, and Abraham Lincoln's Birthday.  To make room for Martin Luther King's birthday, because they didn't want to increase the number of federal holidays, the individual birthdays of the Father of this Nation, and the first Republican President that was historically credited with abolishing slavery, were lost, forgotten, and merged into a holiday that has become a celebration of all past presidents.

It is all by design, designed to get you to forget the details of history.

As far as I am concerned, today we celebrated George Washington's Birthday.  When you learn about the first President under the government system established by the U.S. Constitution, the first words you think of is, "They just don't make them like that, anymore.

George Washington was a man's man, kind yet strong, determined and honest, rugged and considerate.  His charisma and presence made him a popular man, and he could have been king of  America had he been willing to pursue such a title.

Elizabeth Powell convinced George otherwise.  His honor, after her advisement, reminded him of who he was, and what the Constitution was all about.

Originally, the holiday was on Washington's actual birthday, February 22.  In 1971, Congress changed it to the third Monday in February to give workers a three-day weekend.  In an attempt to dilute American History, to take emphasis off of the Founding Fathers, now the day is President's Day.

Abraham Lincoln also got the short end of the stick when Washington's Birthday was moved to accommodate the workforce's desire for another three-day weekend.  February 12 was also a holiday, Lincoln's Birthday, observed in a large number of States.  Because of the holidays, kids wanted to learn more about Washington and Lincoln, as a result. . . after all, it was because of those historical figures they were getting a couple days off from school.

Lessons to teach the kids about the approaching holidays were also taught.  Teachers provided lessons about Lincoln's determination, and Washington's system of values and honesty.  But, with the holidays lost, and combined into President's Day, along with the loss of the national recognition of the two birthdays, those lessons have ceased to exist.

The loss of the lessons about the contributions of those presidents have been followed by a school system working to disregard American History altogether.

My nephew, disappointed that in his history class the teacher had skipped a chapter about the Constitution, asked her about it.  "You have to understand," she said, "we only have a short time to get through the lessons, so we must skip what is unimportant."

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

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