Appomattox Court House and Lincoln's Assassination

[Shewlee08BD]

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[5thfirefly]

@EatYeFigs Finally the fact that the Soviet Union, the British Empire or Genghis Khan committed crimes in the past doesn’t justify the actions of the US today. So don’t point your finger at them. It’s your responsibility as a citizen what your government or the armed forces of your country does today.

[5thfirefly]

@EatYeFigs It’s a problem everywhere in the West how to integrate the immigrants in a society and how to avoid pushing them on the fringes of society. Honestly, I don’t think that Europe is behind the US regarding this issue especially since the US is the only western country I know of which uses racial profiling and registers the race of those who enter the country. One would think that’s a weird habit form a country which “leads the way” in the struggle against racial discrimination.

[5thfirefly]

@EatYeFigs The immigration of Latin Americans however is a completely different case in the US because the government can’t efficiently filter those immigrants. Thus many poorly educated immigrants arrive in the US every year who live in slums and take the worst jobs possible. Now this picture is not that different from the situation of the poor African and Turkish immigrants in Europe.

[5thfirefly]

@EatYeFigs Moreover, Europeans don’t KEEP the immigrants in slums. This situation is not the part of Europeans’ clever plan to screw with these people. If you take a look at a map, you will see that the US don’t have problems with the African and the Asian immigrants because America is in the middle of nowhere between two oceans. It’s hard for these people to illegally enter the US this way and the US can filter the rest. The US can choose who to let in from Africa, Asia or Europe.

[5thfirefly]

@EatYeFigs If you think this way, you can also say that the Navajos are racists because they have mostly Navajo representatives or the entire African continent is racist because they don’t have white presidents, not to mention Asia because following your logic they are extremely racists. Neither India nor China or Japan ever have elected either a white or a black man as their president.

[5thfirefly]

@EatYeFigs At this point I think it’s worth asking why you think that if for example the Danes in Denmark don’t have a Pakistani prime minister they are necessarily more racist than the American society which in fact consists entirely of immigrants or the descendants of immigrants (apart from the few remaining natives, of course).

[5thfirefly]

@EatYeFigs In this case I agree with you.

[5thfirefly]

@EatYeFigs To your American Bias question you can find the answer among my old comments posted about 6 months ago. Khan claims his mission is to teach students around the world and I think usually he's very good but if he wants to teach history around the world he has to consider the non-american viewpoint as well. So far he failed to do that and that's my problem.

[5thfirefly]

@EatYeFigs Don’t even get me started on slavery, racial and political discrimination in the US or the countless other wars since the War of Independence. France actually seems like a very peaceful country compared to the US, not to mention that France has a bit longer history than the US so it’s not even fair to compare the two. Moreover, I don’t recall any of those huge American efforts to help Africa which you would like to see from the Europeans.

[5thfirefly]

@EatYeFigs Despite its huge and rich territory and low population figures, the US never stopped to expand and conquer until nothing else was left in North America worth conquering. The US left out the colonization only because the US didn’t have a sufficient population and advanced industry in the 19th century to acquire colonies of its own but this fact doesn’t change its nature or gives a moral edge over Europe, especially because this is just how the story of the US started.

[5thfirefly]

@EatYeFigs How can it be any better than European colonialism? At least, Europe had a reason for its expansion since Europe is the smallest but most densely populated continent in the world, and it’s also not particularly rich in natural resources. It needed more land and the wealth of other continents. The US even today, 400 years after the foundation of the first North American British colony has only 300 million citizens, while the EU has 500 million on a territory half as big as the US.

[5thfirefly]

@EatYeFigs The other thing which blows my mind is when Americans try to convince the world that they have a moral superiority over the Europeans. The US started its history as a British colony and it acquired its territory mostly by taking the land of the Native Americans but also by taking the land of its colonial neighbours (Canada and Mexico among others). Without taking the property of others and especially without wiping out most of the Native peoples the US wouldn’t even exist today.

[5thfirefly]

@EatYeFigs Hey you're here! I will reply but first let me post all my answers. I wrote long answer... :D

[5thfirefly]

@EatYeFigs The number of the 130 million people supposedly killed by communism is only relevant if you want to argue that this number makes communists worse than other mass murderers or what is more, if you want to make other mass murderers appear less wicked. However, that would be somewhat immoral of you. By the way, I am not sure how you have managed to come up with that number.

[5thfirefly]

@EatYeFigs Honestly, I am not entirely sure in what way it is relevant what you’re writing from the perspective of my original argument. My point was that Khan’s history videos show a not particularly strong but clearly visible American bias, which can be seen both in the choice of topics and the content of the videos. You have however some strange ideas so I will try to react to those.

[5thfirefly]

@5thfirefly First of all, if someone wants to understand a historical event or a society, it’s weird to talk about how much respect that particular society, social movement or ideology (in this particular case communism) deserves. Seeking an understanding and giving a moral judgement are two different things. It’s very likely that it’s impossible to understand something if you have a strong bias.

[5thfirefly]

@5thfirefly The number of the victims of communism is also a strange argument in my opinion since the last time I checked killing people was the crime and not the efficient way of doing it.If regimes destroy human beings, they are equally bad in my opinion and it doesn’t matter how efficient they were or how many people they wanted to exterminate.

[downyourtube]

Find the answeres to Elizabeth Quesenberry to find Booth's Diary.

[XxAwSoMeDuDe11xX]

sal your a hero why arent my teacher like this

[omfizzledrizzle03]

@tls4gatorbait Yes, but since Fort Sumter was an island, they consider the Battle of Bull Run to be the first "land" battle

[movement26]

Lincoln beat the south.........but he lost out to the International Bankers......They don't like a President in charge of a nations finances..........They call the shots, both vocally and if necessary from the barrel of a gun.

[Kyo2fly]

this video kept freezing up on khanAcadamy so I decided to just logout and watch it on youtube great explanation!



[tIs4gatorbait]

1:35 wasnt the first civil war skirmish in fort sumter?

[coqui1582]

Hey I need the closed captions pleaseee

[5thfirefly]

I don't understand something. If these videos for everybody everywhere why do you start the history series with videos like this? E. g. Lincoln's assassination is an insignificant event in world history in my opinion. Back then the US was at the end of the world. It was a mostly agrarian country without any weight in the world. Lincoln is an American historical figure with local significance just like Martin L. King. I think there are plenty of other more important topics in history.

[XxIblinkIxX]

@5thfirefly This isn't world history, it's American history.

[5thfirefly]

@XxIblinkIxX I know that but the goal of Khan Academy is to teach people around the world. And I quote: "The Khan Academy is an organization on a mission. We're a not-for-profit with the goal of changing education for the better by providing a free world-class education to anyone anywhere." So why bother with Lincoln?

[FUCKOFFYOURGAY]

@5thfirefly Because the US have had a major impact on the world today. And since Lincoln had a big impact on the US. This video comes under the "History" playlist and i don't see enough content to have a "American History" section yet. I would guess you are more annoyed at the current % of US vids vs the actual content of those US vids. And if thats the case please try to remember he has to start somewhere and being an american it seems logical to start there since khan's fam/friends use them.

[5thfirefly]

@FUCKOFFYOURGAY I doubt that the role of the US is that important even today. I am not saying the US is not important but most of its history is still irrelevant from the perspective of the world. The modern world (including the US) was created by Europe so if someone wants to understand our world it’s better to start there. But the history of the other great civilizations is also a good place to start. And I know why Khan made his first videos but the Khan Academy is a non-profit organization..

[FUCKOFFYOURGAY]

@5thfirefly I just find it a bit hard to get past the fact that every video is done by khan and to still remember its a organization that even got a fair chunk of money from mr gates. There good ppl, they started this thing with great intentions so i give them some space for there biases. But europe are effected by what happens elsewhere. No american revolution, the french would have sold the land they had differently if the english still owned it. Cold war, could ended the world. Neil armstrong

[FUCKOFFYOURGAY]

@5thfirefly sorry getting a bit off topic there cause I don't consider those US events any less important then learning about the ancient gods of eygpt who were kind of building great monuments when europe were still savages. I don't think simply moving a bit further up the timeline to something a bit more "modern" say plato's time in greece 400bc, or bit later the Renaissance really makes any difference, you still should learn it all if you want to learn about history.

[5thfirefly]

@FUCKOFFYOURGAY If you have watched this video, its main conclusion is that Lincoln’s assassination changed practically nothing. And Khan is probably right. The main reason why Lincoln’s assassination has an important place in the American curriculum is that Lincoln is viewed as a national hero by the Americans. Every nation has its heroes but not all of them are important for the rest of the world. If Khan wants to teach people around the world he should talk about topics of general importance.

[mrhnm]

@5thfirefly Lincoln was an evil man.

[FUCKOFFYOURGAY]

@5thfirefly Lincoln's assassination is of direct importance to anyone studying at a school in US doing American history. That's a lot kids this helps. Yes they state "world" in there proclamation to the world but how is the assassination not history and instead propaganda? ... I'm Australian, I usually only ever bitch about America, but history and learning you do not put in a box. Let them finish before you pass judgement.

[5thfirefly]

@FUCKOFFYOURGAY I think propaganda can be a biased view too. I have problem with this video in the context of Khan’s other history videos. E.g. in the videos about capitalism and communism his strong American bias is clearly visible. It’s worth noticing how he places the US on the spectrum at the end of the video about communism. In his view the US is a meritocratic and innovative society, while it's also socially caring and just. Every other society he mentions is at least out of balance.

[5thfirefly]

@FUCKOFFYOURGAY But it’s worth asking where the contemporary European countries are on that spectrum. All of them have a much more extensive social care system than the US, while these countries are also capitalist and democratic beyond doubt. Actually many of them like Germany or the Scandinavian countries respect human rights more than the US in recent years. Apparently, the American public has a much distorted view of the contemporary socialist ideas.

[5thfirefly]

@FUCKOFFYOURGAY When Americans talk about socialism, often they are still fighting with the ghosts of the past. Other videos have similar problems. E. g. in connection with the Vietnam War Khan passes the responsibility on some government officials. Obviously this is how the US views its wars. From their viewpoint the American people are always benevolent and never responsible for the bad things, while the US military is full of true heroes who are saving babies and kittens around the world.

[5thfirefly]

@FUCKOFFYOURGAY It’s problematic when someone tries to spread an arguable viewpoint like this worldwide to students who possibly don’t have access to the necessary resources to form their own well-founded opinion in relation to these issues. If someone tries to teach a viewpoint dependent subject like history, especially worldwide, it’s necessary to try really hard to remain impartial. Since in my opinion Lincoln has importance only for Americans, this video was a bit too much for me.

[5thfirefly]

@FUCKOFFYOURGAY But I admit you have a fair point when you’re telling me that I should give Khan more time and space for his biases. After all he has good intentions. My only problem is that social sciences and especially history are viewpoint dependent. E.g. I am quite sure that the Vietnamese view the Vietnam War quite differently from the American viewpoint and not necessarily their version is the false one. If Khan’s history videos are too often biased, his videos will be seen as propaganda.

[FUCKOFFYOURGAY]

@5thfirefly But i can't agree on the other bits about "propaganda". Propaganda is aloud to contain false information, can you point to any lies? He states many times that this is what he personally has discovered through study and obviously since he is giving the lessons its his viewpoint. Its impossible to get past that, even the historical documents we use objectively were written by people of were subjective. Obv you don't go to an american for the vietnamese viewpoint on the war...

[5thfirefly]

@FUCKOFFYOURGAY Anyway I don’t think that Neil Armstrong or the ancient Egyptian gods are more important than Lincoln’s assassination. I think everybody can manage without these topics. Well, at least the Egyptian gods are interesting. But Plato and the Renaissance are different because it’s impossible to understand the modern world without them. E.g. without Plato you will never understand western philosophy. And yes it’s useful to learn about American history at some extent too.

[FUCKOFFYOURGAY]

@5thfirefly I understand what you are getting at. You show a deep respect for some of the most influential thinkers of today's society. But i just generally think more people need to study more of EVERYTHING lol because not every thing can be learned from that time and place.

Gota love the quote "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." -George Santayana. I do agree with a lot of what you said, hard to argue with Plato. Khan will get there though :)

[FUCKOFFYOURGAY]

aloud... lots of bad bad spelling lol I need to study more!

[lupivdaman]

@5thfirefly Americans have to study this stuff at school, Sal is helping the people in American schools who have to learn this stuff, don't be selfish and besides Sal has already done the French Revolution and Napoleon, so calm down.

[5thfirefly]

@lupivdaman Well, okay... for now. But I will keep an eye on him! :)

[eirpcalc]

Very good.

[ravebritt]

I love how Sal always refers to the jackasses of history as "characters".