I think this is grounded in so many people thinking about history only as the history of war. There are very real people who are not supernaturally dumb or anything who think that history goes American Civil War > World War 1 > World War 2, with periods of nothing in between. To them, most times will look peaceful, because compared to World War 2 - which was one event and not a process spread out over several years - any individual month is not that violent.
I still struggle to make sure to not think of history this way, and I know why so many people think that way. It’s literally how history was taught in school. In my high school everything after 1770 was covered in US History, and the chapters went something like revolutionary war, antebellum, civil war, Indian wars, world war 1, world war 2, Cold War.
This is not unique to the US. It is how history is taught. My history books pretty much told me that history ended in 1721. Then there was the French Revolution in 1789 and the industrial revolution in 1800. Then World War 1. Weird to skip the 19th century in my opinion, but no wars here, so it simply is not history.
I think this is grounded in so many people thinking about history only as the history of war. There are very real people who are not supernaturally dumb or anything who think that history goes American Civil War > World War 1 > World War 2, with periods of nothing in between. To them, most times will look peaceful, because compared to World War 2 - which was one event and not a process spread out over several years - any individual month is not that violent.
I still struggle to make sure to not think of history this way, and I know why so many people think that way. It’s literally how history was taught in school. In my high school everything after 1770 was covered in US History, and the chapters went something like revolutionary war, antebellum, civil war, Indian wars, world war 1, world war 2, Cold War.
This is not unique to the US. It is how history is taught. My history books pretty much told me that history ended in 1721. Then there was the French Revolution in 1789 and the industrial revolution in 1800. Then World War 1. Weird to skip the 19th century in my opinion, but no wars here, so it simply is not history.