Chapter Overview

The purpose of this chapter is to help you think about the role history plays in your own and other people's lives and the way history defines (or challenges) our sense of identity as a people and as a nation. Chapter 9 asks you to consider not only what has happened in the past, but also how history is written: Who does the writing and from what point of view? Does American history need to be rewritten? What is included/omitted? How does the writing of history become invested with authority?

This Companion Website continues with the themes from the chapter. The Web exercises explore historical truth, cultural objects, and the power of photography to capture history. The Wired Culture activity investigates Iraqi war images, while the Film Clip looks at the western genre of films. Visual Culture Online examines photographs in history, and finally, Mining the Web offers links to museums and historical sites.