Real History Vs. Percieved History

[Mr. Dictator]

Ok, we all know that past events and cultures shape today's and tomorrow's, so what are some examples where we have a false image of the past?

So far i've got how some seem to glorify older music because everything was great, even though if you ask them they can probably only name 20 bands from that era, even though there has always been a 10:1 bad to good ratio of music. is it because we wipe out the bad and put the good on a pedestal when it comes to some things in history and in the present we only see the bad?

anyways, take my post and run.

 

[Phlegmak]

History is malleable like soft clay.

 

[Mr. Dictator]

History is malleable like soft clay.

true, like how some still think julius was a good leader?

but this still doesnt mean anything for people who are older and actually remember being alive in the, just to go with my example, 60s and 70s.

 

[Arwon]

People think the Spanish Inquisition was primarily a theocratic instrument of purely religious terror when it was much more secular than that, and functioned primarily a tool of the monarchs, a secret police to be used against nonconformists. If anything it could be considered the least religious of the various Catholic inquisitions, since final authority rested with the Crown, not the Pope.

 

[Mr. Dictator]

People think the Spanish Inquisition was primarily a theocratic instrument of purely religious terror when it was much more secular than that, and functioned primarily a tool of the monarchs, a secret police to be used against nonconformists. If anything it could be considered the least religious of the various Catholic inquisitions, since final authority rested with the Crown, not the Pope.

what was the primary goal? just to weed out dissent and personal vendettas?

 

[Arwon]

Initially it was to solidify the forced conversions in the wake of the reconquista, but it became kind of a catch-all for actual and percieved opponents of the Crown and Church. Everything from people with "incorrect" theological or scientific ideas, to false converts, to political enemies of the crown, and later liberals and protestants and other political reformers. There wasn't a set delineation between ecclesiastical and monarchical authority back then, no secular/religious or public/private split.

A lot of it was vendettas too, because if you could get a rival hauled up before the Inquisition, you could take their stuff, and so forth.

It also didn't kill or impact nearly as many people as is often believed. It was a classical instrument of terrorr in that respect.

 

[Onionsoilder]

Columbus was more cruel and vicious then Cortez, yet Cortez is much more infamous.

 

[Phlegmak]

Columbus was a slaver, and should not be revered.

 

[choxorn]

what was the primary goal? just to weed out dissent and personal vendettas?

No, the primary goal of the Spanish Inquisition is to suddenly burst through a door every time someone says "I wasn't expecting the Spanish Inquisition."

 

[carmen510]

I think we glorify the New Deal too much and ignore its problematic aftermath effects that are felt even today, like the Ministry of Agriculture destroying crops in order to keep prices up for farmers. (Yeah, destroying crops during the Great Depression supposedly keeps people in a better financial situation)

 

[Evie]

On the inquisition, its kill count is something like 3000-5000 people, from 1480 to 1830 (ie, 300-ish (because of the Napoleon years) years), which averages out to around 10-17 executions a year). Given estimates of about 150000 trials before the inquisition over that same era, that's also hardly a case of "burn them all and let god sort".

And, given the body count of the Witch Hunts - generally higher than the Inquisition, over a shorter time periods...it puts things in perspective a little bit. What put things a lot more in perspective is the realization that the Spanish Inquisition was one of the most fervent *opponents* of the Witch Hunts, and all but shut them out of Spain.

Yeah, the Inquisition was bad. But in the broader picture of the religious horror of early modern Europe, it looks a lot less like the supreme evil it's been made out to be, and a lot more like one of the not-so-bad byproducts of a society that still had a lot to learn about what we today consider basic morality.

 

[Sharwood]

Seems like this would be a great thread for the History forum. Even if Arwon did steal what I was planning on using.

Perceived history: The Aztecs had a mighty empire.

Real history: The Aztec "Empire" was in actual fact a loose confederation under the nominal leadership of whichever city was most powerful at the time. When Cortez arrived, that was Tenochtitlan.

 

[MobBoss]

People think the Spanish Inquisition was primarily a theocratic instrument of purely religious terror when it was much more secular than that, and functioned primarily a tool of the monarchs, a secret police to be used against nonconformists. If anything it could be considered the least religious of the various Catholic inquisitions, since final authority rested with the Crown, not the Pope.

Not to mention not as many people were killed during it as people realize...

 

[Miles Teg]

I think we glorify the New Deal too much and ignore its problematic aftermath effects that are felt even today, like the Ministry of Agriculture destroying crops in order to keep prices up for farmers. (Yeah, destroying crops during the Great Depression supposedly keeps people in a better financial situation)

Percieved history: The Roosevelt administration did great, or over reacted to the Great Depression and thereby made it worse.

Reality: Roosevelt's insistence on balanced budgets and need to avoid anything that smacked of socialism slowed down recovery. In fact, it was the tremendous spending caused by WWII that finally did it in.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

Roosevelt's insistence on balanced budgets? What are you talking about? He may have kept a second set of books to make the budget look balanced, but he did not insist the budget actually be balanced. Plus, he did quite a lot that "smacked of socialism."

 

[Israelite9191]

I believe that this should be in the World History forum, not the Off-Topic forum.

 

[LightFang]

Abraham Lincoln did not fight the Civil War to free the slaves specifically!!!

Also, about old people and their music: isn't it weird how they always think this generation of music is trash, but then theirs was totally awesome? People thought jazz was sinful. Now it's classic and only true adults listen to freeform jazz and are all sophisticated.

I'm afraid for when people reminisce about rap.

 

[Fifty]

Almost no history books acknowledge the fact that nearly every bad event since the fall of Babylon has been caused by jewish freemasons.

 

[Israelite9191]

Almost no history books acknowledge the fact that nearly every bad event since the fall of Babylon has been caused by jewish freemasons.

We are mischievous.

 

[Mr. Dictator]

I'm afraid for when people reminisce about rap.

it'll be hilarious.

remember the old cell phone commercials with the "in" geriatrics?