Here in Ireland we don't even cover the American Revolution or the Civil War in school history, and America only appears on the horizon during the world wars. I never even heard of the war of 1812 until years after I left school. There is as a lot of coverage about British history, but its all based around Ireland struggle for independence from Britain, particulary in the 19th and early 20th centuries. I emerged from school with an oppinion that nothing of any consequence ever happened beyond Britain and Ireland until the 20th centuries, and that Ireland's independence was the most important event in world history. Canada as a country had no history as far as I was thought and I only knew this was untrue due to the fact that I was born there.
|