IMMENSELY IMPORTANT BORING STATUTES. The Homestead Act mentioned in today’s other post was one of the immensely important statutes that I found boring in my high school American history class. My friend Bob Wilson pointed out to me years ago that the statutes relating to the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 were critically important, not only because they forbade slavery, but also because they rejected feudalism in the Northwest territories, providing instead for public auction of lands in small units. Another immensely important boring statute created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in 1933, thus ending runs on banks in the United States. And how I hated learning about these tremendously important events.
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It’s odd how they are emphasized. Sometimes unimportant bills get tons of love, and important ones are presented in a really bland way. The one I thought of when it comes to this is the G.I. Bill.
Yes, tremendously important, and yet one hundred years after the fact, its impact will probably be ignored.
This surprises me, Dad, how boring these statutes were to you. I didn’t really mind them at all. I think I was most bored by the European wars we had to memorize. They seemed so petty and, well, unimportant (but I’m sure they were). Nick and I both received a great education in U.S. history, but I’m sure most kids in this country weren’t so fortunate. Even if I forget what the Missouri Compromise was actually about (expanding slavery into the new western territories, I believe?) at least I’m familiar with the term and can go look it up comfortably. I think familiarity and comfort with learning is just as important, or more important, than what we actually learn.