Sunday, July 17, 2011

Education

I found a reference yesterday in which a distinguished lecturer in history had given a talk at a university, and afterward was complimented on his talk by a student who said that prior to hearing him she had not realized that the 13 colonies were all located on the East coast.

In all fairness, it's an easy mistake to make. Washington, who figures prominently in the history of the colonies, is located on the West coast, just north of Oregon.

1 comment:

Brad K. said...

Isn't it confusing, when the Pacific Northwest includes Washington State and Oregon, while the Northwest Territories includes Ohio?


Then there is the Disney wild horse (mustang) film that portrays horses as having been here before the Europeans, when the Spanish brought them to America from Europe.

Then there are the "native" American tribes that arrived from Asia, driving the earlier waves of immigrants from North America into Central and Southern America, with some Vikings thrown in before Columbus was a gleam in his daddy's eye.

And here I thought Washington was on the Dollar Bill. Or was that a monument in some mall somewhere, not the King of Prussia mall (named for the town, which was named for a tavern, not the King of Prussia, though the tavern was named for the King of Prussia), located just west of Philadelphia. That is Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.