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== Organizing History ==

== Organizing History ==

From 1789 until today, we have had an American President.  He is not more important than others.  If I had to name the ten most important Americans in history, I would include only one president in the list (the first one, [[George Washington]]).  But memorizing the list of 43 presidents can help you organize all the other facts.  When someone asks me what was happening in 1962, I think of who was president and then remember the issues of that time.  The presidents become like drawers in a cabinet where you might put your clothes.  In the "cabinet" of presidents, each drawer is filled with issues and events that happened during each presidency.

From 1789 until today, we have had an American President.  He is not more important than others.  If I had to name the ten most important Americans in history, I would include only one president in the list (the first one, [[George Washington]]).  But memorizing the list of 44 presidents can help you organize all the other facts.  When someone asks me what was happening in 1962, I think of who was president and then remember the issues of that time.  The presidents become like drawers in a cabinet where you might put your clothes.  In the "cabinet" of presidents, each drawer is filled with issues and events that happened during each presidency.

But before 1789 there was no president.  How are we going to organize that?  One way is to focus on the three most important colonies, [[Virginia]] (1607), [[Massachusetts]] (1620) and [[Pennsylvania]] (1681), and relate the other ten colonies and events to them.  Another way is to look at the battles that occurred before the [[American Revolution]], such as the [[French and Indian War]] in 1754-1760.

But before 1789 there was no president.  How are we going to organize that?  One way is to focus on the three most important colonies, [[Virginia]] (1607), [[Massachusetts]] (1620) and [[Pennsylvania]] (1681), and relate the other ten colonies and events to them.  Another way is to look at the battles that occurred before the [[American Revolution]], such as the [[French and Indian War]] in 1754-1760.