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t 8:45 a.m., September 11th, 2001, the first of two
airlines struck the World Trade Center in New York,
in the first of a series of coordinated terrorist attacks
on the United States. At 9:03, a second plane crashed
into a second World Trade Center tower, and exploded.
With both buildings ablaze, hundreds of rescue personnel
rushed to the scene.
At 9:43 a.m., a third passenger plane crashed into the
Pentagon, in the world's largest office building. At
10:05, the south tower of the World Trade Center collapsed,
plummeting into the streets below. A massive cloud of
dust and debris formed and slowly drifted away from the
building. Five minutes later, a portion of the Pentagon
collapsed. At 10:28, The World Trade Center's north
tower collapsed from the top down, releasing a tremendous
cloud of debris and smoke. At 10:48 police confirmed
that a fourth passenger jet had crashed in western Pennsylvania.
Background
In the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil,
hijackers crashed passenger planes into the Pentagon
and the World Trade Center towers in New York, toppling
the 110-story twin towers, killing all aboard the jets
and more than 3,000 people on the ground.
Learning from History
In ordinary times, many students question the value
and relevance of history. After all, knowledge of history
doesn't seem as practical or rewarding as knowledge
of medicine or physics or economics. The normal justifications
for studying history seem rather vague: to learn about
the development of our society and our cultural heritage;
to develop the skills characteristic of history as a
discipline, such as the ability to undertake research,
to read and interpret primary sources, to write clearly
and analytically.
But in times of crisis and tragedy we are reminded of
the more profound reasons why we study history. We study
history:
- In Order to Learn from the Mistakes of the Past
so We do not Repeat Them.
- Because Knowledge of the Past is Essential to Understanding
the Present and Shaping the Future.
- To Remind Ourselves that Nothing is Inevitable,
but is the Product of Human Action and Choices But
also of Chance.
- To Remember Acts of Heroism and of Villainy.
- Because History Contributes to Moral Understanding
and Reminds Us about the People who Weathered Adversity
and Acted with Courage.
The tragic events of September 11, 2001 underscore the
need for historical perspective, and provide the history
teacher with an opportunity to remind students of why
historical knowledge is indispensable in navigating through
present-day challenges and preparing for the future.
What, then, do the events of September 11, 2001 teach
us about history?
- To Expect the Unexpected
No one predicted on September 10, 2001 that the next
day would witness an unprecedented act of terrorism,
just as no one in 1941 anticipated an attack on Pearl
Harbor and no one in 1991 guessed that the Soviet
Union would collapse. Similarly, no one guessed that
the outbreak of world war in 1914 would result in
the collapse of five empires or the Communist Revolution
in Russia.
Today, no one can predict the outcome of the events
that took place on September 11, 2001. But history
does remind us that consequences of a terrorist attack
or an assassination are rarely those that the perpetrators
of violence have sought. Those who destroyed the World
Trade Center and attacked the Pentagon hoped to demoralize
the American population, disrupt our economy, and
discredit the United States in the eyes of the world.
Despite the destruction they wrought, it seems unimaginable
that the terrorists will succeed in those goals.
- To Remember that Nothing is Inevitable
What happened on September 11, 2001, was not preordained.
The tragic events that occurred that day were the
product of a train of individual events that might
have turned out differently. Nothing better underscores
the unpredictability of events better than the actions
of the brave passengers on United Airlines Flight,
who learned about the attacks on the World Trade Center
and sacrificed their own lives in order to prevent
their airplane from striking Washington, D.C.
- To Understand Why
In recent years, we have come to recognize that most
acts of aggression and fanaticism in the contemporary
world are rooted in a sense of historical grievance.
In areas as diverse as the Balkans, Israel and Palestine,
Northern Ireland, and Zimbabwe memories of the past
are strong and fuel contemporary conflicts. History
does not have the power to resolve those conflicts,
but it can help us understand why antagonisms are
so deeply rooted.
- To Prevent History from Repeating Itself
Over time, we will understand why the intelligence
apparatus failed to uncover the terrorist plot and
why our security systems failed to prevent the attacks.
As we learn from past mistakes, we may be able to
prevent similar acts of terror from recurring in the
future.
- To Remember
History is our collective memory. It is an indelible
record of acts of bravery and of treachery, of leadership
and of cowardice. We study history in order to keep
these memories alive.
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