Hosted by the Irish Cultural Center - reposted by PATH

​https://www.facebook.com/events/1442778885858576/

SOURCE: Onlyinyourstate.com/Arizona

https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/arizona/alien-abduction-az/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=arizona&utm_campaign=newsletter

​There’s no better way to experience Arizona than through hiking. You get to see spectacular views, experience the weather, spot wildlife, and occasionally run into Arizonans doing the exact same thing. Sometimes, it will even introduce you to the history of the area through interpretive trails or, in this case, old ruins from decades or centuries ago. So, no matter your ability, here are some suggestions for great little (or not so little) trails to see a piece of Arizona history.

SOURCE: Onlyinyourstate.com/Arizona
​https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/arizona/az-ruins-hiking-trails/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=arizona&utm_campaign=newsletter

https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/arizona/az-lost-lion/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=arizona&utm_campaign=newsletter
​

THE HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
Arizona, the Grand Canyon state, achieved statehood on February 14, 1912, the last of the 48 coterminous United States to be admitted to the union. Originally part of New Mexico, the land was ceded to the United States in 1848, and became a separate territory in 1863.

Read about in the link below.  SOURCE:  History.com

HISTORY UNWRITTEN
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Historically, man has attempted to keep accurate historical records of the events that came before them. Originating in oral history, passed down through generations, and eventually recorded as written texts, these stories have been cherished for centuries as the only connection to a world that would be otherwise forgotten.   

Our Nations monuments and memorabilia keep the events throughout the history of the United States.  They were erected and placed with the intent of stimulating curiosity and discussion about our unique past and the continual development and evolution of our Nation.  

History has shown us that erasing it does more to damage the progress of a Nation, than to help it.  Erasing history, and those in it, is merely a tactic used by dictators. Rather than embracing former administrations and learning and improving from them, they choose to erase all mention of them, in an attempt to deprive one’s recollection of a time when all or part of that regime may have appealed to the populous.  Thus controlling the direction of individual thought.  
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The Egyptians may have created the practice of historical revision. They brought it into the public light as a common practice. Each new pharaoh sought to prove himself the superior of his predecessor, often at the cost of demolishing all memory of the former king. This practice makes it very difficult to determine chronological events in Egyptian history because the names of conquered rulers were literally chiseled out of their place in history. 

The term Damnatio Memoriae was created by the Romans as literally "the damning of a memory". With the Romans, legacy was held in higher regard than life itself, it was the ultimate insult to strike an entire lifetime’s worth of achievements from the books as if they had never existed. This penalty was considered one reserved for the worst offenders in society.

Examples of History Unwritten: 

Roman Emperor Geta Severan attempted to divide his father’s kingdom with his bitter rival and brother, Caracalla. Geta was eventually murdered by Caracalla, who then had Geta’s wife executed. After their deaths, all inscriptions of either and every statue and reference to Geta or his wife were destroyed. 
Nikolai Yezhov, minister of Stalin’s most vicious enforcement unit, ended up at the spear-end of the communist leader’s anger. Nikolai was ousted, murdered, and disgraced along with his family, he was then methodically erased from photographs where he had previously appeared with his commander.  It was commonplace in the communist government to deny failures and make inconvenient truths, even people, disappear. The practice has continued in current communist-led governments where rebellious leaders are removed by force and deleted from official documents. 

Some truly upsetting policies have emerged from the secretive, totalitarian government of Kim Jong-un and his predecessors.  One such policy is of cold-blooded murder and defamation of anyone—including family—who opposes the official policy of the state.  When his own uncle brought offense to the current dictator, he had the man arrested. He was then decreed a traitor and murdered. Infuriated, Kim had the man systematically removed from all media in the country that was within the government’s power to manipulate. The man who had enjoyed an inside position for years now officially never existed in the country of North Korea. 

Queen Hatshepsut led a prosperous Egypt for 20 years after the death of her husband Thutmose I. Whether because of a personal grudge or as a political move, Thutmose III, upon taking the thrown after Hatshepsuts death, had inscriptions of his aunt removed, her statues walled up or destroyed, and her name erased from history.  

Constantine and the rebellious Maximian shared the ruling title of Caesar, arguing over who had the right to the title of Augustus (supreme commander). It was a complicated affair and the shifting of power went back and forth for years.  Known as anti-Christian, Maximian had temples burned and Christians persecuted throughout the province. Extremely unpopular in the reformist regime that would become Constantine’s empire, he was imprisoned and eventually committed suicide. As punishment for his crimes and to wipe the Roman slate clean to make way for Christian policy, Maximian was erased from history—his portraits were removed and coins bearing his image were destroyed.  

Akhenaten has at times been referred to as the inspiration for the Christian character of Moses. Shortly after taking the throne, Akhenaten ordered all mention of the previous god (said to have fathered the previous pharaoh) to be removed from the mortuary chambers of his father.  For all his efforts, his son, King Tutankhamun, later reversed his decrees. Shortly after Akhenaten’s death, the scribes entered his father’s tomb and re-carved all of the original god’s names. While they were at it, all mentions of Akhenaten were systematically eliminated. 
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The reason every schoolchild knows Genghis Khan but no movie was ever made starring a cartoon version of Altani or her sisters, the daughters of Genghis Khan, is because the record of their reign, The Secret History of the Mongols, was mysteriously edited to exclude the words of their father that would bestow their rightful honor in his new kingdom. Genghis was reported to have said that honor should be given to the women, whom he had great respect for.  
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Slavery has been in practice since pre-biblical times. The practice of capturing the enemy and placing them in bondage and hard labor has traditionally been considered “the spoils of war.”  There is history that denotes the Egyptians had slaves, and every culture thereafter. Every race of man has been a victim of slavery at one point in history, most recently, Africans. The first English slave codes were written in Barbados in 1661.  Most slave codes dealt with how free people dealt with slaves.  Slave codes left a great deal unsaid, with much of the actual practice of slavery being a matter of traditions rather than formal law.  Slavery existed in the America’s for 245 years.  Slaves were stripped of their heritage, forced to wear clothing of their captors, learn their religion, forbidden to read or write and forbidden from marriage.  They relied on music and song to tell the story of their heritage and passed this method of recording history on from generation to generation.   Without this verbal chronology, the history of the Africans enslaved throughout the world, would be lost.

As you can see from the above examples, all of these events began under a communist dictatorship or monarchies, in which the People had no voice.  To the detriment of the people and descendants to come, history was and is lost.  

Although there are clearly parts of history that we today find unappealing, it is still part of the evolution of man and Nations.  Without the knowledge of the past, we cannot learn for the future.  The literal definition of evolution is the process by which different living things are thought to have developed and diversified from earlier forms during the history of the earth; the gradual development of something, especially from a simple to a more complex form.   
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This is the melting pot of the United States of America.  Where we were once under the monarchy of Great Britain, and all of its historical values and beliefs, the United States has evolved. We have come from origins of simple methods of survival, historical ideals of differences between us, and the un-satiated quest for land and independence.  We have evolved from these conditions through the process of intellectual thought and ingenuity, creativity and yes, from our mistakes.  To erase any of this history is to ignore the accomplishments that make us what we are today.  

History, whether one views it as positive or negative, is history.  There is no changing it.  As long as we continue to improve, one should view history in terms of how we, as Americans, have taken on one of the biggest challenges known to modern man, and overcome the obstacles, barriers and stereotypes that many others are still striving to reach, even to this day.  We should be proud of what we have evolved from and into.  How will future generations understand the depth of our growth, if we do not teach them, and show them, the levels of accomplishment from past to present?​

The United States of America was created from revolution.  Our Forefathers dream was independence from Monarchy and tyrannical government.  Our Constitution was ground breaking, and has become the benchmark for many to follow.  It gives a voice to the People.  We should be very leery to digress into a state of monarchial dictatorship when deciding to erase parts of what created us.  While some may disagree on what parts of history should be visible to the eye, others believe it to be extremely important to keep a visual reminder of our progress and accomplishments, for future generations.  Equal representation of EVERY aspect of the Unites States, and its evolution, should remain intact.
 
In our Bill of Rights lies the First Amendment – Freedom of Speech.   With this enumerated right, is the right of ALL people to be heard, to have a voice, and to express themselves, without governmental interference.   The Supreme Court has ruled that the government also has a right to free speech, and they are legally allowed to express that with statues, monuments and memorabilia on their property.  The First Amendment right of the property owner, in this case the government, trumps that of the American citizen.   Shall we hope that our government, under this Constitution, strives to represent ALL of its people and the PATH of history that brought us to where we are today!!
 
~ Sue Ann
Partners for Arizona’s True History, LLC
01/17/2019
 
References:
 
http://listverse.com/2014/09/14/10-people-who-were-erased-from-history/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution
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