The essays that were studied the closest were the one by Peter Stearns and the one by Jack Betterly. Both men seem to be qualified on the basis that they were both history teachers in their lifetimes. Because of this they both appear to be writing to teachers and students in their essays. Both of these teachers are also trying to persuade the reader to want to study history. However, that is where the similarities …showed first 75 words of 738 total…

…showed last 75 words of 738 total…today, so you could say the past is with us, similar to Stearns wrote. Now you can not go back to the past or it would not be the past, so you can say the past is gone forever, just like Betterly said. Rather, the only thing we have certain is the present. The past is only useful if it can help us shape our futures, and that is the most important lesson of history.