cool history

Some teachers really know how to resonate with their students, and Lauren Cella is certainly one of them. Her Gen Z-ified history lessons—with all the lingo, fashion nods, and pop culture references the kids seem to be into these days—connect present audiences to the past in a way that feels fun, fresh, and surprisingly relatable.

Case in point? One of her latest videos discussing the lesser known history behind a tune we all know: “Yankee Doodle Dandy.”

“Lock in for a deep dive, bestie,” Cella wrote in her caption, clearly aware of her audience from the get-go. In the clip, she does indeed go on a delightful deep dive into why this well known song is, as she puts it, “literally a diss track remix.”

If you have no idea why Cella might say this, get ready to be educated and entertained. And even if you are familiar with this moment from American history, we can guarantee you’ve never heard it told quite this way.

And the award for best teacher goes to…@laurencella/Instagram

"Yankee," Cella explains, is derived from the Dutch world “Janke,” which translates to John, Johnny, Johnathan, etc.—all common Dutch names. During this time (1664), the Dutch occupied New England, or New Amsterdam, as it was called then. The term eventually became derogatory slang for Dutch settlers (aka Americans) who lived there by the other European countries trying to take over the land.

Flash forward about a hundred years to 1754, and “France wants to get in on this colonization game, cause they were always kinda like Britney versus Christina,” Cella says. By this time, France has teamed up with the Indigenous tribes looking to fight against England—hence it being called the French and Indian War—while England has teamed up with the Americans, aka the Yankees.

However, the English consider themselves superior and more refined than their American colleagues, and they write an “entire diss track about them,” titled, “Yankee Doodle.” If you’re wondering about “Doodle,” that came from the German word “dödel,” meaning “idiot.”

“It literally means ‘American Idiot!’ Shout-out to all my elder emo Green Day fans” Cella exclaims. She adds that the English ridiculed the Americans for being “country bumpkins,” joking that they couldn’t even ride actual horses into battle, but had to opt for ponies instead. Sick burn.

No matter the era, you don't wanna be an American idiot. media2.giphy.com

So what about the “stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni” bit? Cella admits that this part can be confusing, until you understand the shift that was happening with the young people of the time through fashion, and the adults (aka the aristocracy) who just didn’t get it. Yep, this dynamic is present in every era, it seems.

During this period, young Englishmen would have their “euro summer,” as Cella put it, where they'd go about exploring the cultures of surrounding countries—eating macaroni in Italy one day, trying on giant wigs in France the next day, and so on. To be in the “macaroni fashion club” was to be cool and edgy, sort of like a “hipster,” Cella notes.

Gender fluid fashion has been a form of rebellion in many era, it seems. Wikimedia

Of course, the closest thing these low-class American Yankees could get to this status would be to stick a lame feather in their hat and simply call it "macaroni," the English thought. With friends like these, who needs enemies?

By the end of the (very expensive) French and Indian war, England and the Yankees went from frenemies to actual enemies, after England tried to impose taxes on America for “defending” them from France. The American Revolution was America's way of saying “We are never ever ever getting back together,” says Cella.

Cut to America’s victory during the Revolutionary War, when England surrenders at the battle of Yorktown, and George Washington has a band play this very song as the defeated English troops are being escorted out.

“It’s kind of like we Uno-reversed the narrative, and turned ‘Yankee Doodle’ into a flex,” Cella concludes. Class dismissed.

There's just so much to love here. One, it’s cool to see how reclaiming words to take back power is so deeply ingrained in the human psyche. We see this even today, with words like “queer,” “nerd,” “Black,” and even “b*tch” and “sl*t,” (though of course those last two still carry a heavy connotation for some). And two, you gotta hand it to Cella’s delivery, which actually brought this history lesson to life. All great history teachers have the ability to do this in their own way, and Cella has undoubtedly found hers.

No wonder the video got wonderful comments, even from fellow educators:

“I can’t get enough of your videos! I teach American Revolution and 13 Colonies and while I knew the gist of Yankee Doodle being an original diss on colonists, I didn’t know the whole scope of it until now. Amazing explanation that I’ll share with my students!”

“You are amazing !!!!! Teaching this language arts teacher some history in an incredibly fun way !!!!!”

“Great job! I taught American History and Constitution to 8th graders for many years and even I learned a new things!👏👏👏”

Of course, Cella doesn’t just Gen Z-ify American history. She’s also covered the Russian Revolution (Tzar Nicholas’ “flop era”), the beginnings of World War I (when Germany tried to prove it wasn’t just a “mid” empire) and more. Her videos might be geared towards a specific generation, but honestly, they’re a delight for all age groups.

Follow Cella on Instagram to uncover even more gems.