Left Handed History
Left handers have had a hard time in history. As far back as the middle ages Catholic church vigorously opposed left handedness. Later, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the church would accuse left handers of colluding with the devil. Left handedness could be sufficient evidence to identify a person as a witch. This is the lefthanded history page.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries left handedness was still being suppressed by practices like tying a left-handed child’s left hand behind their school chair to force them to write with their right hand. Children often received corporal punishment if they were caught writing left handed.
In the twentieth century the Catholic church continued to frown on left handedness into the 60’s and 70’s. Also, early in the twentieth century some psychologists and psychoanalyst maintained that lefties were stubborn and willful making left handedness an indication of a refusal to conform. Again, in the 70’s the iron curtain countries made right handed writing mandatory and Albania even made left handedness illegal.
Unfortunately, being left handed is still frowned upon in many parts of the world such as the middle east and China.