Learning about history can be a bore for some people. Trying to process important dates, figures, and pieces of legislation that are all crammed into one time period is difficult to do if the method of teaching lacks an effective means to keep the audience’s interest. However, for Stuart Webster, better known as “OverSimplified,” history can be a fun and humorous subject to learn. Through his expert balancing of historical content with comedy and quality visuals that help to better convey historical information, Webster has grown a channel of nearly six million subscribers.

The OverSimplified channel has covered a variety of major conflicts in world history, including the French Revolution and the American Civil War. Because there is so much content about many of these topics, they are often split into two separate videos, so as to not overwhelm the audience. The beginning of each video usually starts with a humorous joke that captures the interest of the audience. For example, the series about the American Civil War begins with President Abraham Lincoln being born with his signature hat and beard, followed by him giving a speech about his birth. This is a poke at Lincoln’s unrivaled public speaking abilities which helped to keep his war-torn country together even while it was insistent on dividing itself. This joke isn’t meant to mock Lincoln, but rather to start the video on an interesting note, rather than using a standard YouTube video intro that can come off as stale and unoriginal. 

Humor and visuals are two important tools that Webster uses to put together high-quality videos. Colorful but easy-to-understand visuals play a key role in showing how historical events progress. While the various maps, character drawings, and scenes used aren’t the most detailed or sophisticated, they contain just enough information that allows the audience to create a general image of what Webster is describing, whether it be the troop movements of the Union and Confederacy during the American Civil War or the poor working conditions created by capitalism that inspired Karl Marx to write the Communist Manifesto. 

The visual aspects of an OverSimplified video are also the most common way that Webster makes his various jokes. One of the most effective methods of joking used is an exaggeration of personality traits or emotions. President Hoover is depicted as an impatient, almost childish figure in the video featuring the Prohibition Era, which is representative of the real-life Hoover’s ineptitude and stubbornness as President of the United States during an era where the nation desperately needed a leader who brought about positive, progressive change. General George McClellan is portrayed as a man constantly in denial, telling President Lincoln that the result of Union military defeats was simply him “merely failing to win,” reflective of McClellan’s lack of sound military tactics and his inability to recognize the advantages he held over his opponents. To go on a broader scale, characters beating each other up or expressing excessive anger or sadness are commonplace to depict disagreements between or general sentiments of groups of people. 

However, the true star of OverSimplified videos is the sheer volume of historical content that Webster can condense and effectively explain in one video. He is able to cram decades of wars, political conflicts, and reform movements into videos anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes long. In addition, the slapstick-eqsue portions of each video are balanced out by a serious discussion of the ugly parts of each topic, whether it be the enslavement of four million African Americans before the Civil War, or horrific war crimes committed by French revolutionaries against civilians during the Reign of Terror and other periods of political instability following the overthrowing of the French monarchy. For all the comedic effect that Webster integrates into his content, he knows when certain subjects need to be appropriately addressed, not in a lighthearted manner, but a solemn one instead. Telling the story of history means bringing to light all aspects and perspectives, not just what is appealing at the surface.

“While the actual historical material is sometimes inaccurate the majority of OverSimplified’s content consists of a series of purposely dramatized events in a timeline that is both entertaining and easily digestible for audiences,” said Arcadia High School junior Rocco Feliciano.

Stuart Webster has helped make learning history fun for millions of people across the Internet. His simple but perfectly executed style of teaching means that his audience is doing more than learning a subject, but rather immersing themselves in a unique experience that helps broaden their view of the world. Being able to break down and convey a subject as broad and confusing as history using nothing more than drawings, comedy, and expert storytelling skills is truly the pinnacle of what it means for something to be “OverSimplified.”