Ivy Ruhlen
POLS
29 April 2015
Lies My Teacher Told Me
Lies My Teacher Told Me, by James Loewen displays an incongruous way of presenting history to today’s generations of high school students of American history. They are being given a false perspective on how past history truly happened, which is giving them a warped understanding of the past, present, and future. Leaving history to repeat itself by unknowing, uncaring, and uninterested individuals. By choosing to omit or forget the true obstacles of the past the present and future are a placed at risk of being an echo. Loewen’s book truly brings out all the false pretenses that we are set up with from the beginning of our learning years that can only harm our worldly understanding when we
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The majority of racism remains unseen in the textbooks, both as it is used to defend the institution of slavery and to demand its abolition. Slavery turns openly racial for Europeans only from the time it becomes profitable. By the 19th century, slavery is worth fighting for as the backbone of the South's cotton-based economy. Northern whites have bought into the idea of black lowliness, it is astonishing they would join the fight. Abolitionism is made in the number of John Brown to seem crazy, while Abraham Lincoln's position cannot be held down because his expressive words are not allowed to express for themselves. He is moderate and dedicated above all to conserving the Union, and, when assassinated, demoted to a base. The conquests of Reconstruction, limited as they are by the actions of impenitent ex-Confederates, are turned into the overthrow of carpetbaggers and scalawags, in a way that will not upset the white majority. These racial issues are still largely present in today’s society. Many people seem to be taken aback by these occurrences, but if they were exposed to these earlier historical happenings it would not be so prevalent. Racism originally displayed toward the Native Americans has spread to every diversified group and has resulted in many more unfortunate stereotypical groups not only pertaining to …show more content…
The ‘American way’ does not offer the commonly liked idea of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. The ecosystem aches the same sad fortune. Post-World War II government delays in handling foreign policy and the Civil Rights movement are exposed as glowing government accomplishments, while Vietnam and other near-current events slip into oblivion so the story can end with uplifting, super-patriotic prophecies of ongoing American progress. The result is that history, as a subject, appears extraneous. Having a skewed view of facts has left each of us with conflicting conclusions and behaviors, one against another. We depend on historical knowledge to map and guide us to making a future of change. If we are being lied to at such a young age what leads you to believe that we will grow to be any different when relaying the past to future
In his article, Lincoln, a White Supremacist (1968), Bennett put forth the argument that Lincoln was born into a poor white family in the slave state of Kentucky and raised in the anti-black environments of southern Indiana and Illinois, Lincoln was exposed from the very beginning to racism. Furthermore, Bennett makes an inference stating, It would have been difficult, if not impossible, for young Abraham Lincoln to emerge unscathered from this enviroment (page 130). Without stronger support and more detailed evidence, Bennett is making guesses about Lincoln’s environment having a lasting impact on slavery and blacks without much substance. On the other hand, in Trial by Fire: A People's History of the Civil War and Reconstruction, by historian Page Smite, He [Lincoln] took the action required to save the nation. Thus, his view on the volatile political issue of slavery appeared to change as his views on what was required to save the nation changed (1982). Lincoln changed his public views according to the public’s reaction in order to stay on both the north’s and south’s side. Abraham Lincoln was an opportunist and changed his views on African Americans and slavery when it was necessary to win both the North and
Charles Murray’s American Exceptionalism invokes ideas I had not considered before. The way he describes America in its early life is unrecognizable to me. Murray discusses the geographic setting, American ideology, the traits of the American people, and the operation of the American political system. Now, centuries later than the time he described, it is like America had gone on a rapidly fast down torrent. I agree with Murray’s ideas of the exceptional traits America exuded, however, the traits I observe now, and as Murray talks about later on in the book, have taken on a different meaning. It is almost as if the once amazing concepts have been reduced to nearly half their worth. I am in no way stating America is no longer exceptional, but
Over the past few weeks of class, we have covered the first five chapters of our textbook, written by George Brown Tindell and David Emory Shi called, “America, A Narrative History.” Each chapter told the reader a narration of the history of America, as opposed to an expository version of America’s history. Each chapter had its own main idea over a portion of history, along with many details that cover the importance of the main idea. As a reader, one may obtain a deeper appreciation for the country 's history, prior to entering the class on the first day. The most important aspect of history, besides the battles that are fought, is the different cultures that make up today’s modern America.
America is a nation “from many, one” as stated in our country’s original motto. We pride ourselves on the granted equal opportunity and freedom afforded to each citizen. But are these premises held true and adequately carried out? My answer is a resounding no! Our country’s intricate history provides us with the foundation that explains why and how discrimination has infiltrated and given the upper hand to the white race that has dominated the American society, while suppressing races of color. Dating back to the discovery of the new world we know as the contemporary United States, the African American race has been segregated and mistreated as exemplified through
All history comes with contradictions. With every moment in history comes a corresponding moment which can take the accuracy and understanding and change them forever. Throughout time people add small pieces of information to great events in our past. This is where we get the misinterpretation of history. In chapter five of the book Lies My Teacher Told Me, these contradictions are brought into light and force us to look at them again. As I have learned in my history courses we can always question the accuracy of a story but we may never fully understand the truth. There have been three important times I have been through that have shaped my understanding of history today, specifically the part of history dealing with slavery and racism.
High school history textbooks are seen, by students, as presenting the last word on American History. Rarely, if ever, do they question what their text tells them about our collective past. According to James W. Loewen's Lies My Teacher Told Me, they should be. Loewen has spent considerable time and effort reviewing history texts that were written for high school students. In Lies, he has reviewed twenty texts and has compared them to the actual history. Sadly, not one text measures up to the author's expectation of teaching students to think. What is worse, though, is that students come away from their classes without "having developed the ability to think coherently about social
Loewen’s thesis in chapter three of “Lies My Teacher Told Me” was that almost everything we know about Thanksgiving is wrong. For example, the textbooks we learn from only teach us the side of the Englishmen, perhaps to cover up the not so heroic side of the Pilgrims? If you look back with the “common sense” we have now, we would have known it was the Native Americans we should’ve been thanking, not God. Even though what really happened was traumatic for the Wampanoag. History is always written by the winners, so when someone is in search of the truth they may want to get the story from the other side also.
The Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War, by Thomas J. DiLorenzo completely shatters the illusion of the 16th President as the liberator of the slaves. DiLorenzo provides convincing evidence for Lincoln’s overt racism as expressed in his documented views on racial supremacy as stated in his desire to colonize all American blacks outside the United States (p. 4); Lincoln’s views were matched by the majority in the North who used such tools as state constitutional amendments to prohibit the emigration of black people into Northern states like Lincoln’s home of Illinois (p. 4); and that the Presidents war which killed 620, 000 Americans and destroyed 40% of the
The author says that defenders and supporters of Lincoln can always back up his remarks with a redeeming quality. Lincoln admitted his feelings of racial equality; instead he always stated the feeling of white people. He didn’t always carefully construct his answers when speaking about his position of certain topics, although he tried. Lincoln wanted all questions about race removed from all discussion. His strategy to do so was to agree with the Democratic Party that there was no equality between blacks and whites. He used racism strategically to eliminate it. Lincoln did admit that he was in support of colonization because he truthfully believed that blacks and whites could not live together equally. To a man like Frederick Douglass, what Lincoln and the Republicans stood for was disjointed. And to me, while this may have all been a strategy for Lincoln, I feel it necessary to take Douglass’ side of the issue.
James Loewen uses his piece Lies my Teacher Told Me to reveal the flaws in America’s mainstream textbooks. Loewen points out the fact that textbooks try to “indoctrinate blind patriotism” (Loewen 6) and “keep students in the dark about the nature of history” (Loewen 8). Almost every American textbook sells history using the “soft seduction” approach, as explained in Robert Greene’s book, The Art of Seduction. Textbooks try to seduce Americans into being proud of their country by making American historical figures look like heroes, like in the case of Helen Keller, Woodrow Wilson, and Christopher Columbus. “Heroification” (Loewen 11) has a
"It would be better not to know so many things than to know so many
The matter of slavery played as a piece of the puzzle in the civil war. Southerners had a twisted way of viewing people with a darker skin tone of theirs and James Henry Hammond asserted that, “In all social systems there must be a class to do the menial duties, to perform the drudgery of life.” He went on to proclaim that, “Fortunately the South…found a race for this purpose. A race inferior to her own” [L]. Strongly disagreeing, Abolitionists in the North perceived the black people not an as inferior race but rather “entitled to equal privileges and rights with the white man” [P]. Helping to flame these
It was a common saying of the past that the history of a conflict was told by the victors. That was true then, the losers of the conflict had to rebuild after their defeat and the winners could share their side of the story, twisting it so it would seem that they did no harm and the losers deserved defeat because they were the villains. This is not true today. With the wealth of information at one’s finger tips and the available research opportunities the stories can be untangled and both sides of the story can be told. However, some have held strong to the truths that their side proclaimed and refuse to admit that their victory was tarnished by lies, deceits, and omissions. This very idea is what shaped how
Throughout this course we learned about slavery and it's effects on our country and on African Americans. Slavery and racism is prevalent throughout the Americas before during and after Thomas Jefferson's presidency. Some people say that Jefferson did not really help stop any of the slavery in the United States. I feel very differently and I will explain why throughout this essay. Throughout this essay I will be explaining how views of race were changed in the United States after the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, and how the events of the Jeffersonian Era set the stage for race relations for the nineteenth century.
Unfortunately, in this time and age, racism continues to be an issue in the American society, especially in the south. Since the introduction of slavery, many people have the belief that skin color determines someone’s ranking in life. After the freedom of slaves, racism became a big problem in America. As a result, other races look down upon many different cultures and ethnic groups believing that they are superior to others. Racism has lead to people discriminate against one another and become prejudice. Unfortunately, racism effects peoples lifestyles, job opportunities, and education.