Lies My Teacher Told Me Summary

Also, the variety of viewpoints presented in this book help to expand the reader’s knowledge. The editors provide a well-rounded collection of additional works that show the reader some of the major theories on a historical event. Basically, a reader is able to see historical issues through the eyes of professional historians. Interpretations of American History does not merely state the facts, it allows the reader to decide where they stand on the historical event in question. This can lead to a deeper, more profound study of history.

Axlerod, Alan, Ph. D., The Complete Idiot's Guide to American History, Alpha Books, 2000, Indianapolis, IN.

Public consensus, similar to politics, varies greatly when it comes to American history, especially as it pertains to the classroom. Views about the content and historical interpretation included in history texts have reached a heightened polarization in recent years. This can be seen in the vast differences between the diatribes of Howard Zinn’s, A People’s History of the United States, and Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen’s, A Patriot’s History of the United States. While both books, prescribed by this introductory course into American History, cover many of the same topics, they clearly paint different pictures. I feel that any text seeking to represent a responsible survey of a

1. Each author had their own objective in writing each of the books. Both books tell the tale of history much like any other textbook. However, each book leaves out certain events creating a noticeable bias between the two. In The People’s History of the United States, the liberal author Howard Zinn writes about American history in a particularly unconventional way to convince the reader that there is another side to the history of the United States, one that does not necessarily invoke a feeling of patriotism, but rather showcases several flaws. On the other hand, Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen write about American history in a very patriotic way in A Patriot’s History of the United States to persuade the reader that one should feel a sense of pride in the history of the United States. Although they bear many similarities due to history not changing, the differences between The People’s History of the United States and A Patriot’s History of the United States are very pronounced due to the bias of each author.

An Indigenous People 's’ History of the United States. A history book claimed to go above and beyond what has been stated in text before it. Every page is packed with details and references to other accredited historians, or examples of the mindset that has been historically infused. At first glance you think you already know about the history of the Native Americans. How we saw it fit to take their land, put them on ever shrinking “gifted” lands that would never allow them to strive again. How they are simply a conquered people who fought back and lost. Alas this book takes what you thought you knew and makes it more real, focusing on the unnecessary genocide. Admittedly this book was very difficult for me to read, I found myself trailing off, being confused with the connections. There were however quite a few spots that stuck out to me, especially those we have covered in our race lectures.

The second event that shaped how I viewed slavery and racism was when I went the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, TN. Although I don't remember many specific details, I do remember being very shocked while walking through. I learned about the perspective from a colored person: how they felt about the way they were treated, and how important it was to them that they change that. I remember the lunch sit-in scene well. There were clay figures sitting at a counter, somber faces, and hunched over. They had basically been through hell and back with the racism thrown at them, almost literally. Food was thrown and dumped on them, as well as curse words yelled at them. Growing up, I definitely knew racism had gotten out of hand at the time of slavery, but after visiting the museum, my knowledge changed drastically. To me, when Loewen calls out textbooks for the miniscule amount of information on the topic put in the book, it doesn't shock me. That is his purpose in this book, and at this point, it's expected to be informed of some outrageous fact you never knew. Reading in Loewen's book about different acts of racism and slavery was shocking, but it would have been more surprising

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

This study would closely analyze various aspects related to “Thinking Through the Past” by John Hollitz. The author attempts to bring forth certain critical factors, which are closely knitted U.S. history. It can be stated that the major challenge is to identify actual facts embedded in the past. There is a need to reflect upon particular questions and determine probable explanations. When we become skilled at historical reasoning, we are able to better acquire knowledge about the world. History texts usually encompass a practical purpose. In this study, the main aim is to focus on historical evidences associated with U.S. history. Historians are often witnessed to contradict one another. This is simply due to source of motivation, which eventually drags a historian towards a standpoint. “Thinking Through the Past” is an approach undertaken by John Hollitz in order to make students aware about specific reasons that had triggered some well-known battles of U.S. This study shall revolve around the debate, which took place over Philippines, and significance of gender in such controversy. There shall be some views highlighted given by Kristin L. Hoganson on gender concerns.

Howard Zinn’s, Peoples’ History of the US and Larry Schweikart’s, Patriots’ History of the US are two analytical views on history that most people would consider politically conflicting. Zinn’s Marxist book was widely praised by liberal activist and Schweikart’s book is greatly publicized by conservatives like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. These two widely known historians turned their focus on writing two historical pieces that would fill in the “historical holes” that weren’t being taught in the educational systems. It created a type of diverse learning that made for a great argument while still allowing the readers to understand all sides of the topics at hand. Zinn really dismissed the common “white mans history” and focused his approach on a multiple minority perspective. Schweikart’s book is very different in the sense he takes aim at Zinn as he targets words like “great discovery” and “war on terror” which Zinn only used as scare quotes. Schweikart’s book really reads like old history textbooks from the moral principals of the American founders that built this nation to the ideological view of American prosperity. No matter who shares the views of the political perspectives or condemns them because of its bias stances both historians felt responsible in writing the history of the United States.

The study of history and the teaching of history has come under intense public debate in the United States in the last few decades. The “culture-wars” began with the call to add more works by non-Caucasians and women and has bled into the study of history. Not only in the study of history or literature, this debate has spread into American culture like wildfire.

The reading selection by Dr. Tameka Bradley Hobbs was every intriguing. I knew lynching and slavery is a very big deal when teaching African-American history. However, I did not know that there were many documented events in history that happened in the sunshine state that I live in. Such as, the events that were explained about Claude Neal, Mary Turner, organizations under NAACP, other activist and famous leaders on page 97 through 101. The only thing that I specifically remembered was the tragedy with Rose Wood reasons being that my mother brought the movie home and explained to

Im going to give you my take on the book 46 pages by Scott Liell. This book was first copyrighted in 2003. This book is general consensuses of how Scoot Liell viewed Thomas Paine’s writing of Common Sense and the Turning point to Independence and how they effected the colony’s. He shows us the true meaning of Thomas Paines writings and how valuable they were even after nearly two and a half century’s. This novel is written in a third person person point of view we get a first row seat in the viewing of how Thomas Paines writing of the Common Sense. Liell goes into great detail to show us how substantial Common Sense really was, and how it shaped life into

The students are right; the textbooks are boring, and they find American history in general is so “boring”.(pg.13) Everything in all the textbooks are already solved; the literature in the textbooks have no suspense; there is no drama to keep the students intertwined in the textbooks. “No wonder the

"It would be better not to know so many things than to know so many

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