James E. Loewen's Lies My Teacher Told Me
James E. Loewen's book Lies My teacher Told Me is a book that should be read by everyone at some point in their lives. According to James W. Loewen, students hate history classes and when they have to take history, the students think it's boring. They repress everythingthey were taught. James W. Loewen spent a lot of time studying 12 history textbooks; he observed high school history classes and interveiwed high school history teachers. Ths is how he knows that the textbook leave out conflict or real suspense (pg 13). In his book he tells us what the textbooks lleft out or distorted about events that took place in history. He asks the question "Why are history textbooks so bad? (pg14). Nationaism is one reason; they want us to be proud of America
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today Christopher Columbus is one of two people to have their name marked on a national holiday. If we knew the true facts of Christopher Columbus would we be less likely to celebrate and honor him on that day? Christopher Columbus was ooking for a new route to the east to get spices because the Turks closed the land route. After two months at sea he landed in the West Indies. He found a new contient, so we were taught. For centuries fishermen and seamen had known the earth was roung. The Turks made money from the land routes being open so they had not reason to close the land routes. Europeans had been fishing off of Newfoundland in 1480's. For thousand of years the Irish an dPhoenicians had visited Canada and New England, Columbus' purpose fro the beginning was not exploration or trade, but conquest and exploitation. the fact that sailors carried small pox, bubonic plague adn influenza killed a very large percentage of the natives everywhere they went. Taking of land , wealth and labor from the natives which caused their near extermination and the transatlanti slave trade which created racial underclass were introduces by Columbus that revolutionized race relations and transformed the modern world. When Christopher Columbus could not find gold to take, he took slaves and shipped them to Europe. He mistreatedthe natives he came upon, taking their land and raping their
today Christopher Columbus is one of two people to have their name marked on a national holiday. If we knew the true facts of Christopher Columbus would we be less likely to celebrate and honor him on that day? Christopher Columbus was ooking for a new route to the east to get spices because the Turks closed the land route. After two months at sea he landed in the West Indies. He found a new contient, so we were taught. For centuries fishermen and seamen had known the earth was roung. The Turks made money from the land routes being open so they had not reason to close the land routes. Europeans had been fishing off of Newfoundland in 1480's. For thousand of years the Irish an dPhoenicians had visited Canada and New England, Columbus' purpose fro the beginning was not exploration or trade, but conquest and exploitation. the fact that sailors carried small pox, bubonic plague adn influenza killed a very large percentage of the natives everywhere they went. Taking of land , wealth and labor from the natives which caused their near extermination and the transatlanti slave trade which created racial underclass were introduces by Columbus that revolutionized race relations and transformed the modern world. When Christopher Columbus could not find gold to take, he took slaves and shipped them to Europe. He mistreatedthe natives he came upon, taking their land and raping their