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c29155d
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Of course the people do not want war. . . . But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them that they are being attacked and denounce t..
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James W. Loewen |
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c8291d3
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Indian history is the antidote to the pious ethnocentrism of American exceptionalism, the notion that European Americans are God's chosen people. Indian history reveals that the United States and its predecessor British colonies have wrought great harm in the world. We must not forget this--not to wallow in our wrongdoing, but to understand and to learn, that we might not wreak harm again. We must temper our national pride with critical sel..
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James W. Loewen |
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8fd75d2
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Everyone named in our history made a positive contribution (except John Brown, as the next chapter shows). Or as Frances FitzGerald put it when she analyzed textbooks in 1979, "In all history, there is no known case of anyone's creating a problem for anyone else."
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James W. Loewen |
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f228190
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The textbooks also fail to show how the continuous Indian wars have reverberated through our culture. Carleton Beals has written that "our acquiescence in Indian dispossession has molded the American character." As soon as Natives were no longer conflict partners, their image deteriorated in the minds of many whites. Kupperman has shown how this process unfolded in Virginia after the Indian defeat in the 1640s: "It was the ultimate powerles..
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natives
indians
powerlessness
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James W. Loewen |
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6e0875b
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Once you have learned how to ask questions--relevant and appropriate and substantial questions--you have learned how to learn and no one can keep you from learning whatever you want or need to know. --NEIL POSTMAN AND CHARLES WEINGARTNER2
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James W. Loewen |
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37ddeef
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the 27 candidates for whom I could readily distinguish the racial policies of their hometowns, one-third were identified with sundown towns. Starting at the beginning of the century, these include Republican William McKinley, who grew up in Niles, Ohio, where "a sign near the Erie Depot," according to historian William Jenkins, "warned 'niggers' that they had better not 'let the sun set on their heads.'" McKinley defeated Democrat William J..
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James W. Loewen |
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789b4f6
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Many sundown towns had not a single black household as late as the 2000 census, and some still openly exclude to this day.
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James W. Loewen |
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a519105
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Not only do textbooks fail to blame the federal government for its opposition to the civil rights movement, many actually credit the government, almost single-handedly, for the advances made during the period.
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James W. Loewen |
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6c08625
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Our goal must be to help students uncover the past rather than cover it. Instead of "teaching the book," teachers must develop a list of 30-50 topics they want to teach in their U.S. history course. Every topic should excite or at least interest them. What meaning might it have to students' lives?"
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James W. Loewen |
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e337fb8
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K-12 teachers. Many work in classrooms for as many as thirty-five hours a week; on top of that they must assign, read, and comment on homework, prepare and grade exams, and develop next week's lesson plans.
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James W. Loewen |
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a1051f1
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Baptist minister and inventor Burrell Cannon (1848-1922) led some Pittsburg investors to establish the Ezekiel Airship Company and build a craft described in the Biblical book of Ezekiel. The ship had large fabric-covered wings powered by an engine that turned four sets of paddles. It was built in a nearby machine shop and was briefly airborne at this site late in 1902, a year before the Wright brothers first flew. Enroute to the St. Louis ..
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James W. Loewen |
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68dd722
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The Civil War had been about something other than states' rights after all. It began as a war to force or prevent the breakup of the United States.
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James W. Loewen |
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b583fad
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History textbooks still present Union and Confederate sympathizers as equally idealistic. The North fought to hold the Union together, while the South fought, according to 'The American Way', 'for the preservation of their rights and the freedom to decide for themselves'. Nobody fought to preserve racial slavery; nobody fought to end it. As one result, unlike the Nazi swastika, which lies disgraced, even in the North whites still proudly di..
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James W. Loewen |
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dfb94f2
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Another result of the War of 1812 was the loss of part of our history. As historian Bruce Johansen put it, "A century of learning [from Native Americans] was coming to a close. A century and more of forgetting--of calling history into service to rationalize conquest--was beginning." After 1815 American Indians could no longer play what sociologists call the role of conflict partner--an important other who must be taken into account--so Amer..
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important-other
forgetting
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James W. Loewen |
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1371011
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Rethinking Our Past: Recognizing Facts, Fiction, and Lies in American History Social Science in the Courtroom
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James W. Loewen |
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780d64a
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Since the alternatives to war remain roads largely not taken in the United States, however, they are tricky subjects for historians. As Edward Carr notes, "History is, by and large, a record of what people did, not what people failed to do." On the other hand, making the present seem inevitable robs history of all its life and much of its meaning. History is contingent on the actions of people."
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James W. Loewen |
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7290c4c
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Students exit history textbooks without having developed the ability to think coherently about social life. Even
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James W. Loewen |
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6926d11
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Other lakes get similar treatment. According to Michigan markers, whites discovered Lake Michigan, Lake St. Clair, and Lake Superior. Lake Erie gets a more complex marker: "Named for the Erie Indians, this was the last of the Great Lakes discovered by white men..." Actually, none of them was discovered by white men, but this marker at least admits that Native Americans existed and implies they knew of Lake Erie."
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James W. Loewen |
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f2674e8
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As a symbol of the new United States, Americans chose the eagle clutching a bundle of arrows. They knew that both the eagle and the arrows were symbols of the Iroquois League. Although one arrow is easily broken, no one can break six (or thirteen) at once. John
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James W. Loewen |
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5b9e1bd
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Ironically, societies characterized by a complex division of labor are often marked by inequality and support large specialized armies. Precisely these "civilized" societies are likely to resort to savage violence in their attempts to conquer "primitive" societies.22"
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James W. Loewen |
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80085a0
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Hitler admired our concentration camps for American Indians in the west and according to John Toland, his biographer, "often praised to his inner circle the efficiency of America's extermination--by starvation and uneven combat" as the model for his extermination of Jews and Gypsies (Rom people)."
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James W. Loewen |
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fbe2dca
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When you see a roadside marker, take in what it tells but also ask, how might this be wrong? One giveaway is the use of qualifying phrases introducing statements of fact, as in: "According to tradition..." or "According to the legislature..." Visitors can count on the rest of such sentences to be unsubstantiated."
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James W. Loewen |
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67d3a42
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Indian history is the antidote to the pious ethnocentrism of American exceptionalism, the notion that European Americans are God's chosen people. Indian history reveals that the United States and its predecessor British colonies have wrought great harm in the world. We must not forget this--not to wallow in our wrongdoing, but to understand and to learn, that we might not wreak harm again. We must temper our national pride with critical sel..
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James W. Loewen |
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5f28885
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The actual cabin fell into disrepair probably before Lincoln became president. According to research by D. T. Pitcaithley, the new cabin, a hoax built in 1894, was leased to two amusement park owners, went to Coney Island, where it got commingled with the birthplace cabin of Jefferson Davis (another hoax), and was finally shrunk to fit inside a marble pantheon in Kentucky, where, reassembled, it still stands.
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James W. Loewen |
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30a0f74
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History, despite its wrenching pain, Cannot be unlived, and if faced With courage, need not be lived again. --MAYA ANGELOU
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James W. Loewen |
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e1de391
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Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration. --ABRAHAM LINCOLN1
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James W. Loewen |
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ea03261
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In the 1740s the Iroquois wearied of dealing with several often bickering English colonies and suggested that the colonies form a union similar to the league. In 1754 Benjamin Franklin, who had spent much time among the Iroquois observing their deliberations, pleaded with colonial leaders to consider his Albany Plan of Union: "It would be a strange thing if six nations of ignorant savages should be capable of forming a scheme for such a uni..
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James W. Loewen |
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85fac60
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The first panel misquotes the preamble and conclusion of the Declaration of Independence, leaving out five words from within its selected excerpts. The architect requested the omissions so the text would fit better! Surely this memorable text should not be altered for so petty a reason. We know Jefferson would not approve, for whenever he sent correspondents a copy of the Declaration he took pains to show what the Continental Congress had a..
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James W. Loewen |
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273ccad
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We jettisoned our medical practices of the 1780s while retaining the Constitution. But Native American medicinal practitioners who abandon their traditional ways to embrace pasteurization from France and antibiotics from England are seen as compromising their Indian-ness. We can alter our modes of transportation or housing while remaining "American". Indians cannot and stay "Indian" in our eyes." --
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James W. Loewen |
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eabfb24
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Surely the desired end product of high school U.S. history courses is graduates who can think clearly, distinguish evidence from opinion, and separate truth from what comedian Stephen Colbert famously called "truthiness."
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James W. Loewen |
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2ff6065
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Critical thinking requires assembling data to back up one's opinion. Otherwise students may falsely conclude that all opinions are somehow equal.
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James W. Loewen |
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cf2603a
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Patriotism can flourish only where racism and nationalism are given no quarter. We should never mistake patriotism for nationalism. A patriot is one who loves his homeland. A nationalist is one who scorns the homelands of others. --JOHANNES RAU
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James W. Loewen |
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dc7938c
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Official state historical markers form a smaller population, and early in my research I determined to read all of them. Texas dissuaded me. The Lone Star state has more state historical markers--nearly twelve thousand--than the rest of the United States put together. To read and digest one marker per minute would require 200 hours--five full weeks in the Texas office. At the other end of the spectrum is Maine, whose assistant director of hi..
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James W. Loewen |
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cce8f84
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When students are not asked to assess, but only to remember, they do not learn how to assess or how to think for themselves.
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James W. Loewen |
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6d30dde
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People have a right to their own opinions, but not to their own facts.
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James W. Loewen |
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4b6bc74
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repression of white ethnic groups; again, most textbooks blame the people,
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James W. Loewen |
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2f724f1
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A generic National Park Service (NPS) brochure promises children, "Hidden within each national park is an exciting story waiting to be discovered. Learning the secrets of each national park is easy. Simply ask your teacher or Park Ranger..." This won't work at Hampton, an estate built just after the Revolutionary War and located just north of the beltway that circles Baltimore. The staff at Hampton insists it has no story to tell and merely..
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James W. Loewen |
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418cbd5
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History through red eyes offers our children a deeper understanding than comes from encountering the past as a story of inevitable triumph by the good guys.
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James W. Loewen |
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f222cd8
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People do not like to think. If one thinks, one must reach conclusions," Helen Keller pointed out. "Conclusions are not always pleasant."
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James W. Loewen |
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bb3a511
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Socialization is not primarily cognitive. We are not persuaded rationally not to pee in the living room; we are not to. We then rationalize and obey this rule even when no authority figure lurks to enforce it.
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James W Loewen |
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25a94b2
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The answer is not to expand Lies My Teacher Told Me to cover every distortion and error in history as traditionally taught, to say nothing of the future lies yet to be developed. That approach would make me the arbitrator - I who surely still unknowingly accept all manner of hoary legends as historical fact. Instead, the answer is for all of us to become, in Postman and Weingartner's vulgar term, 'crap detectors' - independent learners who ..
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James W. Loewen |
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7884188
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People have a right to their own opinions, but not to their own facts. Evidence must be located, not created, and opinions not backed by evidence cannot be given much weight.
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James W. Loewen |
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0eb9ae0
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Sometimes authors do know better. As previously mentioned, in After the Fact, a book aimed at college history majors, James Davidson and Mark Lytle do a splendid job telling of the Indian plagues, demonstrating that they understand their geopolitical significance, their devastating impact on Indian culture and religion, and their effect on estimates of the precontact Indian population. In After the Fact, looking down from the Olympian heigh..
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James W. Loewen |
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eec425a
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Sundown town police forces, in addition to being all-white, may still be viewed by themselves and other residents as a city's first line of defense against black interlopers. As a result, they engage in DWB ("Driving While Black") policing, targeting black motorists for minor infractions like failing to signal turns."
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James W. Loewen |