Lies My Teacher Told Me

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Lies My Teacher Told Me is a book by James Loewen describing a number of falsehoods or misconceptions prevalent in many American history textbooks. Loewen also examines why some of these issues are downplayed or misrepresented, often for political reasons.

[edit] The lies

  • Christopher Columbus is often treated as something of a hero in modern times. Loewen describes some of his more controversial actions and evidence that he was actually not the first European explorer to discover the Americas.
  • Oftentimes, the effect of plagues and diseases on Native Americans are downplayed. In reality, it was one of the most crucial factors toward Europeans being able to colonize significant amounts of territory with comparative ease.
  • American Indians are often portrayed as "savage" or unsophisticated, even in this day and age.
  • Racism has a tendency to be underrepresented in American history. Really, racism has had its role in politics throughout all of American history and even the modern political arena.
  • Issues that are still relevant today are sometimes mischaracterized or glossed over to avoid controversy. For instance, wealth disparity is often not treated as a significant problem.
  • There is not enough discussion of events that occurred recently enough that many people still alive remember them. It leads to an interesting predicament where many students may be able to tell you more about Andrew Jackson than George H.W. Bush.

[edit] Why textbooks lie

As tools for education, textbooks have to portray uncontroversial images and ideas to avoid outrage. Unfortunately, this caution prevents authors from presenting many facts that are actually most relevant to student's lives.

Textbooks are also forced to cover long spans of time without much space for any given topic. By a textbook's very nature, some things have to get glossed over.

[edit] Follow-up

Loween followed the book up with Lies Across America, examining lies or inaccuracies in American historical sites.

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