Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen Essay -- Papers History Com

Lies My Teacher Told Me by throng W. LoewenHigh tutor record textbooks are seen, by students, as presenting the last word on American History. Rarely, if ever, do they question what their text tells them ab break our collective other(prenominal). jibe to James W. Loewens Lies My Teacher Told Me, they should be. Loewen has spent considerable time and effort reviewing narration texts that were written for high school students. In Lies, he has reviewed twenty texts and has matchd them to the unfeigned history. Sadly, not one text measures up to the authors expectation of teaching students to think. What is worse, though, is that students rise away from their classes without having developed the ability to think coherently about brotherly life(Lies p.4). Loewen blames this on the way that todays texts are written. This paper will compare one text, The American Pageant, to Lies.One of the biggest problems with todays texts is the process of heroification. This process tu rns real people, from our past, into pious, entire creatures without conflicts, pain, creditability, or human interest(Lies p.9). Several examples, including the lions from our history, in Pageant overwhelm Christopher capital of Ohio, doubting Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Woodrow Wilson. Others are defamed, like Stephen A. Douglas, and John Brown.In Pageant Christopher Columbus is one of the first people named as relevant to our history. He is build up as a hero, with words such as a man of vision, energy, resourcefulness, and courage used to describe him (Pageant p.4). We are told that he knows the b each(prenominal) is round, but that nobody will believe him. Finally he convinces Spains monarchs to origin him, and is given three tiny but seaworthy ships manned... ...ils to explain why this song was so popular. In this case not giving all of the facts about a historical figure is to that persons detriment.The lengths that many textbook writers go to keep ou r history on a positive note, and to make heroes out of many of our historical figures comes at a high cost, according to Loewen. These be include incorrect history, and boring history. The end results are students who hate history class, and who come out of those classes not equipped to think about our past in a rational or coherent way. BibliographyWorks CitedThomas A. Bailey and David M. Kennedy. The American Pageant, A History of the Republic. Eighth edition. D.C. Heath and Company Lexington, Massachusetts, 1987.James W. Loewen. Lies My Teacher Told Me, Everything Your American History Teacher Got Wrong. The raw Press New York, 1995.