Book Review Loewen, Jamesw. LiesMy TbacherTordMe:,Euerythingyour American History Textb.ooh Goywrong New york: The New pr.rr, tgg5. Xii + 372 pp.Index. Hardcover,ISBN, |-16584-IOO-X,$24.95;Softcover, ISBN, 0_6g4_g I gg6_g, $15.00 I' this book'sintroduction, James.M Loewendescribeshis surveyof rwelve high school American hisrory rextbookspubiished berween 1974 and,r99r, inclusively..Through his somerimeslight-in-tone but unusuallyhard-hitting narrative, the author provides information and insights that ali Americans would do weli to consider,especiallythosewitho..rt.oli.geJevel training or the equivalent in American history. Along rhe way, he iniicts the authors and publishersof thesetextbooks for *hat he seesas the sorry state of American history educarionin.the nationt high schools. He "rr.r,, that ,,historyis rhe only field in which rhe more .o,rrr., fhigh school] studenrstake, the siupider they become"(p. 2). Loewen cites studieswhose resultsrevealrhat ',African American, Native American, and Lati'o studentsview history wirh a special dislike." They make oniy,slightlylower gradesthan white studenrsin high schoolmathematics,bur ,,hate much.lowergradesin history. Howeveq whire studJnts also hisrory,,,and "'rhe considerir most irrelevanr'of rwenry-onesubjectscommonly taught in high school"(p. l). The aurhor believesthat collegehistory coursesand textbooksaregenerally sound, but, unfortunarely, o'ry one American aduit in six takes even one American history coursebeyond high schooi. consequendy, some observers chargethat the United Statessuffe^ fro- a larger grp b.*...r'what rhe general popuiarion knows and whar professionalhirtoiirn, know than any other country. Loewen arguesrhar high schooi American history textbooks .,serdom , use the past to illuminarerhe presenr,"bur instead'porrr"y the past as a simpre^hns minded morajiry plav" in which "everyproblem "lr."dy Leen solvedor is about to be solved."He accuses the authorsof narionalismand chargesthar they atcemprto "indoctrinareblind patriotism." He asserrs that they provide far too much and too favorablecorerageof the American federar gorr.rrr*..,r, especialy the execurivebranch. Indeed, even rhe "cirlesthe-ser-,rJ, tell the story,,,with "c_overs, their gracedas rhey are with American flags,bard ."gl.r, the Statueof Liberry' (pp. 2-3). The author sraresthar "history is a furious debate informed by evidenceand reason,"but "textbooks,"with their "godlike tone,,,,,encourage rr.li..r,, to believe that history is factsro be learned" (;. j). with an ",r.."g.i.rg;h of Bgg pages 60 too many details' and weight of four and a half poundf, the books provide far "stiflefs] meaning by suppressingcausation' The litiny of facrs and details melodrama insteadof the actuaidrama of history' The tp. +t, *rr1.h resultsin "insulates "the students omniscient narrator'svoice" that uoot", are marred by "speeches' diaries' songs' from the raw materialof history" suchasquotationsfrom or letters"(p. 5). The first ten Afte, the introducrion come cwelvechaptersand an afterword. "srories" abour different subjectsthat elaborateon and support the chaptersrell poiots the author makesin the introduction' what he seesasthe textbook authors' In the first chaprer,Loewen discusses "heroification'" To illusrratethis tendenry to prodl'-,..heroes,a processhe calls of on the rvv.l r. rextbooks'coverageof the lives and careers point, he focl-,ses wasa radicalsocialist Heien Keller and'woodrowtwilson. He assertsthat Kelier \Without he iudging her politics, who moved to the Ieft of the SocialistParry. observesthat Keller'snotoriery is not coveredin the books' Loewenis especiallycrirical of the textbooks'coverageof fietwoodrowwiison excuseor blame Arlminisrration(1912-1920). He saysthat someof the books and that none of the othersfor \wilsont frequenr invasionsof Latin America, "tvhite Russians"through rwelvebook .u.., rn.n,ions An-rericansuPPortof the BolshevikRevolution' Moreover' wilson's navalblockadeof Russiaduring the "\Tilson's racial "accurately describe" he assertsrhat only four of the rwelvebooks ;dirg."..d the office he.held" 1p. 17). He statesthat Wilson policies,,,which ',widely despiled in the 1920s" (p. 25) that his aPParentDemocratic *", ,o Ameriban presidential successorlort ty thi l^rg.rt Percentageof popul"t vo:e 1]--------------l 'Warren G. Harding, the election history. Th"t i.f."t ."-. ", the hands of Republicancandidatewho did not even campaign' t The author The secondchaprerin rhis book is about christopherColumbus' \Testern Hemisphere presenrsa long list of explorerswho allegedlyreachedthe rhe.evidenceand the t.for. l492,iogeth., *ith an interestingdiscussionof Among others, he likelihood, that-each of these evenrsactually happened' B.C. and chepresence menrionsa possibleIrish expeditionto Icelandin 500 only rwo of the welve of Africans in Brazil in rhe mid-1400s. He reportsthat explorationsby Afrotextbooksraisequestionsabout possiblepre-columbian Phoenicians,for examPle. differ on aspectsof chronology "side, Loe*en saysthat the textbooks (it was perfect and columbus's first voyage,including the weatherconditions "r,o-r* batrered;),length of the voyage(it took one month), ,r* ,r.ipr were nor although they mutinous acdonsof the crew (they camenowherenear mutiny, "grip."), a'd condition of the ships (theywere no-t small or inefficient). Jid "believed "few people"on eirherside of the Atlantic F,r.,i.r-ore, he saysthat die poor and tn ).492rhatrhe world *a, fl"t; (p.45), ar-rdColumbus did not UU j)rlrn, -rtr rrrrrrrr,rrrrr, ,irrrrr)r'l)rr):-':--ji:: unappreciated-facts that are misrepresentedin most of the textboola. The textbooksalsoresolutelypresent(different) authoritarianstatementsabout the true purposeof the expiorer'sfirst trip to the New lVorld, despite historians' belief that the real intentions will probably never be known. Loewenreserves his main criticism of the textbooks'treatmentof Columbus to their coverageof what the exploreractuallydid. For example,he claimsthat the textbooksleaveout accountsof Coiumbus taking the Native people'sland, wealth, and labor,wl-richled to their near extinction. On his secondvoyage,in " 1493,Coiumbus commandedseventeen(not three)ships,which carried 1,200 to i,500 men, cannons,crossbows,guns,cavalry and attackdogs" to the New World. Loewen cites primary sourcesabout the explorer'streacmentof the "demanded food, gold, Indians on his secondvoyageto Haiti, such as how he spun cotton . . . [, and] sexwith theirwomen" (p. 51). He goeson to describe Indian enslavementby the Spanish,Portuguese,French,and Britisir, and then claimsrhat sometextbools fail to mention any of this, and the onesthat do fail The author makesa casefor a different historical to hold Columbus responsible. "\7e perspective: underscandColumbus and all Europeanexplorersand settlbrs more clearly if we treat 7492 x a meeting of three cultures (Africa was soon involved),rather than a discoveryby one" (p. 61). "TheTrurh In the chapterentitled about the FirstThanlagiving,"Loewen remindsreadersthat the iand we now know asthe United Stateswas first settled in 30,000 B.C., not 1620.He mainrainsthat the first non-white settlerswere "African slavesleft in South Carolina in 1526 by Spaniardswho abandoneda settlementattempt" (p. 67), and that there were French Protestantsin St. Augusrinebefore 1565 (Spaniardsmassacredthem that year),SpanishJewsin New Mexico in the latesixteenthcenrury,and a Dutch settlementin NewYork as early as 1614. One of the main points in this chapteris the importanceof cheplaguein the Europeanconquesrof the \Testern Hemisphere.The author believesthat British and French fishermen working off the coast of Massachusetsalmost certainly transmitted diseases to the mainland. He cites evidencethat ninety "of to ninety-sixpercentof cheIndians coastalNew Engiand" had died of the piagueby the time the Piigrims arrivedin 1620. He arguesthat Europeansmay not havebeenableto setle the Americasif it had not beenfor diseases, to which the indigenouspeoplehad little or no resistance.He alsoargueshere that the textbook authors'treatmentof the Piigrims,who constitutedonly about rhirry"the five of the 102 peopleon the Mayflower,introduces archerypeofAmerican "the exceptionalism,"portraying Pilgrims as Christian, sober,democratic, "appropriated generousto rhe Indianr . . ." (p. 80), whereasin realirythey Indian cornfields" (p. 82) and robbed Indian housesand graves,among other transgressions. andplace ThefourthchapterisacontinuationofthelristoricalcoverageonAmerican on foodcroPs'customs' i"fi'."*es lndians.Loewend.J;;N;ti"t 'n' ro'-"'ion andeventual i'il;;;;n "someimprovement names,andhe 'P"-t;:;;;;;i;* that despite beiieves ". i#;;; portravingthe shapeof rheA*.ri."., it';t;t it"""' in ptoptt' in iextbools't""t-i.'l';i;;t "iil: "'.*i ;$:xlf: # op.",,'"' ;:tr',n: E,,, mi*u,;'1;:; primitive-to;:':;t*TJi:1'J:li{{iT:"$$;rN;i"":u\'uresreinrorces ch;i;;ge the lposited] so iong as it doesnor ethnocentrism (P' 94)' .i"ift.a continuum" -- settlersand their -r .,,l.ireF.uropean :t3,:r:#l':1ff':J:':::i'r:#"""'ir ."iHi**l:Jifi j *W;;;?; T ffi.;i;fr "endorSioux "'h'*:::: :t^ ""1Ap the i:** ft,-*"a'd,destrovedtwerve fail *w:::l*i?)e'_t'.""t"i*:,"$ffi tt"t-irtr" rwelvetextbooks - xt*r^'i",'i' the that five of of the nineryP*'i';;;;"' stude''tts all of tl.,.; ;ii;" tell *"'^^"a tii' NativeAmertcans' to evenmention "f ief Z wereagainst to land;:#r'J;.1f", obstacles sevenlargest ;;ti to-"."itio" ll"' "'-"1'o" later' T;il;; 3l'" not the British' Coastcolonies-and tftt failt'reoitt" E"tt * "i"ti'iltl"tn otirerlegalrightsto'the favorable'^tt ':"i::;;t"''"i+l"a ThonrasJefferson-to President Indians,""dth"ttheDelawarelndlalsmacleanunsuccessfulproposatto i . ;*:: I .Jfi::l inth:i.r, .r'"1 ericans " Am #,11 :.^: :::l'l:'#,T,1 stnce slavery nortrllal of " *or. accurate ,J;r.;;;k;rovide wherehestates t h e c i v i l r i g h t s m o v e m e n t ' u , , . , r #:i; . 1 . - o d e riJ n a u;111'Progress t h o r s s t i i i . . s has o eusual' hornthetr portrait andmoreaccurare improved cites:':**:*Xf ii+'ts)He rine" 1pp story I I 1 ;"j: i?"ff.i.t1"J[i ""he1Te t75'r"u" ned "rJn"*" T,;:;",':,1;?'T+' il;;nX tT ri "a' " J' :; "'i"'i.,'1'f "ri"'" P:* Seminole t1'JH u..i", InPffi ::'"1,: hewrote,r'. wars) tL """" "ib::n league malor *1 O'J*t *ttt U1"* lrofesional Robinsons slaves; runaway wereharboring cenr;Y tii othl'^1:*i'l"t*t in thenineteenth plavers baseball h"t by j a black'plaver)'of Antiracisrn rn 1947was not tL" major leaguedebut r""i'iuilitv what|"..I*' :;u," fi,. Chapter,,; d.;i;.;h r82z;(i't""t'ii* ";'. ; i.;p;;5,*.*;jj1il**: iJil,\lHtil{,|{ rica,, inAme oii'ionis'rohn ab * :ru ;;;;;d (wli'e) *lt;:g *"i,,:1,;. !l? *""t"tt"l" Loewenbelieves Brown,whom fromaboutld;1;t; por*"y.a [it Utiitft"Textbookspublished but duringReconstrucilon Brownasinsane, I I I I I erthecivilrights,m*'ni:1:-1"^il'::3"",*J::f andagainaft ;t:litTpl,lil:' I *;u::"'l;'#;tilH:?'il:T&*i;i991-'.:""''*''h"' two that Brownwasinsane'while imply or ;;;t;;"t of the wveivebooks Brownsown ""tho" alsofail to quotefrom T'ht il""-'iof' *"' nt that otherssay omit his reiigiousideas' in the ;;;"r,a,ntY ""'i'"tism and Union sympathies L"t*t;;;?ibt' Similariy, textbookauthorsfor not Poruayrng South'l"d ht condemns He Confederate slaverv' gt"wtki' over:ht'ltt'"t of fi;;^;;'tt""""r Lincolns Abraham idealistic'and notesby Amendmentit"' ftigftfy Fot"ttJith the that arsues for womenin the to Passa similar"i'"ttd-t"t "master failure nations the colop"riron politician"' thatLincolnwasa ..n,,rr"yi'il.'".k";;i.d-es rwenriern late butlaments*h"thesee,asthetextboot.*.no,,'suqRrlsiolof.thepossibiliry right" (p' 175)' ht tho"ght it JvaS in part be least at acted Lincoln that tl1t "Tht 1u;e n,entititd seve Chapter L""dofb-ppo"t"iiry' -':i:# deny or even *ll; booksdownpiav high ;htootAnrericanhistory statesthat i" tnt.Ui*a States'The author ,oii"l .l"rr, ""a f'"Jtt i-t-tq*"fiqy suchternrsas book, he examinedincludes i.,d.l:ffi;;l* th. of nor one "lo*t''tlt*'' and that oniy six of the rwelve "uppetclass,""*";;; ti"""' o' "classstfucturs"' ,*ia.hrr,"lil.irl,r"tif,c"tior,," i^dexesinclude,..;."";; thattheUnited 'tr,touali-Y'"L;t;t" acknowledges "incomedirtrib''rtio,,j;"r'a Statestrulyisalandofopportunirybuthemakesastrongcaseforsocialclass beingprobablythemostimport,'.'t,oci"luariable.Hebelievesthatthetextbook leadssomeAmericansto n^tion as a meritocracy the of authors'Portrayal concludethactheydeserveallthes3"a'i-ti"tOit':InI:accumulatedand *tit...':ffi:,I::*:*m t::ffi.11 Jl"T:.: ".hi.u.d, 3ill:TrTi *= n,B "tvror maki Til "'"" ::: ii:H:''ff: u:;r l"I:,':l the executtve *""i States [especially Unired. .." -or"r,ry the ,i" t;;.1ich hisrory American and'the democracy, of humanrights, l'to co"tlt'de that criticismis branchlrypically;/cJ;; behalf lt"d';";"t; way"' (p. 211)' il;'^ht-;'' l'minimizethe potentialpowerof the and to *i,i'.irir.;;ip; incompatibf. the authorsfor tr't gout'n;tnt' He chastites (P' 213i;;-*"t"gt people" r downplaying the idJn,iJ "i-i"ittratio ns; fo ;.;n"p*, ng iri has overemp roleof"nongovt"'-tt""linstitudonsandprivateci:':::.(P210)inimportant and for "t"i-':'ll9^":l etwironment'racerelations); rhe tf'""go1t'S'' on historical corporatrons of n-rultinational influence p"*.tf"f rrearment* ,Il'"i;f;; on the\wilson * leastasfar aspressure date that (;i;.;;, poliry and !f[ nadonal of N.*York rn relationto Haid by theFirstNatronalBl.rk familv Ad.ministration of theRockefeller rnfluences R*.i", f"[;;;; oit i";i;;. Standard igli to 1977'whenDeanRusk' "., ^-;;i;;" fo"ig" P'li;;; enterprises BookReview b> \Washington).He also criticizesthem Henry Kissinger,and others reigned in for lauding the Unired Statesfor its generousforeign aid contributions, saying "toda1' at least a dozen European a1d fuab nations devote much larger that propordonsof their grossdomesticproduct. . . to foreignaid" than doesthe United States(p. 2i 1), and for not pointing out chenegaciveand ambivalent Bureauof Investigation rolesplayedin the civil rights movement by the Federa-l and the Kennedy Administration, respectiveiy.He anall'2ssthe textbooks' "more recentattemPtsto subvert coverageof six of the United Staresgovernment's foreign governments"(p.215), beginningwith its role in returning the shah to the throne of Iran tn 1953, and including its eight known attemPtsto Cuban premier Fidel Castro. assassinate Loewen claims that half of the textbooks omit all six incidents, and that the others treat oniy one or rwo-always with the implication that Xrnerican "actions were basedon humanitarianmotiv.5" (P. 221), whereasmost college textbookson American history and professorsof political sciencetend to take "the "l,rnerica:r gaP" embarrassing colossust,iew" (p. 210). He againlaments the presented information the and (p.223) betweencollege/professionai knorvledge history classes. in high scl-roolAmerican In chapternine, Loewen disparageslack of textbook coverageof the recent tWar "many tecenthigh schoolgraduatesknow more about the past,statingthat how current of t 8 t 2 than about the Vietnam \War" (p. 234). He then discusses perceivedneeds can change the way historical phenomena are interpreted, rvhich he believesexplainsrelativelyrecent positive opinion sirifts toward \Toodrow Wilson (beginningin the 1940s)and Reconstruction(1960s),and differencesin the 1892 and 1992 celebrationsof Columbus'sfirst voyage.He cornplains that such shifts did not occur due to the uncovering of new information, but ratherto shifting ideologicalneedsin *re present.He aisobelieves studentsto concludethat thereis a single that the texrbookcoverageencourages versionof history that becomesmore accurateover time, and that they should rnernorizethe factsabout this history. In chapterten, Loewen againwrites about the textbook authors'penchant for telling the story of American progress,and also for failing to discusssuci-r ongoing problemsand potentialproblemsasthe promotion of antirevolutionary amitudesin the United Smtes,the income gap berweenrich and poor nations, consumptionand environmentalpoliution. and concernsrelatedto excessive "textbook authors seemmuch happier telling of He asserm,for example,that the creation of the Environmer-rtal responses-mainly the governmental ProtectionAgency-dran discussingany continuing environmentalproblems" \p. /.o/). reasonsfor history being raught like In chaptereieven,the author discusses high Most of the textbool