Tributes in gold or cotton were due every 3 months, and Indians who did not comply had their hands chopped off. Indians were hunted for sport, murdered for dog food, and given to officers as sex slaves. Columbus's role in setting up the system is never mentioned. The new world was not populated by sparsely-scattered tribes, but by as many as 100 million Indians, which were systematically wiped out by one plague after another, most introduced purposely. Eight million in Haiti alone were reduced to 200 within 60 years - now seen as history's first documented genocide. Columbus's main reason for traveling to the new world to find gold, and he was responsible for killing, torturing and enslaving natives by the millions. Here's one example:Īlmost everyone knew the world was round before 1492. This was a great book! The first two-thirds gives example after example of the many lies, omissions, and half-truths found in American high school history books, and the last third speculates why this has happened. (clicking on the title will link you to a reader's journal/discussion of the book) If you are interested in the topic of education and how it is being inseminated to our children through textbook censorship and abridgement of the facts, then I would recommend Diane Ratvitch’s “The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn” for a more balanced examination of this issue. For this reader, it made for just the kind of boring recitation of skewed political propaganda the author claims to be rallying against. His strong opinions on historical events may cause some readers to overlook his message on education. Having said all that, however, I found Loewen was overplaying the “politically correct” hand himself, replacing the conservative, Euro-centric rhetoric with his own overtly socialist and liberal leanings. When we present our youth the world through rose-colored glasses, where no controversial subjects arise, it no doubt causes them to be ill prepared for the real world that exists beyond the classroom. I, personally, was interested to learn that not one of the twelve textbooks described the geopolitical implications of Christopher Columbus’s encounter with the Americans none mention that Columbus was the first to send slaves across the Atlantic. I completely agree with the author’s basic belief that American students are getting short-changed when we present only the PC-version of our country’s heritage, not to mention the fact that this watered down presentation only serves to bore them all to tears (students consider history to be “the most irrelevant” and “boring” of all the 21 subjects commonly taught in school). By critiquing 12 highly used American History textbooks, the author successfully presents several topics which they currently address, and uncovers the alleged omissions and distortions. Loewen’s premise is that history textbooks have been presented to portray a slanted, optimistic and patriotic “dumbed-down” view of America, because this suits the needs of the conservative white people who sit on the textbook adoption boards. “Lies My Teacher Told Me” is for anyone who has ever fallen asleep in history class." I originally picked this up several years ago because the blurb on the back cover appealed to me:
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