11:20 7..11
UNITED STATES HISTORY
AMY BELL
WRITTEN EXERCISE #1
“ONE IS ASTONISHED IN THE STUDY OF HISTORY AT THE RECURRENCE OF THE IDEA THAT
EVIL MUST BE FORGOTTEN, DISTORTED, SKIMMED OVER. WE MUST NOT REMEMBER THAT
DANIEL WEBSTER GOT DRUNK BUT ONLY REMEMBER THAT HE WAS A SPLENDID
CONSTITUTIONAL LAWYER. WE MUST FORGET THAT GEORGE WAHINGTON WAS A SLAVE
OWNER…AND SIMPLY REMEMBER THE THINGS WE REGARD AS CREDITABLE AND INSPIRING.
THE DIFFICULTY, OF COURSE, WITH THIS PHILOSOPHY IS THAT HISTORY LOSES ITS VALUE AS
AN INCENTIVE AND EXAMPLE; IT PAINTS PERFECT MEN AND NOBLE NATIONS, BUT IT DOES
NOT TELL THE TRUTH.”
~W.E.B. DUBOIS (BLACK RECONSTRUCTION)
What is history? Why should we study history? Within the context of our stories
concerning Christopher Columbus, Native Americans, the Pilgrims, or slavery,
discuss how historians (Zinn and Loewen) have dealt with the above issues
specifically. How have history textbooks begun to complicate our histories even
further? With regard to the above topics, how have your readings and studies in
this class differed from the ways in which these topics have been portrayed (all the
way back to elementary school) to you in previous classes? In the quote above,
W.E.B. DuBois suggests that in our studies of history, when we skim over the bad
parts, our histories begin to lose their value as “incentive and example.” What
does he mean by this? What are the far-reaching consequences of the ways
in
which so many of us have been taught history?
“HISTORY IS FICTION, EXCEPT FOR THE PARTS THAT I LIKE, WHICH ARE, OF COURSE, TRUE.”
– JIM CORDER
DIRECTIONS
1) Your response to the question must be typed—twelve point font, double-spaced,
one-inch margins. In writing your answer, please do not exceed five pages.
2) In your response, use only your assigned text(s), the instructor’s handouts, or
class notes taken from discussions. Do not use additional library or internet
01-xythos.content.blackboardcdn.com<
s
11:20 7
..11
discuss how historians (Zinn and Loewen) have dealt with the above issues
specifically. How have history textbooks begun to complicate our histories even
Zith regard to the above topics, how have your readings and studies in
2/2 ffered from the ways in which these topics have been portrayed (all the
o elementary school) to you in previous classes? In the quote above,
W.E.B. DuBois suggests that in our studies of history, when we skim over the bad
parts, our histories begin to lose their value as “incentive and example.” What
does he mean by this? What are the far-reaching consequences of the ways in
which so many of us have been taught history?
"HISTORY IS FICTION, EXCEPT FOR THE PARTS THAT I LIKE, WHICH ARE, OF COURSE, TRUE.”
- JIM CORDER
DIRECTIONS
1) Your response to the question must be typed—twelve point font, double-spaced,
one-inch margins. In writing your answer, please do not exceed five pages.
2) In your response, use only your assigned text(s), the instructor's handouts, or
class notes taken from discussions. Do not use additional library or internet
sources,
3) Your generalizations must be supported by direct citations from the text, class
notes, or instructor's handouts.
4) Citations should be made in MLA format. For class notes or presentations, you
might use: 60's handout) or (class notes).
Note: You must cite parenthetically throughout your narrative. Please follow this format. There
should be many citations throughout your response taken from the sources noted above because
assumptions and interpretations must be bolstered by citations. The strength of your response is
dependent largely upon your citation of the assigned sources.
5) Do not include a bibliography.
6) You may consult with your classmates in formulating an answer to this question.
However, you must write your own, unique, independent answer to this question.
7) Date Due: See eCampus Instructions
“COMPREHENSION DOES NOT
MEAN
DENYING THE OUTRAGEOUS, DEDUCING THE
UNPRECEDENTED FROM PRECEDENCE, OR EXPLAINING PHENOMENA BY SUCH ANALOGIES AND
GENERALITIES THAT THE IMPACT OF REALITY AND THE SHOCK OF EXPERIENCE ARE NO
LONGER FELT. IT MEANS, RATHER, EXAMINING AND BEARING CONSCIOUSLY THE BURDEN
WHICH OUR CENTURY HAS PLACED ON US - NEITHER DENYING ITS EXISTENCE NOR
SUBMITTING MEEKLY TO ITS WEIGHT.”
- HANNAH ARENDT
2
On-us-east-1-prod-fleet01-xythos.content.blackboardcdn.com
11:21 1
cannot express my anger and disgust at the outright lies I have been led to believe as a child and young
adult. I felt in some ways violated and used, having been indoctrinated to feel so much pride in our
i in fact there is so much of which we should be ashamed. Even as someone who loves
2/3
history and considers it one my most favorite subjects, I felt that I had been mentally crippled from
thinking critically about our nation’s history.
I can’t think of anyone who can’t recite from memory the story of Columbus and the origin story of the
Pilgrims. However, to learn the history from the other side, from the perspective of the natives of the
Americas, and even to hear some of Columbus’ own quotes about the prostitution of young girls, is
really hard to process. It seems that there was little honor in the life of Columbus, and as Howard Zinn
points out, the choice of history textbook authors to “emphasize the heroism of Columbus and his
successors as navigators and discoverers, and to deemphasize their genocide, is not a technical necessity
but an ideological choice” (Zinn 9). This is entirely inexcusable for those who call themselves educators.
We are misled to believe that English Puritan settlers discovered this land we now call America. It’s a
story filled with nationalistic pride that we learn on our first Thanksgiving and retell every Thanksgiving
after that, but as I learned through the reading materials in this class, nothing could be farther from the
truth than what we have been told. Loewen points out that “More than any other celebration, more
even that such overly patriotic holidays as Independence Day and Memorial Day, Thanksgiving
celebrates our ethnocentrism” (Loewen 88). The term ethnocentrism is a new term to me, learned in my
recent reading assignments. But both Loewen and Zinn make a compelling case, chalk full of irrefutable
evidence, of it especially in the origin myth used to detail the landing of our ancestors on the shores of
this country. The Americas at that time were described to us as untamed wilderness, when the reality is
that these lands were already settled and inhabited by tribes of Native Americans and had been so for
centuries if not more than a millennium.
We are taught that the natives were a simplistic primitive people; when in fact, they were just as
developed as Europeans, and the early settlers learned much from them. Even the concept of
democracy came from the Iroquois. Yet our textbooks, our teachers, and even our parents neglect to tell
us these things. Maybe our of ignorance or maybe intentionally. However collectively as a country we
neglect to give credit where credit is due, instead opting to further our ethnocentrism by insisting that it
was the Europeans who brought with them the ideas and concepts of civilized society. However, as
Loewen points out, “Thoughtless use of the terms civilized and civilization blocks real inquiry into the
worldview or the social structure of the so called uncivilized person or society.” (Loewen 100) The
misuse of history, or as Loewen says “using history as a weapon,” has incredibly long lasting effects on
our society. What do people do when they hear the truth about our country’s founding? They come to
one of two conclusions: they either dismiss these facts and accuse those who reveal them as unpatriotic
further proving the point that we have been blindly indoctrinated into nationalism, or they make the
choice to accept these new facts, and in some respects feel shame for the atrocities committed by our
ancestors in the name of progress. It’s arguable that by choosing the latter, it makes it hard to enjoy the
freedoms that we as Americans have in being the richest, most powerful country on the planet.
Nevertheless, at some point we must all reflect on these facts regardless of how they make us feel.
I’d like to finish by quoting one of the most profound things I read in Howard Zinn’s book:
“My point is that we must not, in telling history, accuse, judge, condemn Columbus in absentia. It is too
late for that; it would be a useless scholarly exercise in morality. But the easy acceptance of atrocities as
a deplorable but necessary price to pay for progress-that is still with us. One reason these atrocities are
still with us is that we have learned to bury them in a mass of other facts, as radioactive wastes are
buried in containers in the earth.” (Zinn 8)
I think that is a statement that applies not only to Columbus but to all of history. As Loewen writes, “The
antidote to feel-good history is not feel bad history but honest and inclusive history” (Loewen 92). In
order for us to progress and move forward as a society, we must accept these ugly truths of our past.
Only then can we understand what it means to progress and grow as a civilized society. Until we
understand that, we are doomed to a feedback loop of the past forever repeating the mistakes of our
ancestors.
An-us-east-1-prod-fleet01-xythos.content.blackboardcdn.com
11:21 1
centuries if not more than a millennium.
3/3
t that the natives were a simplistic primitive people; when in fact, they were just as
Europeans, and the early settlers learned much from them. Even the concept of
me from the Iroquois. Yet our textbooks, our teachers, and even our parents neglect to tell
us these unings. Maybe our of ignorance or maybe intentionally. However collectively as a country we
neglect to give credit where credit is due, instead opting to further our ethnocentrism by insisting that it
was the Europeans who brought with them the ideas and concepts of civilized society. However, as
Loewen points out, “Thoughtless use of the terms civilized and civilization blocks real inquiry into the
worldview or the social structure of the so called uncivilized person or society.” (Loewen 100) The
misuse of history, or as Loewen says “using history as a weapon,” has incredibly long lasting effects on
our society. What do people do when they hear the truth about our country’s founding? They come to
one of two conclusions: they either dismiss these facts and accuse those who reveal them as unpatriotic
further proving the point that we have been blindly indoctrinated into nationalism, or they make the
choice to accept these new facts, and in some respects feel shame for the atrocities committed by our
ancestors in the name of progress. It’s arguable that by choosing the latter, it makes it hard to enjoy the
freedoms that we as Americans have in being the richest, most powerful country on the planet.
Nevertheless, at some point we must all reflect on these facts regardless of how they make us feel.
I’d like to finish by quoting one of the most profound things I read in Howard Zinn’s book:
“My point is that we must not, in telling history, accuse, judge, condemn Columbus in absentia. It is too
late for that; it would be a useless scholarly exercise in morality. But the easy acceptance of atrocities as
a deplorable but necessary price to pay for progress-that is still with us. One reason these atrocities are
still with us is that we have learned to bury them in a mass of other facts, as radioactive wastes are
buried in containers in the earth.” (Zinn 8)
I think that is a statement that applies not only to Columbus but to all of history. As Loewen writes, “The
antidote to feel-good history is not feel bad history but honest and inclusive history” (Loewen 92). In
order for us to progress and move forward as a society, we must accept these ugly truths of our past.
Only then can we understand what it means to progress and grow as a civilized society. Until we
understand that, we are doomed to a feedback loop of the past forever repeating the mistakes of our
ancestors.
On-us-east-1-prod-fleet01-xythos.content.blackboardcdn.com