Admin Table of Contents
- 1 Why was Lies My Teacher Told Me written?
- 2 What does Loewen say about Columbus?
- 3 Who is the author of Lies My Teacher Told Me?
- 4 What’s wrong with history textbooks?
- 5 Who wrote the book on Columbus?
- 6 What does it mean when Loewen talks about whitewashing the past?
- 7 What is the genre of Lies My Teacher Told Me?
Why was Lies My Teacher Told Me written?
Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong was written by James W. Loewen in 1995 and critically examines twelve popular American high school history textbooks….Lies My Teacher Told Me.
| Cover of the 1995 edition | |
|---|---|
| Author | James W. Loewen |
| Followed by | Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong |
What does Loewen say about Columbus?
Loewen acknowledges that Columbus was one of the most important figures in world history, but not for the reasons that most American history textbooks suggest: Columbus was so important not because he “discovered America” but because his expeditions to the Americas established a standard of brutality, theft, and …
Who wrote American history?
A People’s History of the United States
| 2003 hardcover edition | |
|---|---|
| Author | Howard Zinn |
| Subject | American history, American politics, American foreign policy, American economics |
| Publisher | Harper & Row; HarperCollins |
| Publication date | 1980 (1st edition); 2009 (most recent edition) |
James W. Loewen
Lies My Teacher Told Me/Authors
Lies My Teacher Told Me, by James Loewen, explained how history textbooks got the story of America wrong, usually by soft-pedaling, oversimplifying and burying the thorny drama and uncertainties of the past under a blanket of dull, voice-of-God narration. The book also taught a lot of history.
What’s wrong with history textbooks?
A recent article in The Atlantic describes this exact issue of history textbooks being “at best oversimplified and at worst a flat out lie,” and “often mislead[ing] kids with Eurocentric interpretations of the actors and events.” In the article, historian and sociologist Jim Loewen made the point that textbooks are …
Where can I learn real American history?
4. Museum of the American Revolution’s Virtual Tour. To learn about the American Revolutionary War, there is no better place than the Museum of the American Revolution.
Who wrote the book on Columbus?
A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus
| Title page of Vol. I, UK first edition, 1828 | |
|---|---|
| Author | Washington Irving |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Biography |
What does it mean when Loewen talks about whitewashing the past?
The problem, Loewen argued, was our impulse to turn historical events and figures into “moral examples,” which usually involved whitewashing the past in order to reinforce a familiar story about American greatness.
Who writes the history books?
The same author has five other titles on the list. Got a question about today’s news? Ask the Explainer.
What is the genre of Lies My Teacher Told Me?
Textbook
Lies My Teacher Told Me/Genres