The Lies My Teacher Told Me and People’s History of the United States

There is a logical saying in society one should take to heart; that line being, “Don’t believe everything you read.” Just because a text is written and published does not means it is always accurate. Historical facts, similar to words whispered in the child’s game, “telephone,” are easily transformed into different facts, either adding or subtracting certain details from the story. James Loewen, in The Lies My Teacher Told Me, reveals how much history has been changed by textbook writes so that students studying the textbooks can understand and connect to the information. In Howard Zinn’s, People’s History of the United States, the author recounts historical tales through the point of view of the common people. Mainstream media, as proven by Loewen and Zinn, often pollutes and dilutes history to make the information sound better and more easily understood for the society.

First of all, the accounts of Zinn and Loewen are quite different that what textbooks and mainstream media tell children. As mentioned previously, Zinn’s People’s History of the United States conveys the narrative of the travels of Columbus and the beginnings of slavery and racism through the eyes of the common or native people. This point of view enlightens the reader, who most likely believes that Columbus was a good and benevolent American hero, to that fact that Columbus “sailed the ocean blue” out of greedy and self-glorification. In reality, Columbus caused pain, suffering, and death because of his greedy; he captured natives for their ability to perform hard labor and information on where to find riches, primarily gold (Zinn, Ch. 1). The heroic adventures, as portrayed in society, melt down to be the acts of a greedy man who sought glory for himself b...

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... and food we had an equal share” (Ch. 4, A3). White servants, although for the most part did receive all the aspects of the portion of the contract referring to time in service, they received the bare minimum of the necessities.

Clearly then, one can see the necessity to read/see more then one perspective on historical events is crucial. One cannot rely on one description alone because the information may or may not be the complete truth. The author may leave out, embellish, or be uninformed of certain details, which leaves the reader at a disadvantage is he/ reads only one passage.

Works Cited

Loewen, James W. Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. Second. New York, New York: Touchstone, 1997. Print.

Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United State. Fifth. New York, New York: Harper Collins, 2010. Print.