I Love History

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History is and continues to be one of my most favorite subjects to discuss and learn about. When it comes down to it, I could never learn enough about this great country we have. How blessed by God and I am to be born in such a great country. One must know something in order to be proud to stand with it. This is why I love history. Because I have a love for America and gush with pride every time I talk about her. It excites me because it is part of who I am and who I always have been. This is why it is so crucial to have the right history. Make sure you are learning the correct way the events across the centuries truly played out. The question constantly rolling through the highways of my mind is, “Who tells the right story?” Howard Zinn and …show more content…

According to Howard Zinn and James Loewen Christopher Columbus was a tyrant of a captain who made false promises of riches and that all he sought was gold in the new land. Zinn says, “The information that Columbus wanted most was: Where is the gold? He had persuaded the king and queen of Spain to finance an expedition to the lands. . .” (Zinn, ch. 1) Apparently this was all he cared about and he was striving to get this come hell or high water. Well as it turns out, he did not find what he was searching for so Loewen says Columbus had to return to Spain with something to show for his venture, so he took slaves. “In 1495 the Spanish on Haiti initiated a great slave raid. They rounded up 1,500 Arawaks, then selected the 500 best specimens (of whom 200 would die en route to Spain). Another 500 were chosen as slaves for the Spaniards staying on the island.” (Loewen, ch. 2) These historians paint a picture of Columbus we had previously not seen in our history …show more content…

Which is the idea that America never wanted to help anyone in foreign endeavors, but rather only seek to colonize whichever country they were dealing with. Even going as far the say that in WWI, we were not trying to help anyone gain freedom and democracy but that we were simply trying to put our boots on the ground in Europe and fighting against Germany was the only way to accomplish this task. (A People 's History of American Empire). I also saw from such a vivid and graphic picture what the concentration camps of Germany were really like. While this was not the first time I have seen this depicted, it was good to be reminded of how cruel man can truly be (Memories of the Camps). I learned about how the U.S. fought to protect and liberate those men and women. The world we would be in would be tragically different if the Allies had not won the war. In conclusion, Loewen questions two last question is the search of true history. He wonders why is it is taught the way it is, and what the result are. Loewen states, “Perhaps we are all dupes, manipulated by elite white male capitalists who orchestrate how history is written as part of their scheme to perpetuate their own power and privilege at the expense of the rest of us.” He claims the elite upper class of America are in charge and are some of the greatest influences in how history is written in textbooks and taught in school. (Loewen ch.

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