The Treatment Of John Brown Has Changed In American History Textbooks

“The treatment of [John] Brown . . . has changed in American history textbooks.” This statement is from Chapter six in Lies My Teacher Told Me. It is saying that the perception of John Brown, has changed over the years due to the treatment given to him by American history textbooks. This is very similar to how slavery and reconstruction are treated in history textbooks, by trying to hide racism and whitewashing history. John Brown’s case is significant because it shows how textbooks hide antiracism, such as Brown’s, along with racism. Directly after Brown’s death and continuing through the Civil War, John Brown was looked at as hero, and not only by blacks but by the entire North. Union soldiers marched into battle singing about how they were

The goal of reconstruction was to rebuild the south and integrate the newly freed slaves into society. Reconstruction was a great concept but execution of it failed. Many schools were built and many newly freed slaves were registered to vote, but the southern ways took over again once the union soldiers stopped occupying the south. Southerners used sharecropping to basically bring back slavery, lynching of blacks started widespread in the south, blacks were threatened if they tried to vote, and many of the schools were given teachers who limited what was taught. This helps to show the significance that even after the war, which was fought for fair treatment of all, racist ideals still shaped the north and south and this would not be corrected for another 100

In the story Robert Sampson doesn’t first appear as the tragic figure, but by the end of the book it is easy to see. Robert Sampson, who grew up with the traditional southern race relations, always believed he was doing what was right with his sons. He had never experienced anything besides racism, and not understanding that he could’ve made different decisions or changed his views, cost him both of his sons. This is significant because many people in the South did not understand that they were doing something wrong by mistreating blacks and it cost them in many ways, just as it did with Robert