This is my first history class taken in college and I have to say I have learn so much about history that I have never knew before. I am so amazed of the new knowledge I’ve received from this semester and I really appreciate the value of college. My whole family thought I was crazy and overwhelm as I unraveled the truth and mystery of the true American history. I never knew that information growing up. We were always taught Columbus was a very nice man that founded America and celebrated Thanksgiving with the Native Indians. I never thought that our history books were mostly lies and not the truth about what was happening exactly during those times. I guess it is not really lies but just the truth was being omitted and not being told to …show more content…
I am more surprised that I never knew this piece of information before. I really like learning new things, but it must be interesting like this history class. Teachers need to teach it so that we won’t forget all these important facts. I understand that they probably were told what exactly to teach but that’s not a good thing when you must leave out all the important facts and truths about history. If they were to teach us like this than I would of remember what history was like and would not have hated it as much as I did before. We need to make sure our kids know about this history because its not boring at all if everything were the truths. “In the long run, however, "learning" history this way is not really satisfying. History textbooks and most high school history teachers give students no reason to love or appreciate the subject. We must not ignore the abysmal ratings that his-tory courses receive,24 and we cannot merely exhort students to like history more. But this does not mean the sorry state of learning in most history classrooms cannot be changed. Students will start learning history when they see the point of doing so, when it seems interesting and important to them, and when they believe history might relate to their lives and futures. Students will start rinding history interesting when their teachers and textbooks stop lying to them.”
The book also shows us that he was dishonest. It shows us this by him making all of these promises to the people if they support his journey. According to the article, Honoring Christopher Columbus, they believe even though he tortured Indians, that he should still be celebrated
There are always several sides to every story and in order to learn the truth about history, it’s necessary to know every side there is to know. For example, if the native people’s version of the Spanish conquest was never told, we would all still continue celebrating Christopher Columbus for all the wrong reasons. Changing Christopher Columbus Day to Indigenous People Day is significant because we have changed it from celebrating the villain to acknowledging the victims and what they everything that they had to go through. The way history remembers Columbus is significant because it’s an example of how Western civilization took over the Americas and how white became the dominant race in America.
Some will claim Columbus discovered America and if he didn’t then America wouldn’t be the same as today. Columbus also discovered that the earth was round and not flat. Also 60% of America's food was discovered by him. Columbus did some good things but it did not make up for what he did, and he still killed many people, was a tyrant, and he was a slave
In the book, Lies My Teacher Told Me, author James Loewen talks about historical misconceptions in American school textbooks. Are these actually misconceptions though? What is the author saying about American history when details or whole events are untold? Lowen delves into these deep topics head on and gives examples as he goes. This book is not only intended for those who have read an American history book, but for those who have never heard the truth.
Many people when they were younger, including myself, were taught that Columbus is a hero and an amazing person who discover the New World. We were all told that Columbus’s purpose for sailing thousands of miles across the Atlantic was to come here in search of undiscovered land. Columbus DID want land but he was expecting to get that land from
From Christopher Columbus to the Pilgrims and Native Americans to the Civil War and slavery, all the way to the present, the author picks apart twelve textbooks, compares them, and shows they are racially and socially biased, and are written by similar authors. Finally, in the last two chapters, Loewen digs into why textbooks continue to teach history this way, and shows some of the effects of giving students the misinformation and lack of important information that our textbooks
Therefore, the history of Columbus in school textbooks doesn’t teach the true history, they teach us what they want us to believe. Unfortunately, the textbooks leave out tragically events that happened to numerous Native American tribes. Created events that never happened and left out important incidents that effected Native
Loewen argues, “The authors of history textbooks have taken us on a trip of their own, away from the facts of history, into the realm of myth.” As historical events regress further into the past, writers may misinterpret facts that they may have studied. A story of discovery and friendship or a tale of conquest, murder, and greed, which of these are Christopher Columbus’ true stories? I believe the best method to teach American high school students about Christopher Columbus’ story is through historiography because historiography teaches students to compare and distinguish different outlooks from different writers’ point of views instead of just remembering misinterpreted facts. Historiography would guide and force students to study and learn history through a diverse set of historians who focused on the same subject and come to different conclusions.
This semester was very insightful. American History is essential to society and the path she is going. The importance of history is revealed in our Hollitz: Thinking through the Past. It portrayed just how important our founding fathers described their journey. The Declaration of Independence paved the way to freedom.
In the 1800s, the American government was struggling to rise in the world as a new nation. The leaders were eventually very successful, but along the way they were ruthless to all whom stood in their path. One obstacle that the Americans handed particularly poorly was their treatment of the Native Americans who owned the land prior to the European colonization of the new world. By learning about the atrocities done to the tribes such as the Cherokee, Lakota, and Nez Perce, the human race may refrain from such cruelty in the future. The Cherokee are one of the best known tribes of Native Americans due to the horrendous acts done against them.
When I was younger I was under the impression that Christopher Columbus was a great man and that he discovered America. We celebrate Columbus day because we honor him for “discovering America”. From this new information that I have learned today, Christopher Columbus is not the man iv have been taught about.
When I was younger I was told the Christopher Columbus was a hero. And when I was a child I didn’t know better so I believed it. Because adults would never lie to me, right? Well they didn’t exactly lie they just kept me away from the major details. Like how Christopher Columbus in a way is the reason why slavery began in the Americas.
Inclusively, the professor explained that stories such as the flat earth, and the challenges Columbus faced while discovering America, only help to empower the concept of heroification. Surprisingly, Loewen explains that these and other erroneous stories are learned through history textbooks. Dr. Jendian explained that these misconceptions, keep students unaware of the real nature of history. According to Loewen (32), “The authors of history textbooks have taken us on a trip of their own, away from the facts of history, into the realm of myth.” As mentioned previously, Columbus is presented to us as a symbol of heroification, demonstrating how history textbooks contain errors about his real life.
Text books are continuously giving false information. Loewen states that a majority of high school students do not understand any of the continuing issues. History textbooks leave out a plethora of information regarding social class. Teachers may leave out social class information because they feel it is a touchy subject and do not want to offend students.
Essay One: The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin The extent that grades have on hindering the ability to learn is discussed in Ursula K. LeGuin’s The Dispossessed, in which Shevek a college professor is troubled by the importance placed on the grading system as a mark of understanding of a subject at the university he recently started teaching at. One of the first points to be made is that understanding what you were taught isn’t the point of schools anymore, it’s about memorizing the information for a test or assignment. Second, is that achieving high marks in school doesn’t always equate intelligence or lack of it . Lastly, it’s not how well one is able to memorize what they are taught, but how they’re able to take that information, process and apply it to real world problems that shows the extent of one’s true education.