Tanya - posted on 08/30/2010 ( 27 moms have responded )
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I am an American as most of you know. I feel that the history of our country present in our text books is sugar coated. I feel like it has been changed to suit political agendas.
One example is the very beginnings of our nation. They make the Native Americans out to be savages who where trying to kill all the white people for no reason. Then they cover the killing other them very briefly. They still do address the issues facing Native Americans today. Reservation have some of the highest rates of alcoholism, domestic violence, and diabetes in the country.
"The report released Thursday by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found 11.7 percent of deaths among Native Americans and Alaska Natives between 2001 and 2005 were alcohol-related, compared with 3.3 percent for the U.S. as a whole."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26439767/
"About 16.5 percent of American Indians and Alaska Natives ages 20 years and older who are served by the Indian Health Service have diagnosed diabetes."
Then we have to deal with the christian nation myth. Most people honestly believe that all of the founding fathers were christians.
"These beliefs were forcefully articulated by Thomas Paine in Age of Reason, a book that so outraged his contemporaries that he died rejected and despised by the nation that had once revered him as "the father of the American Revolution." To this day, many mistakenly consider him an atheist, even though he was an out spoken defender of the Deistic view of God. Other important founding fathers who espoused Deism were George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Ethan Allen, James Madison, and James Monroe. "
http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/f...
"When the Founders wrote the nation's Constitution, they specified that "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." (Article 6, section 3) This provision was radical in its day-- giving equal citizenship to believers and non-believers alike. They wanted to ensure that no single religion could make the claim of being the official, national religion, such as England had. Nowhere in the Constitution does it mention religion, except in exclusionary terms. The words "Jesus Christ, Christianity, Bible, and God" are never mentioned in the Constitution-- not once.
The Declaration of Independence gives us important insight into the opinions of the Founding Fathers. Thomas Jefferson wrote that the power of the government is derived from the governed. Up until that time, it was claimed that kings ruled nations by the authority of God. The Declaration was a radical departure from the idea of divine authority.
The 1796 treaty with Tripoli states that the United States was "in no sense founded on the Christian religion" (see below). This was not an idle statement, meant to satisfy muslims-- they believed it and meant it. This treaty was written under the presidency of George Washington and signed under the presidency of John Adams."
http://freethought.mbdojo.com/foundingfa...
I have seen text books that call the Civil war " The war of Northern Aggression"
They go as far as to say that some slaves fought for the south because they were happy with their lives and wanted to stay with their masters. They do not mention the horrible punishment that befell slaves who would have tried to escape and fight for the north.
"In America, Africans were sold and taken to new homes, where they would be forced to work, usually for more than twelve hours a day. Most slaves worked in the fields, picking tobacco or cotton. Slaves who did not work or tried to run away were beaten and sometimes even killed. Slaves were given simple shacks and clothes and food to eat, but this did not make up for what was taken away from them."
http://www.misterteacher.com/american%20...
They move very quickly through the Women's Liberation Movement and the Civil rights movement.
So I have two question:
1: Does the history that Americans learn about our country differ from what the rest of the world learns?
2: Do you feel your country presents a fair view of its history in your text books? DO you feel that your country has some parts that are swept under the rug?
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