Lies My Teacher Told Me Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong

Loewen’s groundbreaking book about how history is taught in our schools was well received when it first came out in 1995. The catchy title sparked immediate interest from legions of students who hated history and the book has been a perennial best seller ever since. Loewen purports our schoolbooks are filled with distortions about our past, leaving students handicapped, unable to distinguish between truth and “truthiness.” One problem is the way American history fosters the “heroification” of its leaders by glorifying their accomplishments while omitting negatives like moral failures. Another way is by perpetuating myths and cultural archetypes like Betsy Ross and the “legend” of the first American flag. These misrepresentations and omissions don’t just leave students with false beliefs, but ultimately affect society. Trained as a sociologist, Loewen’s youthful activism apparently led to this book, for which he had lofty aspirations. If we will only tell the truth about the past, we can make things right from here on. “I believe that most Americans, once they understand why things are as they are, will work to foster justice where there was unfairness and truth where lies prevailed.” While the author cites evidence for some points he often strays from solid ground when arguing his core beliefs. Loewen’s agenda quickly becomes apparent. In the trademark words of a progressive, he states “a topic that is mystified or distorted in our history, like secession usually signifies a continuing injustice in the present like racism.” Here he reveals his main premise: racism is both the cause of historical falsehood and the result. So-called “false” history is a mirror of society, reflecting a pervasive racism and these historical distortions themselves lead to the inequities of our present day. Much of the book consists of ferreting out “lies” in the historical narrative and thereby exposing structural racism in our society. Loewen seems to fault textbooks for leaving out things he favors, yet he concedes that writing history is selective, that everything can’t be included. He faults the coverage of Woodrow Wilson, citing the racist policies of the 28th president and his jingoistic and aggressive actions in other countries. Yet he praises Wilson, saying his “progressive legislative accomplishments in just his first two years, including tariff reform, an income tax, the Federal Reserve Act, and the Workingman’s Compensation Act, are almost unparalleled.” Not everyone believes these are good things, especially the income tax, which is the central pillar of our gargantuan, authoritarian government. When calling for a better telling of our country’s beginnings, the author concedes, “this ‘new’ history must not judge Columbus by standards from our own time. In 1493 the world had not decided, for instance, that slavery was wrong.” Yet when Loewen offers scathing criticism of the South over racism and slavery, he speaks from his own liberal world view. For example, he says, “Many states required textbooks to call the Civil War ‘the War Between the States’, as if no single nation had existed that secession had rent apart.” This is clearly a partisan assertion and subject to a sound counterargument. Congress was not in session when the conflict began and Lincoln single-handedly initiated war when he called on the individual states to provide 75,000 troops “to put down the rebellion.” It was not “Civil War” because the belligerents were not fighting for central control, rather Southerners wanted freedom to have their own country while Lincoln was determined to hold on to empire. Of course, slavery was an important issue, but the Confederacy was not fighting for that reason except from the perspective that while battling for “hearth, home, and family," the South was defending its way of life. To single out slavery as the main cause is a common argument among progressives and the author churns page after page in his book promoting the view. Claiming the North fought to “free the slaves” is a form of “virtue-signaling”, a phenomenon first described in Robert Penn Warren’s classic book “The Legacy of the Civil War”. The best explanation for why the South seceded is Italian academic Raimondo Luraghi’s short book “Five Lectures on the American Civil War.” While “Lies My Teacher Told Me” offers stimulating thought about history texts, the author’s politicizing soon becomes monotonous. In the end Loewen’s work is a polemic to liberalism and socialism.

Must read for every American. I read the revised version, which doesn’t seem to be on Good Reads.

Phenomenal. This book teaches snippets of interesting history, but more importantly it discusses why it is the first piece of media which has introduced you to topics such as Helen Keller’s socialism or the nadir following reconstruction. It delves into the social politics (as well as the regular politics) which shape American History courses for high school students nationwide and impressed upon its readers the importance of critical, but not skeptical, learning of history. While a great work of its own it also provides a great jumping off point for doing one’s own research into our collective history.

DNF Politically biased and boring after a few chapters

This book does a great job of pointing out that reading/hearing/memorizing something is not the same as learning about it.

I couldn’t finish it. The history parts were very good. I am ashamed at what I didn’t know... but the whole 50 pages on textbook adoption put me over the edge.