''Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong'' was written by James W. Loewen in 1995 and critically examines twelve popular American
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
history textbooks. In the book, Loewen concludes that the textbook authors propagate false,
Eurocentric
Eurocentrism (also Eurocentricity or Western-centrism)
is a worldview that is centered on Western civilization or a biased view that favors it over non-Western civilizations. The exact scope of Eurocentrism varies from the entire Western worl ...
, and
mythologized views of
American history
The history of the lands that became the United States began with the arrival of Settlement of the Americas, the first people in the Americas around 15,000 BC. Native American cultures in the United States, Numerous indigenous cultures formed ...
. In addition to his critique of the dominant historical themes presented in high school textbooks, Loewen presents themes from history that he believes should be presented in high school textbooks.
Themes
In ''Lies My Teacher Told Me'', Loewen criticizes modern American high school history textbooks for containing incorrect information about people and events such as
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus
* lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo
* es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón
* pt, Cristóvão Colombo
* ca, Cristòfor (or )
* la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...
, the lies and inaccuracies in the history books regarding the dealings between the Europeans and the
Native Americans, and their often deceptive and inaccurate teachings told about America's commerce in slavery. He further criticizes the texts for a tendency to avoid controversy and for their "bland" and simplistic style. He proposes that when
American history
The history of the lands that became the United States began with the arrival of Settlement of the Americas, the first people in the Americas around 15,000 BC. Native American cultures in the United States, Numerous indigenous cultures formed ...
textbooks elevate American historical figures to the status of
hero
A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''her ...
es, they unintentionally give students the impression that these figures are super-humans who live in the irretrievable past. Rather than highlighting both the positives and negatives of historical figures, Loewen claims textbooks cause students to perceive these figures through a single lens. Loewen asserts that the muting of past clashes and tragedies makes history boring to students, especially groups excluded from the positive histories.
Sources
The twelve textbooks Loewen examined for the first edition are:
* ''The American Adventure'' (
Allyn & Bacon
Allyn & Bacon, founded in 1868, is a higher education textbook publisher in the areas of education, humanities and social sciences. It is an imprint of Pearson Education, the world's largest education publishing and technology company which is par ...
, 1975)
* ''American Adventures'' (
Steck-Vaughn, 1987)
* ''American History'' (
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
Harcourt () was an American publishing firm with a long history of publishing fiction and nonfiction for adults and children. The company was last based in San Diego, California, with editorial/sales/marketing/rights offices in New York City a ...
, 1982)
* ''
The American Pageant
''The American Pageant'', initially published by Thomas A. Bailey in 1956, is an American high school history textbook often used for AP United States History, AICE American History as well as IB History of the Americas courses. Since Bailey's ...
'' (
D. C. Heath and Company, 1991)
* ''The American Tradition'' (
Charles E. Merrill Publishing, 1984)
* ''The American Way'' (
Holt, Rinehart and Winston
Holt McDougal is an American publishing company, a division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, that specializes in textbooks for use in high schools.
The Holt name is derived from that of U.S. publisher Henry Holt (1840–1926), co-founder of the e ...
, 1979)
* ''The Challenge of Freedom'' (
Glencoe, 1990)
* ''Discovering American History'' (
Holt, Rinehart and Winston
Holt McDougal is an American publishing company, a division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, that specializes in textbooks for use in high schools.
The Holt name is derived from that of U.S. publisher Henry Holt (1840–1926), co-founder of the e ...
, 1974)
* ''Land of Promise'' (
Scott, Foresman
Scott Foresman was an elementary educational publisher for PreK through Grade 6 in all subject areas. Its titles are now owned by Savvas Learning Company which formed from former Pearson Education K12 division. The old Glenview headquarters o ...
, 1983)
* ''Life and Liberty'' (
Scott, Foresman
Scott Foresman was an elementary educational publisher for PreK through Grade 6 in all subject areas. Its titles are now owned by Savvas Learning Company which formed from former Pearson Education K12 division. The old Glenview headquarters o ...
, 1984)
* ''Triumph of the American Nation'' (
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
Harcourt () was an American publishing firm with a long history of publishing fiction and nonfiction for adults and children. The company was last based in San Diego, California, with editorial/sales/marketing/rights offices in New York City a ...
, 1986)
* ''The United States: A History of the Republic'' (
Prentice Hall, 1991)
In the second edition, Loewen added a newer edition of ''The American Pageant'' and five additional textbooks:
* ''The American Pageant'' (
Houghton Mifflin
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star.
Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...
, 2006)
* ''The American Journey'' (
Glencoe/McGraw-Hill
McGraw Hill is an American educational publishing company and one of the "big three" educational publishers that publishes educational content, software, and services for pre-K through postgraduate education. The company also publishes referenc ...
, 2000)
* ''The Americans'' (
McDougal Littell
Holt McDougal is an American publishing company, a division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, that specializes in textbooks for use in high schools.
The Holt name is derived from that of U.S. publisher Henry Holt (1840–1926), co-founder of the e ...
, 2007)
* ''America: Pathways to the Present'' (
Prentice Hall, 2005)
* ''A History of the United States'' (
McDougal Littell
Holt McDougal is an American publishing company, a division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, that specializes in textbooks for use in high schools.
The Holt name is derived from that of U.S. publisher Henry Holt (1840–1926), co-founder of the e ...
, 2005)
* ''Holt American Nation'' (
Holt, Rinehart, and Winston
Holt McDougal is an American publishing company, a division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, that specializes in textbooks for use in high schools.
The Holt name is derived from that of U.S. publisher Henry Holt (1840–1926), co-founder of the e ...
, 2003)
Editions
There are three distinct editions of the book. For the original 1995 edition, Loewen examined twelve textbooks. For the 2007 edition, he revised the text to address five additional textbooks and a new edition of one of the earlier textbooks examined. The 2018 edition retains the same text as the 2007 edition, adding a new preface, "The age of
alternative facts
"Alternative facts" was a phrase used by U.S. Counselor to the President, Kellyanne Conway, during a ''Meet the Press'' interview on January 22, 2017, in which she defended White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer's false statement about the a ...
". In April 2019, Loewen and Rebecca Stefoff, known for her adaptation of
Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn (August 24, 1922January 27, 2010) was an American historian, playwright, philosopher, socialist thinker and World War II veteran. He was chair of the history and social sciences department at Spelman College, and a politica ...
's 1980 bestseller ''
A People's History of the United States'' for young readers, made ''Lies My Teacher Told Me'' accessible for younger readers in ''Lies My Teacher Told Me: Young Readers Edition'' (
The New Press
The New Press is an independent non-profit public-interest book publisher established in 1992 by André Schiffrin[American Book Award
The American Book Award is an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "the ...]
, the
Oliver Cromwell Cox Award for Distinguished Anti-Racist Scholarship, and the Critics Choice Award of the
American Educational Studies Association
The American Educational Studies Association (AESA) is an international learned society dedicated to research on education. It was established in 1968 and is based in Tecumseh, Michigan. Most of its members are university professors whose work per ...
. Although well received by many, critic Jere T. Humphreys notes that Loewen's implicit bias may have caused him to fail to highlight some of the positive contributions made toward improving equality in the United States. For example, when referencing the Civil Rights Movement, Loewen falls short in crediting the efforts of the U.S. legislative and executive branches in aiding throughout the Civil Rights struggle.
See also
* ''
Lies Across America
''Lies Across America'', a 1999 book by James Loewen, is a sequel to his 1995 work '' Lies My Teacher Told Me''. The book focuses on historical markers and museums across the United States, arguing that every historic site is "a tale of two eras ...
'', a 1999 book on historical markers by the same author
*
*
*
*
References
External links
* {{official website, https://web.archive.org/web/20200329225058/http://sundown.tougaloo.edu/liesmyteachertoldme.php
''Booknotes'' interview with Loewen on ''Lies'', March 26, 1995.
1995 non-fiction books
20th-century history books
Curricula
English-language books
Eurocentrism
History books about the United States
History education
Textbook controversies
Historical revisionism
Books about education
The New Press books
American Book Award-winning works
Education controversies in the United States