48 Liberal Lies about American History (That You Probably Learned in School)

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More About This Book

Overview

A historian debunks four-dozen PC myths about our nation's past.

Over the last forty years, history textbooks have become more and more politically correct and distorted about our country's past, argues professor Larry Schweikart. The result, he says, is that students graduate from high school and even college with twisted beliefs about economics, foreign policy, war, religion, race relations, and many other subjects.

As he did in his popular A Patriot's History of the United States, Professor Schweikart corrects liberal bias by rediscovering facts that were once widely known. He challenges distorted books by name and debunks forty-eight common myths. A sample:

? The founders wanted to create a ?wall of separation? between church and state
• Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation only because he needed black soldiers
• Truman ordered the bombing of Hiroshima to intimidate the Soviets with ?atomic diplomacy?
• Mikhail Gorbachev, not Ronald Reagan, was responsible for ending the Cold War America's past, though not perfect, is far more admirable than you were probably taught.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Textbooks have long served as a main battlefield in the culture wars and the latest salvo comes from Schweikart, a history professor at the University of Dayton (A Patriot's History of the United States), who examines leading American history texts and other books that he sees as purveying "a distinctly slanted view of American history-one that portrays the United States as oppressive, imperialistic, and evil." Each "lie" is deliberated in a brief essay. A chapter on the notion that FDR knew in advance that the Japanese would attack Pearl Harbor focuses largely on countering Robert Stinnett's Day of Deceit.The belief that Columbus was responsible for killing millions of Indians ("drivel") is, he says, based on faulty statistics. In examining the belief that Richard Nixon sent burglars into the Watergate office complex, the author accepts G. Gordon Liddy's account of events over John Dean's. Regarding the Rosenbergs, Schweikart cites Soviet documents proving they were indeed spies. Schweikart marshals an arsenal of statistics and scholarly studies, and while his own biases will limit his reach, he offers an object lesson in the need for scrupulous balance in the writing of history textbooks. (Sept. 4)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781595230560
  • Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
  • Publication date: 8/25/2009
  • Pages: 336
  • Sales rank: 190,365
  • Product dimensions: 5.40 (w) x 8.30 (h) x 1.00 (d)

Meet the Author

Larry Schweikart
Larry Schweikart

Larry Schweikart is the co-author of A Patriot's History of the United States: From Columbus's Great Discovery to the War on Terror, and is a professor of history at the University of Dayton. He has written more than 20 books on national defense, business, and financial history.

Table of Contents

Lie #1: The First Presidents Intended for the United States to Be Isolationist 13

Lie #2: The Mexican and Spanish-American Wars Were Imperialist Efforts Drummed Up by "Corporate Interests" 19

Lie #3: FDR Knew in Advance About the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor 23

Lie #4: Harry Truman Ordered the Atomic Bombing of Japan to Intimidate the Soviets with "Atomic Diplomacy" 29

Lie #5: John F. Kennedy Was Killed by LBJ and a Secret Team to Prevent Him from Getting Us Out of Vietnam 35

Lie #6: Richard Nixon Expanded the Vietnam War 40

Lie #7: The "Peace Movement" Activists Were Not Dupes of the KGB 44

Lie #8: Ronald Reagan Knew "Star Wars" Wouldn't Work but Wanted to Provoke a War with the USSR 48

Lie #9: Mikhail Gorbachev, Not Ronald Reagan, Was Responsible for Ending the Cold War 53

Lie #10: September 11 Was Not the Work of Terrorists: It Was a Government Conspiracy 57

Lie #11: No Terrorists or Weapons of Mass Destruction Were Hiding in Iraq 61

Lie #12: The Founders Envisioned a "Wall of Separation" Between Church and State, Keeping Religious Influence Out of Government 69

Lie #13: Thomas Jefferson Favored "Small Government" and Was a Pacifist 75

Lie #14: Women Had No Rights in Early America 78

Lie #15: Restrictions on the Right to Vote Kept Voter Participation Low 83

Lie #16: Prohibition Was Unpopular from the Beginning and Failed in All Its Objectives 86

Lie #17: Sacco and Vanzetti Were Innocent and Wrongly Executed 90

Lie #18: Senator Joseph McCarthy Concocted the "Red Scare," and There Was Nothing to Fear from Communist Subversives 94

Lie #19: The Rosenbergs Were Not Spiesand Were Wrongfully Executed 99

Lie #20: Lee Harvey Oswald Shot JFK Because He Was a Deranged Marine, Not Because He Was a Communist 103

Lie #21: Columbus Was Responsible for Killing Millions of Indians 106

Lie #22: The Early Colonies Were Intolerant and Racist 109

Lie #23: Early America Was Home to Few Guns or Gun Owners 113

Lie #24: Abraham Lincoln Only Freed the Slaves to Beef Up His Troop Strength 119

Lie #25: The Scopes Trial Proved That Darwin Was Correct and Christians Were Backward 125

Lie #26: The 1950s Were Dull and Boring and Created a Generation of Conformists in the Workplace and Home 130

Lie #27: Richard Nixon Sent Burglars into the Watergate Office Complex 134

Lie #28: Neither Ronald Reagan's Election nor the "Contract with America" Proved the Triumph of Conservative Ideas 139

Lie #29: Bill Clinton Was Impeached over Sex 143

Lie #30: George W. Bush Was Selected, Not Elected, in 2000, and Votes Were Stolen on His Behalf 149

Lie #31: Muslim Terrorists Are Poor and Uneducated and Hate Us Because We Support Israel 156

Lie #32: The News Media Is Objective, Fair, and Balanced - and Always Has Been 160

Lie #33: Native Americans Were Great Environmentalists, While White Settlers Destroyed the Buffalo 166

Lie #34: The First Thanksgiving Took Place Because the Indians Saved the Puritans from Their Own Ineptitude 173

Lie #35: The "Robber Barons" Pillaged the Land and Destroyed the Environment 177

Lie #36: Federal Regulators Have Protected the Public's Health by Identifying Harmful Products 180

Lie #37: Global Warming Is a Fact, and It's a Man-made, American-Driven Problem 185

Lie #38: The Constitution Was the Creation of "Elites" Protecting Their Financial Interests 190

Lie #39: Northern Capitalist Greed - Not Slavery - Drove the Civil War 194

Lie #40: The Sherman Anti-Trust Act Protected the "Little Guy" and Reined in "Big Business"Abuses 197

Lie #41: The Transcontinental Railroads Never Would Have Been Built Without Government 202

Lie #42: The Robber Barons Were Only Assuaging Their Guilt with Their Philanthropy 207

Lie #43: The Income Tax Was Created to Make the Rich Pay Their Fair Share, and Tax Cuts Only Benefit Upper-Income Americans 211

Lie #44: Business Failures and Tax Cuts Combined to Cause the Great Depression 215

Lie #45: LBJ's Great Society Had a Positive Impact on the Poor 221

Lie #46: The Decline of American Autos and Steel Was Caused by Insufficient Government Support for the Industries 227

Lie #47: The Reagan Tax Cuts Caused Massive Deficits and the National Debt 233

Final Lie: History Textbooks Used in Schools Are Unbiased and Not Politically Correct 239

Notes 243

Index 289

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 3.5
( 38 )

Rating Distribution

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(15)

4 Star

(4)

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(6)

2 Star

(3)

1 Star

(10)

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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 38 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted February 4, 2009

    Outstanding Book which should be mandatory reading for parents and students

    Larry Schweikart has put together an outstanding book and it hits home when you look at what has passed for curriculum in many schools. Modern textbooks are so biased in how they present American history that it is time that parents really look hard into what is being presented. As a history teacher, Schweikart corrects many deficiencies that I have seen institutionalized into textbooks and curriculum in many school districts. I would strongly recommend that parents read the book and then take a look at your child's social studies text book.

    6 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 8, 2009

    What?

    I read this book as a school assigment and I must say I am surprised a history professor let his own views create such a bias in this book. I won't bother citing any examples as it is blatantly present in the entire text. Not only does he imply that conspiracy theories such as the government being the ones that organized the 9/11 attacks and that Truman only dropped to A-bomb to scare the soviets are taught in history text books, but he also comes right out and says that since the KKK gets a whole page in most american history text books that it portrays america as intolerant and racist throughout the entire 20th century. This book was nothing but a load of conservative bias that offers absolutely no alternative views and damns anything that could possibly detract from anybody's view of America. This book should be renamed "48 reasons why any negative comments on america are wrong and Liberals are heinous conspiracy theorists"

    3 out of 14 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted January 23, 2010

    Very informative read

    This book was a very through review of a lot of lies being spewed by the left today. Good to see them highlighted and clarified as to what they really are, lies!

    2 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted November 6, 2009

    Yet another attempt to perpetuate the meaningless war between liberals and conservatives, this book will not tell you anything new, except try to reinforce "conventional" American history.

    I must admit that I only read 6-7 arguments from the book whilst I was in B & N the other day. (I find myself enthralled by this pointless debate between liberals and conservatives, of which I consider myself neither.)
    However, the arguments that I read were only mere reinforcement of "conventional" American history. I think one has to look at both sides of the situation in order to achieve a wholesome experience. This book does, at times, bring up some valid points; however the majority of the book is subject to conservative bias (something that I am ashamed a college professor of history can have). Being an academic myself, I cannot recommend this book to anyone who wishes to become more educated; only those who wish to get a glimpse of this childish mudslinging battle.

    2 out of 11 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 21, 2009

    Great Book

    Awesome book. All high school and college students should be required to read it.

    2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted January 4, 2011

    Trivial and Trite (written at grade school level)

    Just about everything written in this book is at least close to the truth. It is also a waste of time for those who would bother to read it. The title alone reveals much about the jejune nature of the contents. Historians in general (liberal as well as conservative) choose this academic "discipline" as the instrument to vent their prejudices because it is a field that does not require much intellectual rigor or honesty. Notwithsatanding Jon Kyl's glowing review (about which I might only offer the observation by Mark Twain on Fenimore Cooper's interpretation of early American "history" entitled "The Last of the Mohicans," that reviewers should have read the book before offering their assesments), this book is juvenile level "liberal bashing" drivel no better than the content of the works about which it complains. If you are an advocate of either the far "right" or the far "left," this book will probably get you excited, not intellectually, but emotionally. For others, it is banal and a waste of time.

    1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted April 4, 2010

    Lies Lies and More Lies

    Book covered a variety of topics. Obvious research and hard facts make this book great. So good I am reading A Patriots History to the United States to learn America's history and unlearn some politics.

    1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted May 20, 2012

    Highly recommend.

    The truth is such a breath of fresh air!

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  • Posted January 1, 2012

    more from this reviewer

    Easy to read articles that tell a further story

    I am a historian, and it always amazes me when people review books that are not blatantly liberal in tone and say they're being "biased." This book is decidedly NOT liberal in tone, but it does present factual evidence showing there are always more details in a mix. Dr. Schweikart has brought out some very interesting points for which every student or reader of history should glean new information.

    The brilliance of this book is that it was deliberately intended to challenge the one sided presentation of the high school history books and make people realize that there was far more to the mix than is presented in the liberal textbooks of today. In fact, I will NOT use a textbook in a class for that very reason.......

    Additionally, I find Schweikart to be historically accurate in most areas whether you "agree" with him or not. IF you follow his research and glean a different conclusion, well, that's the beauty of historical research. However, if you merely READ his book and disagree because you lean too far toward liberalism, then that's just as biased as saying that his view is "too far right."

    Somewhere between the liberal left and the conservative right lies the truth, but if we cover up the conservative right, we will never see it. And that's the true value of this book. I will use it for many years to counter/balance any liberally biased historiography.

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  • Posted June 5, 2010

    BIASED DRIVEL

    This book is without a doubt the worst book I've ever encountered. Where did this moron come up with this crap? I believe books are to be treated with care and reverance whether you like them or not, except this one. I shocked my family when at our last bonfire I threw it on as I didn't want to take the chance on an impressionable mind being corrupted by it. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but you don't get to make up your own facts to boost your own opinion.

    0 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

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    Posted August 3, 2010

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    Posted June 25, 2011

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    Posted January 19, 2010

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    Posted January 19, 2010

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