Review of 'Lies across America' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Lies Across America is an atlas of flawed public history markers across the United States by James Loewen. Like his other works of history targeted at the public, this book is well researched and written with evenhanded joviality and solemnity that creates an enjoyable read in what could have felt like a list of monuments. These are some highlights that caught my interest:
Adam Fortunate Eagle “discovered” Rome in 1973
In September 1973, on his way to the International Conference of World Futures, he descended from the plane in Rome in full tribal regalia and claimed the country "by right of discovery" in the manner Columbus had claimed America. Invited for an audience with Pope Paul VI, instead of kissing the papal ring, he offered his own ringed hand in return; the Pope grinned and clasped his hand. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Fortunate_Eagle
The pilgrims were not first, or even second to …
Lies Across America is an atlas of flawed public history markers across the United States by James Loewen. Like his other works of history targeted at the public, this book is well researched and written with evenhanded joviality and solemnity that creates an enjoyable read in what could have felt like a list of monuments. These are some highlights that caught my interest:
Adam Fortunate Eagle “discovered” Rome in 1973
In September 1973, on his way to the International Conference of World Futures, he descended from the plane in Rome in full tribal regalia and claimed the country "by right of discovery" in the manner Columbus had claimed America. Invited for an audience with Pope Paul VI, instead of kissing the papal ring, he offered his own ringed hand in return; the Pope grinned and clasped his hand. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Fortunate_Eagle
The pilgrims were not first, or even second to colonize North America
On September 28, 1542, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo and his crew entered San Diego Bay--the first Europeans to visit California.
On May 14, 1607, a group of roughly 100 members of a joint venture called the Virginia Company founded the first permanent English settlement in North America on the banks of the James River.
The Mayflower arrived in Plymouth Harbor in 1620, after first stopping near today's Provincetown.
American Indians only roved for about a hundred years.
The white man started the classic image of plains Indians “roving” was started by General John Sullivan who burned the Delaware’s fields and forced them to live a nomadic lifestyle.
Southerners Served in the Union Army
Many southern soldiers remained loyal when their states seceded; 40 percent of Virginian officers in the United States military, for example, stayed with the Union. During the war, many Southern Unionists went North and joined the Union armies. Others joined when Union armies entered their hometowns in Tennessee, Virginia, Arkansas, Louisiana and elsewhere. Over 100,000 Southern Unionists served in the Union Army during the Civil War, and every Southern state except South Carolina raised at least a battalion. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Unionist
The slave labor that built Antebellum homes is usually ignored in historical markers, displays, and tours.
The Reverse Underground Railroad is the name given, sardonically, to the pre-American Civil War practice of kidnapping in free states not only fugitive slaves but free blacks as well, transporting them to slave states, and selling them as slaves, or occasionally getting a reward for return of a fugitive. Those who used the term were pro-slavery and angered at an "underground railroad" helping slaves escape. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_Underground_Railroad