Summary Of Lies My Teacher Told Me

The author, James W. Loewen, begins the second chapter of his book Lies My Teacher Told Me by discussing one of America’s most well-known “heroes,” Christopher Columbus. Loewen continues the chapter describing that most textbooks are not knowledgeable on Christopher Columbus’ exploration of North America. He claims that textbook authors fill the book with information that “is either wrong or unverifiable” (Loewen 32). He describes that one mistake authors have made is explorers or explorations that occurred prior to Christopher Columbus’ voyage. Loewen lets the audience know that there were other settlers in North America before Christopher Columbus took over the settlement in 1492. Another topic of discussion in the second chapter is Europe

A specific example is western dominance in society and how most students do not realize why this statement is true. He describes that textbooks do not include all of the information concerning Christopher Columbus’ journey to North America. The author describes Christopher Columbus’ voyage was not for “exploration or even trade, but for conquest and exploitation” (Loewen 38). Loewen describes factors that textbook authors misinform or leave out in many eras of history, but he always relates the factor to Christopher Columbus. The author continues the chapter to discuss that Christopher Columbus did not start his voyage spontaneously. Much work and effort were put into his voyage and textbooks do not always provide this

The chart provides possible expeditions that could have founded North America far before Christopher Columbus’ voyage in 1492. The chart dates back as far as 70,000 B.C. The chart continues giving information such as “to and from” the explorers traveled and the “quality of evidence” of the voyage (Loewen 40). This chart is very interesting considering most students have not heard of any of these voyages. Students have always been taught Christopher Columbus founded North America, and finding that that information is incorrect is astounding. Loewen continues his article and describes the Vikings. He says textbooks once again briefly discuss them and there should be more discussion on them. After introducing the Vikings into the chapter, the reader introduces a very interesting point of view. He uses the Vikings as an example and discusses that just because the Vikings did not have a large or lasting impact on America, they should not completely be voided from history textbooks. Loewen is informing his readers that every aspect of history plays a role no matter the