Lies Across America

Lies Across America: What American Historic Sites Get Wrong by James W. Loewen is a book that I’ve been meaning to pick up and read for quite some time. I recommended and lent my copy of his other book, Lies My Teacher Told Me, to Amy a couple of months ago so it seemed like time to get on it.

Lies Across America is a study of selected historic sites and markers across the country. Loewen looks at the information given for and about the sites, points out incorrect or misleading information and makes suggestions for how they might be corrected. The featured markers and sites are from all 50 states, but the majority deal with either the slavery and the civil war or European settlers and the treatment of Native Americans.

Reading the book brought up some interesting questions in my mind. The chapter on Amerst, Massachusetts, which was named for Lord Jeffrey Amerst who historians say authorized the idea of giving blankets infected with small pox to Native Americans, suggests that it would be a good idea to change the name to no longer honor him. I agree that he is not someone who necessarily deserves to be honored, but I can understand the logistical difficulties of actually changing the name.

As someone who grew up in the South I was particularly interested in the sections on the Civil War. I was fascinated and saddened by the chapter on the Union League Club, which exemplifies the abandonment of the cause of civil rights by the Republican Party in the years following the war. The Union League was begun to “combat the pro-secession sentiment that dominated New York City early in the Civil War.” Over the years the club became more of an elite social club, barring anyone who was not white and protestant from membership.

Is there a bias at work here? Absolutely, but that does not change the fact that all over the country there is misinformation being disseminated. There are monuments and sites mentioned where the argument is purely bias, but Loewen still makes some very good points.