A People’s History of the United States

A 50 carat learning gem
The teaching of American history in elementary and middle schools reminds one of the cleaning of a commode: any rings or crud are removed and the bowl is disinfected. It then looks shiny and pretty, as if no foul stuffs were ever deposited in it. The tall tales and antiseptic methodologies employed in the teaching of American history in these citadels of bias are finally being countered by some historians, who are also clearly biased but self-consciously so. They do not hesitate to study the foul stuffs that have been part of the history of the United States, and are willing to put up with the strong odors thereof. What results in their writings is a compilation of the facts that are left unreported by the sycophants of established educational hierarchies. The picture they paint is not a pretty one, but for those who desire the bare, naked truth, and not the stale platitudes of whitewashed historical analysis, it can be a grand viewing.The author of this book is one of these new historians, and he does not hesitate to dig deep into the real stories that have remained hidden for decades. Historical analysis of course is more then muckracking, and requires an accounting of what has occurred in the past without blinders. It also must put to rest the notion that historical events are controlled by a ruling elite, and the latter are not the distinguishing features of history. History is not a history of kings, queens, and princesses. They play a role but it is an ancillary one. The title of this book refreshingly reminds us of this. History is governed and directed by the actions of many individuals, known and unknown. The author calls them “the people”, and their story is told unabashedly in this book. The author is clearly a socialist, but his attitude is one of a healthy skepticism towards government, and justified distrust of the military establishment. He reminds us that the draft was in place as early as the Revolutionary War, as were the exceptions granted for avoidance of it. For example in Connecticut Yale students and faculty were exempted from the draft, as were ministers and various government officials. There was also the familiar schism between officers and “ordinary” soldiers, and any in the latter class who chose not to respect this distinction were whipped severely. Wealthy individuals dominated the Continental Congress, but most “ordinary” soldiers were not getting paid. Some groups of “ordinary” soldiers rebelled and some executed by firing squad when the rebellion was suppressed (in one case by soldiers of George Washington himself who led the suppression). The author’s commentary and documentation on the Revolutionary War certainly act as a counterexample against the belief that this war had universal support and thought of as a noble cause by the general populace of the time. The Revolutionary War, like all other wars, was an ugly, messy affair, and had its share of false patriotism, brutality, and cowardice, and it affected many other peoples that had no interest or stake in it: native American tribes such as the Iroquois and the Mohawk. These tribes did not come under the umbrella of the Declaration of Independence. Some of these tribes therefore launched, with complete justification, a guerilla war against the new American citizenry, especially when the latter decided to push westward and indulge itself in the forced acquisition of land.The author tells us of the smallpox biological warfare launched against the Appalachian tribes by the British, causing a major epidemic. He tell us of the thousands of black slaves who fought with the British in the Revolutionary War, as did the majority of the Indian tribes. He tell us of the keeping of slaves by Thomas Jefferson throughout his life, of the fact that most of the authors of the Constitution were men of wealth, and none were slaves, indentured servants, women, or men without property. He tell us of Shay’s rebellion and its counter, the Riot Act, which allowed authorities to keep people in jail without trial, and of the defiance of Anne Hutchinson against the church fathers in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He tells us of New Jersey’s rescinding of women’s right to vote in 1807, of a “feminist” movement as early as the 1840’s, and of the founding in 1821 of the Troy Female Seminary by Emma Willard.The author reminds us that the war of 1812 was a conflict waged for expansion into Florida, Canada, and Indian territories, that Congress deliberately and without hesitation appropriated money for war against the Seminoles, and that President Van Buren openly bragged to Congress about the forced removal of Cherokees from lands east of the Mississippi. He reminds us of the doctrine of “manifest destiny” and its justification of the brutal war against Mexico waged by President James Polk in the 1840’s with the jingoistic assistance of the newspapers (no other course would be rational some of them reported), with Mexico losing half its territory in the 1848 treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. He reminds us of the Anti-Renter movement in the Hudson valley of New York, and that the Renssalaer family at one time ruled over eighty thousand tenants. He reminds us of Dorr’s Rebellion in Rhode Island that attacked the idea, and its perpetrators, that only landowners could vote.So yes, there is much in this book that is fascinating and that is food for a hungry and inquisitive mind. It certainly goes against the mainstream view, and any teacher of history will probably come under fire from those who employ them if they decide to discuss the facts and analysis in this book. The history of the United States has been one of brutality mixed with brilliance, the former of which is emphasized in the pages of this book. A future treatise might emphasize the latter, and together they can give a more accurate picture of what the United States is, what it has been, and its future potential.

Un excelente libro para comprender la verdadera historia de los Estados Unidos, y no sólo eso, la verdadera historia del mundo moderno. La manera en que los Estados Unidos han influido en los acontecimientos que han impactado en el desarrollo de la civilización desde el siglo XIX. Es una novela reveladora y a veces puede parecer muy dura. Pero toca temas que no es fácil encontrar en otro lado. Muy recomendable para leer.

Great, interesting book. Can only recommend.

He was a history professor so clearly knew his stuff but this is a popular history book. So, deliberately light on references and sources.It’s a wonderful book, a antidote to nationalism and ignorance. It’s shocking in places because the enslavement and destruction of Africans by Europeans was pretty shocking. Like how 2 out of 5 captured Africans died before reaching the ships to be transported.How this affected the places from where the people were stolen in the long term need to be acknowledged, for example. And how slaves were treated in the USA, fantastically brutal, unlike say slavery in ancient Rome.Beautifully written easy to read.