Comments on: Offbeat History: Lesser Known Facts About the United States’ Past

By: fakename2

fakename2 — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 12:54:14 +0000

As spencercourt points out, more or less, history is written by the winners. I grew up the mountains of North Carolina, maybe 30 miles from the Cherokee Indian reservation (referred to as the “Eastern Band”, in other words, those who escaped the Trail of Tears). Two of my friends are mixed-race Cherokee, and you get a very different picture of history when listening to them. We got maybe a little more awareness of Native Americans than most, but not much. Great post! I loved the info about Maya Angelou’s birthday.

By: mike and brandy

mike and brandy — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 15:17:24 +0000

here’s one:

the 13th amendment to the us constitution? which one? there have been three…
* the original ratified in 1814 that vanished from the history books about the 1860’s,
* the Corwin Amendment supported and endorsed by Abraham Lincoln in his first inaugural which would have made it ILLEGAL to interfere with or ban Slavery, passed in BOTH houses of congress but never ratifed fully by the States,
* and the current one which banned slavery.

Bonus: the 14th amendment was never legally and constitutionally ratified. it was ‘proclaimed as ratified’ by Executive Order, NOT by the President, but by Sec. of State Seward.
enjoy the day.
-mike

By: Grant

Grant — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 02:53:25 +0000

In reply to spencercourt. Excellent response! Your input is always appreciated.

By: spencercourt

spencercourt — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 15:31:23 +0000

I guess I’m showing my age here… the Alcatraz occupation was “living history” for me and as a radical activist I supported it.

As for horses in Native America, I saw an exhibit at NYC’s Native American history museum that said horses once lived in the Americas, became extinct, and then were re-introduced by the Spanish after Columbus “discovered” the New World.

And, as far as Allentown is concerned, it may have been the first all black town in California, but loses to Eatonville, Florida:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eatonville,_Florida

What is, and isn’t, in history books has a lot to do with the typical role of history in society as jingoistic propaganda, not history as the “whole story.” So Japanese children get one version of WW2 and American children get another. Neither version is the whole story.

By: James Allen Jenkins

James Allen Jenkins — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 01:13:51 +0000

good stuff

By: jerseyjourneyer

jerseyjourneyer — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 17:40:21 +0000

Wow, this is a fantastic post. I didn’t know that Alcatraz had been occupied by Native Americans. I also agree that there are many things that are overlooked in the textbooks. I distinctly remember never even going over the First Barbary War which is the first military conflict after the United States was formed. A lot gets lost between pages, and that’s some of the most interesting stuff!