Welcome to Gaia! ::

The above lines are from one of my favorite plays/movie, 1776. What Franklin's character says is very, very true!

This semester, included in my textbooks was one little supplemental book titled Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen.

This book is just wow. WOW! It covers everything from the truth about the first Thanksgiving to the devastating repercussions of the September 11th attacks.

Of course much of the information in the books is not that new to me seeing as I have a great love for history and watch the History Channel and PBS often.

People love Heros. Hero influence our behaviors and ideals. So in essence, he who sets the Hero standard controls the influence on society.

I'm sure you've all heard the inspirational story of Hellen Keller. The blind/deaf girl who was able to graduate from college, publish famous books, and rally women's rights, all despite her handicaps. How many of you know she was a radical socialist? That she praised Russia's new Communist nation after it's revolution and even went as far as hanging a red flag outside her office? She was a true radical in her time. Her accomplishments and causes are still epic to us but history books have always portrayed her as a quiet conformer to society.

What about our President Woodrow Wilson? Oh the great Wilson, our great leader who reluctantly led our nation into WWI. . . 'k, truth time! What we don't learn is about his racial segregation of the federal government and constant military interventions in foreign countries. He even started what known to historians as "The Unknown War With Russia" the after effects of which directly influenced the hostilities of the Cold War. One of his greatest character blemishes that history books try their hardest to hide, is the fact he was an outspoken White Supremacist and his administration was one of the harshest times in Black History.

There is almost a whole chapter on his intervention in Latin America and infringement of human rights and freedom of the press, but if I start trying to surmise, we may be here all day!

I only used two examples here from the beginning of the book, if you want to know more, go give it a read! :3