Canoerebel
Posts: 21100
Joined: 12/14/2002 From: Northwestern Georgia, USA Status: offline
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Gents, The Quotes thread currently has a vigorous debate over Churchill's merits and demerits. Most of us Americans who are now at or near middle age were taught that he was a hero. Some now claim he was more of a hindrance (I disagree, but it's an interesting debate). I was in highschool when I first decided to be objective instead of accepting history just as I had been taught. This happened while I was reading Kenneth Robert's book, Oliver Wiswell, a historican novel about the Revolution. Only it's told from the Loyalist point of view. Thanks to years of education, I had been indoctrinated with the view that the Patriots were the good guys and the Loyalists were the bad guys. When I realized that at least a third of Americans remained loyal, it made me look much more deeply into their viewpoint, which was quite an education. Since then, I've looked pretty closesly into some of the other things I was taught and took for granted, with mixed results. A few examples: 1) Education Slant: John Brown, the abolitionist, was a nut. Truth: Yes, he was insane and quite evil. 2) Education Slant: Benedict Arnold was nothing but a scoundrel. Truth: No true. Benedict Arnold was a gifted military leader. He betrayed the Colonies, partly out of fear that the Colonies were better off under English rule than French. Quite a few other Patriots changed side, and several prominent patriots, including Andrew Pickens, nearly did. 3) Education Slant: The Jap attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise attack. Truth: Yes, it was. The "conspiracy theory" slant that Roosevelt allowed it to happen is pure hocum. The military knew an attack was coming, but figured it was in the Philippines, Malaya, or possibly Russia. I'm interested in hearing other examples from the forum.
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