Patriotic education Law signed today by Greg Abbott

[Andy_Ross]

And Huffaines is a nut and bolts military historian ..not a lefty historian.
He is right in saying it's wrong to take simplistic views of this on either side in the Texas Revolution. There are no angels on either side. The Texans were slave owners;Santa Anna was a ruthless military dictator.(See Goliad for details).
Travis was a lousy commander, but Santa Anna at San Jacinto was no better,there he was taken by surprise by Sam Houston.

Very good lecture.btw.

As far as movies goes, The 1960 John Wayne version is ridiculous;the 2003 movie takes a couple of liberties, but is on the whole pretty accurate.

The Texans were trying to steal a part of Mexico so they could keep slaves.
When they looked like losing they duped the US in to joining in.
It seems fairly simple to me.

 

[dudalb]

The Texans were trying to steal a part of Mexico so they could keep slaves.
When they looked like losing they duped the US in to joining in.
It seems fairly simple to me.

Which is where you are wrong.....

 

[Andy_Ross]

lol no.

 

[fishbob]

The Alamo: a bunch of idiot jerks doing something stupid, in a stupid way, for bad reasons, and most of what everybody remembers about it is completely backwards and wrong, and if you try to correct them a lot of people get furiously angry.....I'd say this is pretty much as perfectly American as anything could be! Short of adding a theme park to it and charging nine bucks for a soda, that would be even more USA.

"Remember the Alamo" takes on a whole new meaning.

 

[RolandRat]

"Patriotic History" is ridiculous;but so is the left wing equvilent.

What is the "left wing equivalent"?

 

[ponderingturtle]

What is the "left wing equivalent"?

Saying that slavery happened and was bad.

 

[dudalb]

What is the "left wing equivalent"?

The Howard Zinn school where nothing in American history is praise worthy except for a few left wing rebels against the man. Just as distorted and just a much political propaganda disguised as history.

 

[dudalb]

Once agian I am disturbed that for too many people here stupidity and evil do not exist on the left wing of the politcal spectrum.

 

[Norman Alexander]

Once agian I am disturbed that for too many people here stupidity and evil do not exist on the left wing of the politcal spectrum.

Rest assured, most people here find stupidity and evil everywhere, regardless of political stripe. However few groups turn this propensity into the law of the land quite like the rabid right.

 

[autumn1971]

The Howard Zinn school where nothing in American history is praise worthy except for a few left wing rebels against the man. Just as distorted and just a much political propaganda disguised as history.

And this is taught as the curriculum in which school districts?

Yes, there are some individuals who take Zinn’s approach, but not, as far as I am aware, on a scale anywhere close to the equivalent right-wing incursion into American education.

 

[Stacyhs]

And this is taught as the curriculum in which school districts?

Yes, there are some individuals who take Zinn’s approach, but not, as far as I am aware, on a scale anywhere close to the equivalent right-wing incursion into American education.

Exactly. From Politifact checking on Rick Santorum's claim that

Says Howard Zinn, "an anti-American Marxist," wrote "the most popular textbook that's taught in our high schools in America."

Specifically, a study by Dan Cohen, the founding executive director of the Digital Public Library of America and a former historian at George Mason University, found that of 258 undergraduate U.S. history survey courses in spring 2004, only three assigned Zinn’s book. The most commonly assigned volumes were The American Promise, by Roark, Johnson, Cohen, Stage and Hartmann, and The American People: Creating a Nation and a Society, by Nash, Jeffrey, Howe Frederick, Davis, Winkler, Mires and Pestana.

"I doubt that high school is much different," Cohen told PolitiFact. "There are a lot of textbooks out there, and Zinn's is a tiny fraction of the assigned books."

In an interview, Wineburg of Stanford added that "not a single state in the union" has put Zinn’s books on an "approved adoption list for middle or high school. Three big companies, including the biggest, Holt-McDougal, control about 90 percent of the market. They issue conventional, 1,000-page behemoths. … Find me one instance in which Zinn appears on any one of 50 state adoption lists, and I'll find you a unicorn."

From my research, parts of Zinn's book are sometimes used as a supplemental in high school and college.

 

[dudalb]

Exactly. From Politifact checking on Rick Santorum's claim that





From my research, parts of Zinn's book are sometimes used as a supplemental in high school and college.

I don't care for Zinn much as a historian but the hysteria against him is ridiculous. I would consider any teacher/professior who assigned Zinn's book as a primary text as someone who is pushing an ideology under the guise of teaching history;a less ideologically driven book should be the primary text.

 

[dudalb]

And this is taught as the curriculum in which school districts?

Yes, there are some individuals who take Zinn’s approach, but not, as far as I am aware, on a scale anywhere close to the equivalent right-wing incursion into American education.

At least on the High School level I agree.
As far as colleges go, it's a different story.......

 

[Stacyhs]

I don't care for Zinn much as a historian but the hysteria against him is ridiculous. I would consider any teacher/professior who assigned Zinn's book as a primary text as someone who is pushing an ideology under the guise of teaching history;a less ideologically driven book should be the primary text.

I agree with all the above. But it bears repeating:

...of 258 undergraduate U.S. history survey courses in spring 2004, only three assigned Zinn’s book.

"not a single state in the union" has put Zinn’s books on an "approved adoption list for middle or high school."

As usual, the GOP hysteria and hyperbole is outright lying about Zinn. But then, it is what they do best.

 

[Stacyhs]

At least on the High School level I agree.
As far as colleges go, it's a different story.......

One has to wonder exactly why university/college professors tend to be more liberal than conservative. Could it have anything to do with actual education and knowledge levels? Just asking......