The creation of American history

Telling the Truth About History by Appleby, Hunt and Jacob offers deep insights into the role and functions of history. The authors describe the severe problems facing the newborn American nation after the successful revolution against the British colonisers. While the 13 colonies were united in their opposition to British exploitation, they were divided ideologically on many different fronts. Forging national unity was an item of high priority for the early historians of America. The available historical materials did not provide any help to this end, so the unity was created out of the imaginations of these historians. The actual stories of settlers and colonists who had come with diverse motives to America were replaced with myths that they were united in purpose, seeking to found a new nation based on principles of freedom and tolerance. As the authors remark, building a nation requires controlling the memory of the members, selectively highlighting elements in line with the national narrative, and forgetting those elements which do not accord with it. The rigid religiosity, intolerance and disputatious character of the Puritans was accordingly forgotten. Instead, rare moments of harmony and tolerance, such as a shared Thanksgiving dinner of the Pilgrims with the Indians were projected.

The magnificent and inspiring language of the Declaration of Independence holds as self-evident that all men are created equal, and governments are formed to provide them with their natural rights to equality and freedom. Unfortunately, these principles did not have any match with realities of the motives and historical forces which led to the sudden and unexpected success of the American revolution. A highly imaginative re-working of the historical materials at hand was required to align the historical facts with the proclaimed ideals of the land of opportunity and liberty. Accordingly, historical textbooks suppressed the ruthless and brutal decimation of the Indians by the settlers. The heartbreaking realities of American Indian history in Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee came as a shock to American readers. The powerful and moving narrative of the American genocide of the brave and eloquent Indian tribes conflicted strongly with the picture of Indians as barbarians and savages portrayed in the textbooks. Similarly, the stories of the brutal and inhuman treatment of slaves did not mesh with the idea of a nation founded on principles of freedom, equality and the pursuit of happiness. Thus, American history textbooks highlight the Northwest agreement which banned slavery in the North, but make no mention of the Southwest agreement which opened up the South to slavery. The glaring contradictions between the ideals of the Constitution, which shaped the self-image of the Americans and the ground realities of slavery eventually led to the Civil War.

It remains true that facts inconsistent with the dominant narrative about American history get no play in the media. Poverty has no place in the land of opportunity, so statistics about how millions are hungry and homeless are ignored. The story of a poor farmer who became president overrides the mountain of statistics showing how poverty is inherited, and children from poor backgrounds are overwhelmingly likely to remain poor. The image of racial equality prominently features a black president, but horrendous facts gathered by the Black Lives Matter movement, such as routine police shootings of innocent African-Americans, are ignored. The wealth produced by private enterprise is highlighted, while the way in which privatisation of prisons has led to profits by the criminalisation of poverty is ignored. For instance, in the small town of Ferguson, with a population of 21,000, courts issued 32,975 warrants for arrest for non-violent crimes in 2013. People are arrested, fined and imprisoned on trivial pretexts because private prisons make profits by charging between $30 and $60 per night from the prisoners. The inexorable workings of profit-seeking capitalism have ensured that the ‘Land of the free’ currently has the largest prisoner population on the planet. In order to make wise choices for our future, it is essential to free our minds from the myths created by a manufactured history. Otherwise, we will be misled into pursuing goals which have been painted in bright colours but conceal cruel realities.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 8^th,  2016.

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