John Brown And Abraham Lincoln Chapter 6 Summary

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Chapter 6, John Brown and Abraham Lincoln (pg. 172-203)

"America political life was completely mindless" Frances FitzGerald observed in her survey of American history books in 1979
The opposite of racism in anti-racism or equalitarianism but it isn't clear if it will prevail; history books underplay white racism while neglecting racial idealism
The language in history books are highly objective as "one man's "stalk" is another's "walk""; bias also plays a part as certain details are omitted
John Brown led a midnight attack on the pro-slavery settlement as retaliation for the raid that caused the death of two and destruction of a hotel and two printing presses; five people were killed by Brown and his following; Brown's sons and their
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ng Brown off as simply a crazy person
Textbooks withdraw their heroic sympathy that they give to almost any other historical figure from Brown, presenting him in a different tone; Brown was a devote Christian and instead of credit he receives blame of his devotedness; if they wanted to, they could've divulged into how Brown once was friends with a young black boy which convinced him that blacks aren't inferior, but they don't; textbooks also neglect the story of Brown as a defender, when he defended 35 free-soil men from several hundred pro-slavery men from Missouri; in addition to this, textbooks also tend to handicap his voice as they don't use any of his saying or phrases; Brown's ideas are often ignored as they represent something violent, which deemed him ineligible of sympathy
"Ideological contradictions is terribly important in history"; textbooks don't give any way of understanding the role of ideas in our past and the ideas that influenced John Brown and the legacy he left behind
Moving on to Abraham Lincoln, history books often gloss over his ideas and inner debates on the topic of race as well; if textbooks explored Lincoln's racism, then students would understand how "normal" throughout American history and his efforts to apply the America's democratic principles across the color line, students would see how idea can develop a person
Textbooks imply Lincoln was chosen by Republics as he was a moderate on slavery but he was chosen for his "rock-solid
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