Facing Facts: American Identity is Based on Alternate History

[WhiskeyGrinder]

https://www.tor.com/2017/05/04/facing-facts-american-identity-is-based-on-alternate-history/

I studied this particular book for a full year—in a display of singular dedication to an idea, the teacher designed her entire district-approved curriculum around it. The premise of this particular alternate history was “what if everything was fine?”

This supposition was carried through the text with a level of meticulous finesse that I’ve never seen anywhere else. It permeated every facet of the built world on which the book was focused. What if, the book supposed, America had been entirely undiscovered prior to 1492? What if the Pilgrims had been a peaceful, God-loving people? What if they had worked together with the Native population, rather than slaughtering them and stealing their land? What if voyages of exploration were driven by a pure, heartfelt desire to expand the map of the world, and nobody had ever been interested in gold or drugs or slaves?

What if everything was fine?

What if the country wasn’t built on the backs of enslaved peoples? What if slavery was rare, and when it happened, the slaves were usually treated quite well? What if the founding fathers who did own slaves were good guys who should be admired and celebrated? What if sexual assault didn’t exist? What if the Trail of Tears was a mutual endeavor? What if the Civil War was driven more by dry economic and political factors than by a desire to perpetuate the subjugation of slaves? What if America never participated in eugenics? What if America was always staunchly anti-fascist and anti-Nazi?

[zipplewrath]

1. I guess I'd ask a different question

If the "real" history of the US was taught (i.e. something closer to Howard Zinn's book) how would it affect past and future political events in the US? We have taught "bad" history for so long that it allows multiple generations to understand things about the US that aren't true. How would history play out differently if people couldn't ground their political and cultural understandings upon false information?

[WhiskeyGrinder]

2. Also important questions.

[sweetloukillbot]

3. Amazing essay from an odd source

But then, tor.com does publish speculative fiction, so maybe it is appropriate.
I've been hearing a lot of good about Sarah Gailey's River of Teeth, an alternate history where hippos were imported into Louisiana. This makes me want to read it even more.