H I S T O RY How Textbooks from Around the World Portray U.S. History L E S S O NS Dana Lindaman and Kyle Ward THE NEW PRESS NEW YORK LONDON © 2004 by Dana Lindaman and Kyle Ward All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, in any form, without written permission from the publisher. Published in the United States by The New Press, New York, 2004 Distributed by W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., New York LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Lindaman, Dana. History lessons : how textbooks from around the world portray U.S. history / Dana Lindaman and Kyle Ward. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-56584-894-2 (hc.) 1. United States—History—Textbooks—Evaluation. 2. United States—History—Study and teaching—Foreign countries. 3. Textbooks—Foreign countries—Evaluation. 4. United States— Foreign public opinion. I. Ward, Kyle Roy, 1969- II. Title. E175.85.L56 2004 973—dc22 2004042595 The New Press was established in 1990 as a not-for-profit alternative to the large, commercial publishing houses currently dominating the book publishing industry. The New Press operates in the public interest rather than for private gain, and is committed to publishing, in innovative ways, works of educational, cultural, and community value that are often deemed insufficiently profitable. The New Press 38 Greene Street, 4th floor New York, NY 10013 www.thenewpress.com In the United Kingdom: 6 Salem Road London W2 4BU Book design by Kathryn Parise Composition by dix! Printed in the United States of America 2 4 68 10 9 7 53 CONTENTS Acknowledgments ix Editors' Note xiii Introduction xvii PART I The New World and a New American Nation 1. Viking Exploration: Norway, Canada 3 2. Columbus: Cuba, Caribbean 6 3. British Exploration: Great Britain, Canada 13 4. Puritans: Great Britain 17 5. French and Indian War: Great Britain, Caribbean, Canada 21 6. Government in Colonial America: Great Britain 29 7. The American Revolution: Great Britain, France, Canada, Caribbean, Germany 33 PART II Westward Expansion 8. The War of 1812: Great Britain, Canada, Caribbean 51 9. The Monroe Doctrine: Great Britain, Brazil, Caribbean, Mexico, France 57 vi Contents 10. Manifest Destiny: Canada, Mexico, Brazil 65 11. Texas and the Mexican-American Wars: Mexico 72 12. Slavery: Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Portugal, Great Britain, Mexico 79 13. The Civil War: Canada, Great Britain, Mexico 92 14. Immigration: Japan, Canada, Norway, Ireland, Italy 101 PART I II A World Power 15. Opening of Japan: Japan 109 16. The Spanish-American War: Spain, Philippines, Cuba, Caribbean 111 17. Philippine-American War: Philippines 123 18. Boxer Rebellion: China (Hong Kong), Japan, Great Britain 127 19. U.S. Interventions in Latin America and the Caribbean: Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, Nicaragua, Caribbean 133 PART IV World War I 20. Causes of World War I: France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain 149 21. The Great War: France, Canada, Great Britain, Italy, Germany 158 22. Aftermath of the War: Germany, France, Nigeria, Great Britain 168 23. Invasion of Russia: Japan, Great Britain 175 24. The Treaty of Versailles: Germany, Japan, Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy 177 PART V The Great Depression and World War II 25. The Great Depression: Russia, France, Caribbean 193 26. World War II: Europe: Great Britain, Germany, Russia 202 27. D-Day and the Liberation of Europe: Great Britain, Canada, France, Italy 214 28. Resistance: France, Italy, Germany 222 29. World War II: Pacific Theater: Philippines, Japan 228 30. The Atomic Bomb: Japan, Philippines, Canada, Great Britain, Italy Contents vii PART VI The Cold War 31. The Origins of the Cold War: Canada, Russia, Great Britain 247 32. The United Nations: Great Britain, Russia, Canada 256 33. The Cuban Revolution: Cuba 261 34. Korean War: North Korea, South Korea, Great Britain, Russia, Canada, Japan 265 35. NATO: Great Britain, Russia, Canada 278 36. McCarthyism: Canada, France 281 37. Suez Canal: Great Britain, France, Israel, Saudi Arabia 285 38. The Cuban Missile Crisis: Cuba, Russia, Canada, Caribbean 297 39. The Pueblo Incident: North Korea 307 40. The Vietnam War: France, Vietnam, Canada 310 41. The End of the Cold War: France, Russia, Canada 318 PART V II Modern Times 42. The Hostage Crisis in Iran: Iran 325 43. Nicaragua in the 1980s: Nicaragua, Canada 329 44. Apartheid: Zimbabwe 333 45. Free Trade: Canada, Mexico, Japan 336 46. U.S.-Philippine Relations: Philippines 342 47. Cuban-American Relations: Cuba 345 48. The Middle East: Saudi Arabia, Great Britain, France, Israel, Syria 347 49. Nuclear Weapons in North Korea: North Korea 372 50. A New World Order: France 376 Bibliography 379 Permissions 383 A Translation 385 Index 387 A C K N O W L E D G M E N TS We would like to thank the following people who contributed their time, expertise and resources to this project. This project owes a great debt to their efforts and support. Our apologies for any names we have absent- mindedly omitted: Ludmila Guslistova, Dale Cook, Mary Beth Clack, James Loewen, Roger Pare, David Nancekivell, Emilia Beatriz Ribeiro Rocha Laranjeira, Regine Jean-Charles, Anna Skubikowski, Junior Damaceno, Jerome Viala- Gaudefroy Tom Conley, Dr. David Landhuis, Caroline Cresp, Greg Cohen, Lia Brozgal, Roger Kim, Dr. Daniel Fried, Paul Humber, Dr. Tim Harte, Ben Wilkinson, Nam Nguyen, Mark Farha, Snjesana Koren, Takura Nyamfukudza, Raymond Womberai Shana, Dara Ogunlesi, Ur sula H. Wuttrich-Vare, Dr. Dennis Hart, Jonathan Keltner, Dr. Sonia Zaide, Michael Hersrud, Scott Hersrud, Dr. Richard Lewis, Dr. Ken Smemo, Daniel Aguirre-Oteiza, Juan de Dios Vazquez, and Mirit Lerner- Naaman. The names associated with the following institutions provided us with research opportunities, direction, feedback, and many of the textbooks used in this project: X Acknowledgments Columbia University's Reid Hall in Paris, Mary Beth Clack at Harvard University's Widener Library, Dr. Rebecca Bennette at Harvard Univer sity's Center for European Studies, Dr. Hanna Schissler and Gisela Teistler from the Georg Eckert Institute, Andre Marcus and Marlene Mossek from the Center for Monitoring the Impact of Peace (CMIP), All-Nations Publishing Co., and, of course, our ever-patient editor at The New Press, Marc Favreau. To my parents who taught me to think critically and to my wife, Elise, who keeps it sharp. To the Wards—Joe, Kenny, Karen, and Jodie E D I T O R S' NOTE Although we cannot reproduce the pages from the various texts exactly, we have attempted to keep each text and its format as close to the original as possible, in order for our readers to more thoroughly compare these varying renditions of history. Beginning with layout, we've attempted to reproduce the original style and format in each of the selections when pos sible, from the titles and subtitles to the italicized and boldface text. As for the Anglophone selections, we have left them in their original English: i.e., with their Anglicized spellings, vocabulary, and syntax. On occasion we were able to acquire an English version of the original text put out by the original publishers. We noted this in the citation for the text since in these cases we were assured of the original authors' intent. For the remaining texts, we sought out competent translators to render them into accurate and readable English. We expressly requested that they strive to keep the language as close to the original as possible, in syntax and vocabulary, so that the reader of English could get a sense of the respective foreign lan guage. For example, most languages have passive constructions that allow them to speak of something without assigning blame. They also have spe cial idiomatic expressions that have come out of their various histories. To xiv Editors' Note the extent possible and according to the norms of the English language, we have preserved these details. When necessary, we have included edi tors' notes to assist the reader. Otherwise, we have followed this project's guiding principle and have let the texts speak for themselves. When possible, we have made every effort to have the translations checked for accuracy by other translators. Should our readers find any er rors in translation, we, the authors/editors, take full responsibility for them and apologize for any ensuing misunderstanding that may result. The goal of this project is to enlighten our readers, not confuse them. We gladly welcome any criticism that helps us render a more accurate portrait of U.S. and global history. It is also necessary in such a vast project dealing with U.S. history to ex plain our liberal use of certain terms that have posed problems in U.S. his tory textbooks in general. Few U.S. textbook publishers willingly include the terms America or American in their textbooks anymore since they are considered by many to be too ethnocentric. The United States is, after all, but one of many countries that inhabit the American continents.* There fore, the designations given to the United States by foreign textbooks are numerous and varied. In general, most countries outside North and South America do not hesitate to use the title United States for the country and Americans for its citizens. They frequently use the adjective American to de scribe something pertaining to the United States: e.g., American policy, American president. However, Latin American countries are far more reluc tant to grant the title of American to those things having to do with the United States. Consequently, terms like North American and Yankee are often used instead. These we have translated with their direct English equivalent. Conveniently enough, the Spanish language has a very good alternative for the adjective American: estadounidense. But this expedient solution in Spanish translates literally to "United States-ian" in English— hardly an agreeable option. In this special case and in our own writing, we have substituted U.S. for American as an adjective because it is even more precise and loses nothing in translation. For the citizens of the United States we have retained the *Already here there is a difference of opinion. Geography textbooks in Europe point to one American continent divided into North and South, whereas textbooks in the United States speak of two distinct continents, North America and South America.