A Call to Heroism: Renewing America's Vision of Greatness by Peter H Gibbon

Author:Peter H Gibbon [Gibbon, Peter H]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: International Relations, Political Science, General, Civics & Citizenship
ISBN: 9780802198563
Google: Rq-_7OXM2z8C
Goodreads: 42655910
Publisher: Grove Press
Published: 2007-12-01T00:00:00+00:00

PERHAPS SOME CONTEMPORARY American historians are too utopian to appreciate their own country. “I love America.” This is the opening and closing sentence of Fields of Battle, John Keegan’s 1996 magisterial history of forts and warfare in North America. Keegan is an accomplished contemporary British historian, and his book is a rebuke to radical revisionists.

What does Keegan love about America? Our landscape, friendliness, energy; the work ethic, optimism, and equality; a can-do spirit, courteous bureaucrats, and high-minded public servants. He respects at the same time the chivalry of the South and the progress America has made in civil rights. He dares to suggest that the Sioux were as cruel and perhaps more warlike than the American cavalry. He makes heroes of movie stars like Gary Cooper, leaders like Dwight Eisenhower, and inventors like the Wright brothers. He reads Ernest Hemingway and Willa Cather. Sixty years ago America rescued England, and Keegan has not forgotten. He respects Americans for disliking war but being good at it. “I go there,” says Keegan, “in a mood of exploration and wonder.”

Revisionist historians remind us that many immigrants do not prosper, that capitalism does not benefit everybody, that violence has been part of our past, that our presidents are not perfect. Howard Zinn is a courageous activist, and protest movements have helped make America exceptional. But is the essence of American history exploitation, injustice, and greed? Do our history books mislead, as Howard Zinn argues? I taught American history for many years and from many different books. There is much in these texts now about income inequality, environmental degradation, the horrors of immigration, and the hardships of the Western frontier. Strikes, massacres, and lynchings are vividly described. Contemporary history books cover in detail the Vietnam War and our shameful mistreatment of Native Americans.

Little mention is made in them, however, of genius or heroism. Omitted is all drama and majesty. From many of our textbooks, one would not know that in the span of human history, the United States has stood for peace, wealth, and accomplishment and has made possible millions of quiet and contented lives.

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