why has the Amerian goverment manipulated history ?

Question

Lies I was told in school, Custers last stand, that has been taught in American schools that the troopers form a defense line and fought to the death. Historians went to the site of the battle with medal detectors and found by rifle brass that the troopers did not died as depicted in the Army's version of the last stand. by following the path of firing pin mark on the brass following the path of individuals. At the battle of the Alamo, everyone was killed and Mexican history states that Jim Bowie was found hiding under a pile of bedding, No survivors to tell the true facts. Ira Hays was among those paraded around the States as a war hero, for the flag raising on Mount Sarabachi on Iwo Jima. There was an actual flag raising, the picture that we know was a reenactment set up for the news media, Ira died on the Pima reservation from the shame he felt, thinking in his mind that he was not a war hero. The media attemtped to do the same with Jessica Lynch, to her credit she rejected it.

Answer 1

Because the government, like any entity, wants to appear flawless. The government, however, has the power to shape people's opinions. Through the use of media influence and selective law enforcement, the government can manufacture a "reality" that shields it from the light of truth.

Have you read "1984"?

Answer 2

We've know for years about Custer's Last Stand being a seres of skirmishes that left five companies of the 7th United States Calvary dead on a Montana hillside. Go to the Battlefield and study the lay of the land and the placement of the markers of where the men fell placed by the men who buried them and you can see that. What we learn in school is the account that G. A. Custer's supporters put out and the public believed.

As for the Alamo we have testimony from soldiers and officers of the battle that Bowie was killed in bed, confinded to it after having broke his leg. No one can account for Crockett and as the bodies were destroyed on the orders on Santa Anna we will never know if anyone survived the fight at the Alamo. The stories were started by people who heard people who heard people.

As for Ira Hayes and the flag raising on Suribachi I think you might want to read "Flags of our Fathers" to get that answer. But quickly the American people wanted Heros and those five young men were selected not because what they did wasn't important but because it was important. The American Public and the Marine Corp didn't know that their had been a flag raising just an hour or so before none of those men wanted to leave their buddies on Iwo.

The Media repeated the story put out by the DOD when Pvt Lynch tried to set the record straight no one would listen to the stories calling them defeatest and self serving. It wasn't until the Army became mired in the Tilman Freindly Fire incident that we as a people stopped and listen tio Jessica Lynch, So if you want to know the real answer to your question I would say that the media and government give us wat they and we want to hear. Sometimes it isn't the truth.

The US as any country needs heros to tell us how great our military is and to show the people back home what that military is doing in the firld. The Press lies the military lies and we buy it the difference today is that we have instant media so any mistake is shown very quickly to the American people. I for one think that everybody should remember that those men who died at Little Big Horn, The Alamo, Iwo Jima, the Gulf Wars all volunteered to be there not one man was drafted nobody even Jessica Lynch joined to get killed or have their lifes altered by war. Always read history and the news with a little sceptsism. Read more that just what you are taught in history you will learn more of the truth then you know. The American government doesn't manipulate history it tell you the story either as they know it or as they want to get out. All nations do all nations will till the end of time.

Answer 3

The second flag raising on Iwo Jima was NOT staged for the News Media !! That was a misquote by an AP reporter regarding Mr. Rosenthal's photo

Read "Flags of our Fathers" or for THAT matter, the US Marine Corps battle-history of the incident !

Ira Hays was among the group that DID capture Mount Surabachi and raised the first small flag (the personal flag of Captain Dave E. Severance, the commander of Easy Company (2nd Battalion, 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division).

When 2nd Battalion Commander, Colonel Chandler Johnson. heard that the Secretary of the Navy, who was present off-shore wanted the flag, decided that the flag was a historical souvenier of the BATTALION, and sent a subordinate to find a second, LARGER flag.

When the second (famous) flag was raised, AP photogragher Joe Rosenthal had been taking pictures of the ships off shore and turned just as the flag was going up: Ten years after the flag-raising, Rosenthal wrote:

“Out of the corner of my eye, I had seen the men start the flag up. I swung my camera and shot the scene. That is how the picture was taken, and when you take a picture like that, you don't come away saying you got a great shot. You don't know".

Ira Hays was ashamed because of the celebrity created by the photo and the fact that he MISSED his buddies.

DON'T YOU rewrite History !!

No one from the US Army survived "The Battle of the Little Big Horn" other than a Horse who refused comment. So the recorded account awaited archeological correction.

There WERE survivors from the Alamo... Bowies situation though was just an anecdote / legend.

Pvt Lynch does deserve Kudo's for refusing to permit the MEDIA from continuing THEIR misrepresentation.

PLEASE note that in ALL the cases YOU listed... the errors were by the MEDIA of the time, NOT the Government. Schools buy their OWN books... and teachers are free to interject corrections.

ALSO note that there is NO historical source for George Washingtons alleged quote "Father I can not tell a lie"

ALSO go read a Japanese High School History book... missing all accounts of their World War II "errors".

ALSO note that the BIBLE is a "History" that is often disproven or questioned in it's accuracy.

Answer 4

Your HS history books are not written by the government (though your local school district does buy them).

You are correct. There are many inaccuracies in them and those should be corrected, but the companies that make all textbooks are not interested so much in the accuracy as they are the sales. Many of these mistakes are dates which have no political implication at all which points to the fact that it's not just about politics but laziness.

That being said, governments do have a history of telling the story as puts them in the best light. The US is probably one of the least guilty. More often than other governments, we accuse ourselves. We most certainly hold ourselves to a higher standard.

Consider that during war crime trials for Serbians or Liberians, only a few men at the top were charged and tried, whereas in the US military war crimes are rare and everyone accused down to the lowest private is tried for their participation, by the US military.

I applaud Jessica Lynch for her bold actions in discrediting the heroine story and telling the truth. The fact is that it would have been easy for her to accept the fame and the US military really appeared to be giving her the medal of honor. It does very much want to give the first medal of honor to a woman. She was to be the chosen. And like most who have earned it, she also was modest and denied being worthy. On the other hand, as per her own accounts, she had not earned it. I have much respect for her in setting the record straight.

Answer 5

History is just that - his story. You are going to get the version of the tale that the storyteller wants you to have. Historians have a hard time trying to tell the entire picture from all parties involved. You're right, once people die the truth can die with them. All civilizations try to make themselves look good to their posterity. Does anyone really talk about the bad side of the founding fathers? No, we want to remember the great in eveyone. As much as our president likes to talk about us being a democracy we are a republic - it aint all equal - period. Honestly there are instances when I'd rather not know the awful truth -let me have my naive romantic thoughts of the past, no need to tell little kids aobut the real deal of war - they are going to get the facts soon enough.

Besides, governments are like "the Sopranos", if you have no power you don't really want to know too much - it isn't healthy (if you get my drift). Sometimes ignorance can be bliss (NYC pre 911). Look at us now.

Answer 6

Don't worry, it's all changing. Schools now teach children that the United States is the most evil nation ever to exist. Much worse than Nazi Germany. It's now politically incorrect to question how evil the United States was and is.

The fact is (I know that I will sound unenlightened here) that all governments do bad things and all governments rewrite history the way they see it. Try asking a Turk about the Armenian Genocide.

Answer 7

Because it's nice to have heroes. If you can't find any quickly, it's easier to make some up.

I agree that the actual history is more interesting and telling of human nature than the fiction.

Just like most things people are in a hurry and don't take the time to discover the facts.

Answer 8

99% of the time it is because the school board never bothered to read the textbooks they approved.

I remember reading a book where the author describes getting a physics textbook with nothing but blank pages. The book ahad not been written yet but the school board was going to approve it because they liked the cover.

And a lot of the teachers do not really know much about the subjects they teach so they have no clue if the textbook is accurate or not.

Answer 9

well previous to the last 12-15 years or so, there were loud voices that were heard and covered in the press that really fought for the REAL truth being told.

one such voice was william manchester - any history book by him will tell you things you really don't want to hear about germany, general mccarthur etc - and they are some of the most informative and best reading books ever written.

when he died a couple of years ago, america lost a real national treasure...

Answer 10

Janet said it all.

Try reading "A People's History of the U.S. 1492-present" by Howard Zinn, and remember all those history lessons about Columbus and we even have a holiday for him.

How messed up is that???