This book is written in an engaging fashion for younger readers, so that's why I gave it 2 stars. But I found the attitudes conveyed towards slavery, Native Americans, and Democrats unsettling. I think there are some political motives behind this book. I think the author is trying to indoctrinate youngsters into ultra-conservative Southern Republican political ideas, and a brand of Christianity that makes people outside the church (you know, the OTHER people God loves) think Christ-followers are hateful and crazy.
For example, on p36 it states, "Although it is true that Native Americans were often treated badly by European settlers, they treated one another worse" and "We cannot feel so much pity for the Native Americans when we think of all this." Did they have it coming? They faught and killed each other like every other group of humans on the planet, so we shouldn't feel bad about the injustices perpetrated by white European settlers that the Natives have never recovered from?
And on the two pages that deal with slavery, it is mentioned that the slave trade was profitable for the traders, but "hard on the slaves" who were shipped to the colonies "under difficult conditions." A bit of an understatement.
And, on the subject of the Civil War, "Many people in the south did not own slaves, but they knew how quickly the Southern economy and standard of living would be damaged if the Northern politicians forced Southern farmers to immediately free their slaves." Yikes, what about the slaves' standard of living? No where is it mentioned or even alluded to that slavery in the US was BAD and WRONG. It's not okay to own another human being and treat him or her like an animal (or WORSE).
The reason the North abolished slavery? They had MACHINES to do the work of slaves, so slaves became obsolete. And I quote, "...why slavery was done away with in the Northern states. The reason is primarily that Northern businessmen did not need slave labor to operate their stores and factories because they made much greater use of the new machines that cut down on the amount of hand labor that was necessary to complete a job." No mention of how compassionate Christians (and others) were vehemently opposed to the way slave owners viewed, kept and treated their slaves, or what they did to abolish slavery.
Finally, the treatment of Democrats and Republicans is really unbalanced. The only things mentioned about Carter? How horrible he was for establishing relations with China, that he messed up with the Panama Canal, and his debaucling of the Iran hostage situation. "In short, our country had sunk to new lows during the Carter years." Clinton's claims to fame are creating a huge government against the Constitution and the will of the people (who promptly reelected him), meddling in Bosnia and other war-torn nations, promoting homosexuality, and Monica Lewinsky. (WHY are these last two issues in a book for 9-year-olds?) In contrast, the Repubs get ONLY positive press in this text.
Finally, the book also says on p178, "Sadly, our country's Supreme Court ruled in 1962 that it was illegal for children to pray in the public schools." That's not true. That law pertains to adult-led corporate prayer, but does nothing to prevent a CHILD from praying in school.
If this book is in line with your political views, then you might want to buy it. But I have a hard time believing that anyone in this day and age thinks SLAVERY was really not such a bad thing. For that reason, no one should by it. This text could be supplemented with something more truthful regarding slavery, like a parent-censored version of "The Slave Narratives," which records hundreds of interviews with former slaves about their lives as slaves and after emancipation. |
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