Customer Reviews

The Rewriting of America's History

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This book is very helpful in dispelling myths about our nation's history as portrayed by most publishers today. There is a book for children that goes hand-in-hand with this one, titled, "A Children's Companion Guide To America's History". It is inspiring to see the real, godly character of our founding fathers, in their own words.

THE REWRITING OF AMERICA'S HISTORY (1991)
by Catherine Millard

This book falls somewhere between a travel guide and a history book. What Catherine Millard basically does is travel to various museums, historical centers and monuments and gives an account of her experiences. She does all of this with a focus on the representation of Christianity in U.S. history.

Each chapter is divided up into smaller sections. The first chapter contains biographical sketches of many of the Founding Fathers and the second chapter is about 18th century Americans. Each Founder is profiled with attention to whether or not he was religious. I think her some of her assessments on this matter are based more on wishful thinking than material evidence (I say this as a Christian myself). In some cases, but not all, Millard also gives details about a historical site or publication associated with the figure. When Millard approves of the presentation, she notes her favorite parts. When Millard dislikes a presentation, she labels it "history rewritten" and points out how she feels it should've been. Benjamin Franklin's section for example takes us through the Library Company of Philadelphia, a private library founded by Franklin in 1783. The Library Company earned a "history rewritten" label because instead of showing exhibits on the life and work of Ben Franklin, it was celebrating the history of food in Philadelphia in an exhibit titled "the Larder Invaded". In her defense the name sounds goofy to say the least. Millard notes that "while there is a place for such a thing, it belongs in a restaurant, tavern or inn, but not in Franklin's Library Company" (pg.127). She also wonders whether the inclusion of a statue of Hester Prynn (adultress character from 'The Scarlet Letter') is an "attempt to debase Franklin's character by association".

The third chapter, titled "Where are we going?" is made up exclusively of historical sites. In this chapter Millard really gets to go all out. I have to admit that sometimes her negative reviews are unintentionally funny, in the same way that it can be funny to hear someone rant about their co-workers bad habits. She scolds Colonial Williamsburg for not having the famous "Vinegar Bible" on display. She interrogates a park ranger about the true significance of the Liberty Bell. The Library of Congress gets an especially rigorous critique, with Jefferson's "torch of learning" removed from atop one of the buildings, and replaced with an ordinary architectural spike, which she describes as a "meaningless counterfeit" (pg 365). Ms. Millard recounts her visit to the Second Bank of the United States in sober detail:

"A large mirror represented this
section of the exhibit. Its frame
was comprised of neon red lighting.
A button which glowed neon red
light to the left, featured the directive:
'Push and hold button and look into
the future of the Slavery Compromise'.
One has to keep holding the button
down, while the whole panel lights up,
showing an old, enlarged photograph
of the Civil War. A fortress wall appeared
in the foreground, with soldiers and
cannons and a vast, empty dry plain.
We watched young people press the
button, draw a blank, shake their heads
and walk away, probably asking themselves
the same question as we did: 'What on
earth has this got to do with the Slavery
Compromise - let alone the Constitution
of the United States?" (pg. 242)

The book concludes with a chapter asking which direction America is going and includes an extended quote from former communist Kenneth Goff's infamous book 'BRAINWASHING'. This book is a unique project that will probably only appeal to readers who sympathize with it's author, but it also contains some photographs that I haven't seen anyplace else.

This book covers American history starting before Columbus even landed. Dr. Catherine Millard has done much original research from the national archives and gives Christian Heritage Tours in Washington DC, Philadelphia and other site rich with Christian history and proof of our Christian forefathers.

More Americans should read this book and be outraged by what has taken place in our country. Ms. Millard has studied and worked very hard at revealing this information. I truly appreciated the straight-forward information that was provided. There are many so-called history books that have distorted information. This book has shown me to be more discerning when it comes to who I get my historical information from.

This book tells you real history which is so hard to find these days. It also explains that historical facts have been tampered with and that we need to search to find the truth. Thanks for all your hard work! Read some of her newsletter articles. [...]