I was asked in the comments if I have any recommendations on books on American history, and yes, I do. I ploughed through a lot of stuff and finally found a really good volume. It is the perfect nation-state history book. I strongly believe it should be the school textbook everywhere instead of the horrible drivel by Howard Zinn.
The book I’m talking about is Land of Hope by Wilfred McClay. Here’s a quote I really like:
One of the worst sins of the present – not just ours but any present – is its tendency to condescend toward the past, which is much easier to do when one doesn’t trouble to know the full context of that past or try to grasp the nature of its challenges as they presented themselves at the time. This small book is an effort to counteract that condescension and remind us of how remarkable were the achievements of those who came before us, how much we are indebted to them.
Indentured servitude was recently mentioned here on the blog, and here’s a quote regarding it:
Indentured servitude was so common that some historians have estimated more than half of the white immigrants to the American colonies up to the time of the Revolution had come to the New World under indentures, and even the first black Africans to appear in North America, dropped off at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619 by a Dutch ship, may well have been indentured servants rather than slaves.
Indentured servitude is often written out of history because because it’s inconvenient to the reigninig narrative of race relations.
In short, a wonderful book that I highly recommend. There’s also a version for middle schoolers which I’m planning to buy for my own kid.
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