What They Didn't Teach You in American History Class

The Second Encounter

Mike Henry

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9781475815481
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education Curricula

For the average person, most of the American history that he or she knows comes from facts taught to them in school to prepare them for their state mandated tests. That's not the fault of their teachers who were just carrying out the directives of their employers. But it's also a fact that a great deal of that content that they were teaching is dry and boring. However, as in every aspect of life, there is always another story behind each major event. The story of America is interesting and exciting, but it's those lesser known parts of our history that make it special.

Even though in most cases, the names and events in the book will be recognizable, most of the stories about them will be new to the reader. If you're a young teacher, perhaps you'll find some material to help you get through those less-than-exciting areas of your textbook. If you hated history as a student, maybe you'll find some of these tales entertaining. For those of you who are history buffs, hopefully you'll come across a few things that are new to you.

Table of contents

• Preface
• Chapter 1 Let’s Try This Again—They Were Looking for China and Japan but Ended Up in America?
• Chapter 2 Remember, One If by Land, Two If by Sea? No, This Is Not a Math Question!
• Chapter 3 George Washington . . . Some Say That It Was Because of His Teeth, but If You Had His Problems, You Wouldn’t Be Smiling Either
• Chapter 4 If the British Set Fire to the White House, Why Didn’t the Smoke Detectors Go Off?
• Chapter 5 Americans Won Their Freedom on Battles Fought in the East. So When It Was Over, They Moved West. Sure, That Makes Sense.
• Chapter 6 The Civil War: America’s Real Family Feud
• Chapter 7 Following the War, America Lived Happily Ever After for the Next Few Years
• Chapter 8 The Inventors: If You Build It, Someone Will Probably Show Up
• Chapter 9 If It Was the Twentieth Century, Then Why Was It in the 1900s?
• Chapter 10 You Mean John Wayne Didn’t Win the War for Our Side?
• Chapter 11 Hey Grandpa . . . Were You a Hippie?
• Chapter 12 The 1980s and 1990s, or, as We Call It, The Days When Machines Took Over the Country
• Chapter 13 Y2K . . . Was That Like the First Cell Phone?
• Chapter 14 Internal Briefings: The Presidency
• Chapter 15 One More Time! As History Repeats
• Chapter 16 Unfinished Business
• Bibliography
• About the Author