“If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.”
–Barack Obama
“Make America Great Again!” is the motto Donald Trump holds close to his chest. An expression that could easily pass as a catchy campaign logo, but in fact holds a far more profound meaning.
The whole world agrees that there is no other country more worthy of praise than the United States of America. Its civilization is a melting pot of cultures, races, and ideologies that was founded on the courage of men who fought against the oppression of England and created the first free democratic nation in the world. The history of the US is based on the free market, freedom, and democratic ideals of how the world should turn. It also has an uncanny taste for consuming pop culture.
From the Apalaches to the Sierra Nevada, and from the wetlands of Florida to the thick woods of Washington, American history has been written with the ink of freedom and equal opportunity. The fusion of different cultures and ways of thinking have strengthened this common ideal. A call for solidarity, we remember the words of Barack Obama, “I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it’s been done in America for 221 years –block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.”
The following books will most likely radically change the image we have of this great nation, and they will highlight the wealth of ignorance Trump boasts:
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A People’s History of The United States (1980) –Howard Zinn
This book is the beating heart of US history, and it has been censored countless times. The official American history –as it happens in other parts of the world– omits marginalized people that did not have a voice or lost it as the star spangled nation was being erected. Zinn gives a platform to these forgotten people by narrating the history of the US in an agile and light way. This book serves as a compass, enabling us to understand the current global conditions and particularly that of the US.
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Master of the Mountain: Thomas Jefferson and His Slaves (2012) – Henry Wiencek
Henry Wiencek is a recognized specialist in the history of the Founding Fathers, and this particular work focuses on the life of Thomas Jefferson. He was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and twice elected president of the US. It delves into the exploitation of over 600 slaves in his plantation, known as Monticello. Wiencek removes the rose-tinted image of Jefferson as a “champion of democracy” that history has generously painted. Through careful analysis of his state accounts, we can see how he calculated a revenue based on the sale of children and the punishments that were accorded to the slaves based on sex and work disposition.
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The Counter-Revolution of 1776: Slave Resistance and the Origins of the United States of America (2014) –Gerald Horne
The independence of the US is conceived as an act of freedom par excellence that gave way to the creation of a heroic nation. Gerald Horne tarnishes this spotless image through careful analysis of the past. He proposes that the independence movement was only a call to action orchestrated by the elite to obtain commercial freedom and continue replicating the slave system that prevailed in the country.
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Freedom Road (1944) –Howard Fast
It’s a novel that narrates a slave rebellion that occurs after the Civil War. One of them is chosen to form part of the Senate in Washington D.C., where he discovers the decadence of the political and electoral system. Fast’s novels were blacklisted during the Cold War since they went against the democratic ideals of the nation. In the more conservative circles of America these works continue to be taboo.
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The Untold History of The United States (2012) – Oliver Stone & Peter Kuznick
This famous film producer carried out a documentary of what he considered to be the untold contemporary history of the US. This series in the space of 12 episodes dissects the role of the US during the Cold War, the topic of atomic weapons, McCarthy’s black list, and the communist purge. This detailed examination prompted publishers to develop a printed version of Stone’s work, which he created alongside Peter Kuznick.
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Today we are seeing two extreme versions of United States. On the one hand we are witnessing an America in decline, overrun by terrorists and immigrants, and hanging by a thread. On the other we see a resilient country that will rise to meet its challenges head on. Without a doubt we are living an unprecedented time, and the eyes of the whole world are upon us. We wait with bated breath the next step this country will take.