Author: Daniel J. Middleton
Publisher: Unique Coloring
ISBN: 1935702483
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 141
Book Description
Did you know that a black man founded Chicago, Illinois? Did you know that the iconic television program Sesame Street grew out of the Civil Rights movement? This collection of unsung trailblazers unearths these and other little-known facts from the past. Packed with insightful encyclopedic entries, 45 People, Places, and Events in Black History You Should Know is the perfect primer for the Black History dabbler or enthusiast. In this book, you will discover: 15 individual men 15 individual women, and 15 important people, places, or events A large portion of these subjects received scant recognition from media outlets. But their names and stories are worth remembering because they figure prominently in the large historic landscape that forms the world narrative. Among the many subjects covered in this book are Bridget "Biddy" Mason, a black female and former slave. Toward the end of the nineteenth century, she was the wealthiest resident of Los Angeles, California. You'll learn about Covert, Michigan, the U.S. township that defied the racist norms of the post-Civil War era by refusing to segregate. And you'll read about C.R. Patterson and Sons, the first and only major car manufacturer owned and operated by black Americans. Prepare to be informed!
45 People, Places, and Events in Black History You Should Know
Author: Daniel J. Middleton
Publisher: Unique Coloring
ISBN: 1935702483
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 141
Book Description
Did you know that a black man founded Chicago, Illinois? Did you know that the iconic television program Sesame Street grew out of the Civil Rights movement? This collection of unsung trailblazers unearths these and other little-known facts from the past. Packed with insightful encyclopedic entries, 45 People, Places, and Events in Black History You Should Know is the perfect primer for the Black History dabbler or enthusiast. In this book, you will discover: 15 individual men 15 individual women, and 15 important people, places, or events A large portion of these subjects received scant recognition from media outlets. But their names and stories are worth remembering because they figure prominently in the large historic landscape that forms the world narrative. Among the many subjects covered in this book are Bridget "Biddy" Mason, a black female and former slave. Toward the end of the nineteenth century, she was the wealthiest resident of Los Angeles, California. You'll learn about Covert, Michigan, the U.S. township that defied the racist norms of the post-Civil War era by refusing to segregate. And you'll read about C.R. Patterson and Sons, the first and only major car manufacturer owned and operated by black Americans. Prepare to be informed!
Publisher: Unique Coloring
ISBN: 1935702483
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 141
Book Description
Did you know that a black man founded Chicago, Illinois? Did you know that the iconic television program Sesame Street grew out of the Civil Rights movement? This collection of unsung trailblazers unearths these and other little-known facts from the past. Packed with insightful encyclopedic entries, 45 People, Places, and Events in Black History You Should Know is the perfect primer for the Black History dabbler or enthusiast. In this book, you will discover: 15 individual men 15 individual women, and 15 important people, places, or events A large portion of these subjects received scant recognition from media outlets. But their names and stories are worth remembering because they figure prominently in the large historic landscape that forms the world narrative. Among the many subjects covered in this book are Bridget "Biddy" Mason, a black female and former slave. Toward the end of the nineteenth century, she was the wealthiest resident of Los Angeles, California. You'll learn about Covert, Michigan, the U.S. township that defied the racist norms of the post-Civil War era by refusing to segregate. And you'll read about C.R. Patterson and Sons, the first and only major car manufacturer owned and operated by black Americans. Prepare to be informed!
45 People, Places, and Events in Black History You Should Know
Author: Middleton
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781935702474
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 140
Book Description
Did you know that a black man founded Chicago, Illinois? Did you know that the iconic television program Sesame Street grew out of the Civil Rights movement? This collection of unsung trailblazers unearths these and other little-known facts from the past. Packed with insightful encyclopedic entries, 45 People, Places, and Events in Black History You Should Know is the perfect primer for the Black History dabbler or enthusiast. In this book, you will discover: 15 individual men 15 individual women, and 15 important people, places, or events A large portion of these subjects received scant recognition from media outlets. But their names and stories are worth remembering because they figure prominently in the large historic landscape that forms the world narrative. Among the many subjects covered in this book are Bridget "Biddy" Mason, a black female and former slave. Toward the end of the nineteenth century, she was the wealthiest resident of Los Angeles, California. You'll learn about Covert, Michigan, the U.S. township that defied the racist norms of the post-Civil War era by refusing to segregate. And you'll read about C.R. Patterson and Sons, the first and only major car manufacturer owned and operated by black Americans. Prepare to be informed!
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781935702474
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 140
Book Description
Did you know that a black man founded Chicago, Illinois? Did you know that the iconic television program Sesame Street grew out of the Civil Rights movement? This collection of unsung trailblazers unearths these and other little-known facts from the past. Packed with insightful encyclopedic entries, 45 People, Places, and Events in Black History You Should Know is the perfect primer for the Black History dabbler or enthusiast. In this book, you will discover: 15 individual men 15 individual women, and 15 important people, places, or events A large portion of these subjects received scant recognition from media outlets. But their names and stories are worth remembering because they figure prominently in the large historic landscape that forms the world narrative. Among the many subjects covered in this book are Bridget "Biddy" Mason, a black female and former slave. Toward the end of the nineteenth century, she was the wealthiest resident of Los Angeles, California. You'll learn about Covert, Michigan, the U.S. township that defied the racist norms of the post-Civil War era by refusing to segregate. And you'll read about C.R. Patterson and Sons, the first and only major car manufacturer owned and operated by black Americans. Prepare to be informed!
Between the World and Me
Author: Ta-Nehisi Coates
Publisher: One World
ISBN: 0679645985
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 163
Book Description
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • NAMED ONE OF TIME’S TEN BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE DECADE • PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST • ONE OF OPRAH’S “BOOKS THAT HELP ME THROUGH” • NOW AN HBO ORIGINAL SPECIAL EVENT Hailed by Toni Morrison as “required reading,” a bold and personal literary exploration of America’s racial history by “the most important essayist in a generation and a writer who changed the national political conversation about race” (Rolling Stone) NAMED ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOKS OF THE DECADE BY CNN • NAMED ONE OF PASTE’S BEST MEMOIRS OF THE DECADE • NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • O: The Oprah Magazine • The Washington Post • People • Entertainment Weekly • Vogue • Los Angeles Times • San Francisco Chronicle • Chicago Tribune • New York • Newsday • Library Journal • Publishers Weekly In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden? Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’s attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son—and readers—the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the world through a series of revelatory experiences, from Howard University to Civil War battlefields, from the South Side of Chicago to Paris, from his childhood home to the living rooms of mothers whose children’s lives were taken as American plunder. Beautifully woven from personal narrative, reimagined history, and fresh, emotionally charged reportage, Between the World and Me clearly illuminates the past, bracingly confronts our present, and offers a transcendent vision for a way forward.
Publisher: One World
ISBN: 0679645985
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 163
Book Description
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • NAMED ONE OF TIME’S TEN BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE DECADE • PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST • ONE OF OPRAH’S “BOOKS THAT HELP ME THROUGH” • NOW AN HBO ORIGINAL SPECIAL EVENT Hailed by Toni Morrison as “required reading,” a bold and personal literary exploration of America’s racial history by “the most important essayist in a generation and a writer who changed the national political conversation about race” (Rolling Stone) NAMED ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOKS OF THE DECADE BY CNN • NAMED ONE OF PASTE’S BEST MEMOIRS OF THE DECADE • NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • O: The Oprah Magazine • The Washington Post • People • Entertainment Weekly • Vogue • Los Angeles Times • San Francisco Chronicle • Chicago Tribune • New York • Newsday • Library Journal • Publishers Weekly In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden? Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’s attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son—and readers—the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the world through a series of revelatory experiences, from Howard University to Civil War battlefields, from the South Side of Chicago to Paris, from his childhood home to the living rooms of mothers whose children’s lives were taken as American plunder. Beautifully woven from personal narrative, reimagined history, and fresh, emotionally charged reportage, Between the World and Me clearly illuminates the past, bracingly confronts our present, and offers a transcendent vision for a way forward.
The Black History of the White House
Author: Clarence Lusane
Publisher: City Lights Books
ISBN: 0872866114
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 662
Book Description
The Black History of the White House presents the untold history, racial politics, and shifting significance of the White House as experienced by African Americans, from the generations of enslaved people who helped to build it or were forced to work there to its first black First Family, the Obamas. Clarence Lusane juxtaposes significant events in White House history with the ongoing struggle for democratic, civil, and human rights by black Americans and demonstrates that only during crises have presidents used their authority to advance racial justice. He describes how in 1901 the building was officially named the “White House” amidst a furious backlash against President Roosevelt for inviting Booker T. Washington to dinner, and how that same year that saw the consolidation of white power with the departure of the last black Congressmember elected after the Civil War. Lusane explores how, from its construction in 1792 to its becoming the home of the first black president, the White House has been a prism through which to view the progress and struggles of black Americans seeking full citizenship and justice. “Clarence Lusane is one of America’s most thoughtful and critical thinkers on issues of race, class and power.”—Manning Marable "Barack Obama may be the first black president in the White House, but he's far from the first black person to work in it. In this fascinating history of all the enslaved people, workers and entertainers who spent time in the president's official residence over the years, Clarence Lusane restores the White House to its true colors."—Barbara Ehrenreich "Reading The Black History of the White House shows us how much we DON'T know about our history, politics, and culture. In a very accessible and polished style, Clarence Lusane takes us inside the key national events of the American past and present. He reveals new dimensions of the black presence in the US from revolutionary days to the Obama campaign. Yes, 'black hands built the White House'—enslaved black hands—but they also built this country's economy, political system, and culture, in ways Lusane shows us in great detail. A particularly important feature of this book its personal storytelling: we see black political history through the experiences and insights of little-known participants in great American events. The detailed lives of Washington's slaves seeking freedom, or the complexities of Duke Ellington's relationships with the Truman and Eisenhower White House, show us American racism, and also black America's fierce hunger for freedom, in brand new and very exciting ways. This book would be a great addition to many courses in history, sociology, or ethnic studies courses. Highly recommended!"—Howard Winant "The White House was built with slave labor and at least six US presidents owned slaves during their time in office. With these facts, Clarence Lusane, a political science professor at American University, opens The Black History of the White House(City Lights), a fascinating story of race relations that plays out both on the domestic front and the international stage. As Lusane writes, 'The Lincoln White House resolved the issue of slavery, but not that of racism.' Along with the political calculations surrounding who gets invited to the White House are matters of musical tastes and opinionated first ladies, ingredients that make for good storytelling."—Boston Globe Dr. Clarence Lusane has published in The Washington Post, The Miami Herald, The Baltimore Sun, Oakland Tribune, Black Scholar, and Race and Class. He often appears on PBS, BET, C-SPAN, and other national media.
Publisher: City Lights Books
ISBN: 0872866114
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 662
Book Description
The Black History of the White House presents the untold history, racial politics, and shifting significance of the White House as experienced by African Americans, from the generations of enslaved people who helped to build it or were forced to work there to its first black First Family, the Obamas. Clarence Lusane juxtaposes significant events in White House history with the ongoing struggle for democratic, civil, and human rights by black Americans and demonstrates that only during crises have presidents used their authority to advance racial justice. He describes how in 1901 the building was officially named the “White House” amidst a furious backlash against President Roosevelt for inviting Booker T. Washington to dinner, and how that same year that saw the consolidation of white power with the departure of the last black Congressmember elected after the Civil War. Lusane explores how, from its construction in 1792 to its becoming the home of the first black president, the White House has been a prism through which to view the progress and struggles of black Americans seeking full citizenship and justice. “Clarence Lusane is one of America’s most thoughtful and critical thinkers on issues of race, class and power.”—Manning Marable "Barack Obama may be the first black president in the White House, but he's far from the first black person to work in it. In this fascinating history of all the enslaved people, workers and entertainers who spent time in the president's official residence over the years, Clarence Lusane restores the White House to its true colors."—Barbara Ehrenreich "Reading The Black History of the White House shows us how much we DON'T know about our history, politics, and culture. In a very accessible and polished style, Clarence Lusane takes us inside the key national events of the American past and present. He reveals new dimensions of the black presence in the US from revolutionary days to the Obama campaign. Yes, 'black hands built the White House'—enslaved black hands—but they also built this country's economy, political system, and culture, in ways Lusane shows us in great detail. A particularly important feature of this book its personal storytelling: we see black political history through the experiences and insights of little-known participants in great American events. The detailed lives of Washington's slaves seeking freedom, or the complexities of Duke Ellington's relationships with the Truman and Eisenhower White House, show us American racism, and also black America's fierce hunger for freedom, in brand new and very exciting ways. This book would be a great addition to many courses in history, sociology, or ethnic studies courses. Highly recommended!"—Howard Winant "The White House was built with slave labor and at least six US presidents owned slaves during their time in office. With these facts, Clarence Lusane, a political science professor at American University, opens The Black History of the White House(City Lights), a fascinating story of race relations that plays out both on the domestic front and the international stage. As Lusane writes, 'The Lincoln White House resolved the issue of slavery, but not that of racism.' Along with the political calculations surrounding who gets invited to the White House are matters of musical tastes and opinionated first ladies, ingredients that make for good storytelling."—Boston Globe Dr. Clarence Lusane has published in The Washington Post, The Miami Herald, The Baltimore Sun, Oakland Tribune, Black Scholar, and Race and Class. He often appears on PBS, BET, C-SPAN, and other national media.
Hollywood or History?
Author: Paul J. Yoder
Publisher: IAP
ISBN: 164802937X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 251
Book Description
Traumagenic events—episodes that have caused or are likely to cause trauma—color the experiences of K-12 students and the social studies curriculum they encounter in U.S. schools. At the same time that the global COVID-19 pandemic has heightened educators’ awareness of collective trauma, the racial reckoning of 2020 has drawn important attention to historical and transgenerational trauma. At a time when social studies educators can simply no longer ignore “difficult” knowledge, instruction that acknowledges trauma in social studies classrooms is essential. Through employing relational pedagogies and foregrounding voices that are too often silenced, the lessons in Hollywood or History? An Inquiry-Based Strategy for Using Film to Acknowledge Trauma in Social Studies engage students in examining the role of traumatic or traumagenic events in social studies curriculum. The 20 Hollywood or History? lessons are organized by themes such as political trauma and war and genocide. Each lesson presents film clips, instructional strategies, and primary and secondary sources targeted to the identified K-12 grade levels. As a collection, they provide ready-to-teach resources that are perfect for teachers who are committed to acknowledging trauma in their social studies instruction.
Publisher: IAP
ISBN: 164802937X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 251
Book Description
Traumagenic events—episodes that have caused or are likely to cause trauma—color the experiences of K-12 students and the social studies curriculum they encounter in U.S. schools. At the same time that the global COVID-19 pandemic has heightened educators’ awareness of collective trauma, the racial reckoning of 2020 has drawn important attention to historical and transgenerational trauma. At a time when social studies educators can simply no longer ignore “difficult” knowledge, instruction that acknowledges trauma in social studies classrooms is essential. Through employing relational pedagogies and foregrounding voices that are too often silenced, the lessons in Hollywood or History? An Inquiry-Based Strategy for Using Film to Acknowledge Trauma in Social Studies engage students in examining the role of traumatic or traumagenic events in social studies curriculum. The 20 Hollywood or History? lessons are organized by themes such as political trauma and war and genocide. Each lesson presents film clips, instructional strategies, and primary and secondary sources targeted to the identified K-12 grade levels. As a collection, they provide ready-to-teach resources that are perfect for teachers who are committed to acknowledging trauma in their social studies instruction.
The Practice of Citizenship
Author: Derrick R. Spires
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 0812295773
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 353
Book Description
In the years between the American Revolution and the U.S. Civil War, as legal and cultural understandings of citizenship became more racially restrictive, black writers articulated an expansive, practice-based theory of citizenship. Grounded in political participation, mutual aid, critique and revolution, and the myriad daily interactions between people living in the same spaces, citizenship, they argued, is not defined by who one is but, rather, by what one does. In The Practice of Citizenship, Derrick R. Spires examines the parallel development of early black print culture and legal and cultural understandings of U.S. citizenship, beginning in 1787, with the framing of the federal Constitution and the founding of the Free African Society by Absalom Jones and Richard Allen, and ending in 1861, with the onset of the Civil War. Between these two points he recovers understudied figures such as William J. Wilson, whose 1859 "Afric-American Picture Gallery" appeared in seven installments in The Anglo-African Magazine, and the physician, abolitionist, and essayist James McCune Smith. He places texts such as the proceedings of black state conventions alongside considerations of canonical figures such as Frances Ellen Watkins Harper and Frederick Douglass. Reading black print culture as a space where citizenship was both theorized and practiced, Spires reveals the degree to which concepts of black citizenship emerged through a highly creative and diverse community of letters, not easily reducible to representative figures or genres. From petitions to Congress to Frances Harper's parlor fiction, black writers framed citizenship both explicitly and implicitly, the book demonstrates, not simply as a response to white supremacy but as a matter of course in the shaping of their own communities and in meeting their own political, social, and cultural needs.
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 0812295773
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 353
Book Description
In the years between the American Revolution and the U.S. Civil War, as legal and cultural understandings of citizenship became more racially restrictive, black writers articulated an expansive, practice-based theory of citizenship. Grounded in political participation, mutual aid, critique and revolution, and the myriad daily interactions between people living in the same spaces, citizenship, they argued, is not defined by who one is but, rather, by what one does. In The Practice of Citizenship, Derrick R. Spires examines the parallel development of early black print culture and legal and cultural understandings of U.S. citizenship, beginning in 1787, with the framing of the federal Constitution and the founding of the Free African Society by Absalom Jones and Richard Allen, and ending in 1861, with the onset of the Civil War. Between these two points he recovers understudied figures such as William J. Wilson, whose 1859 "Afric-American Picture Gallery" appeared in seven installments in The Anglo-African Magazine, and the physician, abolitionist, and essayist James McCune Smith. He places texts such as the proceedings of black state conventions alongside considerations of canonical figures such as Frances Ellen Watkins Harper and Frederick Douglass. Reading black print culture as a space where citizenship was both theorized and practiced, Spires reveals the degree to which concepts of black citizenship emerged through a highly creative and diverse community of letters, not easily reducible to representative figures or genres. From petitions to Congress to Frances Harper's parlor fiction, black writers framed citizenship both explicitly and implicitly, the book demonstrates, not simply as a response to white supremacy but as a matter of course in the shaping of their own communities and in meeting their own political, social, and cultural needs.
The ABCs of Black History
Author: Rio Cortez
Publisher: Workman Publishing Company
ISBN: 1523511850
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 66
Book Description
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER B is for Beautiful, Brave, and Bright! And for a Book that takes a Bold journey through the alphabet of Black history and culture. Letter by letter, The ABCs of Black History celebrates a story that spans continents and centuries, triumph and heartbreak, creativity and joy. It’s a story of big ideas––P is for Power, S is for Science and Soul. Of significant moments––G is for Great Migration. Of iconic figures––H is for Zora Neale Hurston, X is for Malcom X. It’s an ABC book like no other, and a story of hope and love. In addition to rhyming text, the book includes back matter with information on the events, places, and people mentioned in the poem, from Mae Jemison to W. E. B. Du Bois, Fannie Lou Hamer to Sam Cooke, and the Little Rock Nine to DJ Kool Herc.
Publisher: Workman Publishing Company
ISBN: 1523511850
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 66
Book Description
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER B is for Beautiful, Brave, and Bright! And for a Book that takes a Bold journey through the alphabet of Black history and culture. Letter by letter, The ABCs of Black History celebrates a story that spans continents and centuries, triumph and heartbreak, creativity and joy. It’s a story of big ideas––P is for Power, S is for Science and Soul. Of significant moments––G is for Great Migration. Of iconic figures––H is for Zora Neale Hurston, X is for Malcom X. It’s an ABC book like no other, and a story of hope and love. In addition to rhyming text, the book includes back matter with information on the events, places, and people mentioned in the poem, from Mae Jemison to W. E. B. Du Bois, Fannie Lou Hamer to Sam Cooke, and the Little Rock Nine to DJ Kool Herc.
An Activity Book for African American Families
Author: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (U.S.)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : African American children
Languages : en
Pages : 100
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : African American children
Languages : en
Pages : 100
Book Description
The Negro Motorist Green Book
Author: Victor H. Green
Publisher: Colchis Books
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 222
Book Description
The Negro Motorist Green Book was a groundbreaking guide that provided African American travelers with crucial information on safe places to stay, eat, and visit during the era of segregation in the United States. This essential resource, originally published from 1936 to 1966, offered a lifeline to black motorists navigating a deeply divided nation, helping them avoid the dangers and indignities of racism on the road. More than just a travel guide, The Negro Motorist Green Book stands as a powerful symbol of resilience and resistance in the face of oppression, offering a poignant glimpse into the challenges and triumphs of the African American experience in the 20th century.
Publisher: Colchis Books
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 222
Book Description
The Negro Motorist Green Book was a groundbreaking guide that provided African American travelers with crucial information on safe places to stay, eat, and visit during the era of segregation in the United States. This essential resource, originally published from 1936 to 1966, offered a lifeline to black motorists navigating a deeply divided nation, helping them avoid the dangers and indignities of racism on the road. More than just a travel guide, The Negro Motorist Green Book stands as a powerful symbol of resilience and resistance in the face of oppression, offering a poignant glimpse into the challenges and triumphs of the African American experience in the 20th century.
That's Not in My American History Book
Author: Thomas Ayres
Publisher: Taylor Trade Publications
ISBN: 158979107X
Category : United States
Languages : en
Pages : 257
Book Description
This book tackles the messy details, reclaims disregarded heroes, and sets the record straight. It also explains why July 4th isn't really Independence Day.
Publisher: Taylor Trade Publications
ISBN: 158979107X
Category : United States
Languages : en
Pages : 257
Book Description
This book tackles the messy details, reclaims disregarded heroes, and sets the record straight. It also explains why July 4th isn't really Independence Day.