Richard Daniel McCann

Essays in American History Richard Daniel McCann

In the ten essays presented, the author revisits events in American history popularly shaped through the years by bias and misconception. One of the inherent dangers of a society's claims to "exceptionalism" is the blind and uncritical acceptance of historical narratives that are both incomplete and inconsistent with the reality of actual events. Whether dealing with relations between the Indigenous American peoples and the first European settlers or the enterprise of attempting to engage in nation building in places like Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, history should be viewed and conducted as a cooperative enterprise dedicated to focusing on accurately complete narratives, explanations and interpretations of historical events. The freedom to critically evaluate the conclusions of others is essential for arriving at fair and complete descriptions of the past. The necessity of being prepared to criticize honestly and rigorously reassess oneself is a key component of that exercise.