mikegriffith1
Mike Griffith
If you can talk or bribe your teenager into reading one book, get them to read Dr. Jeff Fynn-Paul's book 2023 book Not Stolen: The Truth About European Colonialism in the New World. The book thoroughly debunks the anti-Western revisionism about European colonization in the New World and America's founding that has dominated American academia since around 2010.
It is humorous to see liberals here summarily rejecting conservative/moderate scholarship on historical issues with the argument that it is "revisionist" and guilty of "revisionism." Yet, they embrace the drastic and bogus liberal revisionism that paints Europeans as genocidal racists who slaughtered tens of millions of natives and stole their land, and that paints America's founding generation, including George Washington, with the same sleazy tar brush.
You wanna talk about "revisionist" and "revisionism"? The anti-American and anti-Western version of Western history that has come to dominate American academia in the last 15 years is the poster child for scurrilous, baseless revisionism that ignores a huge body of contrary facts, as Dr. Fynn-Paul's book proves.
From the book's introduction on Amazon:
A renowned historian debunks current distortion and myths about European colonialism in the New World and restores much needed balance to our understanding of the past.
Was America really “stolen” from the Indians? Was Columbus a racist? Were Indians really peace-loving, communistic environmentalists? Did Europeans commit “genocide” in the New World? It seems that almost everyone—from CNN to the New York Times to angry students pulling down statues of our founders—believes that America’s history is a shameful tale of racism, exploitation, and cruelty.
In Not Stolen, renowned historian Jeff Fynn-Paul systematically dismantles this relentlessly negative view of U.S. history, arguing that it is based on shoddy methods, misinformation, and outright lies about the past. America was not “stolen” from the Indians but fairly purchased piece by piece in a thriving land market. Nor did European settlers cheat, steal, murder, rape or purposely infect them with smallpox to the extent that most people believe. No genocide occurred—either literal or cultural—and the decline of Native populations over time is not due to violence but to assimilation and natural demographic processes.
Fynn-Paul not only debunks these toxic myths, but provides a balanced portrait of this complex historical process over 500 years. The real history of Native and European relations will surprise you. Not only is this not a tale of shameful sins and crimes against humanity—it is more inspiring than you ever dared to imagine.
To get a good idea of the scope of Dr. Fynn-Paul's research, here are the book's chapter titles:
Chapter 1: Intrepid Explorer or Genocidal Maniac? The Complex Case of Christopher Columbus
Chapter 2: Did Europeans Commit Genocide in the New World?
Chapter 3: Were Europeans Racist?
Chapter 4: Were the Conquistadors Bloodthirsty Zealots?
Chapter 5: Is Europe Guilty of “Settler Colonialism”?
Chapter 6: Were New World Civilizations Equal or Superior to Europe?
Chapter 7: Were Native Americans Naturally Peaceful and Benevolent?
Chapter 8: Were Native Americans Natural Environmentalists?
Chapter 9: Were Native Americans Natural Communists?
Chapter 10: Did the Founders Steal Democracy from Native Americans? III: American Displacement
Chapter 11: Is Thanksgiving Racist?
Chapter 12: Was Pocahontas a Race Traitor?
Chapter 13: Was America Stolen?
Chapter 14: Were the Founding Fathers Anti-Indian?
Chapter 15: Was the Trail of Tears Genocidal?
Chapter 16: Did Europeans Starve, Massacre, or Spread Disease among the Natives?
Chapter 17: Did the Gold Rush Trigger an Indian Genocide?
Chapter 18: Did Europeans Commit Cultural Genocide?
Chapter 19: Is Using Native American Names “Cultural Appropriation”?
Chapter 20: Are Natives Owed Reparations?
Conclusion: Not Stolen: Toward a Balanced History of European Colonization
Dr. Fynn-Paul is a professor of history at Leiden University. To read about his credentials, research, and published works, here's the link to his profile page: Jeffrey Fynn-Paul.
It is humorous to see liberals here summarily rejecting conservative/moderate scholarship on historical issues with the argument that it is "revisionist" and guilty of "revisionism." Yet, they embrace the drastic and bogus liberal revisionism that paints Europeans as genocidal racists who slaughtered tens of millions of natives and stole their land, and that paints America's founding generation, including George Washington, with the same sleazy tar brush.
You wanna talk about "revisionist" and "revisionism"? The anti-American and anti-Western version of Western history that has come to dominate American academia in the last 15 years is the poster child for scurrilous, baseless revisionism that ignores a huge body of contrary facts, as Dr. Fynn-Paul's book proves.
From the book's introduction on Amazon:
A renowned historian debunks current distortion and myths about European colonialism in the New World and restores much needed balance to our understanding of the past.
Was America really “stolen” from the Indians? Was Columbus a racist? Were Indians really peace-loving, communistic environmentalists? Did Europeans commit “genocide” in the New World? It seems that almost everyone—from CNN to the New York Times to angry students pulling down statues of our founders—believes that America’s history is a shameful tale of racism, exploitation, and cruelty.
In Not Stolen, renowned historian Jeff Fynn-Paul systematically dismantles this relentlessly negative view of U.S. history, arguing that it is based on shoddy methods, misinformation, and outright lies about the past. America was not “stolen” from the Indians but fairly purchased piece by piece in a thriving land market. Nor did European settlers cheat, steal, murder, rape or purposely infect them with smallpox to the extent that most people believe. No genocide occurred—either literal or cultural—and the decline of Native populations over time is not due to violence but to assimilation and natural demographic processes.
Fynn-Paul not only debunks these toxic myths, but provides a balanced portrait of this complex historical process over 500 years. The real history of Native and European relations will surprise you. Not only is this not a tale of shameful sins and crimes against humanity—it is more inspiring than you ever dared to imagine.
To get a good idea of the scope of Dr. Fynn-Paul's research, here are the book's chapter titles:
Chapter 1: Intrepid Explorer or Genocidal Maniac? The Complex Case of Christopher Columbus
Chapter 2: Did Europeans Commit Genocide in the New World?
Chapter 3: Were Europeans Racist?
Chapter 4: Were the Conquistadors Bloodthirsty Zealots?
Chapter 5: Is Europe Guilty of “Settler Colonialism”?
Chapter 6: Were New World Civilizations Equal or Superior to Europe?
Chapter 7: Were Native Americans Naturally Peaceful and Benevolent?
Chapter 8: Were Native Americans Natural Environmentalists?
Chapter 9: Were Native Americans Natural Communists?
Chapter 10: Did the Founders Steal Democracy from Native Americans? III: American Displacement
Chapter 11: Is Thanksgiving Racist?
Chapter 12: Was Pocahontas a Race Traitor?
Chapter 13: Was America Stolen?
Chapter 14: Were the Founding Fathers Anti-Indian?
Chapter 15: Was the Trail of Tears Genocidal?
Chapter 16: Did Europeans Starve, Massacre, or Spread Disease among the Natives?
Chapter 17: Did the Gold Rush Trigger an Indian Genocide?
Chapter 18: Did Europeans Commit Cultural Genocide?
Chapter 19: Is Using Native American Names “Cultural Appropriation”?
Chapter 20: Are Natives Owed Reparations?
Conclusion: Not Stolen: Toward a Balanced History of European Colonization
Dr. Fynn-Paul is a professor of history at Leiden University. To read about his credentials, research, and published works, here's the link to his profile page: Jeffrey Fynn-Paul.
Last edited:
