In today’s world, where revisionist historians and Hollywood storytellers have muddled the truth, it’s easy to find oneself lost in a sea of distorted narratives. The tale they want you to believe is that life was all unicorns and rainbows until European settlers waltzed into America with ill intentions. But if you look at history, there’s a much more complex and often inconvenient truth about the landscape that the settlers encountered. The narrative of stolen land, pacifist Native Americans, and malicious colonizers is more of a fairytale woven by certain progressive agendas than a reflection of reality.
To begin with, it’s important to recognize the fierce nature of Native American tribes long before any Europeans set foot on American soil. Tribes were not the peaceful dwellers that stories and classrooms often depict. They were involved in intense competitions for resources, battling each other relentlessly. Raids, scalpings, and the like were brutal realities of their way of life. One can even argue that many settlers found the tribal wars to be more perilous than any confrontation with the colonialists. In fact, losing a battle to the US Army was deemed preferable to the terror inflicted by a triumphant rival tribe.
But why the sudden shift to the current narrative sometime around the 1960s? It seems a calculated move rather than a coincidental occurrence. The changed story aligns neatly with the era’s widespread social upheaval and the shifting cultural tides. As the culture pushed for new definitions and erased traditional ideas, history became a convenient frontier for reimagining narratives. And what better way to strike at the heart of American pride than to twist the stories of its very foundation?
It’s not so different from how some folks spin tales about knights and dragons—romanticizing or vilifying according to the desires of modern sensibilities. The progressives have never been shy about repackaging history to suit their political ambitions. By painting early settlers as villains and ignoring the complexities of Native American society, they create an easily digestible, black-and-white story. Yet, like any myth, it falls apart under scrutiny.
Americans, therefore, must study history critically and reclaim the story of their own past from these skewed versions. We owe it to future generations to tell them the truth, not the bedtime stories concocted in recent decades. True history sits at the crossroad of facts, not fables. It’s time to toss away the fiction and start talking about the reality—all its achievements and flaws considered. It’s only then that we can genuinely understand where we came from and, more importantly, where we should go from here.
