We tend to gloss over any number of things that don't exactly fit "the American way" too well.
A huge one is the way we handled the indigenous people of the United States prior to the 20th century. Issue like "why did we remove all of the native people from the southeastern US circa Trail of Tears" or "What exactly was General Custer doing at the Little Big Horn to start with?"
Another is the camps we created for American citizens of German and/or Asian ancestry during WWII.
Speaking of WWII - if Pearl Harbor was a complete and total surprise attack - why were there US Marines already stationed at opportune locations throughout the Pacific? Particularly places like Midway Island.
Well, more WWII. Were the Flying Tigers really a bunch of volunteers helping out in China without support of any other country? Or, were they a US force opposing Japan's invasion of China? We say they weren't "American" military. Japan says they were.
just some ideas....
Add: St Augustine wasn't the first city. It is the oldest city that's still here. There were earlier cities that just didn't work out. They were colonized by Spain too. But if we're looking for "first city" - where did Mr. Erikson (the Viking) live when he visited here?
The fact that St. Augustine was the first city in USA and it was founded by the Spanish and not the British usually is not taught in school. Also that the Continental Army lost when they fought the British in Quebec, Canada.
Any one of these. Some of them might be mentioned in your history text but probably not to any great length.
The truth. The victors choose which history you read.
I wasn't taught that the United States knew what was going on in Germany and Russia during WWII.. But of course my high school sucked.
The christmas truce of 1914
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