Errors Pearson Literature “The American Experience”

      1.  P. 2:  The book says, “In 1776, thirteen of these colonies declared their independence from England.”  The truth is that many declared independence in 1775, months prior to convening of the Congress in 1776.  Moreover, as anyone who had actually read the Declaration of Independence would know, independence was not being declared from England, but rather from the “State of Great Britain”.  Great Britain involved a union of England, Wales, and Scotland in the early 1700s.  The “Union Jack” flag resulted from the union creating Great Britain.

      2.  P. 3:  The book says, “English Puritans settled Virginia, New England, and Pennsylvania and later took over Dutch and French Colonies and Florida.”  This is news to all the non-Puritan church groups that founded, inhabited, and dominated most all colonies except some in New England.  The map captions on P. 3 contradicts the statement.

      3.  P. 3:  A map titled “Peoples of North America 1490-1750” shows various activities over the 260 years, but does not show what years any of the activities applied to.  So, the questions for the map are nonsensical, “Based on the information on the map, what can you predict about the interaction of the various groups?”

      4.  P. 4:  The book says, “… the Mayflower sailed into harbor at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620.”  I didn’t know there was a “Plymouth, Massachusetts” already established in 1620 when the Mayflower arrived.

      5.  P. 4:  The book says, “…and Native American oral literature—myths, legends, songs—begins our American literary heritage.”  There was not just one “Native American oral literature”.  There were around 500 separate tribes which had no similarity or connection to any other, and did not constitute any unified heritage.

      6.  P. 4:  The book says, “The Europeans who settled St. Augustine, Florida, in 1565 … learned about maize and squash and bark canoes.”  There was no “Florida” when St. Augustine was founded.  Maize, squash, and bark canoes were not prevalent there.

      7.  P. 4-5:  The timeline has numerous entries that have nothing to do with North America:  1499 England--London plague (not North America); 1580 Italy--Michelangelo and Sistine Chapel (there was no “Italy” then); 1519 Magellan begins voyage around the world (which does not go to North America); 1519 Spain--chocolate introduced to Europe.

      8.  P. 5:  The book says, “The Stamp Act, the Townshend Acts, the Tea Act, the Coercive Acts—by 1774 the colonists had had enough.”  Some had, most had not.

      9.  P. 5:  The book says, “They [Enlightenment thinkers] believed that people are good by nature….”  Not true.  No definition of what “good” is. Needed restraint of a “social contract” and government power.

      10.  P. 5:  The book says, “Europeans came to America to create a ‘city upon a hill,’ an ideal community founded on moral and religious values.”  Europeans came to America for many other reasons, and very few came to create a ‘city upon a hill’.