These are among
in two 8th grade U.S. History books now used in Texas schools – errors publishers never
caught. Our finding them recently led to a rule change levying much steeper fines if publishers edit so badly again.
wrong
charge
There was no proof that Nixon authorized the Watergate break-in. He did order the cover-up.
"Watergate
Scandal in which President Richard Nixon authorized a break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters."
– Call to Freedom: Beginnings to 1877 (Holt, 2003), p. R32, col. 1
Q: "In what ways did Thomas Jefferson serve his country?"
– Call to Freedom: Beginnings to 1877 (Holt, 2003), p. 336, left margin, "PRESIDENTIAL PROFILES: Thomas Jefferson," lines 26-28
A: "Students should list his various government posts (delegate to the Constitutional Convention)."
– Call to Freedom: Beginnings to 1877 (Holt, 2003), p. 336, left margin, "PRESIDENTIAL PROFILES ANSWER," lines 1-3, Teacher's Edition
wrong distinction
Jefferson was not a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. He was U.S. ambassador to France at the time. The text itself admits this on p. 237, par. 2, lines 1-3.
"It [Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction plan] called for a majority of
voters in each southern state to pledge loyalty to the United States."
– The American Nation: Beginnings Through 1877 (Prentice, 2003), p. 519, par. 3, lines 3-4
wrong description
Johnson's Reconstruction plan required no set percentage of an ex-Confederate state's voters to swear allegiance to the Union before that state could be reconstructed.
"It is 1803. Thomas Jefferson has purchased the Louisiana Territory
from France. The United States has expanded to the Mississippi River."
– Call to Freedom: Beginnings to 1877 (Holt, 2003), p. 393, col. 1, par. 1, lines 2-5
wrong outcome
The 1803 Louisiana Purchase expanded the U.S. to the Rocky Mountains,
not to the Mississippi River. The 1783 Treaty of Paris had expanded the U.S. to the Mississippi River.
The text itself admits this on p. 213, par. 2, lines 2-5; on p. 340, par.
1, lines 2-3; and on p. 542, top, col. 1, lines 1-5.
Q: "What were the events that occurred during the Texas Revolution?"
– Call to Freedom: Beginnings to 1877 (Holt, 2003), p. T14, "Understanding Main Ideas," no. 2
A: "Santa Anna … signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo."
– Call to Freedom: Beginnings to 1877 (Holt, 2003), p. T14, left margin, "Understanding Main Ideas," no. 2, lines 7-11, Teacher's Edition
wrong treaty
The Treaty of Velasco (1836), not the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848),
ended the Texas Revolution. The text itself admits this on p. T6, par. 2, lines 1-2. The Treaty
of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican War, as the text itself admits on p. 526,
par. 1, lines 1-2.
Q: "Christopher Columbus"
– Call to Freedom: Beginnings to 1877 (Holt, 2003), p. 54, "Identifying People and Ideas," no. 3
A: "the first European explorer to land in the Americas"
– Call to Freedom: Beginnings to 1877 (Holt, 2003), p. 53, right margin, "Identifying People and Ideas," no. 3, Teacher's Edition
wrong explorer
Leif Eriksson – not Columbus – was the first European explorer to reach North America. The text itself admits this on p. 18, par. 2, lines 1-6.
"The delegates to the
Hartford Convention
threatened to leave the Union if the war [of 1812] continued."
– The American Nation: Beginnings Through 1877 (Prentice, 2003), p. 325, par. 2, lines 3-4
wrong description
The Hartford Convention did not threaten secession. It did support
nullification, and proposed several Constitutional amendments and other legislation.
"If a state law conflicts with a federal law, the federal law prevails."
– The American Nation: Beginnings Through 1877 (Prentice, 2003), p. 249, bottom line - p. 250, line 1
wrong
description
This wrongly implies federal supremacy instead of Constitutional supremacy. It enshrines the error that federal law trumps
state law whether or not the federal law is constitutional. It should read: "If a state law conflicts with a federal law, whichever law is
constitutional prevails."
"In March 1776
Washington used the
cannons to fire on the British
from Dorchester Heights, a hill overlooking southern Boston."
– Call to Freedom: Beginnings to 1877 (Holt, 2003), p. 188, par. 3, lines 1-3
wrong narrative
Washington never "fire[d] on the British from Dorchester Heights."
Threat of it caused Howe to withdraw. Had the Americans fired, Howe would have burned Boston.
Graphic organizer showing cotton as a colonial export from the British North American mainland
– Call to Freedom: Beginnings to 1877 (Holt, 2003), p. 127, bottom
wrong commodity
Cotton was not an export of Britain's North American mainland
colonies. Not until the cotton gin in 1793 (after independence) was short-fiber cotton commercially
viable on the mainland.
"By the time the United States joined the war [WW1], things looked bad for
the Allies. Russia had withdrawn from the war after a revolution overthrew the czar's government."
– The American Nation: Beginnings Through 1877 (Prentice, 2003), p. 551, par. 4, lines 1-3
wrong chronology
Russia did not withdraw from WWI after the czar's overthrow in March 1917.
Not until March 1918 did Russia make peace with Germany, after the overthrow of the provisional
government. Nor had Russia withdrawn by the time the U.S. entered the War in April 1917.
"South … Spokesman: John C. Calhoun … Opposed tariff of 1816 …"
– The American Nation: Beginnings Through 1877 (Prentice, 2003), p. 347, graphic organizer
wrong
position
Calhoun supported the Tariff of 1816.
"New Orleans … Settled by the French in the 1600s."
– The American Nation: Beginnings Through 1877 (Prentice, 2003), p. 628, col. 2
wrong century
The French settled New Orleans in 1718, not in the 1600s.
"Parliament removed King James II from the throne …."
– The American Nation: Beginnings Through 1877 (Prentice, 2003), p. 123, par. 2, lines 2-3
wrong narrative
Parliament did not remove James II. James fled England on his own, in effect abdicating, so
Parliament declared the throne vacant.
