The word "many" leads me to believe that this is the author's opinion without substance, and even with evidence at best ad populum.

I recently read "Lies My Teacher Told Me" by J. Loewen [1], and it hits on just this, being the "heroification" of American leaders. I wouldn't doubt that this is what was the popular teaching in K-12 US.

[1] http://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/074...

> No independence, no civil war, nada.

To be honest, most schools that do cover those do an even worse job than not teaching anything at all.

If you're interested in filling in the gaps on your own:

http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Know-About-History-Anniversary/dp... http://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/074...

1. Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, by James W. Loewen

http://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/074...

2. Clojure Programming, by Chas Emerick

http://www.amazon.com/Clojure-Programming-Chas-Emerick/dp/14...

3. Zorba the Greek, by Nikos Kazantzakis

http://www.amazon.com/Zorba-Greek-Nikos-Kazantzakis/dp/06848...