Non-whites began to complain about a version of history that left them out. History has winners and losers, and they see the same events with different eyes. The old history called it a triumphant advance for civilization. But for Indians, the same historical events are an unending sequence of defeats and disaster. At the time, it was thought a glorious success because it added huge chunks to the American West.
Slavery poses a similar riddle.
Blacks want to make it the centerpiece of their history, and in many ways it is. For nearly 300 years, most American blacks were slaves, and virtually everything that blacks did or thought was circumscribed by slavery. Today, it is still the centerpiece of black history, because it excuses failure and can be used to extract benefits from whites. For whites, though, slavery is a minor historical event. To give it a prominent place in white history is a transparent effort to manipulate the way that whites think about the present.