Davis, America’s Hidden History
“America’s Hidden History” by Kenneth C. Davis covers the time period from 1469 to 1789. Rather than a traditional history, it is organized as a collection of six stories. Davis’s stated goal is to humanize history; instead of a collection of names and dates, he wants to explore the human motivations behind important events in America’s past. He also promises to include lesser known aspects of the stories of America’s founding (hence the title, “Hidden History.”) Although Davis accomplishes his objectives of humanizing history and examining events in new ways, the book fails as a whole. Davis tries to do too much in too few pages, and the results are confusing and hard to follow. Davis begins Part I, “Elizabeth’s Pigs,” with an account of the 1565 attack on Fort Caroline. On that historic night, Spain’s Pedro Menendez de Aviles led 500 troops in an attack on the French settlement, Fort Caroline (this took place in what is now Florida). Menendez and his men had an easy victory. Their attack mostly eliminated the French presence in the New World, giving the Spanish control of the land. After recounting these events, Davis goes further back in time, describing Columbus’s voyages and the events leading up to them. According to Davis, Columbus’s story technically started in 1469, the year Isabella and Ferdinand married and became Spain’s “power couple.” Isabella and Ferdinand’s taste for world conquest ultimately led to the approval and financing of Columbus’s voyages. Columbus’s second voyage in 1493 included 1500 settlers and numerous pigs, dogs, and horses. The pigs were taken at the suggestion of Queen Isabella, and it is this reference from which the chapter draws its title. Because the pigs traveled well and reproduced easily, they became a staple of the New World explorer’s diets. They also may have been responsible for spreading the diseases that wiped out much of the native population. Part I finishes with the stories of the conquistadors, the violent Spanish conquerors in who came to America in pursuit of gold and glory. Part II, “Hannah’s Escape,” opens in 1697 with the capture of Hannah Dunstin and Mary Neff by the Abenaki Indians. The Indians took Dunstin and Neff from Dunstin’s home in Haverhill, Massachusetts, and they killed her newborn baby in the process. The two women got their revenge when they killed and scalped ten Indians during their successful escape from captivity. After these events, Hannah Dunstin became a hero, and a statue was built in her honor. Part II also tells the story of another Puritan woman, Anne Hutchinson. Hutchinson’s religious preaching got her into trouble with Puritan leadership. She was tried and convicted of heresy, excommunicated, and banished from Boston. She moved to New York and was soon killed in an Indian attack on her new home. The Puritans in Boston celebrated her death. Along with these two stories, Davis also uses Part II to describe the history of Puritanical religious beliefs and the complicated relationships between European settlers and American Indian tribes. Davis calls Part III, “Washington’s Confession.” Part III starts by describing a pivotal decision George Washington made as a young lieutenant colonel. Ignoring explicit instructions from his superiors not to attack the French, Washington and his party assaulted of a small band of French scouts in 1754. These “scouts” were on a diplomatic mission to set boundaries with the English and avoid future conflict. The Washington-led attack started the Seven Year’s War, also known as the French and Indian War, a conflict that took the lives of over 850,000 people. Davis also describes Washington’s earlier life: his close relationship with his half brother, his forays into land speculation, and his decision to pursue a military career. Part IV begins in the year 1775. Tensions have been running high between the Americans and the British, and violence almost breaks out at a Boston
