What is the biggest historical misconception?

Those links are a bit of a tangled mess, so let me summarize:

The USA invaded and took over Hawaii, and later when other nations were freeing their occupied colonies, USA held a "vote" asking the people living in Hawaii (who US people swamped in with settlers who were included in the vote and now outnumbered the natives) if they wanted to be a state or a territory (without the option of an independent Hawaii). They used the resulting vote to bypass the UN and take Hawaii off the UN's list of occupied colonies that should be liberated.

 

The not so ancient Vietnamese (some still alive) dyed their teeth black. This was because white teeth were associated with ghosts and dangerous wild animals.

 

Thanks Jolly Penguin

Here's one about Vietnam.

PINKY SHOW : The American War: The U.S. in Vietnam
http://www.pinkyshow.org/projectarchives/videos/the-american-war-the-us-in-vietnam

 

My girlfriend is Viet (and still living there). Their history is full of invasions and liberation. The Chinese over and over for centuries, the French, the Americans, etc.

But what may amaze people and what they may not expect, is that the typical Viet doesn't harbour any I'll will towards the Americans or French, and only against the Chinese for the current conflicts (they share a border and China thumps it's chest a lot).

 

They probably know that the American people had good intentions but were basing their opinions on government lies. I've read that a lot of American soldiers saw what was happening when they got there and became anti-war but, being soldiers, there wasn't much they could do except fight half-heartedly.

I lived in Mexico for a few years in the eighties. When people talked to me about American imperialism in Latin America, they always started with the view that I had good intentions but upside-down information. They never thought I was an evil American.

You probably know about this book.
http://torontoforumoncuba.weebly.co...-_the_political_economy_of_the_mass_media.pdf

It's a good book to show people as it does a good job of explaining what happened in Vietnam. The video I posted is good for people who don't like to read.