Historical Context

I was somewhat surprised to find, given the general sensitivity around the word "nigger" in the United States, that the History Channel documentary on Sherman's march to the sea uses it without a second thought, and apparently without even bothering with a warning.

This is in contrast with the recent re-editing of "Huckleberry Finn" to remove all traces of the word from the text. Granted, Mark Twain's novel includes many more uses of the word than Sherman's March, but isn't history history?