Why learning U.S. history matters
Thoughts for the 4th of July
Earlier this week, I heard a story on the PBS newshour on the battles about teaching U.S. history. As we approach the 249th anniversary of our nation’s founding, I wrestle, as I have before, with the delicate balance between teaching about the tragedies and negative aspects of our country’s history while not crushing the spirits of the young people I teach. It is a very fine line, one that has become increasingly challenging in…yes, cue the cliche: these polarized times.
Essentially, it is a question about patriotism and how to instill it in younger generations.
Reclaiming the flag and patriotism, no matter one’s party
The aspect of the “No Kings” rallies held across the country last month I found the most interesting was the reclamation of the flag and patriotism. I am old enough to remember the flag-burning controversy of the 1980s and the Supreme Court case, Texas v. Johnson, of 1989 that affirmed burning of the U.S. flag as protected speech under the First Amendment. A year later, this conservative-majority court further cemented this right by holding that an act of Congress to ban flag-burning was unconstitutional. It was, however, a 5-4 decision which reflected the controversial and politicized views surrounding flag-burning. I suspect that today’s Court might few things differently.1
With the exception of the weeks following 9-11, flag waving as been associated with the Right. Democrats and liberals, not so much. So it was surprising to see images of people waving and wearing the flag along with signs that were so decisively Left.
“We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists,” Thomas Jefferson wrote in his first inaugural address following the pivotal election of 1800. We should heed that sentiment. No matter our party or political affiliation, we are all We, the People, of the United States of America.
Jill Lepore, in a slim volume—an essay really— called This America: The Case for the Nation (2019) argues eloquently in support of our nation’s civic ideals. And at the bottom of the fifth page, she makes this stunning point:
“Nations, to make sense of themselves, need some kind of agreed-upon past. They can get it from scholars or they can get it from demagogues, but get it they will.”
They also get it at school. At the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) conference last fall, I heard her lead an auditorium full of social studies educators in a rousing chorus of Schoolhouse Rock’s “We the people.” So I think she would agree with me that the public school is the most important place to share that “agreed-upon past.”
We can go on and on and argue about curriculum—what exactly we teach and how. And we do. But I hold, hopefully not naively, that there is more we can agree about than disagree. If I am wrong, that does not excuse us from the responsibility to seek out and discuss the “agreed-upon past,” arguing if we must, but thoughtfully, about the stories we tell about the we, the people. The people who have inalienable rights and live in a nation that guarantees liberty and justice for all. Here’s hoping we can agree on that.
Happy 4th.
Teaching Ideas
This weekend’s 4th of July celebrations will be the start of year-long celebrations and inquiries leading up to the 250th anniversary of our country.
If you are a teacher of U.S. history, a few inspirational organization and websites of note which may make for some interesting content when you teach about the American Revolution or something to use the first week of school (thankfully, still a long way off!)
Citizen University - a project from Eric Liu (former speechwriter for Bill Clinton, but speaks towards uniting all Americans). Read an interview with him from a few days ago here.
History Made By Us and their Civic Season Toolkit
Make a wish in honor of the 250th anniversary - Make your own with students here.
So much here. I'm curious how people across the country teach American history these days. I've been teaching it since 1995 and though the facts haven't changed, the interpretation of them certainly has. Politico has an interesting piece on the new Ken Burns American Revolution documentary coming out this fall and the author did not seem suitably impressed, though I couldn't quite put my finger on why. I also teach a US Government and Politics class and ping-ponging back and forth between the two, with plenty of overlap (we do an entire simulation on the creation of the constitution) is certainly interesting. It's really, really hard for kids not to be cynical these days but historical context can help.
What Lepore calls an “agreed upon past” was in the last century called by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., and many others “the received tradition.” It was the responsibility of public schools to teach the elements of that tradition. One of the unintended consequences of an infatuation with multiculturalism, as Schlesinger so clearly saw, was the fracturing of American society and the emergence of identity politics, which inevitably pits one faction against another, each insisting on the priority of its claims. In that setting, there is no recognized tradition that links disparate parts together.