DOCUMENT RESUME ED 313 305 SO 020 352 AUTHOR Gagnon, Paul TITLE Democracy's Half-Told Story. What American History Textbooks Should Add. INSTITUTION American Federation of Teachers, Washington, D.C. SPONS AGENCY National Endowment for the Humanities (NFAH), Washington, D.C.; Pew Memorial Trust, Philadelphia, Pa. PUB DATE 89 NOTE 180p.; For related documents, see EJ 357 591, EJ 366 773, EJ 379 293 and SO 018 637. AVAILABLE FROMDemocracy's Half-Told Story, American Federation of Teachers, 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20001 (1-10, $7.00, additional copies $5.00). PUB TYPE Books (010) -- Viewpoints (120) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC08 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Educational Objectives; *History Instruction; *History Textbooks; Secondary Education; Social Studies; *Textbook Content; Textbook Evaluation; Textbook Research; *United States History ABSTRACT The first purpose of a high school course in U.S. history must be to help students understand the essence of democracy and those even, institutions, and forces that have either promoted or obstructed it. This review examines five textbooks and analyzes how useful they are in aiding that process, and how they might be made more helpful. The five texts are: (1) "A History of the United States" (D. Boorstin; B. Kelley); (2) "History of a Free People" (H. Bragdon; S. McCutchen); (3) "The United States: A History of the Republic" (J. Davidson; M. Lytle); (4) "People and Our Country" (N. Risjord; T. Haywoode); (5) "Triumph of the American Nation" (L. Todd; M. Curti). The texts are reviewed using topic divisions such as: "History's Role in Civic Education"; "Old World Backgrounds"; "Civil War and Emancipation"; "Change and Reform Before World War I"; and "Depression, New Deal, and War Again." The textbooks under review are at one and the same time over-detailed and under-detailed: the first, because they try to mention something about everything; the second, because they fail to develop major themes in depth. They labor too hare to balance affirmation and negation of U.S. history, and the result is a detached neutrality, passionless about both the ugly and the beautiful moments in that history. The texts should convey the complication, drama, suspense, and the paradox of comedy and tragedy found in history. The Education for Democracy Project's Statement o Principles and its signatories are given in the appendix. (PPB) *********************************1:************************************* Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ********************************************************,:** ********** S BY PAUL GAGNON A Publication of the Education for Democracy Prciect % U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educahonai Research and Improvement EDuC.AnONAt RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as eceived from the person or organization originating It. 1:1 Minor changes have been made to improve repoduction Quality Points el view or opinions Slated in this docu- ment do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy .0° -or "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS M ERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY u Tli rk TT EA1 TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." (i) What American History Textbooks Should Add DEMOCRACY'S HALF-TOLD STORY What American History Textbooks Should Add BY PAUL GAGNON A Publication of the Education for Democracy Project Published by the American Federation of Teachers © AFT 1989 Will democracy survive through the ages if we do not purposefully transmit to successive generations the values that underlie it? ammulmisomemommum. We believe the answer is no. We believe that our children must learnand we must teach themthe knowledge, values, and habits that will best protect and extend our precious inheritance. inonsimilimammemimemmo To help schools and teachers strengthen their teach- ing of democratic values, the American Federation of Teachers, the Educational Excellence Network and Freedom House have jointly launch edThe Education for Democracy Project, which is the sponsor of this book. IIMEIBISIMMEIREREMIII 4 EDUCATION FOR DEMOCRACY is a joint project of the American Federation of Teachers, the Educational Excellence Network and Freedom House. The American Federation of Teachers is a union with a membership of 700,000most of whom are classroom teachers, higher education faculty, and other school employees. The AFT is committed to helping its members bring excellence to America's classrooms and full profes- sional status to their work. The Educational Excellence Networka project of Vanderbilt I.Ji2versity's Institute for Public Policy Studiesis an information exchange and clearinghouse serving hundreds of educators, policymakers, journalists, and citizens who are committed to the improvement of elementary and secondary education. Freedom House is a national organization that monitors political rights and civil liberties around the world and that has spent forty years educating the public about the nature and needs of democracy and the threats to it. Funding for Democracy's Half-Told Story: What American HistoryTextbooksShould Add has been provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and private foundations. Democracy's Half-Told Story: What American History TextbooksShould Add may be ordered by writing Democracy's Half-Told Story at the American Federation of Teachers, 555 New Jersey Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001. For pricing information and an order form, see page 179. ©1989 by the American Federation of Teachers. All materials published by the Education for Democracy Project', including Democracy's Half-Told Story: What ii.nerican HistoryTextbooksShould Add, are protected by copyright. However, we hereby grant to all direct recipients permission to reproduce the material contained herein for distribution. 5 Paul Gagnon is professor of history at University of Mas- sachusetts, Boston and a member of the Paideia Group. He is the author of Democracy's Untold Story: What World History dbooks Neglect, a previous publication of the Education for Democracy Projt: ,..t, and has served as an advisor to the Project since its found- ing. Mr. Gagnon was the principal investigator of the Bradley Commission on History in Schools, and now serves as consultant to the National Center for History in the Schools based at the University of California, Los Angeles and funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Textbook Advisory Committee The following people assisted and advised Mr. Gag- non by reading and commenting on early drafts of Democracy's Untold Story: What World History Textbooks Neglect and Democracy's Half-Told Story: What American History Textbooks Should Add. Titles are those held by members at the time of their selection. Diane Ravitch Bill Honig Advisory Committee Chairman California Superintendent Professor, History and Education of Public Instruction Teachers College Columbia University Elizabeth McPike Editor, American Educator John H. Bunzel American Federation of Teachers Senior Research Fellow, Department of Political Science Donald Stewart Hoover Institute President, Stanford University The College Board Mary Butz Stephan Thernstrom Chairman, Social Studies Department Professor, Department of History Edward R Murrow High School Harvard University New York, New York Gladys Twyman Patrick Daly Social Studies Teacher, Vice President, Sylvan High School American Federation of Teachers Atlanta, Georgia Retired Social Studies Teacher, Dearborn, Michigan Public Schools Thomas Gregory Ward Social Studies Curriculum Specialist, Carl Gershman Fairfax County Public Schools, Virginia President, National Endowment for Democracy Alan T. Wood Visiting Assistant Professor, History Bernard R. Gifford Whitman College Dean, Graduate School of Education University of California: Berkeley *Hazel Hertzberg Professor, History and Education Teachers College Columbia University *deceased 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword 8 Introduction 9 I. History's Role in Civic Education 15 II. Themes and Questions for United States History ..23 III. Old World Backgrounds 33 IV. Revolution and the Constitution 42 V. Democracy and Reform Before the Civil War 53 VL Civil War and Emancipation 66 VII. Economic Growth and the Union Movement 76 VIIIChange and Reform Before World War I 86 IX. The United States Becomes a New World Power ..97 X. Depression, New Deal, and War Again 111 XI. The United States Since Victory 130 XII. Conclusion 147 Appendix Education for Democracy: A Statement of Principles 159 In 1987, the Education for Democracy Project issued a Statement of Principles signed by 150 American leaders ranging politically from William Bennett to Barbara Jordan. In the Stateme it, we argued that one central goal of schooling must be to provide to students the learning necessary for a "reasoned allegiance" to the institutions, values, and circumstances that underlie democratic society and that offer promise to non- democratic countries the world over. This obligation to impart a commitment to democracy falls un all educators, but espe- cially on those in social studies education. Its in the classes of these teachers that stu- dents can and should consider such questions as. What forces have sustained and strengthened democracy and which have weakened it? What are the tradeoffs between liberty and equality? Between majority rule and minority rights? What events are most likely to challenge our commitment to various democratic rights? And, what is life like in that