James C. Cobb: Taking an Ideological Ax to U.S. History

James C. Cobb, the Spalding Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Georgia, is the author of “The South and America Since World War II” and blogs at www.cobbloviate.com.

In the 43 years I have taught U.S. history in universities and public schools, I have done my best to resist the temptation to turn my lectern into a “bully pulpit” for proselytizing my personal political gospel. Not surprisingly, I also get my back up when others, with no particular preparation in the field but a truckload of ideological axes to grind, attempt to prescribe both the content of historical curricula and the lessons that are to be drawn from them.

A textbook example of such an effort to control the textbooks is Senate Bill 426, introduced by Sen. William Ligon, R-Brunswick, and others and now under subcommittee review. “The Teach Freedom Act” seeks to “modify requirements for instruction” in U.S. history and other related social studies disciplines. In keeping with the spirit of a similar initiative launched with tea party backing in Tennessee, this legislation is premised on the belief that “a positive understanding of American history and government is essential to good citizenship.”

The problem from the get-go is that the bill seeks a positive understanding rather than an informed one. Hence, it would require teachers to impart “an understanding of the mandate of the British government that required slavery in the Colonies and the actions of various Founders who always opposed slavery, as well as early civic and religious movements to end slavery, and the self-correcting constitutional language the Founders included to allow the nation to end the institution of slavery.”...