The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NC DPI) has received some media attention recently for its attempts to restructure the standard curriculum for public high school students in the state. A look at the department website reveals that the social studies area of a students’ education will include three mandatory classes. These three classes are global issues, civics and economics, and US history. The US history course would only begin after the end of Reconstruction in 1877, the global studies course appears to go back only as far as 1945, and the civics and economics course covers only the foundations of the US government.
A quick search of the proposed standards for each course reveals a shocking omission. Not once in any of the three courses, as defined by the department’s website, was the Civil War mentioned. The only time that the term “civil war” is mentioned in the documents is in the outline of the global studies course which states that students should: “analyze the origin of political revolutions and civil wars and their influence on individuals, governing bodies and diplomacy.” The document suggests that students should discuss the finer points of the Sudanese Civil War but does not specifically mention the American Civil War.
The Civil War has had major implications on the entire American political system and marked the end of slavery in America. North Carolina, as most everyone knows because they studied the Civil War in their high school history course, was one of the states that joined the Confederacy. Why would the NC DPI omit the Civil War? Your guess is as good as mine.
Check out the courses here: http://www.ncpublicschools.org/acre/standards/phase2/
Kudos to my friend Terry Stoops of the John Locke Foundation. Terry has been one of the few critics of the draft social studies standards being developed by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. See news report, here.
Once again DPI seems to favor the “salad bowl” approach to developing standards. While the new standards include lots of important concepts, they also rob students of the opportunity to learn historical context, a prerequisite for fostering a real understanding of history. Inexplicably, the standards remove the study of American history prior to 1877. Proponents say the Constitution and the founding documents are taught. However, shoehorning the teaching of the U.S. Constitution into a class that also teaches civics and economics robs the subject of the importance it deserves. Proponents also say Americans need to have an understanding of their place in the world. Doesn’t that question presuppose an understanding of what America is? The early history of this country and the founding documents answer that question. They have also been “window” through which America history is viewed. Sadly, the new standards attempt to remove that window There is one good thing about the standards: they are still in draft form. DPI is encouraging public comment. Be a good citizen and read the documents and share your thoughts. DPI is taking comments until February 15th.
My fiancé has been playing Axis and Allies; a timeless Risk-type WWII simulated war game, in his tent at a FOB in Afghanistan. Because the real war that he engages in each day isn’t enough, he and his fellow officers take turns strategizing attacks on each other’s territories, with the goal of capturing two enemy capitals. This week Germany won.
When he called to tell me the news of a German WWII victory, I couldn’t help but wonder what it would look like today if that were true. Would I be writing this in German now? Would we need to issue a gold standard to combat the sky-rocketed levels of inflation?
Playing with the facts of history is a fun game, but repeating history is not.
Today’s current economic crisis appears to be unlike anything before. However, many people know better and realize that the faces of the players may have changed, the numbers increased a bit, but the facts are still the same.
What we are looking at today is the result of the same unaccountable spending of big government, direct and indirect government subsidies that will eventually bankrupt (hello: fuel) and ignorance to decrease or handle our country’s rising debt.
Government needs to get out of our pockets, stop raising taxes and cut wasteful spending.
If we know anything from the facts of history; more government spending will not make this crisis go away – even if we enjoy playing the game.