Revising America Through American History Revisionism

During a recent mission’s conference, missionary Mike Patterson recounted how his father-in-law settled in Tlapa, Mexico as a missionary over 50 years ago. He saw that the men worked hard during the week and drank hard on the weekends and overall lived immoral lives. While he led some of the adult men to Christ, they were so entrenched in that culture that he realized these men were not fit for leadership roles in the church. His solution was to build a Christian school where the unsaved could send their children to be educated. While living at the school, these children were taught the Bible, and many become Christians. 50 years later, the school boasts over 7,000 graduates, many of whom now serve as pastors in churches across Mexico. Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” This missionary used the biblical principle for good, but men who considered themselves progressives used this same principle to bring about social reform in America. This paper examines why they needed to re-write American history, how that is seen in textbooks today, and what this has done to today’s culture.

But why focus solely on American History? The education reformers certainly sought to change all the academic subjects including reading, writing, math, and science. However, it is in history that the reformers have been able to do their greatest work in removing God from this country and in replacing Him with philosophies of feminism, racism, environmentalism, and even socialism. Geoffrey Botkin in his article, “The History of History Textbooks,” says it well, “God’s providence, which refers to His work in carrying out His plan for History, must be attacked in order to abstract God from reality and leave humanistic man ‘free’ to operate on his own.”[2] One of these men, John Dewey, certainly sought to move away from traditions that he felt hindered society. How could he use education to bring the type of social reform he sought if the students were still taught about a living God? R. J. Rushdoony, a Calvinist philosopher, expanded even more on this idea in his book The Nature of the American System in that it was necessary for liberals to re-write history with no regard to the facts in order for the government to completely take control of the American people.[3] While American history had already begun to be re-written before John Dewey, he is considered one of the greatest influences on the changes being made to school curriculums. He wrote in his Pedagogic Creed, “I believe that education is the fundamental method of social progress and reform.”[4] But John Dewey was not alone in seeking changes in education. He regularly met with faculty from a local teacher’s college who called themselves “The Frontier Thinkers.” This group of men organized by William Kilpatrick, which included Harold Rugg and George Counts, discussed how they could use education to bring about this social reform. Each of these men had tremendous influence on the changes that were eventually made in school curriculums. [2: Collin Gunn and Joaquin Fernandez, IndoctriNation: Public Schools and the decline of Christianity, (Masters Books, Green Forest, AR, 2012) p. 187] [3: Rousas John Rushdoony, The Nature of the American System, (Fairfax, VA: Thoburn Press, 1978), 170.] [4: John Dewey, Dewey on Education. Classics in Education; No. 3, (New York: Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1959) 30]

In the early 1900s, both John Dewey and George Counts traveled to the Soviet Union. While there, they visited the schools to see firsthand how education was done. John Dewey greatly admired what he saw. But as Diane Ravitch says, “Dewey saw what he wanted to see, particularly the things that confirmed his vision for his own society.”[5] George Counts admired that the state not only controlled education but also controlled all published materials so that they could control the people. “Counts was not at all bothered by censorship and propaganda because they enabled the government to eliminate undesirable influences.”[6] [5: Diane Ravitch, Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reforms, (Simon & Schuster, New York, NY, 2000) 205.] [6: Ravitch, Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reforms, 213]

When the Great Depression began in the United States in the 1930s, these men were given the ammunition they needed to prove that America was a failed society and that capitalism did not work. As stated in Molding the Good Citizen, “Dewey also held the view that an individualistic, competitive, and capitalistic America was radically and fundamentally defective. He believed that it should be (and inevitably would be) replaced by some form of democratic socialism, albeit gradually and without violence.”[7] The best weapon these men had to bring about the social changes they wanted was state-controlled public education. “Virtually every prominent progressive in the 1930s agreed that the traditional academic curriculum reflected the failed capitalistic economic order and that a radical change in the social order required equally sweeping changes in the schools.”[8] And changes in the schools needed to happen through changes in the textbooks. Harold Rugg worked to do just that and became one of the most influential men on school curriculums. He is best known for creating the new subject called social studies “which diminished the role of history and emphasized current events.”[9] [7: Robert Lerner, Althea K. Nagai, and Stanley Rothman, Molding the Good Citizen: The Politics of High School History Texts, (Praeger Publishers, Westport, CT, 1995) 15-16.] [8: Ravitch, Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reforms, 218] [9: Ravitch, Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reforms, 187]

But these men were not able to make the changes they wanted without resistance. In the 1940s and 1950s conservatives tried to fight the changes being made by the reformers, but “their roots had sunk too deep in the soil of American society to be easily uprooted by attacks from disgruntled outsiders.”[10] What was once unheard of, was now widely accepted. People were no longer shocked by what teachers were being taught at normal schools or by what their children were being taught in public schools. Now, the progressives were free to continue changing society through education with minimal resistance. [10: Lerner, Molding the Good Citizen: The Politics of High School History Texts, 33]

So, how are these changes for social reform seen in American history textbooks today? A comparison of the early American settlement, Jamestown, was made between textbooks recommended by the Florida Department of Education and the U.S. History textbook used in 8th grade at Pensacola Christian Academy. From a Christian worldview, Jamestown was a failed experiment in socialism. In the Abeka textbook, America, Land I Love, several reasons are listed for the failure of this colony: the swampy land (prone to disease), hostile Indians, and lazy men. But most of all, the failure of the colony is attributed to “The common-store system established by its charter.”[11] The textbook explains why this system would have caused the colony to fail: [11: Kurt A. Grussendorf, Michael R. Lowman, and Brian S. Ashbaugh, America Land I Love in Christian Perspective, 3rd ed. (Pensacola, FL: abeka, 2018), 18.]

This communal (belonging to the community) system meant in reality that the industrious man must provide for the idle. Many yielded to their sinful nature and spend their days in idleness or searching for gold. With everyone benefiting from the common storehouse but few contributing to it, the food supply was quickly depleted. Thus America’s first experiment with a form of socialism failed miserably.[12] [12: Grussendorf, Lowman, and Ashbaugh, America Land I Love in Christian Perspective, 18]

Contrast that with how the failure of Jamestown is used in the textbook, Of the People.

Poor planning and bad luck placed the colonists on swampy ground and with bad water. The salty water of the James River could be poisonous, and in summer it became a breeding ground for typhoid and dysentery. Some historians have argued that these diseases left the survivors too weak to plant food, whereas others note that many of the healthy seemed to prefer prospecting for gold.[13] [13: James Oakes et al., Of the People: A History of the United States vol. 1, to 1877 (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2013), 63.]

In this textbook, instead of learning that dividing everything equally among all the people led to laziness in the men which led to starvation, students learn that it was just bad luck that the colonists settled where they did. Yet another textbook, A History of the United States, proclaims in bold, “Success at Jamestown” and asks the question, “Why did the Jamestown settlement succeed?”[14] Further reading reveals that while the colonists struggled during the winter of 1609-1610 which was called “the starving time,” more colonists arrived to replace those who had died and they found a way to grow tobacco. “Soon planters along the James River were raising this valuable crop.”[15] According to this textbook, Jamestown was a great success. Hardly any mention is made of the struggles or why the men starved during that winter. The textbooks used in public schools completely avoid showing the downside of socialism. If students today don’t see how socialism has failed in the past, then they are much more inclined to accept socialism today as a better way of life. [14: Joyce Appleby et al, Discovering Our Past, A History of the United States Early Years (Columbus, OH: McGraw-Hill Education, 2018) 61] [15: Appleby et al, Discovering Our Past, A History of the United States Early Years, 63]

Nearly one hundred years later, what have these changes to American history done to society? A recent survey conducted by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation found that of those they polled, 70% of Millennials (those aged 23-38) and Gen Z (those aged 16-22) were likely to vote socialist. This number is eye opening. According to Marion Smith, the executive director of this foundation, “When we don’t educate our youngest generations about the historical truth of 100 million victims murdered at the hands of communist regimes over the past century, we shouldn’t be surprised at their willingness to embrace Marxist ideas.”[16] Men like John Dewey, George Counts, William Kirkpatrick, and Harold Ruggs would be thrilled at these survey results. What they set out to do in the early 1900s is a reality today. But even more concerning is that this generation is starting to take office in U.S. politics and making decisions on laws and policies. One example is 29-year old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a congresswoman from New York, who recently spoke at a rally endorsing Bernie Sanders for president in 2020. During her speech, she demanded that all Americans have the right to free housing, free health care, free education, and a living wage. To the cheers of thousands of supporters, she yelled, “Our future is in publicly owned systems.”[17] Here is a congresswoman with a degree from Boston University in International Relations and Economics who is shouting for the government to completely take over and control all aspects of American lives. A quick Google search will show that she is not alone in her beliefs. The younger generation wants free healthcare, free education, higher minimum wage and more with no thought of where the money comes from to fund these programs. These attitudes are a direct result of the lack of education that children are receiving in public schools, especially in the lack of history that children are learning. An economist at Center of the American Experiment, John Phelan, writes, “Socialism can flourish only amid historical ignorance. Learning is essential for a free society.”[18] [16: “Fourth Annual Report on US Attitudes Toward Socialism,” Survey Conducted by YouGov. October 2019, https://www.victimsofcommunism.org/2019-annual-poll] [17: NBC New York, “AOC Endorses Bernie Sanders for President at New York City Rally.” YouTube, October 19, 2019 (19:21). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkiPNoMWIqg] [18: John Phelan, “Millennials are Ignorant of History. They Also Like Socialism. Coincidence?” April 13, 2018, https://www.americanexperiment.org/2018/04/millennials-ignorant-history-also-like-socialism-coincidence/]

What, then, should be the Christian’s response? Unfortunately, it is too late to take back public education. But Christian parents still need to be fully aware of what their children are being taught in the Christian schools and even in homeschool curriculums. E. Merrill Root points out that parents are not excused from blame when they do not get involved with what the schools are training their children. “Parents are morally obligated to instill at home the spiritual basis and the moral values of life; and parents should object militantly when they find their children being indoctrinated and brainwashed with the relativism, the collectivism, and the nihilism of the hour.”[19] It is easy to become complacent especially when America has been blessed by so much. [19: E. Merrill Root, Brain Washing in the High Schools, An Examination of Eleven American History Textbooks (The Devin-Adair Company, New York, 1958. Reprint 1961),10.]

Psalm 33:12 says, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” This nation was founded on Christian principles, and because of this has known great prosperity. However, Satan has needed to attack these foundations. He has used the philosophers and progressives to remove God from America. Unfortunately, by the time Christians and conservatives realized what was happening, it was too late for public education. It is more important than ever that Christians are teaching their children a proper view of history so that they can see God’s hand throughout time and be better prepared for the future. God holds the future of America in His hands; however, the more America rejects Him, the fewer blessings this nation will see. What does the future hold for a nation that does not know its past?

Bibliography

1. “Fourth Annual Report on US Attitudes Toward Socialism,” Survey Conducted by YouGov. October 2019, https://www.victimsofcommunism.org/2019-annual-poll
2. Appleby, Joyce, Alan Brinkley, Albert S. Broussard, James M. McPherson, Donald A. Ritchie. Discovering Our Past, A History of the United States Early Years. Columbus, OH: McGraw-Hill Education, 2018.
3. Dewey, John. Dewey on Education. Classics in Education; No. 3. New York: Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1959.
4. Grussendorf, Kurt A., Michael R. Lowman, Brian S. Ashbaugh. America Land I Love in Christian Perspective, 3rd ed. Pensacola, FL: Abeka, 2018.
5. Gunn, Collin and Joaquin Fernandez. IndoctriNation: Public Schools and the decline of Christianity. Green Forest, AR: Masters Books, 2012.
6. Lerner, Robert, Althea K. Nagai, and Stanley Rothman. Molding the Good Citizen: The Politics of High School History Texts. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1995.
7. Oakes, James, Michael McGerr, Jan Ellen Lewis, Nick Cullather, Jeanne Boydston, Mark Summers, and Camilla Townsend. Of the People: A History of the United States, Vol. 1, to 1877. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2013.
8. Phelan, John, “Millennials are Ignorant of History. They Also Like Socialism. Coincidence?” April 13, 2018, https://www.americanexperiment.org/2018/04/millennials-ignorant-history-also-like-socialism-coincidence/
9. Ravitch, Diane. Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reforms. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2000.
10. Root, E. Merrill. Brain Washing in the High Schools, An Examination of Eleven American History Textbooks. New York: The Devin-Adair Company, 1958, Reprint 1961.
11. Rushdoony, Rousas John. The Nature of the American System. Fairfax, VA: Thoburn Press, 1978.