There’s another alternative: You can teach American history in all its abundant messiness. Embrace the brilliance and the errors of the founders and the other great figures of our nation.
They were patriots. They were hypocrites. They were intelligent. They were prejudiced. They were human beings, flawed and miraculous at the same time.
Sometimes they were right. Sometimes they weren’t. Their greatest gift wasn’t words on paper, but an idea: America is never finished. It can be made more perfect, a process that continues in our day.
We stumble at times — not all voices are heard, not everyone has a seat at the table. We have some work to do. At its best, though, the people of the United States try to be better today than they were yesterday.
Teach that. The Republic will not fall if students learn the full truth about our history.
The 1776 Pledge that Schmidt and Colyer signed claims “the United States of America is an exceptional nation.” If that’s true, there’s no need to teach history or civics. We’re already exceptional.
But American exceptionalism isn’t a finished fact. It’s still a goal. That’s what makes this country so important, and that’s what students, and all of us, should learn and remember.
They were patriots. They were hypocrites. They were intelligent. They were prejudiced. They were human beings, flawed and miraculous at the same time.
Sometimes they were right. Sometimes they weren’t. Their greatest gift wasn’t words on paper, but an idea: America is never finished. It can be made more perfect, a process that continues in our day.
We stumble at times — not all voices are heard, not everyone has a seat at the table. We have some work to do. At its best, though, the people of the United States try to be better today than they were yesterday.
Teach that. The Republic will not fall if students learn the full truth about our history.
The 1776 Pledge that Schmidt and Colyer signed claims “the United States of America is an exceptional nation.” If that’s true, there’s no need to teach history or civics. We’re already exceptional.
But American exceptionalism isn’t a finished fact. It’s still a goal. That’s what makes this country so important, and that’s what students, and all of us, should learn and remember.
