The formulation of aims and standards by the Commissioner of Education denies, by necessary implication, that the writer of a textbook for use in the public schools has absolute freedom in the selection or in the interpretation of historical material. Predetermined aims and standards predetermine selection and interpretation.
The textbook must contain no statement in derogation or in disparagement of the achievements of American heroes. It must not question the sincerity of the aims and purposes of the founders of the Republic or of those who have guided its destinies.
The textbook must contain no material which tends to arouse political, racial, or religious controversy, misunderstanding or hatred.
The textbook must contain no material tending to arouse misunderstanding or hatred between the United States and any other nation.
The selection of material must be restricted to that which contributes most directly and essentially to the attainment of the legitimate objectives of the public school system as formulated by the State Commissioner of Education.
The writer must be prepared at all times to “come out in the open and cheerfully and unhesitatingly stand up and make known to the entire community,” the aims and the ideals, the purposes and the motives, which actuated him in the selection of his material and in his interpretation thereof.
1. To acquaint the pupils with the basic facts and movements, political, industrial, and social, of American history.
2. To emphasize the principles and motives that were of greatest influence in the formation and development of our government.
3. To establish ideals of patriotic and civic duty.
4. To awaken in the pupil a desire to emulate all praiseworthy endeavor.
5. To emphasize the importance of weighing permissible evidence in forming judgments.
6. To present the ethical and moral principles exemplified in the lives of patriotic leaders.
7. To inspire in the pupil an appreciation of the hardships endured and the sacrifices made in establishing and defending American ideals.
8. To develop in the pupil a love for American institutions and the determination to maintain and defend them.
9. To bring the light of reason and experience to bear on radical or alien theories of economic and political systems.
10. To enable the pupil to interpret the present in terms of the past and to view intelligently the functions and the value of existing institutions.
In order to give a clearer and more definite idea of the scope and intent of the general principles and special aims formulated by the Committee we submit herewith a discussion of said general principles and special aims.
... As the pages of a textbook are limited, no material should be used unless it is essential and of the highest educational value. The child’s time must not be taken up with facts which do not measure up to this standard.
Strictly speaking the textbook writer is not a historian. The historian writes for the open market. He has the privilege of selecting and organizing his material in accordance with his own views. He may be an impartial writer or he may be a partisan. The textbook writer has not this freedom. He is subject to the limitations imposed upon the teacher....
It is for the teacher to determine what material is needed. It is for the textbook writer to supply it. Unfortunately, an examination of the prefaces in various textbooks shows that some textbook writers do not take this view....
We believe that a textbook writer who seeks to influence our international relations is a propagandist. Under our constitution it is for the federal government, in the first instance, to determine what our foreign relations shall be. The children in attendance in our public schools must not be used directly or indirectly to influence official action in such matters.
As a rule derogatory statements have little or no educational value.... Only when a man has been guilty of an act of great moral turpitude is a discussion of his act likely to lead to beneficial consequences. Nero’s cruelty and Arnold’s treason are illustrations....
Probably the factor principally responsible for the presence of objectionable material in the textbooks under investigation is that the writers have not divided their material into topic-units, and have not formulated aims, sufficiently extensive in scope to permit marshalling the facts in due subordination....
Objection has been made to the treatment in some of the textbooks of the wars in which we have been engaged. The objections are to the effect that the accounts are emasculated. In reply it is strenuously urged that “the surest way to end war, is to sing the praises of peace and to say little of war and the heroes of war.”...
War in defense of freedom or in vindication of righteousness, justice and equity should be vividly portrayed, and the praises of its heroes should be joyously sung. Thus only can we raise a citizenry willing to die for the country.
Objection has been made that some of the textbooks contain statements in derogation of our national heroes. In reply it has been urged that the statements are true, and that attention should be called to the weaknesses of our heroes or we will esteem them too highly.
Truth is no defense to the charge of impropriety....
The assurance that posterity will hold our heroes in grateful remembrance is one of the most powerful incentives to heroic achievement. To preserve unsullied the name and fame of those who have battled that we might enjoy the blessings of liberty, is a solemn and sacred obligation....
It has been charged that some textbooks contain propaganda. In reply some have alleged that all who make the charge are persons opposed to friendly relations with Great Britain. The reply cannot be sustained, as appears from the following editorial in “The American Legion Weekly” of October 7, 1921:
“The country has known for some time that school textbooks on American history are being revised on the theory that the elimination or correction of obvious untruths or distorted truths concerning England’s relations with this country, notably during the Revolutionary War, would promote the cause of international friendship.... If the purpose of some of the authors was not to give the lasting impression to the school children of this country that the Revolutionary War was an unjustifiable war, that is likely to be the effect of their work.... It will be regretted if what appeared to be a meritorious undertaking has been exploited with propaganda which every fair-minded American must resent.”...
As far as possible, the writer of a textbook should avoid controversial topics. The public schools are maintained by the public funds. The taxpayers are of various creeds and political beliefs. Their feelings must be respected....
It is objected that some of the textbooks make no attempt to inculcate patriotism by bringing to the attention of pupils the best in the lives, words, and deeds of our patriots; and that in some of the books, too much attention is given to the utterances and achievements of the heroes of other countries.
In reply, it is urged that true patriotism does not require that we magnify our country at the expense of others; that a “narrow-visioned” patriotism means that the Englishman will become more English, the German, more German; and the American, more American.... Patriotism is not “egotism.” To make certain that the pupils in the elementary grades are thoroughly familiar with our own heroes before we introduce them to the heroes of other lands is neither “narrow-visioned” nor evidence of “international hatred.”...
[919] New York City Board of Education, Report on History Textbooks used in the Public Schools of the City of New York (New York, 1922).