Title: Chapter 3: American History in the Classroom | AHA
Headings: 
Chapter 3: American History in the Classroom
A. The Status of American History in the Schools
B. The Status of American History in the Colleges
Major Studies Consulted

Content: While the laws are for the most part merely a legal recognition of a situation which had already developed, they do furnish a kind of guarantee of uniformity. This examination of existing statutes concerning the teaching of American history is therefore based upon no attitude of either approval or disapproval. It is merely one method of ascertaining the status of American history in the schools. State laws on the subject of the teaching of American history are usually general, often vague, and sometimes obscure. Often they require that the subject shall be taught but fail to indicate whether it shall be taught in the elementary, the junior high, or the senior high school. They frequently specify that American history shall be taught, but not whether it is to be an elective or a required subject. As a general rule one can assume that nearly all the early laws ( i.e. those passed before about 1900) on this subject apply to the elementary schools. In such cases the legislators generally intended that American history should be taught in the upper grades, that is VII and VIII. More recent laws on this subject have been quite generally directed at the high schools, and in application this has meant the two upper grades, XI or XII. This study undertakes to present an accurate and complete picture of the statutory requirements.