In the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 attacks against the United States, people immediately compared the attack with the Japanese assault on Pearl Harbor sixty years prior. In this article, we explore how US and world history textbooks published shortly after Pearl Harbor and 9/11 depicted and contextualized both events. The textbooks…

This article focuses on ten U.S. history textbooks, all in common use across the nation. This study adopts a historical narrative analysis, which aims to determine the manner in which textbook narratives may promote "de facto national mandates." This method allows for the comparison of textbook narratives to historical works, looking for…

How individuals interpret the justifications for historical war can have a large effect on how they see modern warfare. In the social studies classroom, particularly in the U.S. context, so much of what educators focus on in regard to war are the events of World War II. This focus on the Second World War is understandable. However, it could also…

This article explores student meaning making in a Grade 11 US history unit on the Second World War. The 10-lesson unit was designed as an experiment that aimed to apply an instructional model of historical consciousness to a classroom context. Although the notion of historical consciousness has gained significant interest in the field of history…

Memorials and monuments represent a society's view of its own history and the conclusions we collectively wish to draw about its meaning. In America in recent years, public clashes over the presence of contested public memorials--including and especially monuments dedicated to the Confederate cause in the United States Civil War--have led to…

What is environmental history? In the words of Brian Allen Drake, it is "the study of the interactions between humans and nature across time." It includes, but is in no way limited to, the study of the environment. Generally speaking, it is a way to interpret nature as an integral part of the past, as an important "actor." Or,…

Some writers connected to the Peace Movement, many of whom were Quakers, expressed conflicting views on history's value to society and its ability to prevent unnecessary wars. These writers, mostly opponents to the United States' War with Mexico, argued that history education sometimes contributed to war by romanticizing militaristic government…

Cisgender women were not permitted to join the armed forces until the Women's Armed Service Integration Act passed in 1984. During the Civil War, some people assigned female at birth enlisted as men. They used "male" names and wore short haircuts, pants, and other traditional "male clothing." Many stories of these soldiers have…

As secondary social studies education in the United States moves toward inquiry and constructivist models of teaching, much of the history that is taught is stuck in a fairly rigid narrative. This narrative has been written and refined by historians and high school textbook writers until the canon is homogenous across the United States (Brinkley…

Background/Context: Across the nation, people living in the United States are embroiled in conflict over the meaning of its past. Many of the most fervent conflicts relate to acts of historical violence: war, enslavement, conquest, and colonization among them. Elementary school students commonly study the early colonization of the land now known…

The real story of slavery's end involves one of the most significant social movements in the history of the United States and the heroic actions of the enslaved themselves. Revealing this history helps students begin to answer fundamental questions that urgently need to be addressed in classrooms across the country: How does major social change…

One of the critical issues facing Historians today has been the emergence of Strong State regimes and the politicized pseudo history they produce in countries claiming to adhere to democratic norms. The attack on the Capital of the United States was based on a series of lies about voter fraud supported by President Donald Trump and members of…

Historians have long appreciated the value of the U.S. Census as a source of statistical data for studying nineteenth- and twentieth-century American history. However, in ways that many other primary source documents do not, the census reflects and addresses social, political, and economic issues on national, state, and community levels…

This article is a guided inquiry into past and present uses of war powers. From the Constitutional framers' intent through Thomas Jefferson's adaptation to modern presidents' implementation, students extract meaning from the best available evidence. Evocative primary sources--some of which are contemporaneous to modern readers--and engaging…

Can you name several well-known military personnel throughout U.S. history? When hearing this question, most people may begin reciting names like George Washington, Ulysses Grant, George Patten, or Norman Schwarzkopf Jr., who all happen to be men. When thinking about the U.S. military historically, we tend to imagine that it is a man's world.…