North Carolina Schools May Cut Chunk Out of U.S. History Lessons

This is beyond stupid if they only cover the past 150 years (roughly) of US History.

A couple of years ago, when I was in High School, they started to change the curriculum for the kids about to be Freshmen, so that they had to take four years of science and math and three years of a foreign language. For me though, it was just three years of math and science and two years of a foreign language (but you could take more if you wanted). I was glad that they changed it so kids would have to take more, but I was also very happy that it didn't affect me (although I did take the fourth year of math).

I think that the Middle/High School classes are basically the same as when I was in school. Sixth grade was a mix of World History, Culture, and Geography. Seventh grade was Texas History (I HATED that damn class), Eight was the first part of American History (roughly up until 1820ish), Ninth was World Geography (a little more in depth than Sixth grade), Tenth was World History, Eleventh was the second half of American History, and Twelfth was American Government one semester and Economics the next. All in all, I though it was a pretty good set up, but I also had half decent teachers and was in advanced classes.

Edit to add: I don't care what its about, Environment belongs in SCIENCE class, not History. The hoopla hasn't been around that long, so anything beyond of when and where it started doesn't belong there.

[edit on 4-2-2010 by riddle6]

What I find even more amazing is how people here at ATS are somehow baffled by this development. As in every other attempted government "re-education" program, the children are targeted because they are the future. If you can get the children to think differently then you have a chance at changing the nation.

But seriously, why are so many people here at ATS surprised? Have you been sleeping or not paying attention to all the other threads here? Are you really that skeptical about everything here at ATS that you found this story unbelievable or unexplainable?

I did see some who get it... they realized quite easily that if you hide the history that gave rise to the country, you can more easily create a new history that will enable it to fall.

What does the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, or Bill of Rights truly mean if you take away the context for their creation? Nothing.

How can you maintain a disdain for monarchy if you remove the American context for its repudiation? You can't.

How can you have a citizenry that truly understands what it means to be free if you take away the notion of a government of the people, by the people, and for the people? You can't.

How can you have future "tea parties" if you remove the historical reference to the original? You can't.

If you remove a man's memory that he comes from a wealthy royal family, you can easily convince him that he is a poor pauper from a lower-class family.

There are numerous threads on ATS all purporting that the government has an agenda to destroy the America you all know and love so it can be replaced by a new American empire that is openly governed as a centrally-controlled corporatist oligarchy, thinly dressed up to look like a "democracy."

What TPTB DO NOT WANT is a true Republic made up of sovereign allodial-title-holding landowning Citizens who form a "more perfect union" of small local representative-governments, bound together into highly autonomous state governments, where centralized control from a Federal government is greatly minimized and forcefully kept in check. No sir, they definitely do not want that, even though THAT is precisely what the founders gave to Americans, and THAT is precisely what you are incrementally losing on a daily basis... unless you QUICKLY do something about it.

So, to all of you who think it's a big mystery why such topics would be kept out of future school curricula, all I can say is, with the utmost of respect and concern, kindly remove your head from the sand and take a look around... you'll be amazed what you can see if you but open your eyes.

reply to post by Primordial

She told me she had to study the amendments to the constitution, but only from the 11th on as the first 10 weren't on the test so the school wasn't going over them.

Did you happen to ask her if she had already studied and been tested on 1 to 10?

Thought not.

Perfectly reasonable to teach the 1st ten separately, specifically since they are so important.

reply to post by TheWalkingFox


I'm not sure the topic required a history lesson, but thanks for the 'tip' to the story of the State of Jones. I knew about the existence of Union sympathizers in the South, but not in any detail. A quick bit of googling and the story of Newt Knight appears to be a fascinating one. I will look it up.

reply to post by riddle6

Edit to add: I don't care what its about, Environment belongs in SCIENCE class, not History. The hoopla hasn't been around that long, so anything beyond of when and where it started doesn't belong there.

I don't think the 9th grade classes are 'history' per se. The title is 'Global Issues' which sounds a lot like my 9th grade class called 'Social Studies'.

There is a lot of science in environment, but its effect on society and how it impacts in the political arena are not science topics and cannot be discussed without reference to all the other social and political pressures.

reply to post by rnaa


I understand that the affects of the environment on the world being a part of a "social studies" type class, and it makes sense to me. I just worded it wrong, sorry about that.

So it will be us that remember and tell,
pass down the stories of History!

Grandpa tell me about the good old days

Originally posted by bsbray11
How many of you know of the 1921 Coal Miner's War when thousands of armed coal miners marched on West Virginia demanding fair employment practices, and WVA called a state of emergency and had to petition the federal government to send the military in?

To emphasize the difference in education now, I know all about this.

It extended beyond West Virginia and covered many years. In fact my own Father was involved in the disputes at the Anthracite Mines in Central Utah. The battle between the mines and the unions that won, went on into the 1960's. I remember my Father coming home after picketing as a volunteer at a coal mine during a Strike. He was pale as a ghost and visibly scared. His face is etched in the backs of my eyeballs to this day. A Strike Breaker in a mining truck charged the gate and ran over his best friend cutting him in half and killing him.

"Sixteen Tons":

You load sixteen tons, what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
Saint Peter, don't you call me, 'cause I can't go;
I owe my soul to the company store.

My Father sat down and explained that song to me the next day. He explained his first job as a young man was working in the coal mines in Utah. They were required to live in rooms rented from the company and buy all food and goods from the company store. The cost of which was deducted from their pay. He said they were paid fifty cents a day and the cost of the room and food was sixty five cents a day. Each day they worked they became more enslaved to the mine. He was one of the organizers who started the first union at that mine. More than a few of his fellow workers were badly injured or killed in the process.

If he knew what pile of crap the Democratic Party turned into after his death in 1970, he would be the first in line to picket his own Party. Democrats were conservative, hard working, honest people in those days.

Our children need to know all of history to understand it and not repeat it. The Progressives have always seemed to be about rewriting or editing history to hide the fact their idea's fail so miserably all throughout history. They control education now. I'd imagine in another generation or two, the greatest butchers in modern history will be rewritten as hero's. Just look at the false history now associated with butchers like Che or Castro. Their victims died for nothing if the truth is written out of the textbooks. I never thought I'd see a day where children ran around with an evil mans face on their T-Shirts not knowing about the people he slaughtered. What next? A Hitler or Mao fad?

We need far more history in schools, not less. Those who would hide history plan on repeating it. They are not trying to hide some good thing they wish to do. They are not even Americans any more.

[edit on 2/4/2010 by Blaine91555]

By us not explaining history to our kids and expecting the state or government to do it,
would be true socialism!

I used to teach History in North Carolina. It was 9th Grade World History, 10th Grade Civics, 11th Grade U.S. History, and nothing in 12th grade. I remember back in 2006 they were just starting to change the curriculum so that U.S. History would start at the founding and completely skip the pre-colony, colony, and Revolutionary War periods. The theory was that this would be covered in civics in 10th grade to lead into 11th grade. The problem was the Civics curriculum was already so big that there wasn't really anywhere to put this in so it just became a short period of lessons maybe a week at most (thats being generous.) So now they are looking at moving it all the way to 1877..... I find it interesting that if they move much further they will have U.S. History starting with the Progressive Movement. The excuse they will use is that there is too much hisory to teach it in a year and that the most current history is not being taught as a result. They will change the standard course of study and the end of course tests so that they focus on 1877 forward and that will force everyone that wants to keep their job to skip what comes before.

Having also taught middle school social studies 8th grade (year that they teach U.S. History in Middle School) with a focus on the state I can tell you that it isn't a replacement for the high school course. Also, unless they've changed it there is no end of course test for social studies in Middle School so that was the class that everyone got pulled from for other things because it wouldn't affect the school's standing with the state.

As I said before there are only three years of social studies courses taught in the North Carolina high schools (unless its changed since I taught there.) If they are so ready to add this "world issues" course which is nothing but propoganda and indoctrination then perhaps they should do 9th world history, 10th world isues, 11th US History, 12th Civics.

I forgot to mention that I e-mailed the person referenced in the article at the Department of Public Instruction to ask her for more information on what they were planning. As of yet I've heard nothing back but its only been a day. If I do get anything from her I'll let you all know.

reply to post by jukyu


Thank you very much for your perspective and for the email please do check back and let us know the reply, if there is one.

There are numerous threads on ATS all purporting that the government has an agenda to destroy the America you all know and love so it can be replaced by a new American empire that is openly governed as a centrally-controlled corporatist oligarchy, thinly dressed up to look like a "democracy."

What TPTB DO NOT WANT is a true Republic made up of sovereign allodial-title-holding landowning Citizens who form a "more perfect union" of small local representative-governments, bound together into highly autonomous state governments, where centralized control from a Federal government is greatly minimized and forcefully kept in check. No sir, they definitely do not want that, even though THAT is precisely what the founders gave to Americans, and THAT is precisely what you are incrementally losing on a daily basis... unless you QUICKLY do something about it.

So, to all of you who think it's a big mystery why such topics would be kept out of future school curricula, all I can say is, with the utmost of respect and concern, kindly remove your head from the sand and take a look around... you'll be amazed what you can see if you but open your eyes.

well said, star'd and friended

My 2 cents.. I detested "history" until I happened upon a little book, in a used book store's top shelf... that was in very bad shape, printed in 1794, "A New History of England" and 40 years later, while writing this post I find it is now online, the 1812 Edition... HERE.

"By the Help of History, a Young Man may, in Some Measure,
Acquire the Experience of Old Age." Lord Chesterfield
(from the title page)



[edit on 4-2-2010 by seataka]

[edit on 4-2-2010 by seataka]

wow! this sucks..wonder how long until other states do the same thing.

LOOK I LIVE IN NORTH CAROLINA AND YES THE SCHOOLS SUCK. my neighbors kid is in highschool and i constantly have to hekp with home work. when she took the state mandated test for world history the teacher had barely gotten to the middle ages i had to sit her down and help her study the other half of the text book. and if they don't have enough textbooks some of the kids get sent hom e with cdrom versions of textbooks. with no bookmarks to help u navigate pdf file. but i believe this is just the state trying to forget their part in slavery and civil war

a school in my area just recently purchased ipods for an entire class

another one, bought everyone in the school a laptop

and this school, just deletes historical info

yea our nations heading down the right path

reply to post by proteus33


Things like this may be happening but I doubt they are wide spread. Each county gets the same amount per student from the state. In some rural areas, where tax revenues are lower, the county provides less money to the schools. So this may happen in some areas. If it the standard would NC exceed the southeast's average score on the SATs every year?

You can find discrepancies like this from county to county or even city to city through out the country.

I also disagree that it is an attempt to hide North CArolina's part in slavery or the civil war. Slavery and the Civil War are heavily discussed in 8th grade when students take North Carolina history. Besides that, North Carolina has very little to be ashamed of when it comes to the Civil War.

North Carolina was the last state to join the CSA. The secessionist movement struggled to get any traction in the state. It was not until Lincoln ordered troops in to the south that NC joined the CSA.

North Carolina History Project

To counter the secessionist fervor, Unionists also convened. Holden’s Standard effectively upheld the Union cause and expressed hope for compromise. On January 29, the General Assembly decided to put the convention question to the people on February 28 and voted to send delegates to the Washington Peace Conference on February 4.

Defeating the secessionists by a vote of 47,323 to 46,672, Unionists carried the northeastern counties and most of the Piedmont and western counties. Because a few Unionists like Vance supported the convention call, the delegate elections are more indicative of actual sentiment; only 39 of the 120 delegates were secessionists. A few days after the vote, on March 4, Lincoln gave an inaugural address, which many considered conciliatory. . .




On April 15, Lincoln called for 75,000 troops to “put down the rebellion.” Governor Ellis responded: “You can get no troops from North Carolina.” When word arrived of Lincoln’s summons, Zebulon Vance, with arms upraised, was pleading for the preservation of the Union: “When my hand came down from that impassioned gesticulation,” he said, “it fell slowly and sadly by the side of a secessionist.”



The Tar Heel State, which only acted after Lincoln called for troops, became a bulwark of the Confederate defense, providing more men and supplies to the CSA and suffering more casualties than any other Southern state. In the end, most Tar Heels seceded in the name of self-defense

Don't paint with broad strokes and try to avoid baseless speculation.

I graduated from one of the better public schools in NC in 2008.

First off, to answer the question of the poster above... To graduate HS, you must take (as it stands) 3 science courses (usually bio, chem, physics) and 3 social studies courses (world hist, civics and econ, us hist) and then your senior year you can choose to take another science or another social studies course.


I am somewhat ashamed that my home state is considering this. I think world history should remain as a requirement. For many students, this is the ONLY history course they will take has a focus outside of america. Without a basic understanding of world history and past civilizations and significant movements around the world throughout our time, how can students be expected to fully understand issues that are going on today?

As for starting US history at 1877... this is ridiculous. If there is ANYTHING that needs to be taught in 11th grade US history, it is US hist up UNTIL 1877. Revolutionary War, Constitution (obviously including the bill of rights and the other amendments), Civil War... I mean come on, those are the 3 most important topics in US history.

Yes, students will learn some us history before this course, but the extent of that history will be: "in 1492, columbus sailed the ocean blue. He arrived in america and then columbus and all the pilgrims had a feast with their new friends, the native americans (they will emphasize that they are native americans and not indians prior to HS, for political correctness). The end.

It is true that the constitution will be covered in civics and economics, but i think that merely knowing the constitution is not enough. Every american ought to know what factors led up to it as well. Then again, i can see the argument for totally skipping the constitution all together, it's not like our elected officials adhere to it.

There is a LOT that is wrong with school, and it isnt getting better. We are losing touch of the principles this country was founded upon. This, coupled with the lack of integrity and respect in today's youth could very well be our demise.

schhh better sweep the unpleasentness under the carpet so not to frighten the little ones, lats hold hands and sing cumbayaa and pretend it never happened.