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Revisionism: How to Identify It In Your Children's Textbooks
by David Barton
Revisionism is the common method employed by those seeking to subvert
American culture and society. The dictionary defines revisionism as an
"advocacy of the revision of an accepted, usually long-standing view,
theory, or doctrine; especially a revision of historical events and
movements."
Revisionism attempts to alter the way a people views its history and
traditions in order to cause that people to accept a change in public
policy. For example, during the 150 years that textbooks described the
Founding Fathers as being devout men and Christians who actively practiced
their faith, civic policy embraced and welcomed public religious
expressions. But in recent years as the same Founders have come to be
portrayed as atheists, agnostics, and deists who were opposed to religious
activities, public policies have similarly been reversed.
Revisionists generally accomplish their goal of rewriting history by:
Underemphasizing or ignoring the aspects of American history they deem to be
politically incorrect and overemphasizing those portions they find
acceptable;
Vilifying the historical figures who embraced a position they reject; and
Concocting the appearance of widespread historical approval for the social
policy they are attempting to advance.
There are many means that are used by revisionists to accomplish these goals
but the most common include:
1. Patent Untruths
Numerous history texts make claims such as: our "national government was
secular from top to bottom," or that the Founders "reared a national
government on a secular basis." Those who have studied the American Founding
know that this is a patent untruth - proved by numbers of Founders,
including John Adams, who declared: "The general principles on which the
fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity."
(Even the text of the Declaration of Independence refutes any charges of
government secularism.) This approach usually relies on a general lack of
public knowledge about that untruth; consequently, such untruthful claims
are rarely made in areas where citizens have broad general knowledge (such
as claiming that James Madison used an atomic bomb to end the Civil War, or
that the first sub-machine gun was developed in 1536 in Nevada by the
Quakers). Revisionism relies on a lack of citizen knowledge in specific
areas.
2. Overly Broad Generalizations
This revisionist tool presents the exception as if it were the rule. For
example, texts often name Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas
Paine as proof of the lack of religiosity among the Founders yet fail to
mention the rest of the almost 200 Founding Fathers - including the dozens
of Founders who not only received their education in schools specializing in
the training of ministers of the Gospel but who also were active in
Christian ministry and organizations (e.g., John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John
Adams, Benjamin Rush, Roger Sherman, et. al).
Similarly, when discussing religion in America, the Salem Witch trials are
universally presented; but rarely mentioned are the positive societal
changes produced by Quakers, Baptists, Presbyterians, and dozen of other
religious groups and organizations that worked for the abolition of slavery,
secured religious freedoms for all, and fought to end societal abuses of all
types. (Also never mentioned is that the American witch trials resulted in
some two dozen deaths - and were halted by religious leaders, while the
European witch trials resulted in 100,000; that is, American Christianity at
that time might not have been perfect but it was light years ahead of both
the Christianity practiced in Europe and the European secularism that
resulted in 40,000 executions in the French Revolution.)
3. Omission
Notice the following three examples from American history works:
We whose names are under-written . . . do by these presents solemnly and
mutually in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant and combine
our selves together into a civil body politick. MAYFLOWER COMPACT, 1620
Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains
and slavery? . . . I know not what course others may take, but as for me,
give me liberty or give me death? PATRICK HENRY, 1775
.. . . ART. I.-His Britannic Majesty acknowledges the said United States . .
.. PEACE TREATY TO END THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1783
What was omitted from these important historical quotes?
We whose names are under-written having undertaken for the glory of God, and
advancement of the Christian faith and honor of our king and country, a
voyage to plant the first colonie in the Northern parts of Virginia do by
these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God, and one of
another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politick.
Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains
and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may
take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death?
In the name of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity. It having pleased the
Divine Providence to dispose the hearts . . . ART. I.-His Britannic Majesty
acknowledges the said United States . . .
The omitted segments are those that indicate the strongly religious nature
of American government documents and leaders. Also regularly omitted from
texts is the fact that gratitude to God was central to the first Pilgrim
Thanksgiving - and the fact that in 1782, the Congress of the United States
was responsible for America's first English-language Bible; and that in
1800, Congress voted that on Sundays, the Capitol Building would serve as a
church building and that by 1867, the largest protestant church in America
was the one that met inside the U. S. Capitol; etc.
4. A Lack of Primary Source References
The avoidance of primary-source documents is characteristic in revisionism.
For example, the authors of the widely-used text The Godless Constitution
blatantly announce that they have "dispensed with the usual scholarly
apparatus of footnotes" when discussing the documentation for their thesis
that America's government is built on a secular foundation. Similarly, the
text The Search for Christian America purports to examine the Founding Era
and finds a distinct lack of Christian influence. Yet 80 percent of the
"historical sources" on which it relies to document its finding were
published after 1950! That is, to determine what was occurring in the 1700s,
they quote from works printed in the 1900s.
Summary
To locate revisionism in a text, look at its tone, the documents it
presents, and the heroes it elevates.
To discover a revisionist tone, find the answers to these questions in the
textbook: Is exploration and colonization motivated only by the desire for
land or gold? Are those who promoted religious and moral values portrayed as
harsh, punitive, and intolerant? Is traditional family ignored? Is
government presented as statist - that is, that the state (rather than
individuals, families, churches, or communities) is to take care of
society's needs? Is there a victim ideology - a steady diet of those who
have been exploited throughout history rather than those who have uplifted
their culture? Are other religions portrayed positively and Christianity
negatively (if at all)?
Are original documents presented? (Do students see the actual text or only
what someone else says about it?) Do they see the Mayflower Compact, the
Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, George Washington's "Farewell
Address," and Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address? Are the documents
heavily edited to present only a sentence or two or do they provide a
substantive amount of text?
Who are the heroes presented? Do they tend to be angry - fighting an unjust
society or government? Do they tend to be modern heroes only? Do they tend
to be only secular leaders? For example, the U. S. Capitol displays some 100
statues of the most important individuals in America's history; a
significant percentage of those statues are of ministers and Christian
leaders. Will your children receive in their textbooks at least the same
view of American heroes that is presented in America's pre-eminent
government building?
When examining a text, always remember that your children do not know as
much about history as you do and consequently have no basis for identifying
bias. Therefore, examine each text as if you knew nothing at all about
history except what is presented in that text; on that basis, will you be
pleased with the tone toward America inculcated in your child through that
text? If not, then urge your school to get a better text or be diligent to
supplement for your children what is missing or wrongly presented in the
text.
It is not melodramatic to state that America's future rests on what is
taught to our children, for as Abraham Lincoln wisely observed:
The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy
of government in the next. (attributed)
Famous American educator Noah Webster therefore rightly admonished:
The education of youth should be watched with the most scrupulous attention.
.. . . [It] lays the foundations on which both law and gospel rest for
success.
Indeed!
--
The fundamental principle of our Constitution . . . enjoins [requires] that
the will of the majority shall prevail.
George Washington
--------------------------------------------------------------
The will of the majority [is] the natural law of every society [and] is the
only sure guardian of the rights of man. Perhaps even this may sometimes
err. But its errors are honest, solitary and short-lived
Though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be
rightful must be reasonable - the minority possess their equal rights which
equal law must protect
Thomas Jefferson
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