A Review of Slave Life in Fourteen United States History Textbooks

Abstract

Although slavery in the United States of America was abolished by the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865, the coverage of slavery in U.S. history textbooks used in public schools has been a delicate and disputed topic from the Civil War era to the present. In Virginia, for example, the heartland of the Confederacy, state history textbooks widely used in public schools from the late 1950s to the early '70s contained passages such as the following: loved the United States and did not want to leave it. But Virginians wanted people in every state to have their rights.' This excerpt from Virginia's fourth grade textbook had a very limited view of who were the people that should have rights, as apparently slaves were not considered people. The seventh grade Virginia textbook had similar misinformed views of slavery. For example: Slavery made it possible for the Negroes to come to America and to make contacts with civilized life and to play an important part in the development of Virginia.2 Clearly, there was no civilization existing in Africa if one accepts this view. The same text had this portrayal of the life of a slave: Life among the Negroes of Virginia in slavery times was generally happy. The Negroes went about in a cheerful manner making a living for themselves and for those for whom they worked.3 This cheery