Among longtime history teacher Karalee Wong Nakatsuka鈥檚 most prized possessions are two nearly identical T-shirts with very different meanings.

One comes from Philadelphia鈥檚 , celebrating our Founding Fathers鈥� signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and their fight for freedom from the British Crown.

The second is from in Washington, D.C., where an assassin killed President Abraham Lincoln 89 years after the Declaration鈥檚 signing. The Civil War, fought to free the nation鈥檚 nearly four million enslaved people, had effectively ended five days before the president was shot.

Both T-shirts bear the slogan: 鈥淐reated Equal.鈥�

It鈥檚 not lost on Nakatsuka, the child of Chinese immigrants, that the nation took its time bestowing the same universal gift from the Declaration 鈥� 鈥淎ll men are created equal鈥� 鈥� on African Americans.

And this isn鈥檛 an abstract concept to her mostly Asian eighth-grade students at First Avenue Middle School in Arcadia, California, who are struggling to process news about birthright citizenship, and deportations in their Los Angeles suburb.

鈥淔rom the beginning,鈥� she said, 鈥渨e talk about the Declaration.鈥�

As its 250th anniversary nears, teachers like Nakatsuka face the challenge of bringing the nation鈥檚 founding documents and the Revolution alive while presenting an accurate account of what happened 鈥� and what it all means today.

Add to that the task of teaching in a politically divided nation that now holds a microscope to the founders, casting them as less-than-heroic slaveholders and capitalists even as advocates for patriotic education urge teachers to exalt them as God-like heroes.

At East Kentwood High School in Western Michigan, history teacher Matthew Vriesman takes an approach similar to Nakatsuka鈥檚, challenging his students to look past their preconceptions of documents like the Declaration and ask: 鈥淲ho was it originally for? Who is it for now?鈥�

The 250th, he said, is a perfect time to get students to think deeply about the Declaration鈥檚 vision of 鈥渁ll men created equal鈥� and ask: How鈥檚 that experiment going?

鈥淚f you really think about it, high school history class is an incredible opportunity,鈥� Vriesman said. 鈥淭his is the last time where people in this country are forced to sit and think and write about the founding values. This is the last time.鈥�

Civics teachers 鈥榓re not OK鈥�

Americans in 2026 鈥� and this generation especially 鈥� could probably use a lesson in those values.

Just 47% of adults in a recent survey could why the original 13 Colonies declared independence from Britain in 1776. And in a of Gen Z, the youngest of whom are now in high school, researchers at Tufts University found that they hold troubling attitudes toward democracy: Nearly one in three displayed 鈥渄ismissive detachment,鈥� with low confidence in our governing system and higher than average support for authoritarianism. Nearly two-thirds displayed a 鈥減assive appreciation鈥� for democracy, saying they trusted the government but were complacent about politics.

As the Declaration鈥檚 250th anniversary looms, teachers say they鈥檙e working in a climate of increased scrutiny and uncertainty. In a , more than half said teaching basic civics concepts now feels 鈥渄ifficult,鈥� with nearly six in 10 worrying about potential backlash for teaching something the 鈥渨rong way.鈥� About 20% said they鈥檝e experienced actual backlash for lessons they鈥檝e taught. More than one in three said they鈥檝e changed or removed lessons they typically teach because of the climate in their school or community.

鈥淐ivics teachers are not OK, and that stinks, no matter what year it is,鈥� said Emma Humphries, chief education officer of the nonprofit group iCivics, which produced the survey. 鈥淏ut it’s really awful when we should be in a more celebratory mood.鈥�

The group designs curricula and games about civic education and history. In preparation for the anniversary, iCivics created a campaign called , which features the tagline, 鈥淲e don鈥檛 stop teaching algebra when working with polynomials gets hard. Nor should we stop teaching civics when explaining the rule of law gets hard.鈥�

Despite the pressures, teachers say they鈥檙e diving in, with about eight in 10 saying the Revolutionary period and the founding documents are 鈥渉igh priorities鈥� for their classrooms. The founders, the Declaration and the American Revolution are by far teachers鈥� favorite historical topics, according to a 2024 survey by the .

No other topic even comes close.

Teaching 鈥榟istorical empathy鈥�

As her fifth-graders toured the hushed galleries of the Revolution Museum in Philadelphia one recent morning, teacher Samantha Dowis watched as they thrilled to the muskets, the outfits and to Gen. George Washington鈥檚 actual tent, even if they were light on how it all fit together.

Their tour guide led them from room to room, and the students could easily tell her who Washington was and that he鈥檇 crossed the Delaware River to their native New Jersey. But at the Battle of Trenton exhibit, when asked who the were, not a single hand went up. (For the record: They were hired by the British to fight the Colonists.)

Dowis said she wasn鈥檛 worried. They鈥檇 barely begun learning about the Revolution, and were only now getting a sense that 2026 is somehow a significant anniversary.

For younger students, she and others said, the challenge in teaching history turns on getting and keeping their attention and emphasizing compelling narratives built around political ideals 鈥� while often battling against misinformation or just random bits they encounter online. 

鈥淚 feel like we teach them more now than when we were younger,鈥� Dowis said. 鈥淭hey learn more content now than I remember from when I was in school.鈥�

From an early age, kids understand concepts like voting rights, she said. So when the lessons turn to the colonies, realizing 鈥渢hey didn’t have a say in government鈥� and rebelled, that resonates.

Dowis, who grew up nearby in the Philadelphia neighborhood of Bridesburg, said her students occasionally want to talk about fraught issues of race and slavery. She avoids politics if she can, but if students ask questions about how different races or groups of people experienced history, 鈥渨e definitely talk about it. We make sure to hear everybody’s perspective, and not just one voice,鈥� she said. By the time they leave fifth grade in Maple Shade, New Jersey, they鈥檝e learned about enslavement not just in the American colonies, but among the Mayan, Incan and Aztec cultures, among others. 

While many adults learned history with a heavy emphasis on names, dates and significant battles, educators now often say they take a more story-centric approach that invites students to experience what鈥檚 often called 鈥渉istorical empathy,鈥� putting people into the shoes of those who lived history. 

鈥淭he more we can put it in terms of everyday people, and help people relate to those individuals, we find, the more successful we can be,鈥� said Michael Hensinger, who oversees K-12 education for the museum. 鈥淚t can be really hard to relate to a general, a king, queen, somebody like that, which is often the lens through which a lot of history was taught when I was growing up.鈥�

So the museum frontloads stories of everyday people, soldiers and citizens alike, who found themselves caught up in war, such as Joseph Plumb Martin, a Connecticut teenager who joined the state militia in 1776 and defended New York City before re-enlisting for the war鈥檚 duration.

The museum also highlights the story of London Pleasants, an enslaved 15-year-old in Virginia who in 1781 joined Loyalist forces under the command of Benedict Arnold. Two years earlier, the Crown had offered protection to slaves who fled to the British lines. 

鈥淚 think a lot of young people aren’t necessarily hungry for Revolutionary War history, but they are really fascinated by stories,鈥� said Tyler Putnam, the museum鈥檚 senior manager for gallery interpretation. 

鈥淜ids are curious,鈥� said Lauren Tarshis, author of the young adult novel I Survived The American Revolution, 1776. 鈥淩ight now, they’re going on YouTube and watching real stories about these things,鈥� not all of them historically accurate. 

Tarshis鈥� deeply researched series has grown to 25 books since 2017. Instead of shying away from difficult topics in history, she said, young people invite them in if there鈥檚 hope at the end. 

The Digital History Group鈥檚 program leverages their curiosity with primary sources 鈥� maps, letters, paintings, diary entries 鈥� to help students answer key questions such as: Who actually at the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775? 

Students start with a painting commissioned 200 years later by the Lexington Historical Society that offers an heroic image of colonists fighting back against the British. Then they examine a 1775 engraving by one of the American fighters showing colonists fleeing the scene. After that they read an account from a British officer who admits his men were firing without orders but who believes the colonists shot first. Finally they read an account from colonists who, unsurprisingly, blame the British. Students must wrestle with competing accounts to try to make sense of it all.

鈥淗istory has never been uncontested,鈥� said Joel Breakstone, a former Stanford History Education Group director who co-founded the group.

鈥楢 fundamentally good country鈥�

In 2026, teachers like Vriesman, whose district sits south of Grand Rapids, Michigan , must also help students understand U.S. history through the lens of new federal immigration policies that undermine their sense of 鈥渃reated equal.鈥� The area has seen several and arrests, prompting students recently to walk out of school .

Nonetheless, he said, each year he is impressed with his students鈥� willingness to embrace the Declaration鈥檚 ideals before he even tackles the document itself. His school district is among the most diverse in Michigan, with students from around the globe, bringing different religions, worldviews and life stories to class. But when pressed to share their beliefs, he said, virtually all hold 鈥渂asic Enlightenment values.鈥�

All of his students, 鈥渇rom Somalia to farm country,鈥� say they agree that people should be able to raise their families how they鈥檇 like and not be afraid to live in a society based on who they are or where they hail from.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness 鈥� 鈥淭hey literally create this before they even know what the Declaration of Independence really is,鈥� he said.

That鈥檚 despite the fact that many students when they鈥檙e younger learn something more akin to a 鈥渇ounding myth鈥� than actual U.S. history, said one of his students, 18-year-old Christina Le. 

鈥淭he founders are really seen as mythological figures in a sense, and they’re portrayed as more heroic,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut when you start studying them more, you see them more as flawed human beings who eventually brought that into the Constitutional Convention, even though they were trying to create these ideals.鈥�

Le, whose parents emigrated from Vietnam around 1999, said it鈥檚 important to understand the founders as 鈥渕en who were created through the context of the Revolutionary War.鈥� They fought the war based on ideals of liberty, she said, but refused to acknowledge the broader issue of whose liberty they were fighting for. 鈥淎nd we’re kind of still seeing the effects today.鈥�

Her classmate, 17-year-old Hawathiya Mulual, said she began thinking deeply about liberty and equal rights in middle school. She was just 11 in 2020, when police in Minneapolis killed George Floyd, triggering a racial reckoning nationwide around the use of police force on people of color. 

The child of Sudanese and Ethiopian refugees, Mulual said her interest in U.S. history and government took root 鈥渨hen you saw justice was so hard to achieve 鈥� why was it so hard to condemn those police officers involved?鈥�

The 250th anniversary takes place at a time when history itself is under extreme political pressure. President Donald Trump last year signed an executive order pushing schools to promote 鈥減atriotic education,鈥� and the U.S. Department of Education recently designed to promote 鈥渋nformed patriotism and love of country.鈥�

Museums have protested as the administration pushes to rewrite historical displays to downplay the role of slavery. In Philadelphia, the National Park Service in January removed a set of large explanatory panels detailing the U.S. slave trade at the , where both George Washington and John Adams once lived. The city sued, and a federal judge, likening the administration to the propaganda-spewing Ministry of Truth in George Orwell鈥檚 1984, ordered the display to be while litigation over the move continues.

While 2026 may seem for many a far cry from the U.S. bicentennial celebration in 1976, when the nation came together for fireworks, concerts and parades of , the Revolution Museum鈥檚 Putnam, said not so fast: Politics divided those celebrations too. The festivities of 1976, he said, fell on the heels of massive American traumas, such as the 1960s fight for civil rights, the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 and the Watergate scandal, which forced President Richard Nixon to resign in 1974.

What鈥檚 perhaps different, he said, is that this time around, a generation of historic scholarship has uncovered narratives of Native American, Black and women鈥檚 voices as  part of the nation鈥檚 founding. 鈥淓ven though those people were advocating for inclusion in 1976, there wasn’t the sort of social or scholarly body of material to say, 鈥極h, you’re interested in Black soldiers? Here’s a book that will help you tell a Revolutionary story.鈥欌��

All the same, Trump has taken the opportunity to assert that U.S. students are 鈥渢aught in school to , and to believe that the men and women who built it were not heroes, but villains,鈥� placing teachers in a political bind that鈥檚 mostly undeserved, said Brian Kisida, an associate professor at the University of Missouri and codirector of its .

Kisida recalled giving a recent keynote address to the Missouri Council for Social Studies and wandering around the conference, listening in on teachers鈥� talks. 鈥淚 thought there would be a little bit more left-wing-coded stuff鈥� on offer, he recalled. 鈥淚 didn’t see any of it.鈥�

Actually, he said, he was impressed with many of the presentations. 鈥淚 would categorize most of the stuff as actually really damned good,鈥� he said. 

Kisida鈥檚 recent research suggests that how U.S. history is taught these days can鈥檛 easily be reduced to a definitive narrative. On the one hand, more than high schoolers say their teachers 鈥渙ften鈥� or 鈥渁lmost daily鈥� argue that America is a fundamentally racist nation. But more than half say their teachers regularly discuss the progress made toward racial equality since the 1970s.

He has that teachers, as a group, are actually more pro-America than the general public, with 62% saying the U.S. is 鈥渁 fundamentally good country.鈥� Just 55% of adults overall said the same. And 82% of teachers say it鈥檚 important for kids to learn about the U.S. Constitution and its core values, versus 75% of adults more broadly.

But Kisida, who studies civics education, said familiarity with the Constitution is not enough. Holding up a pocket-sized Constitution, he said, 鈥淭he people that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, lots of them had these in their pockets.鈥�

To go deeper, he said, we’ve got to understand why it鈥檚 important to enshrine ideas such as the . 鈥淲e have to do a better job of explaining why these principles embedded in the Constitution and other American values are actually essential to democratic life and sustaining the American experiment.鈥�

鈥楾he whole story of our founding鈥�

Vriesman, the Michigan history teacher, said that while teachers in most places worry about the school board looking over their shoulder, on a day-to-day basis they鈥檙e more worried about keeping students engaged. And most students, he said, can easily see through patriotic narratives. 鈥淚f we describe a world to them that doesn’t actually resonate with their reality 鈥� some of the overly patriotic, 鈥榊ou have to know about these 10 guys who solved all the world’s problems鈥� 鈥� that’s not a compelling argument.鈥�

His student Le laughed when asked about 鈥減atriotic history鈥�. 鈥淚 don’t really know how else to put it, but I think it’s stupid,鈥� she said. Part of the fun of studying history is studying 鈥渟truggle and resistance鈥� 鈥� and the art, music and culture that they produce. 

鈥淵ou don’t really love America and American ideals if you decide to ignore everything that America has done to rectify these issues that have been there since the beginning,鈥� Le said. 鈥淚 think that’s really the beauty of history. How boring would it be to only see one perspective, only one idea, that America has always been like this?鈥�

By now, most students are well aware of the founders鈥� inconsistencies, said Will Colglazier, a history teacher at Aragon High School in San Mateo, California. They know that many were slaveholders who espoused equality but had a narrow conception of who it was for.

To deepen their understanding, he asks his students to double down on the details and read 鈥渁 ton of documents鈥� that, for instance, juxtapose Thomas Jefferson鈥檚 views on liberty with his views on slavery and race. They read a letter in which he writes of one of his slaves.

鈥淵ou can’t unsee that,鈥� Colglazier said. 鈥淵ou can’t unknow that once you read it. And I think that is something that’s new to them. It becomes more real and interesting.鈥�

All the same, those details shouldn鈥檛 become a roadblock to learning about the founders, said Ian Rowe, CEO and co-founder of , a charter school in New York鈥檚 South Bronx neighborhood. 

In response to what he and others saw as of U.S. history, he helped create , which highlights stories of Black achievement from throughout our history. Rowe is also a senior fellow at the right-leaning , but the curriculum is not associated with the overtly conservative developed by Hillsdale College.

鈥淵ou have to tell the whole story of our founding,鈥� Rowe said, 鈥渨arts and all. And you have to show how documents like The Declaration, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, all of it, have enabled the country to move in a direction that is unparalleled in the world.鈥�

At Vertex, students each morning stand and recite the preamble to the Constitution: 鈥淲e the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.鈥�

Those 52 words are key to the school鈥檚 mission of self-improvement, said Rowe. They point to a key truth: 鈥淲e are active participants in the development of our society. We are active participants in securing the blessings of liberty. It’s not left to someone else.鈥�

Published on Wednesday by the journal , of 850 high schoolers reports that 36 percent say their teachers either 鈥渙ften鈥� or 鈥渁lmost daily鈥� argue that America is a fundamentally racist nation. No less striking, roughly the same proportion of respondents said they frequently heard claims that African Americans are victims of discrimination by racist police officers and an unjust economic system, while whites contribute the most to racism in society. 

At the same time, large numbers of adolescents also absorb comparatively positive views about the United States, with 56 percent saying their teachers regularly discussed the progress made toward racial equality since the 1970s. 

The data offer a somewhat rare student perspective on a question that has roiled education politics for much of the last five years: whether the tenets of critical race theory, a contentious and little-understood academic field that scrutinizes the relationships between race and power, have trickled from university campuses down to K鈥�12 classrooms. In both his 2020 and 2024 campaigns, President Trump warned that students were subjected to ubiquitous anti-American bias in their lessons and pledged to root out CRT from public school curricula.

University of Missouri professor Brian Kisida, the lead author of the polling analysis, said that the student responses made clear that teachings opposed by Trump and his allies had taken root in many schools as 鈥渢he function of a certain progressive politics.鈥�

“I’m sure there are schools where it’s not happening at all,鈥� Kisida said. 鈥淚’m also sure that there are schools where it’s happening quite a bit, and it’s really ingrained in the approach that those schools take.”

While they burned especially hot between the 2020 election and the 2022 midterms, controversies over instruction on race, gender, and sexuality have quieted in recent months, subsumed by the larger disputes that helped power Trump鈥檚 reelection. But in his inauguration address Monday, the president signalled that he has not given up his aim of cleansing education of unpatriotic themes, at 鈥渁n education system that teaches our children to be ashamed of themselves.鈥� The commitment echoed his to defund schools that teach CRT. 

Whether Washington has the authority to meaningfully alter K鈥�12 teaching remains in doubt; curricular choices ultimately rest at the local level, though that a GOP-led Department of Education could penalize school districts for teaching material deemed racially discriminatory. 

Further uncertainty clouds the true prevalence of indoctrination in American school systems. Even if significant minorities of students say they encounter progressive concepts throughout their time in high school, the authors of the report note that they are far from universal. 

Gary Ritter, Kisida鈥檚 co-author and dean of the Saint Louis University School of Education, said he was surprised by the occurrence of apparently ideological programming in high schools, but that he also believed teacher bias was not overwhelming or uniformly left-coded.

“I expected there to be roughly zero of this, and there’s obviously more than zero of it going on,鈥� Ritter said. 鈥淪till, I don’t think it’s a problem.”

鈥業t doesn鈥檛 feel one-sided鈥�

In an interview alongside Kisida, Ritter said he had been relieved by high schoolers鈥� responses to explicit questions about partisan animus and self-censorship.

Specifically, 77 percent of survey respondents said that they were either never or rarely made to feel uncomfortable about disagreeing with their teachers鈥� stated views. Over half of students, by contrast, said their teachers typically encouraged them to share different opinions. While 18 percent said their teachers had spoken negatively about Republicans, slightly more said that they鈥檇 heard Democrats disparaged. 

What鈥檚 more, he added, educators appear to deliver affirming statements about race in America with some frequency. Forty-two percent of students said their teachers cited the United States as 鈥渁 global leader鈥� in securing equal rights for its citizens, exactly the same proportion as said they鈥檇 heard their teachers express support for the Black Lives Matter movement.

鈥淚 wanted to know if these statements were made as much as people said, and if they were one-sided,鈥� said Ritter. 鈥淲e’re hearing various claims, and it doesn’t feel one-sided.”

Some of the messaging tested in the poll veers more toward advocacy than simple observation. Along with the sizable number of teachers who praised Black Lives Matter, considerable numbers argued 鈥渙ften鈥� or 鈥渁lmost daily鈥� that African Americans should receive an advantage in the hiring process (22 percent) or college admissions (21 percent), students reported. Nearly one-in-five respondents said their teachers made frequent calls for reparations to be made for slavery.

But it is a challenge to interpret the exact nature of classroom references to concepts such as institutional racism or white privilege. Majorities of students said they had heard teachers voice two phrases often held in tension with one another: 鈥淏lack lives matter鈥� (64 percent) and 鈥淎ll lives matter鈥� (53 percent). 

Jonathan Zimmerman, a professor of education and history at the University of Pennsylvania, said it was necessary to understand whether teachers were inviting open-minded discussion of such ideas or delivering an unsubtle form of propaganda. The wording of one poll question simply asked participants if their teachers had used one of a list of phrases 鈥� including 鈥渁nti-racist,鈥� 鈥渟ystemic oppression,鈥� 鈥渄ecolonization,鈥� and 鈥渢he 1619 Project鈥� 鈥� without specifying whether they were described approvingly, or even properly defined.

鈥淪ome of the kids saying that they heard the phrase 鈥榠nherently racist country鈥� will have heard it in the context of a discussion, and some heard it as part of something resembling indoctrination,鈥� Zimmerman said. 鈥淭he question is the relative proportion of those.”

Thaw in the culture war?

Though the second Trump administration is only getting underway 鈥� the president鈥檚 nominee for U.S. Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon, has yet to undergo a confirmation hearing 鈥� Republicans have loudly announced that they plan to attack what they view as unchecked political interference in K鈥�12 learning.

When preparing his third run for the presidency, Trump himself from any school teaching critical race theory or “gender ideology,” a promise renewed in the conservative Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025” policy document. Meanwhile, during Trump’s four years out of office, GOP lawmakers across 18 states passed laws restricting the teaching of what they often call “divisive concepts.” Similar bills have been filed and debated in 25 other legislatures. 

Still, the uproar over equity efforts and identity politics in schools had appeared to be settling over the last year. The prominent parent advocacy group , which has energetically challenged library books and curricular materials it considers divisive, to win school board seats throughout 2023, and the pace of new anti-CRT legislation compared with the early days of the Biden administration. 

More evidence for the apparent thaw came in by the libertarian Cato Institute. According to policy researcher Neal McCluskey’s ongoing tracker of culture war disputes in school districts, 2024 saw the fewest such conflicts since 2020, when COVID-related school closures set off a wave of parental dissatisfaction. The gradual end of online learning, along with the spectacle of the 2024 campaign, may have diverted outrage away from local clashes, McCluskey argued.

Trump’s second term will likely bring a resumption of hostilities. Earlier polling has indicated of instruction on the facts of slavery and discrimination throughout American history, but also widespread skepticism of teaching strategies such as separating students into different identity groups to talk about racial matters. 

In Education Next‘s poll, 14 percent of students 鈥� more than one in eight 鈥� said they had been separated along racial lines for discussions of racism.

Kisida noted that good instruction must 鈥渨alk a tightrope鈥� between candor about the shortcomings of American society and an equally comprehensive accounting of the strides that have been made to overcome them.

“There’s a general idea that parents want their kids to learn a sense of pride and patriotism about the United States,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o there has to be a good balance where we’re able to talk about all of the struggles, but also talk about the successes.鈥�

Dealt a harrowing blow by their loss of Congress and the presidency last November, Democrats may opt to formulate a new line of argument on cultural dust-ups in schools. At , the party spent much of the Biden administration attempting to counter GOP claims of political influence over schools. 

Zimmerman said schools should encourage discussion of thorny issues among older students, while cautioning that educators needed to recognize the line between teaching and preaching.

“It’s false to say that all teachers are telling kids to hate America and that America is racist. But it’s also false to say that none of those ideas have penetrated our schools.”

Editor鈥檚 note: Americans may think they know a lot about the Declaration of Independence, but many of those ideas are elitist and wrong, as explains.

His 2021 book 鈥溾�� shows how independence and the Revolutionary War were influenced by women, Indigenous and enslaved people, religious dissenters and other once-overlooked Americans.

In celebration of the United States鈥� birthday, Holton offers six surprising facts about the nation鈥檚 founding document 鈥� including that it failed to achieve its most immediate goal and that its meaning has changed from the founding to today.

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Ordinary Americans played a big role

The Declaration of Independence was written by wealthy white men, but the impetus for independence came from ordinary Americans. discovered that by , when the Continental Congress voted to separate from Britain, 90 provincial and local bodies 鈥� conventions, town meetings and even grand juries 鈥� had already issued their own declarations or instructed Congress to.

In Maryland, county conventions demanded that the provincial convention tell Maryland鈥檚 congressmen to support independence. Pennsylvania assemblymen required their congressional delegates to oppose independence 鈥� until Philadelphians gathered outside the State House, later named Independence Hall, and threatened to overthrow the legislature, which then dropped this instruction.

American independence is due in part to African Americans

Like the U.S. Constitution, the final version of the Declaration never uses the word 鈥渟lave.鈥� But African Americans loomed large in the , written by Thomas Jefferson.

In that early draft, Jefferson鈥檚 single biggest grievance was that the mother country had first foisted enslaved Africans on white Americans and then attempted to incite them against their patriot owners. In an objection to which he gave 鈥� Jefferson said George III had encouraged enslaved Americans 鈥渢o purchase that liberty of which he has deprived them, by murdering the people upon whom he also obtruded them.鈥�

Numerous other white Southerners joined Jefferson in venting their rage at the mother country for, as one put it, 鈥�.鈥�

Britain really had forged an informal alliance with African Americans 鈥� but it was the slaves who initiated it. In November 1774, James Madison became the first white American to report that to rebel and obtain their own freedom. Initially the British turned down African Americans鈥� offer to fight for their king, but the slaves kept coming, and on November 15, 1775, Lord Dunmore, the last British governor of Virginia, finally published an . It freed all rebel- (patriot-) owned slaves who could reach his lines and would fight to suppress the patriot rebellion.

The Second Continental Congress was talking about Dunmore and other British officials when it claimed, in the final draft of the Declaration, that George III had 鈥�.鈥� That brief euphemism was all that remained of Jefferson鈥檚 168-word diatribe against the British for sending Africans to America and then inciting them to kill their owners. But no one missed its meaning.

The complaints weren鈥檛 actually about the king

Britain鈥檚 king is the subject of 33 verbs in a declaration that never once says 鈥淧arliament.鈥� But nine of Congress鈥� most pressing grievances actually were about parliamentary statutes. And even British officials like those who cracked down on Colonial smuggling worked not for George III but for his Cabinet, which was in effect a creature of Parliament.

By targeting only the king 鈥� who played a purely symbolic role in the Declaration of Independence, akin to modern America鈥檚 Uncle Sam 鈥� Congress reinforced its novel argument that Americans did not need to cut ties to Parliament, since they had never had any.

The Declaration of Independence does not actually denounce monarchy

As Julian P. Boyd, the founding editor of 鈥淭he Papers of Thomas Jefferson,鈥� pointed out, the Declaration of Independence

Indeed, several members of Congress, including John Dickinson of Pennsylvania, openly admired limited monarchy. Their beef was not with all kings and queens but with King George III 鈥� and him only as the front man for Parliament.

The Declaration of Independence fell short of its most pressing purpose

In June 1776, delegates who supported independence suggested that if Congress declared it soon, France might immediately accept its invitation to an alliance. Then the French Navy could start intercepting British supply ships bound for America that very summer.

But in reality it took French King Louis XVI a long 18 months to agree to a formal alliance, and the first French ships and soldiers did not enter the war until June 1778.

Abolitionists and feminists shifted the Declaration of Independence鈥檚 focus to human rights

In keeping with the Declaration of Independence鈥檚 largely diplomatic purpose, hardly any of its white contemporaries quoted its now-famous phrases about equality and rights. Instead, , they spotlighted its clauses justifying one nation or state in breaking up with another.

But before the year 1776 was out, as Slauter also notes, Lemuel Haynes, a free African American soldier serving in the Continental Army, had drafted an essay called 鈥�.鈥� He opened by quoting Jefferson鈥檚 truisms 鈥渢hat all men are created equal鈥� and 鈥渆ndowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.鈥�

By highlighting these claims, Haynes began the process of shifting the focus and meaning of the Declaration of Independence from Congress鈥� ordinance of secession to a universal declaration of human rights. That effort was later carried forward by other abolitionists, and , by and by other seekers of social justice, including .

In time, abolitionists and feminists transformed Congress鈥� failed bid for an immediate French alliance into arguably the most consequential freedom document ever composed.

This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .

As a small illustration of her long, idiosyncratic writing career, Joy Hakim likes to tell the story of a chance encounter in an Oakland elevator.

On the way down after a speaking engagement, a woman handed her a slip of paper 鈥� it contained the phone number of her son鈥檚 private school. He and his classmates, she said, could really benefit from their school swapping out its traditional history textbooks for a set of Hakim鈥檚.

Asked who she was, the woman admitted that she was a representative of one of the big publishing houses.

鈥淚 was appalled,鈥� Hakim remembered. 鈥淏ut this is an industry where almost no one believes the books educate well 鈥� and scores prove that.鈥� 

Hakim doesn鈥檛 know if the school ever switched over. But the episode underscores her uncomfortable place in an industry that has never quite embraced her. By turns raw, thrilling and eye-opening, her writing offers young people a look at history that they rarely get between the covers of mass-produced textbooks.

Her most well-known work, a 10-volume history of the United States that began appearing in the early 1990s, remains in print. And at age 93, she鈥檚 still in the fight: Her newest series on biology debuted in September, continuing her tradition of wrestling with complicated ideas and difficult historical and scientific questions. 

But even after three decades, she remains unsure that she鈥檚 made much of an impact as textbooks with bigger promotional budgets enjoy much wider readerships. 

That view is belied by her legions of admirers. Praised by leading historians like David McCullough and James McPherson, she also may be the only textbook author to reliably receive fan mail. At one of her kids鈥� houses sit cases of letters, testament to the gratitude of two generations of readers. 

, podcaster and author of , who has championed deep subject matter knowledge in all areas of study, called Hakim 鈥渁 force of nature.鈥�

鈥淢ost textbooks are either extremely dry or so encyclopedic in their attempts to cover the universe of topics that they’re highly superficial and therefore boring,鈥� Wexler said. 鈥淛oy Hakim understands how to use the power of narrative to bring topics in history and science to life.鈥�

Wexler predicted that if more schools adopted Hakim鈥檚 titles, reading scores would jump because her work offers both the knowledge and vocabulary kids need to succeed on tests. 

And as the nation grows increasingly polarized about history, Hakim鈥檚 work eschews easy categorization. It is championed by liberals for not glossing over our dark past 鈥� and by conservatives for offering rigorous, challenging texts and sophisticated arguments.

, a senior fellow at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute and a former New York City teacher, said Hakim鈥檚 history series 鈥渉ad a place of honor in my fifth-grade classroom and deserves a place of privilege in every school. It’s beyond her power to reverse the long-running and in American education, but she’s done her part to make real history accessible and interesting to those who seek it out, or who are engaged by it.鈥�

Hakim鈥檚 books, he said, offer an important antidote to those that aim to trick kids into learning a little history via historical fiction or lightweight, fantasy-driven fare. 鈥淗akim is winningly anachronistic by comparison: She takes history 鈥� and more pertinently her young readers 鈥� seriously.鈥�

But she has often had to fight simply to be heard by school districts under adoption systems she sees as backwards. Teachers and students are hungering for good books, Hakim said, yet the adopted titles often stem from publishers鈥� long-standing relationships with state education bureaucrats, whom they lobby furiously. 

鈥�I don’t think that they sell whether they’re good or crappy,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey sell because of this massive promotional effort that goes into them.鈥�

鈥業 sat down and I started writing鈥� 

Hakim鈥檚 career as a writer for young people began simply, on a long car drive.

A one-time teacher and journalist 鈥� she taught in Baltimore for a spell and was both a business and editorial writer for The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk鈥檚 daily newspaper 鈥� by the 1980s, she was freelancing in Virginia Beach and raising three kids with her husband, a grain importer. She happened upon a notice for a hearing in Richmond, the capital, by a board looking for ways to improve school textbooks. At that pre-Internet time, it was a topic that aroused national attention. Hakim (pronounced HAKE-im) decided to check it out.

She expected to hear testimony from writers and editors. Instead, the publishers sent salespeople, who in her view stonewalled the proceedings by rhapsodizing about how beautifully designed and illustrated the books were.

鈥淭he whole thing was just a hoax,鈥� she recalled. 鈥淭he publishing industry was not serious about doing anything.鈥�

Steaming, Hakim climbed back into her car and began the two-hour drive home. At some point, she thought to herself: Why not write her own history book?

鈥淚 sat down and I started writing,鈥� she said.

Hakim didn鈥檛 stop for seven years, telling vivid personal stories of America鈥檚 founders, pioneers and others.

As she conceived it, the book aimed for a fifth-grade audience. To get direct feedback, she tapped a small group of 10-year-olds in her neighborhood, offering five dollars apiece to critique her manuscript. Hakim instructed the readers 鈥� mostly boys 鈥� to scrawl one of three reactions in the margins: G for Good, B for Boring and NC for Not Clear. 

Next, she invited classroom teachers to use the manuscripts in exchange for feedback. 

That one book ultimately became a 10-volume manuscript called . 

The books covered much of what she鈥檇 decided was important in American history 鈥� as she told one interviewer, from 鈥減eople coming over the Bering Strait鈥� to Bill Clinton’s inauguration.

And they offered children a thrilling narrative. In a chapter on Columbus鈥� voyages, she wrote that after surviving the treacherous waters of the Sargasso Sea, the explorer鈥檚 men wanted to turn back: 鈥淭he sea seems endless. On October 9 they say they will go no farther. Columbus pleads for three more days of sailing. Then, he says, if they don鈥檛 see land they may cut off his head and sail home in peace.鈥�

But for all the books鈥� originality, Hakim lacked a publisher. Eventually she met a literary agent who successfully garnered the attention of Oxford University Press.

, in a review titled, 鈥淪howing Children the Dark Side,鈥� said Hakim 鈥渇rees children from the grasp of hoary American myth nurtured by novelists and historians; without sermonizing, she allows them to glimpse the horrific underside of the once magical word 鈥榝rontier.'” 

Hakim, for instance, was among the first writers for young people to address the 1839 Amistad rebellion, devoting an entire chapter to the slave uprising four years before the incident rose to prominence with the .

Historian David McCullough called the series “a big breath of fresh air and the best possible news for the youngsters who get to read these books.” 

Princeton University historian James McPherson said he was 鈥渋mpressed by the accuracy and the depth of her research,鈥� telling one reviewer that Hakim鈥檚 books represented women and minorities in ways others hadn鈥檛.

鈥業 have done something that鈥檚 quite different鈥�

Like many authors, Hakim felt Oxford did little to publicize the series, leaving her to do much of the promotion herself. But in 1993, a family friend opened a key door: The composer BJ Leiderman, a long-ago classmate of one of her children, was by then writing for National Public Radio. He suggested to colleagues that they feature her, and soon Hakim found herself in front of a microphone at the network鈥檚 Norfolk affiliate. The result was a lengthy 鈥淢orning Edition鈥� segment that helped introduce her to the world.

In the interview, she told host Bob Edwards, 鈥淭he history books that are out there, most of them are committee-written, and committees can’t write. Committees have to be bland. So, I am doing something 鈥� that’s quite different.鈥�

Looking back on the reception she got in 1993, Leiderman said Hakim was 鈥減rogressive in the best sense of the word, searching out all different areas鈥� to study.

All the same, he recalled, selling the books 鈥� sometimes on her own 鈥� struck him as a long, tough slog reminiscent of veteran rock stars playing small clubs to keep their music alive.

Despite the struggle 鈥� or perhaps because of it 鈥� 鈥淎 History of US鈥� soon became one of Oxford鈥檚 rock-solid titles, selling hundreds of thousands of copies, said Damon Zucca, the publisher鈥檚 director of content development and reference. The series has also received 鈥渢he most fan mail from kids, parents, and teachers, who have been sending ardent missives about these books to Joy and to us for nearly thirty years now.鈥�

But keeping them in classrooms has been a battle. Hakim recalled visiting Oakland schools a year after the district adopted her books, curious how they were being used. She couldn鈥檛 find them anywhere. 鈥淭hey’d all been replaced,鈥� she said. A few teachers told her they鈥檇 saved their copies and were literally hiding them in closets to keep administrators in the dark. 

At one point, Hakim even sued after textbook giant Houghton Mifflin purchased the books鈥� distributor, D.C. Heath. Fearing it was a bid to bury the titles, she pursued an antitrust violation. Civics-geek alert: The case eventually landed before the federal bench of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who 14 years later would rise to the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Hakim eventually got the books out from under the big publisher鈥檚 purview. Now Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, it didn鈥檛 respond to a request for comment. 

Eventually, 鈥淎 History of US鈥� gave rise to a companion with all-star voice talent including Morgan Freeman, Julia Roberts and Robert Redford. But by then Hakim was on to something new: a three-book series about the history of science, from Aristotle to Einstein.

Then as now, Hakim鈥檚 most fervent buyers are often private school teachers and homeschooling parents who are free to use materials that appeal to them. She also holds a kind of magnetic appeal to cultural conservatives like Lynne Cheney who have derided public school readings they view as mushy and politically correct.

Yet conservatives have also protested Hakim鈥檚 books. In one case, Texas parents organized a letter-writing campaign, telling state officials that the books were unpatriotic.

They鈥檝e been banned at least twice, as far as Hakim knows 鈥� once quite recently after a parent complained that they were too liberal. She jokes that the honor puts her in good company. 

Asked how she鈥檇 categorize herself, Hakim doesn鈥檛 hesitate. 鈥淚’m just a teacher,鈥� she said. 鈥淢y books talk. I’m in a conversation with these kids and I respect their intelligence 鈥� and they understand that.鈥�

鈥楾his is a tough chapter鈥�

Ask about her workflow and Hakim will tell you that she is blessed with 鈥� or cursed by 鈥� a journalist鈥檚 penchant for accuracy, which often prolongs her creative process. In the case of the science books, she finished the last one 鈥� on Albert Einstein鈥檚 theory of relativity and the origins of quantum mechanics 鈥� and her new publisher had submitted it for peer review, when she received an unsolicited email from an unfamiliar name with an mit.edu address.

It was from renowned physics professor , also editor of the American Journal of Physics. He鈥檇 read a piece in TIME magazine about her plan to write about Einstein and offered to read the manuscript.

Hakim sent him the first four chapters. A few days later, Taylor wrote back asking if someone had actually reviewed them.

He and Hakim met a few times and, in Taylor鈥檚 words, 鈥済ot to know 鈥� and respect 鈥� each other.鈥� In all, they spent the next year-and-a-half revising the book, to the chagrin of Smithsonian Books. 鈥淭hey were not happy with me,鈥� Hakim recalled. 鈥淏ut I’m so happy that I did it.鈥�

In the book鈥檚 introduction, Hakim wrote of the 鈥減rivate tutorial with one of the greatest physics teachers this country has produced,鈥� adding, 鈥淪ometimes my head hurt with all the stretching.鈥�

The book won several best-of-the-year awards, which she credits largely to Taylor鈥檚 influence. For his part, Taylor told 社区黑料 that Hakim 鈥渕ade great contributions to high school science teaching鈥� and deserves wider recognition. 

As with the history series, the science books found a devoted audience as Hakim challenged young readers to grasp hard topics and complex ideas. In a chapter explaining Galileo’s writings on relativity, Hakim urged them to “catch your breath, relax and be prepared to stretch your mind.” 

In the chapter, she described how an observer on shore, watching a ball fall from the mast of a moving ship, sees it move in an arc, while an observer on deck sees it travel in a straight line. Acknowledging that the idea seemed outlandish, she warned: “This is a tough chapter; stick with it; the ideas here are important.”

Indeed, when journalist and scholar Alexander Stille set out to capture the essence of Hakim鈥檚 history books in 1998, he concluded, 鈥淚nstead of talking down to children in simplified language, her books invite children to make an effort.鈥� He that 鈥渁 grandmother from Virginia鈥� could produce books superior to those of most publishing houses.

鈥楾he world has changed鈥�

Now, nearly 20 years after the science texts first appeared, Hakim is out with a new series for teens about the history of biology.

gave the first volume a coveted starred review, calling it 鈥渢horoughly engrossing and highly recommended.鈥澛�

The second book is due out in April, part of a planned four-volume series. Published by MITeen Press, the last two books won鈥檛 appear until 2025 and 2026 respectively, but Hakim jokes that at her age she may not live to see it in readers鈥� hands.

She has asked her publisher to pick up the pace.

At the same time, she remains unsatisfied about her previous work: Three decades after 鈥淎 History of US鈥� began appearing on shelves, Hakim says the series could use a refresh. 

鈥淚 wrote it 30 years ago, so some of it is really dated,鈥� she said with a self-conscious laugh. For one thing, she wants to recast the role of women, a topic she didn鈥檛 adequately address in the 1990s, mostly due to her own blind spot. An avowed feminist, she now sees she didn鈥檛 step back enough and appreciate the importance of the women鈥檚 movement. 

鈥淭hirty years ago, we were different people than we are today,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he world has changed.鈥� 

Yet, oddly, little has changed in Hakim鈥檚 career. Her husband is gone and the 鈥済randmother from Virginia鈥� is now a great-grandmother, but she still feels like a disruptor and an outsider, angry that we don鈥檛 have 鈥渂etter books鈥� in schools. After millions of words on the page and cases of fan mail, she admits that she has barely struck a blow in the nation鈥檚 larger battle with historical illiteracy.

The textbook industry that she set out to disrupt in the 1980s is still dominated by a handful of publishers 鈥� actually, consolidation has , not more, choices. Together, they still produce what she considers bland, formulaic books that are making the nation鈥檚 reading crisis worse, not better.

鈥淚’ve worked all these years and I’m not sure what I’ve achieved,鈥� she concluded. 鈥淚’ve sold some books, but I haven’t changed the field.鈥�

Instead of telling students what happened at the Capitol, educators are asking them to conduct their own investigations using credible news sources and critical thinking to shape their perceptions.

Part of the effort reflects teachers鈥� desire to improve news literacy. And part of it reflects their apprehension about anti-critical race theory legislation passed in several states in 2020 taking aim at the teaching of systemic racism.

While riot organizers said they were protesting an illegitimate election, President Biden and others have called out 鈥� a topic that could run afoul of anti-CRT laws 鈥� as central to the attack.

Teachers, historians, news literacy and civil rights advocates say students must learn the truth about the day鈥檚 events but that this is a particularly difficult time to address the topic as the nation remains deeply divided on social and political issues. Many conservatives around the country have redirected their outrage around these matters to their local school boards, demanding, in sometimes raucous meetings, greater control of what and how children are taught.

Brian Winkel, an English and journalism teacher in Cedar Falls, Iowa, is still navigating the anti-CRT law in his state, saying the wording 鈥渋s vague enough to make it scary.鈥� If it was meant to have a chilling effect on the teaching of race-related topics, it鈥檚 working, he said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 brand new and I know some people are questioning things they can talk about, including the Japanese Americans detained in WWII, the treatment of Native Americans and what happened in Tulsa,鈥� Winkel said, referring to the 1921 race massacre. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very hard to dance around those topics.鈥�

He and his students were already discussing the validity of the 2020 election when the insurrection occurred last year: Winkel had them examine arguments on both sides and look closely at their sources.

鈥淲hen you get right down to it, it was the Big Lie,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 have anyone who didn鈥檛 see that, as I remember: I think kids were able to see when you built out the evidence that there was nothing to stand on.鈥�

This year, he鈥檒l pose a slightly different question playing off asking students whether the insurrection was peaceful or violent: They鈥檒l have to share their opinion based on two credible sources.

Despite brutal assaults on Capitol Police among numerous other acts and threats caught on camera, just 4 in 10 Republicans called the insurrection 鈥渧ery violent鈥� or 鈥渆xtremely violent鈥� according to The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research results released Jan. 4.

Winkel said he is careful not to share his own views on these issues.

鈥淚 try to get kids to be clueless about what side of the political line I鈥檓 on by the time they are done with this class,鈥� he said.

The teacher said he hasn鈥檛 avoided controversial issues to stave criticism from parents, but remains concerned and confused about one area.

鈥淩ace is a timely topic in this country,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have had lots and lots of horrible incidents to deconstruct. But when it comes to institutional racism, I am still trying to wrap my mind around what can be said. So, I have played it safe. The last thing we want to do with this class is to indoctrinate.鈥�

Peter Adams is senior vice president of education for the a Washington D.C.-based nonpartisan national education nonprofit aimed at teaching students to be savvy and active news consumers.

Adams said teachers are in a tough position when it comes to the insurrection: Even mainstream news coverage is considered off-limits in some circles. His organization provides educators with many resources to help them address these issues, but 鈥渢hey are hesitant to bring them into the classroom for fear of sparking controversy and parent backlash if they tackle a rumor that should be a settled matter of fact,鈥� including proper COVID-19 precautions and the legitimacy of the 2020 election, he said.

鈥淚n general, my advice to educators is to approach the topic of misinformation and falsehoods from the idea that mis- and dis- information is fundamentally exploitative: They play on a given audience鈥檚 deepest beliefs and values and exploit them for political gain,鈥� Adams said. 鈥淚f you were a supporter of President Trump in 2020, falsehoods about the election are seeking to exploit that and use it against you and not help your politics, causes, beliefs or values 鈥� but to weaponize them.鈥�

Monita Bell, associate director of the program, which aims to be a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, said students should know the events of Jan. 6 are not anomalous.

鈥淭he progress of our nation is not linear,鈥� she said. 鈥淚n fact, it is often recursive. Jan. 6 is probably the most recent example of the backlash that often comes from progress, and ensuring students understand this not only gives them a better grounding of our history, but also their place in it.鈥�

Anton Schulzki, social studies teacher at General William J. Palmer High School in Colorado Springs, Colorado, began a one-year term as president of the on July 1. He and his class 鈥� the school was mostly remote last winter 鈥� were studying civil rights-themed music when the insurrection occurred. Schulzki tossed his lesson plan for the day and shared his computer screen with his students as they tried to make sense of what was unfolding.

鈥淲e were just shaking our heads, asking, 鈥榃hat the heck is going on?鈥欌�� he recalled. 鈥淎t that point, we didn鈥檛 know 鈥� and we are still finding out.鈥�

Schulzki plans to ask his students where they were when those events unfolded a year ago and what they make of them today. While he wishes all teachers could discuss these issues freely, he鈥檚 well aware of those who plan to bypass the topic for fear they will lose their jobs if they discuss such controversial matters. An experienced educator with a robust track record, he鈥檚 confident in tackling tough subjects but understands not all teachers feel the same.

鈥淚 can do certain things compared to a first-year teacher in a small town 鈥here everybody knows everybody,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t varies across the country.鈥�

James Grossman is the executive director of the , an organization founded in 1884 and incorporated by Congress five years later for the promotion of historical studies. He said his group is currently crafting resources for those teachers struggling to teach these topics in anti-CRT states.

Grossman supports what educators say they鈥檙e already doing, which he described as working from evidence to 鈥渉elp students see how there can be different angles of vision on such issues.鈥�

But, he said, that doesn’t mean all narratives are equal.  

鈥淧art of the purpose of history education is to help students learn to read evidence generated from diverse sources and piece together stories that are consistent with that evidence and answer useful and meaningful questions,鈥� he said, adding it鈥檚 imperative for them to understand what happened Jan. 6.

If teachers don’t discuss controversial historical issues, he said, students won’t learn all they need to know to be constructive and responsible members of their communities.

鈥淭his includes all sorts of communities, including workplaces and families, as well as geographically and politically defined entities,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hy would we want a population of people who don’t know our history? Why would we want to hide useful knowledge? If teachers back away from these topics we are at risk of losing the informed citizenry upon which democracy depends.鈥�