This fall, Florida plans to pilot a new high school American history course that will advance a more conservative interpretation of the nation’s origins.
This course, championed by conservative politicians like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, is meant to serve as an alternative to the Advanced Placement (AP) U.S. History, which was taken by more than half a million high school students last year.
Florida’s course focuses heavily on the impacts of the English Constitution and the Protestant Reformation’s effect on the rise of democratic ideologies in the United States. The framework also dedicates an entire topic in the second unit to the founders’ beliefs on slavery. The course argues that the founders opposed slavery and that the Constitution is an antislavery document. Many historians argue that this framework oversimplifies their views, as many of the founders owned enslaved people and their work in building a democracy often excluded enslaved peoples.
“Each of these people had political power that could have been deployed against slavery,” Annette Gordon-Reed, a historian at Harvard University, said.
Gordon-Reed also said that the curriculum’s framing of the founders’ opinions on slavery seemed to deliberately attempt to explain their inaction during the early years of the republic.
Other states are expected to follow in Florida’s footsteps due to the state’s initiatives to focus on creating a more conservative-leaning educational environment. This also reflects decisions by the Trump administration to partner with the organization PragerU, which offers a “free alternative to the dominant left-wing ideology in culture media and education.”
Christopher Varano is a current teacher at Mesa Ridge High School in Colorado Springs, and has taught both AP Language and Composition and AP U.S. History during his career as an educator.
“I don’t think objective facts are politically charged unless you make them so. Intersectionality should not be controversial,” Varano said, referring to DeSantis’ past comments about College Board — the company that runs AP — and his criticisms of AP courses focusing too much on race and gender.
Varano continued, saying that it is impossible to have a solid understanding of U.S. history without acknowledging the contributions of women, people of color and the intersection of these identities throughout time.
In units eight and nine, the AP U.S. History curriculum covers more modern American history, from the 1980s to current day. Varano said he likes to call back to earlier pivotal moments in the course — such as the failures of Reconstruction — to give students the opportunity to look at continuity and change, comparison, causation and historical context. This helps students identify how history has an impact on their everyday lives and helps them develop better critical thinking skills.
“There is a lack of nuance around the fact that I can criticize my country’s actions in the past and still be patriotic,” Varano said, mentioning his background as a veteran of the United States Marine Corps and his overall love for teaching history to high school students.
It is unclear how many Florida schools will adopt this curriculum in the next year. While students can earn college credit through A.P. at various institutions, as of right now, the Florida tests will only carry credit at Florida public universities.
