What the Opponents of the New AP Standards Don’t Get

November 14, 2014 by Making History Team Leave a Comment

By H. Michael Hartoonian, Richard D. Van Scotter, and William E. White

Recent events in Jefferson County, Denver, Colorado, underscore a misunderstanding Americans generally hold regarding the U.S. history curriculum. What’s happening in Colorado and in other states, such as Texas and Florida, highlights an essential question. Is American history a patriotic celebration? Or is American history a story that empowers students to become engaged citizens of our 21st century nation? The good news is that the confrontation puts history and civics in its rightful position at the center of the school curriculum. There is no subject more important to the future of the United States.

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Is Rolling Polling the Right Way to Vote?

November 4, 2014 by Bill Sullivan Leave a Comment

An 1844 election poll lists how voters cast their ballots in a Senate race.

By Bill Sullivan

As Americans head to the polls today, much of the news coverage is focused on turnout. Inevitably the numbers will disappoint, at least in comparison with a presidential election year.

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What’s the big idea with Constitution Cafe?

October 1, 2014 by Making History Team Leave a Comment

By Christopher Phillips

Teddy Roosevelt asserted that “the people themselves must be the ultimate makers of their own Constitution.” How do you become a “maker” of the Constitution? Does that mean you have to be a Framer of the Constitution itself and set about revising it or amending it? Roosevelt, for one, meant that we each should be able to weigh in on what our Constitution means, on how it’s interpreted – to the extent that, if we the people differ in dramatic ways, we “should be given the chance… to settle what interpretation it is that [our] representatives shall therefore adopt as binding.”…