How Do We Teach War in America? Examining Civil War Standards Across the South

Paper presentation for the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Conference

Overview: In this paper, the authors explore middle and secondary standards on the American Civil War as a means to investigate the larger question of how the war is portrayed in some Southern states’ mandated history curricula. The Civil War is used as one example of the larger conversation regarding the position of military history in Southern education. Data collection consisted of three main points: 1) Battles and generals of the CSA; 2) other topics about the Civil War (e.g.: casualties), and 3) percentage of military versus social history included in the standards. Findings challenge the hypothesis that military battles and generals dominate curricula in the south.