American History as Rorschach Test

The Florida Department of Education recently announced an alternative to the Advanced Placement history course that it described in a press release as “free from ideological bias or indoctrination.” For its new curriculum, Florida recommends one textbook: Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story, by Wilfred McClay. As American patriotism plummets, McClay partly blames history class, which he thinks isn’t teaching students a “love of country.”

Ahead of July 4 and America’s 250th, Hanna talks with McClay about whether teaching should background or foreground the sins of a country—and what might be lost or gained.

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