Teach Your Children Well: A Critical Examination of the "Genuine"
History of Late 19^th^ Century School Textbooks

**By**

**Michael W. Simpson**

**University of Wisconsin-Madison**

<Mwsjd85@aol.com>

**Paper Presented at the Committee for Institutional Cooperation's 7^th^
Annual American Indian Studies Conference at Bloomington, Indiana on
April 21^st^, 2006.**

**Special thanks to:**

**Professor Phillip Round**

**University of Iowa**

**Professor Cameron Wesson**

**University of Illinois-Chicago**

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# Introduction 

This paper examines some of the school history textbooks used in the
last quarter of the 19^th^ century in United States schools, including
government run Indian boarding schools. The examination shall move from
the text to the author and reader onward toward the larger forces of
market, politics, and power. This journey is not nostalgic; neither
yearning for days of old nor seeking the vain sadness of opportunities
lost. A conscious attempt is made not to judge the texts and authors by
what history has discovered since their production, but rather what
should have been known at the time of their production. In the
nineteenth century, Indians were much researched and written about
(Conn, 2004, p. 4). As Barry O'Connell notes of William Apess, perhaps
this can be "an accounting of what has been and what might yet be done
differently" (1992,

p\. 276). The use of criteria developed in this century by American
Indians to evaluate textbooks does not necessarily violate the principle
of historicity because many, if not all of the criteria are of equitable
concern no matter the period. Perhaps our future school history texts
can refuse to wrong the American Indian so that they are not "darkly
slandered by the pen of the historian" (p. 61).

The paper title draws upon the Bible verse in Proverbs 22:6 and the
preface to the popular school text *A History of the United States and
Its People* (Eggleston, 1888). The author has "tried to make this a
genuine history." He acknowledges that errors accepted in childhood
become faith and are difficult to change. The author tells of the years
of labor spent in examining original authorities and documents to insure
correctness (iii). By his own words shall he be judged?

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# The Importance of Textbooks

The curriculum in most American schools is defined by one particular
artifact, the standardized text. Students spend a great deal of their
time with texts (Apple, 1991, p. 24). The 19^th^ century child read
little besides his or her schoolbooks (Elson, 1964, p. viii). The texts
are important, in and of themselves, separate from the teaching
methodology because even the most enlightened pedagogy has content and
in our schools that means books. The most efficient and effective
teaching and learning strategies cannot provide students the "whole
truth" and "cause profound understanding about the past" which can lead
to "understanding of how to deal with the present" without content that
provides the "whole truth" (Henry, 1970, p.244). Professor of education
and old school text bibliographer and collector, John Nietz realized
that to know "what was really taught in the schools of the past one
would have to know what was in the textbooks used in the past" (Nietz,
1961, p. v). Past educational theories did not have much effect in the
classroom since the teachers in the early days of American public
schools had little training and education and they relied on the
textbooks for both what to teach and how to teach (p. 1). In some school
districts, uniform tests were given and the teachers and students relied
on the textbooks because the tests were drawn from the texts (Tyack,
1974, p. 47). Neitz makes an important claim regarding the importance of
schools and texts when he says that "The molders of our American
civilization were the products of the schools of the past. The thinking
and ideals of these leaders evidently were greatly influenced by
textbooks they studied in these schools" (1966, p.vi). The content of
textbooks is important to who we are and what we shall become.

3

Textbooks are more than delivery systems of facts (Apple &
Christian-Smith, 1991, p. 1). They result from political, economic, and
cultural struggle and compromise. They are published within constraints
of market and power. They are fought over and contested by communities,
teachers, and students. Books are written, designed, and conceived by
real people that have real interests (p. 2). During the time period of
this paper, individual authors or printer/producers were of more import
since the national associations and committees of various associations,
including disciplinary associations, had not yet come to fruition
(Nietz, 1966, p.1). These authors, perhaps influenced by larger forces
noted above and perhaps in concert with other actors, made choices and
selections concerning the content and form of the book. These choices
signify a particular construction of reality and ways of organizing and
selecting from the vastness of possible knowledge (Apple &
Christian-Smith, p. 3). The textbook authors admit of the selective
tradition. "Attempts to write about everything are fatal" (Eggleston,
1888, iii). "The story, therefore, has been restricted to the
discoveries . . ." (McMaster, 1897, p. 5). "The work is presented in the
form of an abridged narrative" (Ridpath, 1878, p. iii). Someone selects
what is included, what is excluded, what is legitimate, and how such is
viewed---one group's cultural capital is valued, others are
disenfranchised (Apple & Christian-Smith, p. 4; Williams, 1961, pp.
50-59). These old textbooks tell us not only what knowledge is worth
knowing, but whose knowledge is worth knowing (p. 1). Textbooks are
cultural artifacts, but also commodities produced within a capitalist
market with a strong "public" hand influenced by boards that approve
textbook purchases (p. 5).

4

The texts can be used in ways to increase regulation and control of both
student and teacher. An example is found from Boston in 1899 where a
teacher was admonished for not having the student say the page and
chapter prior to reading out loud. The proper way to read a book was to
hold it in the right hand, open to 45 degrees, with head held straight
and high, eyes looking ahead, and spoken in a loud and unnatural tone
(Fraser, 1989, p.128). Indian school teacher in the early 1900's,
Gertrude Golden describes a similar event with her principal at Red Moon
who would burst into the classroom, scare the children by trying to get
them to read by a spell-out-the word method with pointer in hand, and
then toss it down in frustration and leave the room hurriedly (1954, p.
19). Gertrude indicates that the teacher had to endure such "tyranny and
outright injustice" because they started on probation (p. 16). A
photograph from the Carlisle Indian Industrial School reflects the
bodily control mandated while reading (Witmer, 1993, p. 28, See Appendix
1). This bodily control along with the ideological regulation from the
textual contents, were part of a system of enforcing a sense of duty,
morality, and cultural correctness (Apple & Christian-Smith, 1991, p.
8).

Thus, methodology is important when combined with the use of the text in
regulation and control. In fact, the text, both its need and its form,
often dictated or influenced the method. The scarcity of highly trained
teachers required that most of the text be memorized word for word
(Elson, 1964, p. viii). Memorization was often reinforced by the
monitorial system in which an older student would listen to the
recitations of the younger students (p. 9). Often, students would be
asked to "toe the line" and recite near the blackboard or mark on the
blackboard. Students literally had a line on the floor to

5

mark the spot in which they were to stand (See photograph Appendix 2).
The teaching aids in the textbooks often expected this form of teaching
(Elson, p.9). Eggleston provided a section entitled "Suggestions
Regarding the Use of the Book." He states that "Questions for study
follow each chapter." These were to assist the student in studying, but
also were to assist the teacher "in preparing and hearing a recitation."
Eggleston does offer a second method used with the recitation---to allow
the student to state his answers in his own way with the teacher
pointing out his errors and omissions (Eggleston, 1888, vii).

For the American Indian student in a boarding school in the late 1800's,
the bodily control went even beyond those at the white schools. The
boarding school is described as an "educational crusade -- vast in
scope, military in organization, and violent in method -- to transform
the young Indian people" (Lomawaima, 1994, p. xi). Like the recitation
and monitorial methods, the Indian school methods allowed for great
control of the many by the few (p. xiii; Elson, p. 9). Control of the
many was necessary in kindergarten classes with twenty-five to thirty
pupils and teachers with no kindergarten training (Golden, 1954, p. 18).
Students wore uniforms, were punished for speaking their native
languages, and could not observe traditional ways. Boys had their hair
cut, which is a trauma in most tribal cultures. The schools were often
run by military men in a military way. The purpose was to assimilate the
young into white society by creating independent citizens. The methods
worked against the individuality and creativity to produce good white
citizens which was the reported aim of the schools (Lomawaima, p. xiii).

6

Textbooks played a role in this colonization of Indian youth. These
schools used the same texts as white schools. The superintendent of
Indian schools complained in 1885 that Indian agents were selecting
textbooks that alternatively represent the Indian as a monster and as a
hero of romance. He called for a series of uniform Indian school
textbooks (Reyhner & Eder, 2004, p. 75). Apparently, no attempt was made
to create Indian texts until around 1940 (p. 220). The popular school
textbooks used in Indian schools in the 1800's depicted Indians as
savages and even with some progressive changes in the 20^th^ century,
the textbooks used reflected the dominant, non-Indian culture (p. 324).
Standing Bear was utterly humiliated when required to recite the same
paragraph eleven times in front of classmates (1933, p. 17). "So we went
to copy, to imitate; not to exchange languages and ideas..." notes
Standing Bear, the first Indian boy to enter Carlisle Indian Industrial
School (p. 237). Describing the methods on one of her fellow Indian
school teachers, Gertrude Golden says that the teacher would drill for
hours on hymns and Bible verses which the children were expected to
recite at Sunday school. The children repeated like parrots as "nothing
in the way of explanation was ever given" (1954, p. 14). This method was
reinforced by what the teachers were taught about the Indian children
upon the teachers' entry to service. The Indians were generally slower
and "excelled in those subjects which required observation, imitation
and memory and were backward in those demanding reasoning and
imagination" (p. 8).

The role of the textbooks in dominance should not lead to a conclusion
that the Indian children were mere objects or victims. For many,
resistance to oppression actually strengthened their own tribal identity
and for some, a pan-tribal Indian identity evolved.

7

Ironically, a policy designed to eliminate Indian identity, strengthened
it (Lomawama, 1994, pp. xii, xiii). One errs in a belief that what is in
texts is what is taught or learned. Our analysis should not assume that
texts are simple, readable, and literal representations. The reader has
power to respond, to accept, to reject, and to negotiate (Apple &
Christian-Smith, 1991, pp. 13-15).

This section has shown the importance of the textbook. The textbook is
an object, important to analyze in and of itself. However, this analysis
can not simply stop at the text or see the text as fixed. Texts are
cultural artifacts, economic commodities, and symbolic representation
not separate from unequal power structures in the larger society (Apple
and Christian-Smith, 1991, pp. 5, 10). Now that the importance of the
text and how the texts were used in schools has been generally
discussed, we turn to the textbooks themselves.

# The Textbooks

The symbolic representation in textbooks is important for three reasons.
They confer legitimacy on the dominant status of particular groups.
Socially constructed relations are naturalized and projected as truth.
The text screens in and screens out certain ideas and realms of
knowledge. (Sleeter & Grant, 1991, pp. 79-80)

In 1970, the American Indian Historical Society published criteria for
the evaluation of textbooks (Henry, 1970). These criteria are important
because they are not time constrained. In other words, they reflect
general fairness concepts applicable across time. The criteria call for
the integration of Indians throughout the historical trail, for accurate

8

dates, for non-denigrating descriptions, for recognition of the variety
of Indians living in developing societies, for description of Indian
relations with each other and other non-whites, for causes of
Euro-Indian conflicts, for description of Indians forced into slavery or
forced labor and the genocide and massacre of Indians, for Indian
contribution and assistance to whites, for special recognition of
Indians in the Federal system, and for a recognition of their occupation
of the land and for their views of land (pp. 15-24, 148-49). The Pequot
Indian, William Apess reminds us from his writings in the 1830's of the
historical work already available at that time and certainly accessible
to text writers in the later quarter of the 1800's. He cites Dr.
Robertson's *History in America* for the proposition that whites
considered everything allowable to accomplish their goals against the
Indians. Specific white atrocities are provided (O'Connell, 1992, pp.
55-56). Further atrocities against the Pequot are outlined from another
historical work of Wynne (p.57). Apess cites extensively from Smith's
*History of New Jersey* which gives positive account of the
intelligence, character, and society of Indians (pp. 91-92). Evidence of
early white enslavement of Indians is provided from Drake's *History of
the Indians* (p.279). The historical record by the late 1800's was
substantial enough that a textbook writer could have included much
favorable information to the Indian that meet basic criteria of
fairness.

This section will explore the material in the texts around certain
selective themes. A discussion then follows concerning the larger
ramifications.

[The textbooks present the discovered land as empty or in the process of
such]{.underline}. "All the Indians who had lived at this place had died
a few years before of a pestilence, and the

9

Pilgrims found the Indian fields unoccupied" (Eggleston, 1888, p. 35).
Cabot "did not meet any Indians, but he brought" a trap and a needle
back (p.10). Since the Indians "suffered much from hunger and misery,
the population of the country was always thin" and "Large tracts of
country were left uninhabited" because warring tribes did not want to
live by one another. (p. 76). After the War of 1812 and peace with the
Indians, the Mississippi Valley filled up rapidly (p.259). "The share of
the Indians in our history endures, though their share in our territory
wastes away" (Eliot, 1874, p. 48). Eliot then divides the Indians living
within what became the continental United States into four groups. The
number in the first group could "not have been at all considerable."
Neither were the three divisions lying east of the Mississippi by any
means numerous. The entire number is estimated to have been under three
hundred thousand, and perhaps not above two hundred thousand, at the
time of the first European settlements" (p. 48). "It seems strange that
so few, and these few savages, should have exercised so great an
influence upon so many, and these many civilized" (p. 49). Perhaps the
strangeness is explained by a gross underestimate of American Indians.
The numbers of Indians seemed to increase when military reports were
made (O'Connell, 1992, p. 69). Eliot concludes his chapter on the Indian
Races with a description of "The Country". The country was wide enough
for "many colonies, or many nations". The vast reaches of the interior
were still to be discovered (p. 52). Even Doyle, the Englishman who
gives a rather sophisticated account of the Indians at true first
contact, describes the Indians as living in scattered fashion (Doyle,
1876, p. 17). McMaster notes that the Europeans found the country
inhabited by people which had spread all over North and South America
(1897, p. 66). Still, he notes

10

that hardly any Indians were left in New England at the end of King
Philip's War (p. 72). Ripath begins his book with a chapter called The
Red Men. This seems to be the end of the American Indian for the author.
In this chapter, he notes that the Indians east of the Mississippi were
down to only to a few thousand (1876, p. 12). The chapter ends with an
expression that the only hope for the Indian race lies with the
civilized tribes in Indian Territory. "Most of the other tribes are
rapidly approaching extinction" (p. 14). "The Saxon race has taken
possession of the vast domain. To the prairies and forests, the
hunting-grounds of his fathers, the Red man says farewell" (p. 14). This
statement is an expression of the racist theories advanced during the
19^th^ century to the level of science. Race was the classification
system of mankind and such was not alterable. The white race was
superior and it was natural that it dominates over the inferior. The
disappearance of the Indian created melancholy, but was inevitable.
(Elson, 1964, pp. 65-71; Appendix 3)

[The textbooks gave degrading descriptions of American
Indians]{.underline}. "Savages" was an extremely popular term for
Eggleston (1888, pp. 31, 36, 72, 87, 124, 215, 368). Indians were also
ignorant, naked, wild, dreaded, treacherous, tricky, fierce, rash,
warlike, and cruel (pp. 4, 79, 80, 87, 274, 367, 370). Graphic
depictions of cruel Indians with their captives are depicted twice (pp.
146, 216). Ridpath described American Indian women as dreadful creatures
who were beasts of burden (1876, p. 13). Interestingly, a communal
people are described as "unsocial" and "solitary", preferring the woods
over the wigwam and over the village. This inaccurate description
reinforced the "barbarian" nature of these "primitive", "wild", and
"feeble" people (pp. 11-13). Doyle classified three groups of Indians on
North America: civilized, half-civilized, and savages, also known as Red

11

Indians. Of course, most of the Indians in what became the United States
were deemed savages (1876, pp. 8-9). The Red Indians were merciless,
cruel, savage, and warlike (pp. 19, 114, 234). For McMaster, the
American Indian was naked, cowardly weak, treacherous, vengeful, cruel,
full of vices, and war lovers (1897, pp. 68-69). One of the more
interesting degrading descriptions is shown by a suggested blackboard
illustration at the end of Eggleston's chapter entitled "The Great
Charter of Virginia, and the First Massacre by the Indians" (1888, p.34,
Appendix 4). On the left vertical is "Idleness and Misery", on the right
vertical is "Industry and Plenty". At the top is "Land". Under this
category to the left is "undivided" and on the right is "separately
owned". The next category is "Labor". On the left is "For a common
stock", and on the right is "Each for himself". The next category is
"Living". On the left is "From a common store"; on the right is "From
one's own purse". Thus, a society that holds land in common, that works
for the common good, and draws from the common good is bad. But a
selfish society that divides land and works and gives only for oneself
is good. In fact, "History Teaches" this is at the bottom and the
history taught from this book is genuine and correct according to its
own words.

Even when the Indian is ordained with favorable descriptions, it is for
the purpose of American nationalism. The Indian may be savage, but he is
the best example of man in nature (Elson, 1964, pp. 71-72). McMaster
exemplifies this when he describes the Indians as 'most expert woodmen".
Whites were amazed at how the Indian followed the trail, made various
animal sounds, and could quietly stalk game. Yet, vices were associated
with all this skill and bravery. (1897, p. 69).

12

[The textbooks complain of fighting the Indian way]{.underline}. Many of
the disparaging descriptions of the Indians were associated with the
author's disgust with the way the Indians fought. McMaster complains
that even though a lover of war "the fair and honest fight had no charm
for him" (1897, p 69). The Indian would not risk his own scalp to take a
scalp. The Indians apparently fought by ambush or shot from behind a
tree (p. 69). Eggleston complained that "the Indians would not stand
still while the white men got ready to shoot" (1888, p. 86). The
colonists learned to fight the Indian way including tricks such as
wearing snow-shoes backwards (p. 87). These "long continued Indian wars"
made the colonists "fierce and even cruel" (p.89). The Englishman Doyle
describes that the Indians didn't fight like civilized soldiers, "where
only one man in a thousand has to think" because the Indian fought in
small groups where "everything lay in outwitting and surprising the
enemy" (1876, p.19). For Indians, the ruler needed more than strength
and courage, but wit also. The tribes often had two chiefs, one for
peace and one for war. Those with wisdom could rule, even women (p. 19).
The insinuation is that egalitarian societies where position is truly
based on merit are not civilized. Comparing the massive slaughter
involved in European wars verse the limited nature of American Indian
warfare; one is compelled to wonder about the advantages of having
soldiers that think as opposed to merely take orders (Axtell, 1981,
p139). William Apess reminds us that the Indians first principle of war
was to do the most harm to the enemy with the least harm to themselves
(O'Connell, 1992, p.65). The Indian officer earned his position by merit
based partly upon the ability to save their own men (p. 71).

13

[The textbooks fail to account for the great variety of American
Indian]{.underline}. Eggleston's chapter on "How the Indians Lived"
recognizes that there are "many tribes" which greatly downplays the
tremendous linguistic, physical, social, and cultural variety of the
American Indian. This is especially true when his next sentence is that
the "Indian is of a brown or copper color, with black eyes and straight
hair" (1888, p. 71). The rest of the chapter goes on to explain how "the
Indian" dresses, cooks, makes canoes, and other activities. McMaster
begins his chapter "The Indians" with a photo captioned "A Typical
Indian" (1897, p. 66; Appendix 5). While he admits of "Three Indian
Races" he then proceeds to explain how similarly bad they were (pp.
68-69). Eliot notes "four grand divisions" among the Indians, but then
goes on to say the only difference was the extent of agriculture and
speaks of Indians as one and similar (1874, pp. 48-52). The
organizations of their texts, which isolate the discussion of Indians
into a chapter essentializes them.

[Miscellaneous remarks on the textbooks]{.underline}. The texts are also
important for what they often leave unsaid. For instance, many wars
simply start when the Indians attack. No mention is made of why they
attack. Concerning the Trail of Tears, Eggleston has nothing. Eliot says
that the "unhappy Indians...that could be persuaded to move, were
gradually transported to more distant territories in the west" (1874, p.
362). For McMaster, the Indians pretty much disappeared early in the
1800's and are mentioned again when Oklahoma Territory was created from
part of Indian Territory (1897, p.458). Ridpath notes that the
"Cherokees were transferred to their new homes in the west" (1876, p.
272). Many other examples of special selectivity could be discussed, but
for

14

space constraints. This short examination of the texts provides
sufficient information to understand the broader considerations of
textbooks as areas of contest.

# The Authors

Textbooks are authored by real people with real interests (Apple &
Christian-Smith, 1991, p. 2). The real authors discussed below were
white and of privileged class. This is not to suggest that they merely
reproduced the symbolic representations of the dominant group. Texts are
areas of contestation. Authors often reflect the educated, liberal
philosophy and contest pure market driven ideology (Apple, 1991, p. 34).
The authors below are educated, wealthy, and often have charitable goals
and activities. They have their own "contradictory consciousness" (p.
34). While each is different individually, they all speak from the fish
bowl of white privilege and dominance.

Edward Eggleston's mother was the daughter of an Indian fighter. His
father was a lawyer and politician and graduate of William and Mary and
belonged to a Virginia family of importance since colonial days. Born on
the Indiana frontier in 1837, he became a Bible agent and Methodist
minister before becoming a journalist and fiction writer. (Malone, 1933,
vol. 6, pp. 52-53)

John Ridpath was also born on the so-called Indiana frontier in 1840 to
parents "of more than average culture". He graduated Indiana Asbury
University and became a teacher and administrator before returning as a
professor at his alma mater as history and belles-lettres professor. His
style was popular and his books sold very well, even if he did

15

not exercise scholarly care. (Malone, 1933, vol. 15, p. 599) Sales seem
to drive content to some degree and perhaps more than accuracy.

John McMaster was born in Brooklyn to his planter-banker father in 1852.
His paternal grandfather came from England in 1796 and was shop owner
(Malone, 1933, vol. 12, pp. 140-141). He graduated with a B.A. from the
College of the City of New York and remained another year to study
English. He spent time making maps for General Sheridan in the early
1870's before earning an engineering degree and practicing engineering.
While a professor of engineering at the College of New Jersey, he
literally penned *The History of the People of the United States.*
Appleton and Co. reluctantly published from the long-hand manuscript in
1883. The books sold well and served as the basis for his textbook. He
became professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania for 37
years. His history was criticized by some for the lack of hero worship.
Even the "fervent patriotism" and "strong nationalistic spirit" of his
history, did not satisfy some. He sold more than two and half million
copies of the textbooks which were graded to meet the needs of pupils
from primary to high school. (p. 141). We are reminded of the "public",
imagined or real, that is of import in publishing. We can speculate
whether the books would have sold so well without the "fervent
patriotism" and "strong nationalistic spirit". Did the author know the
answer and thus include these elements? Is this an example of the
censorship of profitability (Apple, 1991, p.31)?

Samuel Eliot was "a Boston gentleman of the old school" (Malone, 1933,
vol. 6, p.81). Born to wealth in 1821, he graduated first in his class
at Harvard in 1839 and traveled in Europe from time to time (p. 80).
After serving as professor and then

16

president of Trinity College, he devoted his life to educational,
religious, and charitable institutions. He even served as headmaster of
Girl's High and Normal School and superintendent of the city schools (p.
81).

John Doyle was of sufficient means that he never had to earn a living.
He was the only child of a newspaper editor and the heir to Sir John
Easthope. Educated at Eton and Oxford, the Englishman studied the
history of the United States and probably only visited the United States
once. He lived with his parents in a house they had built for most of
his young life and remained in the house upon their deaths. His writing
is described as containing relatively detached judgments (Matthew &
Harrison, 2004). Perhaps this is why the publisher in his 1876 textbook
found it necessary to proclaim that the "work, though it may conflict at
points with our national prepossessions, and may, in specific matters,
use rules of criticism that we are slow to apply to our own case" still
enjoys a breadth and a freedom from bias unlike "a writer at home"
(1876, preface). Minor editing did not change the author's judgments,
but the book is "an outside view of the United States" (preface).

This remarkable preface reminds us that textbooks have ideology. Texts
represent the complex interplay between author, publisher, and a real or
imagined public. The market, both in its financial and political
aspects, is omnipresent. Censorship does not have to be overt. The
desire to be popular and make money from sale creates a censorship of
profitability (Apple, 1991, 1931).

17

# The Publishers and the Market

The prime function of book publishing has always been to earn the
producers a living (Apple, 1991, p. 25). The book market is fickle and
uncertain. The industry is decentralized with operations of mixed
mass-production and craft. Somewhat like the authors, book producers are
poised between the demands of commerce and the responsibilities as
guardians of the national symbolic culture (Coser, Kadushin, & Powell,
1982, p. 3). And as we have seen with the authors, publishers have
historically published books to satisfy a public at a competitive price
(Febve & Martin, 1976, p. 109). Interestingly, the printing press and
the rise of publishing companies increased volume, but increased
selectivity. Essentially, publishers commit to that which is already
popular (p. 109). In textbook publishing, this is played out by the
desire to produce a limited number of large sellers at comparatively
high prices. To do this, publishers need to produce texts with standard
content that with minor adjustments can be sold for years to come
(Coser, Kadushin, & Powell, 1982, p. 190). Standard content is that
which is not controversial for the dominant ideology. The result was
bland, rather homogenous books designed not to offend the particular
taste, prejudices, and desires of the local politicians that selected
the textbooks (Isser & Schwartz, 1985, p.103).

After the Civil War, competition between publishers of textbooks was
intense. With "battling armies of competing agents and many scandalous
practices surrounding school-book adoption", publishers strongly felt
the pressures of the market (Wolfe, 1981, p. 262). Publisher had various
long-standing means or reducing competition. The courtesy principle was
widely accepted. This principle reduced competition by giving the first

18

American appropriator of a foreign work, the rights to exclusively
publish it. This was not a legal mechanism of enforcement, but one
between publishers (Madison, 1966, p. 21). Appleton and Co. joined with
four other textbook publishers in 1890 to form the American Book Co
(Dzwonkoski, 1986, p.26). The goal was to reduce competition. The belief
was that efficiencies could be gained and prices reduced (Wolfe, 1981,
p. 262). American Book Company was accused of "monopolistic practices,
bribery, threats, and intimidation" (p. 263). Appleton published
Eggleston's History text in 1888.

Henry Holt and Co. published Doyle's history text in 1876. Holt is
famous for being one of the first publishers that started without first
owning a printing shop or book store first (Dzwonkoski, 1986, p.205).
Holt was a strong promoter of publishing as a profession rather than a
pure commercial enterprise and pushed for concepts such as the courtesy
principle to restrict competition (Madison, 1966, p. 21). He had been
president of the American Publishers Association when it was declared an
illegal restraint of trade. Textbooks provided Holt's major source of
profit (Dzwonkoski, p.207).

Trade restrictions were not successful in barring entry into textbook
publishing. Macmillan and Co. established an education department in
1894. By 1920, textbooks provided half the company's income (Dzwonkoski,
1986, p.291). In 1897, Macmillan published Harvard Professor Channing's
*A Students History of the United States.* This book was published only
seven short years after the 1890 census declared the frontier closed.
With no frontier and Indians children being assimilated through boarding
schools, there was little need to dwell on the Indian. Channing has no
index listing for Indian, no

19

chapter on Indians, and makes scant reference to Indians. Those scant
references indicate how just the whites were to Indians (pp. 66, 117).

# Politics, Law, Policy, Scholarship, and History

The absence of Indians in later texts is not surprising when we consider
that the 1890 census had declared the frontier closed. Historian
Frederick Jackson Turner's frontier thesis of 1893 changed the study of
history, but also indicated the closing of the first period of American
history. For if it was European interaction with the frontier that
transformed people into Americans, the question then remained about what
would transform and define a people without the frontier. For historians
and others, the Indian question was answered by simply not asking it.
(Conn, 2004, pp. 220-226) The drawing of a frontier line on maps was no
longer necessary. The implication in early maps was that the Indians and
Whites were separated into wilderness and settled-civilized areas by a
real line. Maps are a tool to marginalize and erase. Early maps
emphasized a vast empty land; later maps showed the frontier line.
Channings's 1897 map stressed the density of the settled United States
with all parts shaded (1897, p. 582). Indians received so much attention
from scholars and writers and were included in early textbooks because
they were seen. Indians and whites interacted on a daily basis for most
of the 19^th^ century. Indians were everywhere (Conn, 2004, p. 2). By
the late 1800's, authors noted that Indians were not seen. The massacre
of Indians at Wounded Knee in 1890, which effectively ended a generation
of warfare, caused many to believe that the Indian problem had been
solved (p.2). So it is not surprising that W.E.B. DuBois would write in
1903

20

that the problem of the 20^th^ century would be the black-white color
line. The Indian became invisible (p. 1). Textbooks began to reflect
this consciousness. Earlier textbooks reflected the so-called scientific
race theories. The classification scheme of race was rigid and
immutable. Classification included a ranking of races (Elson, 1964, p.
65). This provided a claim of superiority and an excuse based on nature
for the extermination of the Indian. With the role of textbooks in
preparing the next generation of leaders, early textbooks prepared
students to exterminate the Indians and later texts prepared them to
ignore the Indians.

Connected to the intellectual developments are the political, legal, and
economic developments. As white population increased, demand for land
increased. The intellectual theories allowed for the removal of an
inferior race. Different conceptions of land and natural resources were
settled by race theory such that white views were superior. Are we
surprised that Eggleston's blackboard depiction of land and
individualism previously discussed appeared at essentially the same time
as the General Allotment Act, commonly referred to as the Dawes Act?
This law provided for allotment to individual Indians of tribal lands
and allowed so-called excess lands to be made available to whites
(Churchill & Morris, 1992, p.14). To complete the assimilation into an
individualized society, the Indian Education acts were passed in 1891
and 1893. These acts forced Indian parents to send their children to
school. Gertrude Golden describes a principal of an Indian school
driving out to Indian camps and taking Indian children from the arms of
Indian parents (1954, p. 17). These laws followed the 1871 end to making
treaties with Indian tribes. Before this, laws dealt with Indians as
communal tribal

21

entities. Making treaties and removal involved group to group
interaction. The textbooks neglected the special federal-Indian
relationship, but did tend to see Indians as communal groups even to the
extent that some essentialized into the typical Indian. The changing
legal environment is noted in the treatment of Indians in textbooks to
one of almost complete absence.

# Conclusion

Textbooks provide the content of schooling and are important regardless
of methodology. When combined with various methodologies, they can
oppressively regulate conformity.

Textbooks are written by real people with real interests. While
individually different, authors are often part of the dominant ideology
even as they may contest certain parts of the dominant ideology. They
and their texts often have contradictory consciousness. Authors imagine
a public and exist within market forces.

Textbooks are part of a selective tradition which begins in the present
where certain things are selected for value and emphasis governed by
varying interests or power. Those interest and power select the history
that is written. What is left out is as important as what is said.
Textbooks are symbolic representations of what and whose knowledge is
valued and of the power structures within a society. They are cultural
artifacts.

Readers are not mere passive receivers. They can accept the message at
face value, negotiate the meaning, reject the message and reposition
themselves in opposition, or some combination thereof. They bring their
own stories, values, and beliefs to the text.

22

Textbooks are economic commodities. Companies produce them for profit.
Publishers face varying pressures from Bourdieu's two types of capital:
symbolic and financial. The economic and political hands guide decision
making. Textbooks are selected by committees and boards in a
decentralized structure which necessitates not alienating many different
individuals, but especially those of the dominant groups which serve on
selection bodies. The market is focused on those with power to select
rather than the students and the marginalized

Every one of these players and products exists within larger political,
economic, religious, philosophical, and power fields. While independent
of each other, they certainly exhibit what Bourdieu refers to as
"homology" (Bourdieu, 1991). Thus, those with economic power do not
necessarily control and dictate textbook production. For example, they
may be challenged to some extent by an intellectual field. But this
struggle takes place within a dominant discourse.

The history textbooks examined in this article were used at a time when
great reliance was placed on the text. Unprepared teachers regulated
body and mind by combining text and physical methodologies. For the
Indian student, the regulation was extreme. They were written by
privileged white men of means who imagined a public and the market. By
their own admissions, authors selected materials for inclusion. By their
own words, we may judge the "genuiness" of their selections. They wrote
for the market of local school boards and selection committees made up
of the colonizers. Publishers sought profit. This meant they needed a
standardized, uncontroversial work that could be sold over the long haul
with perhaps only a few additions along the way. All of these factors

23

lead to the treatment and representation of the Indian as noble savage,
inferior, and naturally on the way to extinction from a superior race.
Generations of white children were taught of their superiority. These
children became the nation's leaders. Generations of Indian children
were taught the inferiority of Indians and their culture. The
historian's pen slandered these children. Let this accounting of the
past serve to remind us to examine our present to see what might yet be
done differently.

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