America, it is argued, must be united by a common history, and exclusionist histories will disunite us. America is already disunited by race, and no approach to history can change that. Just as it would be impossible to use the same history book in both France and England, it is impossible to write a single American history that satisfies, white, black, Indian, Hispanic, and Asian. The purpose of American public education has never been simply to impart knowledge. One of its central goals has been to make children into Americans.
American schools fly the American flag and students pledge allegiance to it.
The central events of history are from the American past. The most glorious achievements are American achievements. There is nothing odd about that. Every nation gives its children a national education. Nevertheless, American schools have had an even more explicitly nation-building purpose than others because of the need to assimilate immigrants.