The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-01-25

CnUfTpTlS6 WOuiu uutbo oh buos
step, a year would be gained.
American History Distorted for South
ern Use.
For several years past there has been a
significant movement in the old Confederate
States to inculcate in their schools a spirit
OF sectional hostility to the States which
saved the Union from disruption.
This movement has been In charge OF the
Confederate Veterans Associations more es-
p~ecially, and the means by which its pur-
pose Is to be accomplished Is the exclusion
from the schools of all text books Of Amerl-
can history written by Northern authors,
and the substitution Of histories by South
ern authors only. About two years ago
the United Confederate Veterans Histori-
cal Committee unanimously adopted II re-
port which described the use OF our stand
ard school histories to be an evil, active
steps for the correction" Of which should
be taken. 1t accordingly prepared a list OF
eleven histories, aud recommended them
without hesitation" as suitable for
present II not permanent use" In Southern
schools and families, to replace the "objec-
tionable books" Others Of the same
character were announced as in preparation.
We have taken the pains to procure and
examine carefully these Southern histories
Of our common country, written for the
avowed purpose Of giving a peculiar mould
to the sentiment Of the children Of the
States which sried unsuccessfully to break
up the American Union. Our first observa-
ton is that they treat the hir- Dry Of the
republic by States rather than as n whole.
Next, they all distinguish sharply between
"Southerners" and "Northerners," as II
they were two distinct peoples, attributlng
the civil war to the aggressions Of the
"Northerners" on the "Southerners."
The march Of the Union troops to enforce
Federal authority and rescue Federal prop
erty from would-be secessionists is spoken
Of as an Invasion"
For instance. the Higher History Of the
| United States" by HENRY E.. CHAMBERS OF
Tulane University, says fatty that there
grew up on American soil two distinct peo-
Piles, each evolving a civilization Of its own,
each bound to the other by the mutually
constituted Federal Government" The
School History OF the United States" by
Mrs. SUSAN PENDLEToS LEE, says that
from colonial times there had been differ
ences OF opinions and interests. New Eng
land. and Massachusetts, especially. had at
tempted to dictate to their Southern neigh
bors, and jealousy Of their prosperity and
power had from time to time manifested
ITSELF" "When the tariff laws were
made, as you know, to protect the North
ern manufacturers" says MIR. CHAMBERS
in a primary history, "the Southern
people thought these laws unjust. Then
the idea began to grow in the North that
African slavery should be done away with.
As slaves were property, to free them would
be like destroying so much property; 80 the
people of the South could only look upon it
as an attack on their interests" The fact
that the Wing party, which advocated these
laws, was a national party, extending
through the Southern States. is thus
ignored. Nor is the circumstance consid-
cred that HENRY CLAY, the great Wing
leader, was a citizen Of q Southern State.
In "A Grammar School History" by j. s.
BLACKBURN and w. n. MCDONALD, South
ern children are told. in a discussion OF the
Missouri Compromise, that 1.-THE Southern
members [of Congressl, true to their prom.
ise, voted to admit Maine,' " but when the
time came to admit Missouri nearly all the
Northern members broke their promise and
voted against her admission" Mrs. ANN
Z. SNYDER OF Tennessee, in the preface to
1.-THE Civil War, from a Southern Stand.
point" describes her history as "a simple,
direct, well-connected, fair, and modest
statement Of the Southern side OF the con,
fiict by an earnest Southern woman, an en-