The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1918-02-28
u. S. History
REIMBURSEMENT in Its Study
Is Necessary.

1t is always interesting to tiace
classic preJudiccs and today. more
than ever.
Since our hstotic beginning there
has been mo break In our friends nip
with France. The Latin temperament
firNs our imagination. We have a.
ways admired her achievement III the
arts. sciences and literature. To-day /.
is Brave France. Wonderful
France We thrill tc every effort
Sut make, to stem the German tide.
livery school child knows how the
h"sNs aid brilliant Lafa yette came to
help US in our strugel" FOL fredeor.
Every school child also knows that
the wicked George III OF England"
hired German lncrcenaiies, the Hes
slams to fight his own colonists, that
he made ns stick high priced stamps
on everything we possessed and fl
naI1y induced the most FAMOUS social
function in American history. the Bos-
ton tea party. What the majority of
American school children do not know.
is that George III was never quite
san" and finally became quite mad,
that the Legislation of English parlia
ment at that period did not represent
the will Of the English people. That
London rejoiced wildly when the stamp
act was finally repealed. That Pitt
Fox, Burke, Barre and other noble
Englishmen never lost an opportunity
to champion the cause Of the colon
lists, that these men never considered
for an instant, the dispieasurc of the
King ana his group, as against the
rights of the Americans. There Is u
classic prejudice against England. as
there Is for France. We all know, in
our minds. that England is fighting
desperately for her life and ours. Not
a 1.-THE of the sympathy that has been
poured out for the other warning ma
tions has gone to England. Why? A
group OF eastern educators raises the
question: rs 1t because of the man,
ner In which our greatest national as
set has been presented in the public
schools? Have generations of care
less teaching from unfair text books
reacted In n general want of sympathy
to England in her hour of need?"
A searching study of methods with q
careful analysis of text books. old and
new, reveals some interesting facts.
For this purpose statistics haze been
! gathered from the leading cities Of
| every state in the Union. OF the forty
| textbooks in use more than 20 years
| ago only four give an account of the
| general political conditions In England,
| prior TO tho American revolution and
| give fun credit to prominent English
! men for services rendered to America.
! Only SIX. of the fifty-threc books in
| general use today do this. Fourteen
! of the old text books and fifteen of the
! fifty-three modern ones make no ref
| erencc to political conditions In Eng
! land and make no mention of Pitt
! Fox and Burke. On the other hand. all
of these textbooks deal freely with
the grievances OF the eolonists.
The inference Is. that the early
school impressions had large influ
cnce. more or less SUB conscious. in
creating prejudice against the countr,
whose control We shook off in ths
, Revolutionary war. We have beer
taught that the Revolution, rather
than the Magma Charta was the be.
ginning of our political freedom. Ovel
the stone wall of prejudice against
George III. we have failed to see that
our laws. our customs. our language
have come straight from England. Be.
sides these our inheritance from all tn,
other nations put together Is neeli.
giblc. If the methods OF. teaching his
tory are responsible for all. or part O.
the national apathy, the remedy is n
hand and that is "A modern. impartial
scientific. philosophic presentation o
history.