CHAPTER IV

THE EFFECT OF THE WORLD WAR ON LAWS FOR TEACHING HISTORY

THE CURRICULUM

When the Fathers of New England adopted the famous laws of 1642 and 1647, they acted on the belief that by the school the character of the nation can be moulded. Throughout nearly three centuries of development the confidence of the American people in the regenerating power of the public school has grown. They have come to hold high faith in education as an effective tool for the conservation and promotion of national well-being. In each epoch, the school has attempted to accommodate its offerings to the demands of the time, thereby reflecting the needs of a people whose point of view is constantly changing. First conceived as a force in the religious life of the people, the school soon became an instrument for the development of “morality, virtue and good behavior.” The latter eighteenth century captured the vision of a people fired with patriotism and service to the state, and then by a citizenry trained to “preserve and perfect a republican constitution.” The occasion of a diverse and scattered electorate caused by the democratic awakening of the Jacksonian era compelled acceptance of the theory that it was a duty of the state to provide education for all. After the Civil War, a renewed faith in nationality and a realization of the economic and social demands of the time left their imprint upon the public school curriculum.

The opening of the twentieth century witnessed the expansion of the “citizenship aim” to include training for efficient participation in a complex social and industrial life. Since then, many traditional subjects of the previous period have been superseded by those tending to give point to the new aims in education; and of the traditional subjects retained many have been refashioned to fit a new and present-day point of view.

This wider horizon has tended to encourage to a greater degree than hitherto the introduction of many social studies, including economics, sociology and foreign history. Although encumbered with survivals, the history curriculum of the twentieth century has sought independence of purely political and military events and has striven for a scientific presentation of historical truths which should fit for “complete living.” This new viewpoint was well exemplified in the report of a committee of the National Education Association in 1916, which proposed a six year course in the social studies from the seventh to the twelfth grades, stressing the teaching of practical and present-day problems.[228]

Shortly thereafter the United States entered the World War. America at once faced not only the necessity of mobilizing the economic and military resources of a country unprepared for war, but also that still more difficult problem--the consolidation of public opinion. Various agencies were created for the express purpose of coördinating the spiritual resources of the country. Such was the design of the Committee on Public Information. Speakers and writers gave freely of their talents, and “hyphenism” and pacifism were driven to cover. The Espionage Law betrayed the apprehension of the federal government regarding unbridled speech and writing, and sedition laws in different commonwealths served to arrest an open opposition to the War.

Following the War the fear of radicalism and disloyalty to the established institutions of the country continued to express itself in drastic legislation. In the public schools, the desire to develop an unalloyed patriotism proved the motive for the passage of statutes to promote a dynamic loyalty. In general, these laws relate to the teaching of patriotism through instruction in the history and government of the United States, open affirmations of loyalty by the teaching personnel, the exclusion of alien teachers from the public schools, flag legislation and observance days, enactments regarding textbooks, and the Americanization of foreigners. Practically all legislation since 1917 dealing with the curriculum contains provisions pertaining to the social studies, and the greater amount reflects the wartime glow of patriotic enthusiasm.[229]

In 1917 three states passed regulatory provisions respecting the curriculum. Vermont’s legislation dealt with four-year high schools and required the teaching of the political and social sciences.[230] On February 17, Montana approved a law which called for instruction in United States history, the history of Montana, and state and federal civics among other required subjects for the elementary school, and three days later Arkansas approved a similar law.[231] New Hampshire, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Texas continued laws enacted at a previous time,[232] and Delaware, through legislation in 1919 gained the unique distinction of prescribing “community civics” besides the history of the nation and of the state.[233] Alabama and Georgia under laws designed primarily to prescribe a uniform series of textbooks included in the list of studies for which textbooks were mentioned, the history of the state embracing the constitution of the state, and the history of the United States with the constitution.[234] In Tennessee, to the requirement of United States history for the elementary schools, was added in 1917 the study of the federal constitution in the secondary school curriculum.[235] Texas placed distinct emphasis upon the teaching of state history through a regulation insisting that this “history be taught in the history course in all public schools” and “in this course only.”[236] The popularity of civil government, state history, and United States history is further proved by South Dakota’s prescription in 1919.[237]

Laws for dynamic patriotism were initiated by a statute of California in 1917. One of the mildest of the laws of this type, its chief purpose was training in the duties of citizenship through the study of United States history, with special reference to the history of the Constitution and the reasons for the adoption of each constitutional provision. Instruction in local civil government was provided for as well, with a specific statement regarding instruction in the duties of citizenship.[238]

In 1918, South Dakota, Texas and New York placed upon their statute books laws that were likewise a direct outgrowth of the war spirit. In the first two states, patriotism, the laws declared, should spring from lessons of “intelligent patriotism” inculcated by special exercises. The South Dakota law specified an hour a week in the aggregate, to be devoted in both public and private institutions “to the teaching of patriotism, the singing of patriotic songs, the reading of patriotic addresses and a study of the lives and history of American patriots.” Should an instructor, school officer or superintendent fail to enforce obedience to the law the statute provided for a fine of not less than five dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, or imprisonment in the county jail from five to thirty days, or both. In the case of the malfeasance of a teacher, the superintendent of public instruction had the power to revoke his certificate.[239]

In Texas, the law declared that “the daily program of every public school should be so formulated that it includes at least ten minutes for the teaching of lessons of intelligent patriotism, including the needs of the State and Federal Governments, the duty of the citizens to the State, and the obligation of the State to the citizen.”[240] The statute concluded with this statement: “The fact that this nation is now at war with a foreign foe, and that the strength of a government of the people, by the people, and for the people must necessarily come of its citizenship, creates an emergency and an imperative public necessity that the constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be suspended and that this act shall be in force from and after its passage, and it is so enacted.”[241]

New York’s statute, known as the Lusk Law, is the most conspicuous of all of the laws of this period because of its drastic character and its later applications. This law became effective September 1, 1918. The phase of the law relating to instruction had two parts: one prescribing courses of instruction in patriotism and citizenship, the other specifying rules for inspection, supervision, and enforcement of the law.

“In order to promote a spirit of patriotic and civic service and obligation and to foster in the children of the state moral and intellectual qualities which are essential in preparing to meet the obligations of citizenship in peace or in war,” the law declared, “the regents of the university of the state of New York shall prescribe courses of instruction in patriotism and citizenship to be maintained and followed in the schools of the state. The boards of education and trustees of the several cities and school districts of the state shall require instruction to be given in such courses, by the teachers employed in the schools therein. All pupils attending such schools, over the age of eight years, shall attend upon such instruction.”

The statute further prescribed similar courses of instruction for private schools, and was required of all pupils over eight years of age. In case such courses were not maintained in the private school, attendance upon instruction in such school was not deemed equivalent to instruction given to pupils of like age in the public schools.

The law empowered the regents of the University of the State of New York to determine the subjects to be included in courses in patriotism and citizenship, and to arrange such other matters as were required for carrying into effect the objects and purposes of the law. The commissioner of education was made responsible for its enforcement, and to him fell the supervision and inspection of instruction. He was given authority at his discretion to withhold, from a school district or city, school money, if the authorities neglected such courses or failed to compel attendance upon such instruction.[242]

In 1918, Massachusetts subscribed to training in the duties of citizenship, including United States history, civil government, and thrift in her public schools; and two years later, in a statute relating to all elementary and secondary schools, she prescribed “courses in American history and civics for the purpose of promoting civic service and a greater knowledge of American history and of fitting the pupils, morally and intellectually, for the duties of citizenship.”[243]

In 1919, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Iowa, Kansas and Washington passed laws of like character. Although each embodies certain distinctive features, yet all assert a belief in the study of American history and government as a preparation for a patriotic citizenship.

The New Jersey law contains concrete requirements. In each high school, courses of study in “Community Civics” and in “Problems in American Democracy” were prescribed through the agency of the Commissioner of Education, with the approval of the State Board of Education. The law required that “Community Civics” be completed not later than the end of the second year, and the course in “Problems of American Democracy” be commenced not later than the beginning of the third year. Sixty full periods of not less than forty minutes each were specified for the teaching of these subjects. For the elementary grades, the geography, history and civics of New Jersey were prescribed. These courses of study, the law provided, “shall be given together with instruction as to the privileges and responsibilities of citizenship as they relate to community and national welfare with the object of producing the highest type of patriotic citizenship.”[244]

In Pennsylvania, too, it has become a duty of the state superintendent of public instruction to prescribe “a course of study conducive to the spirit of loyalty and devotion to the state and national governments,” and for all elementary public schools instruction in the history of the state and nation, including the elements of civil government.[245] For the seventh and eighth grades Ohio prescribed civil government and United States history; and Iowa, as a prerequisite to graduation from any high school, required a course in United States history and civil government for one year, as well as the offering of a semester of social problems and economics in a four-year high school. In Kansas, where the course in civil government and United States history was designed for the elementary grades, provision was made, in the case of noncompliance with the law, for the closing of the school by the

## action of the county attorney or the attorney-general. It was in a like

spirit with other commonwealths that Washington declared the “study of American history and American government” to be “indispensable to good citizenship and an accurate appreciation of national ideals.”[246] A similar provision, with the aim of promoting “Americanism” and in training in the “ideals and principles underlying the government of the United States,” met defeat in Maryland in 1920 by the veto of the governor.[247]

The year 1921 was particularly prolific in legislation of a wartime character. A variety of expression but a unity of purpose continued to be in evidence. Laws were enacted in Maine, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and California.

The Maine statute prescribed the teaching of American history and civil government in all elementary and high school grades, both private and public, and made these subjects a requirement for graduation from all grammar schools.[248] The law of her neighbor, New Hampshire, required the reading of the constitution of the United States and of New Hampshire “at least once a year in the last grade below the high school.”[249]

In line with the other states Michigan declared, by a statute of May 17, 1921, that the study of the state and federal constitutions should begin not later than the eighth grade and continue throughout the high school course to an extent to be decided upon by the state superintendent of public instruction.[250] In Wisconsin, provision was made for instruction in the history and civil government of the United States and of Wisconsin, and in citizenship,[251] and Illinois, on June 21, 1921, passed “An Act to make the teaching of representative government in the public schools and other educational institutions in the State of Illinois compulsory.”[252] This law endorsed the teaching of patriotism through a knowledge of “the principles of representative government, as enumerated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Illinois,” and was required in all schools maintained in whole or in part by state funds. The law provided, also, for one hour of such instruction each week in the seventh and eighth grades, with an equal amount of time in the high school.

On March 31, 1921, Iowa added to her requirements a provision that all public and private schools should give regular courses of instruction in the constitution of the state and nation, beginning not later than the eighth grade and continuing in the high school to an extent to be determined by the superintendent of public instruction. A Nebraska statute of that year established for all schools courses in American history and civil government to give “a thorough knowledge of the history of our country and its institutions and of our form of government.”[253]

In Oklahoma, instruction in American history must commence in the primary grades of all schools, both public and private, beginning with the lowest and continuing through all primary years, with the privilege of substituting state history in one of the grades. For this instruction, there should be allotted at least one hour each week. It was specifically stated that the purpose of the statute was to instil in the hearts of the pupils “an understanding of the United States and of a love of country and devotion to the principles of American government,” and that “such instruction ... shall avoid, as far as possible, being a mere recital of dates and events.” For the high school, at least one full year’s work in American history and civics was required, and no college, normal school, university or chartered institution of learning in the state was allowed to confer a degree until a student had passed a course in American history and civil government.[254]

The social study requirement of Colorado for her public schools consisted of the history and civil government of the state,[255] and Arizona in her law specified that not less than two years’ instruction in civics, economics, and American political history and government be provided for all common schools, high schools, normal schools and universities.[256] Nevada, in her enactment of February 24, compelled all schools including colleges, save exclusively scientific schools, to teach American history, history of the state, and American civil government.[257] Included as a part of this law was a provision for patriotic exercises for at least an hour in each school week. New Mexico, declaring that the passage of a law prescribing the teaching of national and state history and government was “necessary for the public peace and safety,” made the statute effective immediately,[258] and California again essayed an endorsement of the history of the state and nation with emphasis upon the adoption of the Constitution.[259]

In 1922 the commonwealth of Virginia enacted a law similar to those passed the previous year in fourteen other states. By this statute, pupils enrolled in the public free schools are taught civil government, history of the United States and the history of Virginia. The 1922 session of the Rhode Island legislature adopted much the same kind of a provision for all public and private schools by making obligatory the teaching of the principles of popular and representative government and the history of Rhode Island.[260]

An adherence to the early method of endorsing the teaching of patriotism characterized enactments in Idaho, Nevada, and Utah. In the last state, instruction “tending to impress upon the minds of the pupils the importance and necessity of good manners, truthfulness, temperance, purity, patriotism, and industry,” was prescribed in connection with the regular school work.[261] Nevada, four years before the passage of Utah’s law, provided for civic training in her high schools, whose purpose was to “inculcate a love of country and a disposition to serve the country effectively and loyally,” both in times of peace and of war.[262]

Idaho, through the office of the teacher, continued the practice of prescribing the teaching of patriotism as a duty of the teacher through that intangible method of impressing upon the minds of the pupils “the principles of truth, justice, morality, and patriotism.”[263] Wisconsin, also, sanctioned moral instruction through training by the teacher.[264]

Since 1923, nineteen states have passed laws affecting the social study curriculum. In general, their purpose is to instil “into the hearts of the various pupils ... an understanding of the United States, ... a love of country, and ... a devotion to the principles of the American Government.”[265]

Through statutes passed in 1923, Arkansas, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee and West Virginia require the teaching of United States history and the Constitution; and Kansas adopted the same requirement in 1925.[266] Instruction in the federal constitution is prescribed in Alabama, Idaho, New Jersey, Oregon and Utah by enactments in 1923, and in New York by a law of 1924. Statutes in Delaware and North Carolina[267] require the study of the constitutions of the nation and the state, and Texas adds to that regulation a recommendation that special emphasis be placed on “the guarantees contained in the Bill of Rights.”[268] The Minnesota law prescribes for all schools “regular courses in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States, to an extent to be determined by the State Commissioner of Education.”[269] In New Mexico a similar enactment requires an understanding of the Declaration of Independence, as well as a knowledge of state and national history and government.[270]

For her schools California establishes “regular courses of instruction in the constitution of the United States, including the study of American institutions and ideals,” and Georgia adopts a similar requirement adding the study of state government. In both states it is provided that no pupil shall receive a certificate of graduation who has not passed satisfactorily examinations in the required subjects.[271]

Substantially all these enactments provide that instruction in the required subjects shall begin in the elementary grades, continue in the high school and in courses in state colleges, universities and educational departments of state and municipal institutions to an extent to be determined by the superintendent of public instruction or by the state board of education.[272]

Endorsement of the study of the Constitution was given by Congress in March, 1925, when the Senate passed a House resolution expressing “the earnest hope and desire that every educational institution, whether public or private, will provide and maintain as a part of the required curriculum, a course for the study of the Constitution of the United States....”

The many laws enacted during the years following the World War are indicative of the high value placed upon the social studies as an essential part of education. Besides laws requiring the teaching of these subjects purely for their content, many enactments express a high faith that the social studies will serve to inculcate patriotism and to train for citizenship. Forty-three commonwealths have engaged in legislation of this character since 1917, and all states have at some time endorsed history as a required subject in the public schools.[273]

OATHS OF ALLEGIANCE AND CITIZENSHIP FOR TEACHERS

Few laws requiring American citizenship and oaths of allegiance, in the case of teachers, appeared on the statute books prior to 1914. The World War precipitated the movement for enactments which insist upon an openly avowed loyalty, as well as upon a teaching personnel consisting of citizens only.[274]

In 1915, three states enacted anti-alien laws for teaching. A Michigan statute required a teacher, if twenty-one years of age, to be a citizen of the United States.[275] Nevada directed the superintendent of public instruction, the regents of the state university and school trustees to dismiss “any teacher, ..., professor or president employed by the educational department of this state who is not a citizen of the United States; or who has not declared his or her intention to become a citizen.” The law forbade any state controller or county auditor to issue salary warrants to the persons mentioned, in case of non-citizenship.[276]

In California a law of 1915 prescribed that “no person except a native-born or naturalized citizen of the United States, should be employed in any department of the state, county, city and county or city-government of this state.” An exception, however, was made in favor of teachers who had declared their intention to become naturalized and of any native-born wife of a foreigner.[277]

In 1917, the one hundred and fortieth session of the New York legislature gave its assent to a bill which has become known as one of the Lusk laws. This law reflects precisely the same sort of apprehension which moved some of the legislators of the Civil War period. It became the precursor of three others of a like nature, one in 1918, one in 1919, and one in 1921. The law of 1917 related to treasonable or seditious utterances by teachers, the second and third to the granting of teachers’ licenses to citizens only, and the fourth to the employment of teachers who have criticized the government of the United States.

The law of 1917 relating to freedom of speech prescribed that “a person employed as superintendent of schools, teacher or employee in the public schools, ... shall be removed from such position for the utterance of any treasonable or seditious act, or acts, while holding such position.”[278] The laws of 1918 and 1919 made citizenship an essential qualification for becoming a teacher. Any person employed as a teacher on April 4, 1918, however, who was not naturalized, was given permission to remain in his position provided he, within a year, should make application for citizenship. The law of 1919 exempted from the foregoing requirement teachers who were citizens of the Allied Powers in the World War, and who had been employed as teachers in the New York schools on or prior to April 4, 1918, provided that “such teacher make application to become a citizen before the first day of September, 1920, and within the time thereafter prescribed by law shall become such citizen.”[279]

The third link in the chain of constraint was an enactment which declared that an applicant, even though a citizen, must be “a person of good moral character” and must be “loyal and obedient to the government of this state and of the United States,” in order to obtain a license to teach. For “no such certificate shall be issued to any person who, while a citizen of the United States, has advocated either by word of mouth or in writing, a change in the form of government of the United States or of this state, by force, violence or any unlawful means.” The statute provided that the discovery that a teacher were guilty of any of the prohibitions mentioned, made him liable to a revocation of his certificate through the commissioner of education.[280] The sum of $15,000 was appropriated to carry the act into effect.[281]

Much discussion and agitation attended the Lusk laws after their passage and in the attempts at their enforcement, for many believed that the right of free speech was endangered by such measures. In 1923, under considerable pressure, the legislature revoked the statute, and Governor Alfred E. Smith affixed his signature to the repeal.

Laws similar to the statutes passed by New York are found in Ohio, Michigan, West Virginia, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Nebraska, South Dakota, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, and Washington. In 1919, Michigan, Nebraska, Tennessee, Montana, and Washington enacted statutes requiring that all teachers of the public schools must be citizens of the United States, and Idaho retained upon her statute books a law of 1897 which had the same intent. The same action was taken by North Dakota in 1921. In addition to those engaged as instructors in the public schools, Nebraska included teachers in private and parochial institutions. In Washington, California and Michigan the privilege of a license was granted to those aliens who declared their intention of becoming citizens, and in Washington, there were added to the proscribed group, those teachers whose certificates or diplomas had been revoked on account of a failure to impress upon the minds of the pupils “the principles of patriotism or to train them up to a true comprehension of the rights, duty, and dignity of American citizenship.”[282]

An open declaration of loyalty and of an intention to inculcate patriotism in their pupils was required of all teachers by Ohio in a law of 1919, by Colorado, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, and South Dakota in 1921. Ohio, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arizona, and South Dakota made it incumbent upon teachers not only in the public schools, but in private and parochial schools, to take an oath to support the constitution of the state and of the United States and to obey their laws. Ohio insisted upon an “undivided allegiance to the government of one country, the United States of America,” and Colorado and Oregon sanctioned the same form.[283] Nevada required of teachers the oath in her constitution, prescribed for all public officers.[284] In Oklahoma, any teacher violating the law, or any person or officer paying out any school funds to a person teaching without subscribing to the oath, was deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. Upon conviction such a person was penalized by a fine of not less than one hundred or more than five hundred dollars, or imprisonment in the county jail from sixty days to six months, or both.[285] Oregon, upon conviction, prescribed a maximum fine of one hundred dollars for non-enforcement of the law.

In West Virginia, a law of 1923 has enjoined upon all teachers, at the time of signing a yearly contract, an oath to support the constitution of the United States and West Virginia.[286]

In addition to the regulations imposing an oath of allegiance on teachers, South Dakota, like Washington, in her law included a prohibition of treasonable utterances. “Any teacher,” the law declared, “who shall have publicly reviled, ridiculed or otherwise spoken or acted with disrespect and contumacy towards the flag of the United States or its official uniforms or insignia, or towards the system of government of the United States, and its Constitution, or shall refuse to take and subscribe to the oath of allegiance hereinbefore required, shall thereafter forever be disqualified to teach in any public or private school within this state, and the certificate of any such teacher shall be revoked by the superintendent of public instruction upon satisfactory proof of the commission of any such offense.”[287]

An Oklahoma statute has excluded from all public and private schools of that state persons “guilty of teaching or inculcating disloyalty to the United States or of publicly reviling the flag, or the system of government of the United States.” Yet the statute prescribed that “criticism of any public official shall not be construed as within the purview” of this regulation. California, in a bill relating to American histories and other textbooks which passed the Assembly in 1923, would have leashed her teachers in much the same way. But the bill failed of passage in the Senate.[288]

The appropriation bill passed by the Sixty-Eighth Congress for the District of Columbia, in 1925, provided that no money should be available “for the payment of the salary of any superintendent, assistant superintendent, director of intermediate instruction, or supervising principal who permits the teaching of partisan politics, disrespect for the Holy Bible or that ours is an inferior form of government.” A similar provision relates to teachers.[289]

Two states, on the other hand, have passed laws emphasizing a faith in the integrity and patriotism of their teachers. Although their action preceded the legislation of the World War, yet it is significant that there have been no restrictive laws since then in these commonwealths. In 1911, Pennsylvania sanctioned a policy of freedom of thought for her teachers by declaring that “no religious or political test or qualification” should be required of “any director, visitor, superintendent, teacher, or other official, appointee, or employee, in the public schools of this commonwealth.”[290] In 1913, the General Court of Massachusetts forbade any school committee, by rule, regulation or other means to restrain or penalize any teacher for “exercising his right of suffrage, the signing of nomination papers, and the petitioning or appearing before committees of the legislature”; but it permitted school committees to forbid a teacher to exercise any of the aforesaid rights, suffrage excepted, on school premises during school hours or where the exercise interfered with the performance of school duties.[291] Of great significance was the Massachusetts law of March 17, 1917, which expressly prohibited inquiries relative to the religious or political belief of applicants for positions in the public schools and forbade the rejection or selection of the applicant on such grounds.[292]

Many commonwealths, however, like New Jersey, have enacted laws pertinent to teachers as citizens, but not openly and avowedly “teacher” legislation. Such a law was approved February 13, 1918, by the governor of New Jersey. It provided that “any person who shall advocate, in public or private, by speech, writing, printing, or by any other means, the subversion or destruction by force of the government of the United States, or of the State of New Jersey, or attempt by speech, writing, printing, or in any other way whatsoever to incite or abet, promote or encourage hostility or opposition to the government of the United States, or of the State of New Jersey, shall be guilty of a high misdemeanor, and on conviction shall be punished by imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, or by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars, or by both fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court.”[293]

Of all legislation dealing with the teaching craft, that which has attempted to control and direct the speech of the teacher has provoked the greatest protest. Our political development has been such that an interference with the free expression of opinion creates the impression that a jealously guarded right has been invaded. It is this feeling which has led to an agitation against such laws, although the fear that a teacher may be an instrument for corrupting his pupils is not a product of recent times either in this country or in world history.[294]

FLAG LEGISLATION AND OBSERVANCE DAYS

Legislation concerning the flag and special observance days takes on the characteristics of other laws passed since 1917. One of the first “flag laws” was passed in 1918 by Maryland. This law declared as the purpose of its enactment that “the love of liberty and democracy, signified in the devotion of all true and patriotic Americans to their flag and to their country, shall be instilled in the hearts and minds of the youth of America.”[295] Two years later, when the tide of legislation for encouraging patriotism was at full flood, a law embracing all schools through institutions of higher learning passed the legislature. By this statute all public and private schools, with the exception of professional schools, were required to open their exercises “on at least one day of each school week, whether morning, afternoon, or evening, with the singing of the ‘Star Spangled Banner.’”[296]

Reverence and respect for the flag was the purpose of Oklahoma’s statute in 1921. To insure obedience to the law, which was applicable to all public, private, parochial and denominational schools, the penalty of imprisonment or a fine could be imposed upon an offender. “Any teacher,” affirmed the law, “neglecting to display said flag or carry out said ceremonial, or any person forbidding or hindering the display of said flag or the carrying out of said ceremonial shall be subject to discharge or removal and shall also be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars or more than five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail for not less than sixty days and not more than six months, or both.”[297]

Minnesota, in passing “An act to provide for the teaching in all the common, graded, and high schools of this state of exercises tending to promote and inculcate patriotism,” was actuated by a like motive in 1917. Here a half hour daily must be devoted to patriotic exercises in all public schools, and every teacher should, by special exercises and by the teaching of subjects especially suitable, encourage and inculcate the spirit of patriotism. Such exercises were to consist of the singing of patriotic songs, readings from American history and from the biographies of American statesmen and patriots.[298]

Of slightly different character was the agency for propagating patriotism devised by the Alabama legislature in 1919, by which was established the “Alabama Patriotic Society.” This organization, non-political and non-sectarian, essayed as its objects “to stimulate patriotism among the people; to teach the fundamental principles of American institutions, or free government; to develop in the hearts and minds of Alabamans a deeper love of country and reverence for the American flag; to expound the underlying principle of self-determination; to immortalize the heroes who have brought fame and renown to Alabama by reason of their courage and leadership in all the great wars, in which Alabamans have engaged; to teach the people to love their State, to respect her laws and to support the Constitution of both the State and Federal Government; to bring the people together to the end that unity of purpose and solidarity may be promoted; to hold discussions of patriotic and political questions affecting the general welfare of the whole people, and to issue educational pamphlets and matter to aid in carrying the purpose of the society fully into effect.”[299]

In North Carolina, October twelfth has been set aside for appropriate exercises in the public schools “to the consideration of some topic or topics” of state history.[300] In Oklahoma, November sixteenth has been designated for a like purpose in order to teach “loyalty and patriotism” to state and Union.[301]

Since 1918, the date November eleventh has become the occasion for a commemoration of the general rejoicing which was caused by the signing of the Armistice. In the state of Washington, the law has ordained that it shall be “the duty of each teacher in the public schools ..., or principal in charge of the school building, to ... present a program of exercises of at least sixty minutes in length, setting forth the part taken by the United States and the state of Washington in the world war for the years 1917-1918, and the principles for which the allied nations fought, and the heroic deeds of American soldiers and sailors, the leading events in the history of our state and of Washington Territory, the character and struggles of the pioneers, and other topics tending to instill a loyalty and devotion to the institutions and laws of our state.” West Virginia also has recognized Armistice Day as a time fitting for “appropriate ceremonies.”[302]

A joint resolution of the legislature of Maryland in 1920 memorialized the President of the United States to designate November eleventh of each year as a day for national thanksgiving. This day, the General Assembly believed, had been “made sacred to the hearts of the American people, in that it was the day on which the world’s greatest tragedy was arrested and the awful pull at the people’s heart strings relaxed,” and on which “there terminated that war which overthrew the inhuman monster who laid blood-hands upon nearly every home of a peace-blest earth.” The world was further assured on this day, the lawmakers declared, that “the struggle of democratic nations for liberty and for righteousness had triumphed over the kultur and the crime of the scientific barbarians, and that autocracy and diabolical tyranny lay defeated and crushed behind the long rows of white crosses which stretch across Europe....” The legislators desired that the day should be the occasion for “strengthening of those noble sentiments of patriotism common to the American people, and to the love for the cause for which the sons of Maryland fought and gave their lives in the World War,” and it was recommended that the schools observe the day in a “fitting and impressive manner.”[303]

An act amending the law relating to holidays in Wisconsin, in 1923 set aside Lincoln’s and Washington’s birthdays for commemorative exercises in the public schools of that state.[304] North Dakota took similar

## action, adding October twelfth and November eleventh for observance

except in communities where special exercises were held.[305] In Michigan, in addition to observance days previously prescribed, Roosevelt’s birthday, October twenty-seventh, and “Liberty Day,” November eleventh, have been designated for “proper and appropriate commemorative ceremonies.”[306]

South Dakota, in 1921, declared that Memorial Day should also be known as “Citizenship Day” in that state, at which time each citizen who had become twenty-one years of age during the year, or who had been admitted into full citizenship of the United States during that period, should receive a “citizenship certificate signed by the Governor, attested by the Secretary of State, and countersigned by the Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners of the County in which such citizen resides.” The certificate included the name, age, and residence of the citizen, who also received a “manual of citizenship” containing “the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States and of South Dakota,” and “non-political axioms and discussions of the principles of popular citizenship.”[307]

Such laws were but the outpouring of a dynamic and enthusiastic patriotism, and were considered by the legislator another means of awakening and encouraging a love of country.

TEXTBOOK LEGISLATION

Few states since 1917 have passed laws requiring a uniform series of textbooks: North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, and West Virginia. In all of these states, except North Carolina, textbooks in local history and in local and national civics were added to the uniform series in United States history.[308] In North Carolina the state textbook commission was empowered to select histories for the elementary grades.

The only other legislation of this period, except that designed to censor the content of history textbooks, was the resolution of the Georgia legislature of 1918. This resolution endorsed the preparation of a suitable textbook in civil government. It came from the State Board of Education, who, in 1913, had condemned the textbook then in use and had suggested the readoption of Peterman’s _Civil Government_, temporarily, until one which would be satisfactory could be prepared. From the action of the legislature in 1918, it is evident that no book had been written which met the approval of the State School Book Commission. The restatement of the resolve of 1913 merely sought to call attention to the need for such a book.[309]

The outstanding legislation of the period, which deals with history textbooks, results from opening the flood-gates of apprehension regarding the content of school histories. It is the same misgiving which prompted restrictive legislation regarding the speech of the teacher and required an open avowal of allegiance to the government of the United States. Here, again, the vital thing in the mind of the lawmaker is to repress any statements considered by him as likely to undermine American patriotism.

In 1918, New York approved another Lusk law prohibiting the use of any textbook which contained statements seditious in character, disloyal to the United States or favorable to the cause of any enemy country. The law created a commission composed of the commissioner of education and two persons designated by the Regents of the University of the State of New York. To this body any person might present written complaints against textbooks in “civics, economics, English, history, language and literature,” which were then to be examined “for the purpose of determining whether such textbooks contain any matter or statements of any kind which are seditious in character, disloyal to the United States or favorable to the cause of any foreign country with which the United States is now at war.”[310] In case the commission disapproved of the book after examination, the law prescribed that the reasons be forwarded to all boards of education, who then must abandon the use of the book. It was further provided that any person in authority continuing to use a condemned book would be considered guilty of a misdemeanor.

Less drastic legislation than the New York law was passed in New Hampshire in 1921, declaring that “no book shall be introduced into the public schools calculated to favor any particular religious sect or political party.”[311] Other legislation which can be considered in the same category was passed in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and California, in their prohibition of “partisan and sectarian” books.[312]

During the years of 1922 and 1923, systematic efforts were made by private organizations to control the content of history textbooks. In general, the criticisms against the histories then in use were directed by patriotic and racial organizations seeking to revive the traditional treatment of relations with Great Britain, particularly during the American Revolution and the War of 1812.[313]

An outgrowth of this agitation against school histories was the law of Wisconsin approved April 5, 1923. This statute has prescribed that “no history or other textbook shall be adopted for use or be used in any district school, city school, vocational school or high school, which falsifies the facts regarding the war of independence, or the war of 1812 or which defames our nation’s founders or misrepresents the ideals and causes for which they struggled and sacrificed, or which contains propaganda favorable to any foreign government.” The law has also provided that a complaint against any textbook filed by any five citizens with the superintendent of public instruction, must be heard within thirty days at the county seat of the county in which the complainants reside. The statute has made it the duty of the superintendent to pass upon the case ten days following the hearing and to exclude from the schools any book found to contain statements prohibited by the enactment. In 1925, a bill embodying substantially the same spirit and phraseology was presented to the Massachusetts House by Mr. Garrity of Boston, but was not enacted into law.[314]

Oregon has a similar law. The use of any textbook has been prohibited which “speaks slightingly of the founders of the republic, or of the men who preserved the Union, or which belittles or undervalues their work.”[315]

In the spring of 1923, the Assembly of the state of California passed a bill excluding from the schools of the state any history or other textbook “which falsifies the facts regarding the war of independence, the war of 1812, or any other war of this country, or which defames our nation’s founders, defenders, heroes or patriots, or misrepresents the ideals and causes for which they struggled and sacrificed, or misleads by stating but partial facts, or which contains propaganda that is unfavorable to this country and government, and favorable to any other government or other type of government.” The bill met defeat in the Senate.[316]

In the spring of 1923 a bill of like nature passed the Senate of New York but failed in the Lower House. By this proposal, known as the Higgins Bill, any American history was prohibited in the primary or secondary schools of the state, “which falsifies, distorts or denies the acts of oppression recited in the Declaration of Independence, or which, if a textbook dealing with the period immediately preceding the Declaration of Independence, fails to refer, ... to the principal acts of oppression as set forth in the Declaration of Independence.” It further forbade the use of any history which “belittles, ridicules, doubts or denies the services and sacrifices of American patriots,” or which “emphasizes and enlarges upon the possible human failings or shortcomings of such patriots without giving at least equal prominence to their virtues or merits.” The bill prescribed for primary schools the presentation of episodes calculated “to arouse in children a justifiable pride” in the winning of “our national independence.” It further placed under ban any textbook which “misrepresents” or “fails to mention ... the compelling causes of the respective wars waged ... against foreign interference, aggression or encroachment, or which ... fails to emphasize ... the final victory of the United States in any war it prosecuted to a successful conclusion,” or which “belittles or ridicules ... American soldiers, sailors or marines in our wars against foreign nations ... as to leave ... a contempt” for them or “an unwarranted skepticism regarding their successes under arms.”[317]

A bill of like import was introduced in the New York Senate in 1924. It included a provision for the training of teachers in the best methods of teaching American history, as well as the requirement that American history textbooks include the Declaration of Independence “in its entirety,” if dealing with the American Revolution.[318] Senator Higgins was also responsible for a resolution instructing the Commissioner of Education to investigate the history textbooks used in the schools of New York to ascertain whether any contained matter misrepresenting events of the Revolution or ridiculing the Revolutionary patriots.[319]

In January, 1924, a bill relating to the selection of American histories as textbooks and reference books in the public schools was introduced into the Assembly of New Jersey. It was designed to exclude any history which “belittles, falsifies, misrepresents, distorts, doubts or denies the events leading up to the Declaration of American Independence or any other war in which this country has been engaged, or which belittles, falsifies, misrepresents, distorts, doubts or denies the deeds and accomplishments of noted American patriots, or which questions the worthiness of their motives or casts aspersions upon their lives.”[320]

A spirited protest against the bill as introduced in the New Jersey Assembly came from the faculty of Princeton University who resolved that “such legislation is in direct contravention of the fundamental principles of freedom of speech and of the press, and calculated to impair the integrity of education in both the public and private institutions in the State of New Jersey.”[321]

_The New York Times_ also objected to the censorship proposed in that state, declaring that it was not conceivable that “any honest man would wish to write textbooks in history for children under such statutory prescription,” and _The Freeman_, in an article regarding the Wisconsin law, pointed out that “historians sometimes find it a difficult matter to get at the truth in regard to the past, but for the superintendent of schools in the state of Wisconsin it is no job at all....”[322]

AMERICANIZATION OF FOREIGNERS

The desire to instil a knowledge of American institutions has led to much legislation for the education of the foreign element in our population. Some states have attempted to eliminate illiteracy by evening classes for adults, by continuation schools and like means. In all cases, the teaching of the English language has been a primary purpose, as well as training in a knowledge of American institutions. However, not all Americanization laws have definitely stated the purpose of training in citizenship, and therefore do not come properly into this discussion.

Since 1917 more than one-third of the states have enacted legislation for the purpose of developing a love for this country in the foreign born.[323] In that year, California inaugurated the policy of “home teachers” to visit the homes of pupils instructing both children and adults in matters pertaining to “school attendance, sanitation, the English language, and in the fundamental principles of the American system of government and the rights and duties of citizenship.”[324] Two years later, this enactment was followed by another law for the teaching of civic and vocational subjects in evening classes, in which instruction was provided in the “duties and responsibilities of citizenship” for those unable to speak or read the English language to the proficiency of the sixth grade.[325] In 1921, California continued her Americanization program by approving a law to provide for the establishment of classes for training in citizenship for applicants who had filed their declaration of intention to become citizens of the United States and for other persons desiring such instruction. The course of study includes the teaching of United States history, state and community civics, the “constitution of the United States with special reference to those sections in the constitution which relate directly to the duties, privileges and rights of the individuals, and such allied subjects ... as shall properly prepare such applicants to understand and assume the responsibilities of citizenship.”[326]

In 1918, New York passed a law necessitating the attendance of all non-English speaking and illiterate minors at school or at classes established by employers in shops, stores, factories, or plants in which were taught English and civics.[327] In 1921, it became a duty of the commissioner of education to see that schools for the education of these illiterate groups be established, in which should be taught “English, history, civics, and other subjects tending to promote good citizenship and increase vocational efficiency....”[328]

In Massachusetts, power has been granted to the director of the division of immigration and Americanization, with the approval of an advisory board, to employ methods which will develop in the foreign born “an understanding of American government, institutions and ideals.”[329]

Arizona’s law of 1918 permitted the establishment of night schools in school districts for those over sixteen who were unable to read or write the English language, in which there was to be instruction in “American ideals” and an “understanding of American institutions.”[330]

The year 1919 saw the adoption of Americanization programs by the legislatures of Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Utah, Montana and California in which the purpose of teaching American ideals and institutions received express mention.

Maine’s statute, designed for those persons “of normal mentality over eighteen years of age who are unable to read, to write, and to speak the English language to a reasonable degree of efficiency,” prescribed the teaching of “the duties of citizens in a democracy” and of “such other subjects as will increase their civic intelligence.”[331] In her legislation, New Hampshire called for “the abolition of illiteracy and the instruction of illiterates over sixteen years of age in the common school branches and in the privileges, duties and responsibilities of citizenship.” Immigrants over sixteen years of age were to be taught “to appreciate and respect the civic and social institutions of the United States,” and to be instructed “in the duties of citizenship,” which are “an essential part of public school education.”[332] In Rhode Island, people between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one years of age, unable to read and write English or to speak it with reasonable facility, have been given the privilege of a continuation school held for the purpose of teaching the English language and American citizenship.[333] Pennsylvania’s attempt to cope with the problem has led to the passage of an act “to provide instruction in citizenship and the principles of the government of the United States of America and of this commonwealth to foreign-born residents of the state of Pennsylvania, in the several counties thereof, who are not required to attend the public schools of this commonwealth.”[334]

The Delaware law was designed for the foreign-born over sixteen years of age not able to speak English, but who, through evening classes, might be instructed in that language and “in the institutions and forms of government of the United States and the State of Delaware.”[335]

An appropriation of the Minnesota legislature of 1919, to carry out a provision of an Americanization law of 1917, became available for work providing for instruction in English for those whose knowledge is too limited to carry on business or to read intelligently periodicals and newspapers, and in the essential and vital facts of American history, American government and ideals, and the duties and obligations of citizenship.[336]

By a joint resolution of 1919 the Oklahoma legislature created a committee on Americanization and made it incumbent upon public school officials to organize classes in English and in citizenship instruction wherever a petition signed by ten residents of foreign birth over sixteen years of age was presented to them.[337] A minimum of two hundred hours of instruction during the school year aided Utah in her Americanization program which included classes in the “fundamental principles of the Constitution of the United States, American history, and such other subjects as bear on Americanization.”[338] Montana’s legislation, designed for those over sixteen years of age who were not familiar with the English language, provided for instruction in “American history and the Principles of Citizenship and any other school subjects which the school trustees deem necessary for the Americanization of the students enrolled.”[339]

The Americanization movement was further aided by a law approved April 19, 1920, in which New Jersey provided instruction for the foreign born residents of her state, over fourteen years of age, in English and “in the form of government and the laws of this State and of the United States.”[340] American history, the Constitution of the United States, with an exposition of the privileges and the duties of American citizenship tending to produce a spirit of loyalty, were phases of the Americanization programs of Ohio, Idaho, Wyoming, and Oregon in 1921.[341] In the last state, “home teachers,” whose duty it is to instruct in the fundamental principles of the American system of government and the rights and duties of citizenship, were named as an aid in carrying on the work of Americanization.[342] In Michigan, the superintendent of public instruction has been given power to provide for the education of aliens and of native illiterates over eighteen years of age who are unable “to read, write and speak the English language and who are unlearned in the principles of government” of Michigan and of the United States.[343]

In general, the most popular means for educating the alien population is by attendance at a night school, where, through evening classes, teachers regularly employed in the public schools seek to instruct in the English language and in an appreciation of and respect for “the civic and social institutions of the United States.” New York has tried the employers’ school to effect the same purpose, whereas “home teachers” are endorsed by California and Oregon. In the four years preceding the outbreak of the World War, 5,174,701 immigrants came to the United States, of whom 22.1 were unable to read and write any language. In 1920, nearly one and a half million, or 11 per cent, of the foreign-born whites in this country could not speak English. For this group, even more than for the native element, has it seemed wise to encourage education, because it has become a common belief that a lack of education endangers the well-being of the state.

FOOTNOTES:

[228] _Report of the Committee on Social Studies of the Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education of the National Education Association_, “The Social Studies in Secondary Education,” Bulletin, 1916, No. 28, Department of the Interior (Washington, 1916).

[229] According to a statement in _The New York Times_, March 30, 1924, the National Security League has been partly responsible for many enactments requiring the teaching of the federal constitution.

[230] _General Laws_ of Vermont, 1917, ch. 60, sec. 1277, p. 301.

[231] _Laws_ of Montana, 1917, ch. 128, par. 601, p. 309; _Digest of the Statutes of Arkansas_, 1919, ch. 158, par. 9066, p. 547. Accepted February 20, 1917.

[232] In 1921, New Hampshire included in her curriculum the study of history and civil government in a law to reinstate foreign languages as a study in the public schools. In 1919 history and civics were required for all schools. _Laws_ of New Hampshire, 1921, ch. 85, sec. 10(3), p. 125; _ibid._, 1919, ch. 106, sec. 13(1). In 1918, Connecticut carried over a law from the _Revision_ of 1902 prescribing United States history, _General Statutes_ of Connecticut, 1918, ch. 44, sec. 835, Vol. I, p. 308. Pennsylvania incorporated a law of 1911 prescribing instruction in general history and civil government in her _Statute Law_ of 1920, _Digest of the Statute Law_ of Pennsylvania, 1920, par. 5102, p. 470. In Kentucky, United States history, state history and civil government were required in 1918, carried over from a law of 1893. _Statutes_ of Kentucky, 1918, art. III, par. 4383, Vol. III, p. 866; _Laws_, 1916, ch. 24, art. III, sec. 24, p. 162. In Texas in the _Compiled Statutes_ of 1920, was again included a law requiring the teaching of civil government and state and national history. _Statutes_ of Texas, 1920, art. 2783, p. 467.

[233] _Laws_ of Delaware, 1919, 2283, sec. 11, p. 356. This is found also in _Laws_, Special Session, 1920, 97th Assembly, sec. 12, Vol. XXXI, p. 113.

[234] _General Laws_ of Alabama, 1919, art. 3, p. 571; _Acts_ of Georgia, 1919, sec. 18, p. 295.

[235] _Compilation of the Statutes of Tennessee_, 1917, art. XV, 1453, Vol. I, p. 983, _ibid._, 1454.

[236] _Statutes_ of Texas, _op. cit._

[237] _Laws_ of South Dakota, 1919, sec. 7511, p. 154.

[238] _Laws_ of California, 1917, ch. 549, p. 728. Approved May 18, 1917. It was the same for the social studies for the elementary schools in 1921. _Statutes_, 1921, ch. 486, p. 739. A law of Illinois in which instruction was to be devoted to “raising the standard of good citizenship” was passed in 1909, and was still on the statute books in 1917. _Revised Statutes_, 1917, p. 273.

[239] _Revised Code_ of South Dakota, 1919, par. 7660, p. 1917. Source 1918, ch. 39.

[240] _Statutes_ of Texas, 1920, art. 2904, aa, p. 492. _Acts_, 1918, ch. 17, sec. 1, p. 29.

[241] _Ibid._, approved March 20, 1918.

[242] _Laws_ of New York, 1918, ch. 241, art. XXVI-C, secs. 705, 706, pp. 886-887. See the discussion under Oaths of Allegiance as Teacher Requirement for a statement regarding the repeal of the Lusk Law.

[243] _General Acts_ of Massachusetts, 1918, pp. 294-295; _Acts_, 1920, ch. 411, p. 418. _General Statutes_ of Connecticut, 1918, ch. 45, sec. 852, Vol. I, p. 312. In 1903, Connecticut was a pioneer in this form of law, which was slightly changed in 1915. At this time it was prescribed that normal schools and teacher training schools should give instruction concerning methods of teaching citizenship, including the knowledge of the form of the national and local governments. Connecticut left her law of 1915 unchanged in her _General Statutes_ of 1918.

[244] _Acts_ of New Jersey, 1919, ch. 125, p. 304.

[245] _Laws_ of Pennsylvania, 1919, sec. 1607, pp. 544-545. Amends an act of May 18, 1911. In 1921 the law relating to courses of instruction for public and private elementary schools was amended but carried with it the requirement of United States history, history of Pennsylvania, and civics including “loyalty to the state and national government.” Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Public Instruction, _The School Law_ ... 1921, sec. 1607, p. 116.

[246] _Laws_ of Ohio, 1919, secs. 7645 and 7762, p. 542. Approved June 6, 1919. _Acts_ of Iowa, 1919, ch. 406, p. 535. Approved April 25, 1919. Private as well as public schools were included. _Laws_ of Kansas, 1919, ch. 257, secs. 2 and 3, p. 352; _Session Laws_ of Washington, 1919, p. 50. Alabama in 1919 added community civics to her elementary school curriculum but merely enumerated her subjects. _General Laws_ of Alabama, 1919, art. 3, sec. 7, p. 571.

[247] _Laws_ of Maryland, 1920, ch. 656, p. 1248.

[248] _Resolves_ of Maine, 1921, ch. 25, p. 27.

[249] _Laws_ of New Hampshire, 1921, ch. 85, sec. 5(3), p. 114.

[250] _Acts_ of Michigan, 1921, no. 209, secs. 1, 2. _Cf._ Iowa’s law of 1921, page 80.

[251] _Wisconsin Session Laws_, 1921, ch. 81, p. 152. Amends sec. 40. 30.

[252] _Laws_ of Illinois, 1921 (House Bill, no. 483), pp. 820-821.

[253] _Acts_ of Iowa, 1921 (S. F. 770), pp. 81-82; _Laws_ of Nebraska, 1921, ch. 53, sec. 6924, p. 230.

[254] _Acts_ of Oklahoma, 1921, ch. 112, secs. 1, 2, 3, 4. The state superintendent of instruction had power of enforcement. In case of a violation a fine of not less than $100 and not more than $500 or imprisonment in the county jail for not less than thirty days nor more than six months, or both, may be the penalty. A teacher is subject to discharge or removal in case of malfeasance and a college (corporation) is liable to a revocation of its charter.

[255] _Laws_ of Colorado, 1921, ch. 216, p. 728. Approved April 5, 1921.

[256] _Acts_ of Arizona, 1921, ch. 140, sec. 1, p. 312.

[257] _Statutes_ of Nevada, 1921, p. 28 (Senate Bill No. 43).

[258] _Laws_ of New Mexico, 1921, ch. 172, p. 364. See law of 1912, page 52.

[259] _Statutes_ of California, 1921, ch. 486, p. 739. See page 43.

[260] _Acts_ of Virginia, 1922, p. 69 (amending section 702 of the _Code_). _Virginia School Laws_, 1923, p. 41; _Public Laws_ of Rhode Island, 1922, ch. 2195, sec. 17.

[261] _Laws_ of Utah, 1921, ch. 95, p. 284. Approved March 5, 1921.

[262] _Laws_ of Nevada, 1917, ch. 146, p. 245. Approved March 21, 1917. This was less than one month before the United States entered the World War, and the avowal of service in peace or in war, therefore, acquires a peculiar significance. See page 81 for Nevada’s law of 1921.

[263] _Compiled Statutes_ of Idaho, 1919, p. 269, par. 944. From the _Political Code_, 1901, sec. 1067, Vol. I, p. 329. See page 21 for the first discussion of the law.

[264] “In all public schools of this state it shall be the duty of each and every teacher to teach morality, for the purpose of elevating and refining the character of school children up to the highest plane of life; that they may know how to conduct themselves as social beings in relation to each other, as respects right and wrong and rectitude of life, ...” _Statutes_ of Wisconsin, 1917, 40. 30 (5), p. 376.

[265] Statement of the Arkansas law. _Cf._ Oklahoma law passed in 1921, page 80.

[266] _Digest of School Laws ... of Arkansas_ ... 1923, p. 166. Approved March 23, 1923, this law provides that no person can graduate from high school without at least one full year’s work in American history and civics. _School Laws of Mississippi_, 1924, ch. 283, p. 3; _School Laws of Ohio_, 1923, p. 41; _Public School Laws of Tennessee_ ... 1923, p. 35; _Acts of West Virginia_, 1923, ch. 10, sec. 92, p. 40; State of Kansas, Senate Bill No. 13, repealing Sec. 72-1103 of the _Revised Statutes_ of Kansas, 1923.

[267] _Laws_ of Alabama, 1923, p. 87, approved July 27, 1923; _School Laws of the State of Idaho_ (1923), p. 57; _Acts_ of New Jersey, 1923, ch. 17, p. 17; _Laws_ of Oregon, 1923, ch. 7, sec. 102; _Laws_ of Utah, 1923, ch. 4, approved January 27, 1923; _Laws_ of New York, 1924, ch. 64, article 26-d, sec. 707, approved March 24, 1924. _School Laws of Delaware_, 1923, pp. 62-63. _The Public School Law of North Carolina Codification_ of 1923, p. 120.

[268] _School Legislation of the Thirty-Eighth Legislature_ (of Texas), pp. 36-37. The Texas requirement comes through a resolution of the Senate of the state with the House of Representatives concurring, because “the American Bar Association, the Texas Bar Association, the bar associations of various other states, as well as other patriotic societies, are advocating the teaching of the Constitutions of the United States and of the several states in the public schools.”

[269] _Laws_ of Minnesota, 1923, ch. 291, p. 388. Approved April 17, 1923.

[270] _Laws_ of New Mexico, 1923, ch. 148, sec. 1417, p. 325; also _New Mexico School Code_, 1923, p. 34.

[271] _Statutes_ of California, 1923, ch. 176, secs. 1 and 2. _Georgia School Code_ ... 1923, p. 70, approved August 20, 1923.

[272] The following provide that the course start not later than the eighth grade: _Statutes_ of California, 1923, ch. 176; _Laws_ of Alabama, 1923, p. 87, law approved July 27, 1923; _School Laws of Delaware_, 1923, pp. 62-63, approved March 14, 1923; _School Laws of the State of Idaho_ (1923), p. 57; _Laws_ of Minnesota, 1923, ch. 291, p. 388, approved April 17, 1923; _Oregon School Laws_, 1923, p. 39, _Laws_, 1923, ch. 7, sec. 102; _Public School Laws_ of Tennessee, 1923, p. 35, _Laws_ of Tennessee, 1923, ch. 17, sec. 1, pp. 61-62. In New Jersey, the seventh grade is prescribed for the beginning of the study. _Acts_ of New Jersey, 1923, ch. 17, p. 17. In Arkansas, it is required that “such teaching shall commence in the lowest primary grade,” but Arkansas history may be substituted for American history in one of the grades. _Digest of School Laws of Arkansas_, _op. cit._

[273] _Congressional Record_, 68th Cong., 2d Sess., Vol. LXVI, No. 77, pp. 5396-5398. The five states not enacting social study laws for the curriculum (1917 to 1924) are Florida, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota, and South Carolina.

[274] Few states during this period have enacted new laws requiring the examination of teachers in the social studies. Nevada, by a law of 1921, has required United States history, civics and current events for elementary school certificates. _Laws_ of Nevada, 1921, ch. 208, sec. 25, p. 302. In 1923, Tennessee prescribed that all persons applying for a certificate to become teachers or superintendents in the public schools must pass a satisfactory examination upon the provisions and the principles of the Constitution of the United States. _Laws_ of Tennessee, 1923, ch. 17, sec. 2. Washington, likewise, by an enactment of 1923, has prescribed United States history for a standard elementary certificate. _Laws_ of Washington, 1923, p. 579. Florida, in 1923, enacted legislation requiring United States history, including the Constitution of the United States for primary and third grade certificates, civics for second grade, and general history, in addition to the other social studies for a first grade license. _Compilation of School Laws of Florida_, 1923, _Supplement_, pp. 4-5. Maryland, in 1922, required United States and Maryland history and community civics for elementary school certificates. _Maryland Public School Laws_, 1922, p. 40. See pages 52-56. Iowa, in 1924, made mandatory a knowledge of “the fundamental principles of a republican form of government and the Constitution of the United States and of the State of Iowa.” _Code_ of Iowa, 1924, ch. 193, sec. 3862. Kansas, in 1925, prescribed United States history and civil government for certification. See Senate Bill No. 13, 1925.

[275] _Public Acts_ of Michigan, 1915, p. 13.

[276] _Statutes of Nevada_, 1915, ch. 274, secs. 1, 2, 3, 4. Approved March 26, 1915.

[277] _Statutes_ of California, 1915, approved May 20, 1915. _School Laws_ of California, 1921, p. 203. This law does not forbid aliens to teach in colleges and universities.

[278] See page 76. _Laws_ of New York, 1917, ch. 416, par. 568, Vol. II, p. 1280.

[279] _Ibid._, 1919, ch. 120, 3, p. 218. Law, March 31, 1919. _Ibid._, 1918, ch. 158, par. 550, p. 749. Approved April 4, 1918.

[280] _Ibid._, 1921, par. 555a, Vol. III, p. 2048.

[281] _Ibid._

[282] _Laws_ of Washington, 1919, sec. 1, p. 82; _Laws_ of Nebraska, 1919, ch. 250, sec. 1, p. 1020; _Acts_ of Michigan, 1919 (no. 220), sec. 1, p. 392; _Laws_ of Tennessee, 1919, ch. 91, p. 223; _Compiled Statutes_ of Idaho, 1919, par. 946, Vol. I, p. 270. Idaho, in her _Laws_ of 1921, has another enactment, but it has the same purpose; _Laws_ of 1921, sec. 77, p. 464. _Laws_ of Montana, 1919, ch. 196, sec. 18, p. 429, amending law of 1905, by which any teacher holding a certificate and not a citizen was given time (six months) to declare his intention. _Political Code_, ch. 77, sec. 1912, p. 167. For California’s law see _School Law of California_, 1921, p. 203. North Dakota’s previous citizenship requirement is discussed on page 34. See _Laws_ of North Dakota, 1921, ch. 111, p. 90. According to letters received from the state superintendents of Mississippi and Maryland, aliens are not permitted to teach in those states.

[283] _Laws_ of Ohio, 1919, supplements 7852 of _General Code_, sec. 7852-1, p. 514. _Laws_ of Colorado, 1921, ch. 213, sec. 1, p. 719. _Laws_ of Oregon, 1921, ch. 115, p. 226, approved February 18, 1921.

[284] _Statutes_ of Nevada, 1921, sec. 38, p. 303. Approved March 22, 1921. This was required of all teachers paid by the state, even those in the University.

[285] _Acts_ of Oklahoma, 1921, ch. 15, p. 141. Approved March 24, 1921.

[286] _The School Law of West Virginia_, 1923, p. 44. According to the superintendents of public instruction in Rhode Island and Kansas a pledge to support the national and state constitutions is a requirement in those states for all teachers. See _Teachers’ Pledge of Loyalty_, Rhode Island Public Education Service, and _Teachers Contract_, State of Kansas.

[287] _Laws_ of South Dakota, 1921, ch. 210, p. 317. Approved February 1, 1921. This law became effective at once, because it was “necessary for the immediate preservation of the public safety and for the support of the state government and its existing public institutions.”

[288] _Oklahoma School Laws_, 1923, p. 18; _Acts_ of Oklahoma, 1921, ch. 15, sec. 2, p. 141. California _Assembly Bill_, No. 1329, 1923, sec. 6. “Any teacher or official of any educational institution in California who shall teach or speak before his or her pupils or public gatherings of an educational nature, or publicly, slightingly or contemptuously of the Constitution of the United States, or of the framers thereof, or of the men who founded this republic, or helped preserve and defend it, or its heroes and patriots, or shall teach un-American principles, or fail to carry out and support the spirit of this act according to its true intent and meaning, shall be deemed to have voluntarily violated his or her contract or oath of office and shall be automatically removed if the charges are proven....” See page 102 for the section of the bill relating to textbooks.

[289] 68th Congress, Public--No. 595--_H. R. 12033_. An act making appropriations for the government of the District of Columbia and other

## activities chargeable in whole or in part against the revenues of

such District for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1926, and for other purposes. According to _The World Tomorrow_, “Missouri attached a rider to its last appropriation bill forbidding State colleges and schools to employ any person ‘who teaches, or advocates in public and private that the citizens of this State should not protect the government of the United States from aggression by other nations.’” _The World Tomorrow_, Vol. VIII (June, 1925), p. 186.

[290] _Statute Law_ of Pennsylvania, 1920, art. XXVIII, par. 5393, p. 494. _Public Laws_, 1911, art. XXVIII, par. 2801, p. 309, May 18. This is quite the opposite of Arkansas’ law which prescribed that all teachers must believe in a “Supreme Being.”

[291] _General Acts_ of Massachusetts, 1913, ch. 628, p. 556. Approved May 8, 1913.

[292] _Ibid._, 1917, ch. 84, p. 76. A fine of no more than fifty dollars could be imposed for violation of this law.

[293] _Laws_ of New Jersey, 1918, ch. 44, sec. 2, p. 131. Laws have been passed in California, Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Mississippi, and West Virginia.

[294] Socrates is an example of one who, in ancient times, was penalized for holding doctrines then unacceptable.

[295] _Laws_ of Maryland, 1918, ch. 75, sec. 1, 176a, p. 121. Approved April 10, 1918.

[296] _Ibid._, 1920, ch. 381, sec. 1, p. 665. Approved April 16, 1920. In Michigan all applicants for an eighth grade diploma have been required to pass an examination on “the first verse of the Star Spangled Banner and the words of America.” _General School Laws of Michigan_, 1923, p. 107, am. 1919, act 72 (275), par. 5824, sec. 2.

[297] _Acts_ of Oklahoma, 1921, ch. III, p. 137. Approved March 24, 1921.

[298] _Laws_ of Minnesota, 1917, ch. 108, sec. 1, p. 135. Approved March 26, 1917.

[299] _General Laws_ of Alabama, 1919, no. 733, p. 1083. See page 62 for a law of Oregon passed in 1921.

[300] _Public School Law of North Carolina_, pt. XIII, art. 38, sec. 367.

[301] _School Laws of Oklahoma_, 1923, p. 69; _Session Laws_, 1921, sec. 342.

[302] _Laws_ of Washington, 1921, ch. 56, p. 171. “Victory and Admission Day.” California added Armistice Day to her legal holidays in 1921, likewise including “Admission Day” on September ninth. _Statutes_ of California, 1921, ch. 350, p. 481. _School Law_ of West Virginia, 1923, p. 32.

[303] _Laws_ of Maryland, 1920, pp. 1448-1449.

[304] _Laws_ of Wisconsin, 1923, ch. 337, amending section 40.28 of the statutes.

[305] _Educational Laws_ of North Dakota, 1923, ch. 282, p. 45. See page 62 for Oregon’s law of 1921 setting aside Columbus Day for observance.

[306] _General School Laws of Michigan_, 1923, p. 107.

[307] _Laws_ of South Dakota, 1921, ch. 144, secs. 1, 2, pp. 235-236. The certificates were to be presented with proper ceremony at some place where there were patriotic addresses and music. Approved March 8, 1921. In South Dakota an observance of “Frances Willard Day,” besides the recognition of the benefits of prohibition, had the additional duty of stimulating “patriotism and civic improvements.” _Revised Code_, 1919, par. 7662. Washington set aside January sixteenth as “Temperance and Good Citizenship Day” for studying the biographies of great leaders in “temperance and good citizenship.” _Session Laws_ of Washington, 1923, ch. 76, p. 236.

[308] _Acts_ of Georgia, 1919, sec. 18, p. 295; _Laws_ of Florida, 1917, ch. 7374 (no. 116), p. 230, added to United States history, history of the state and civil government, _Laws_ of 1911-12, for high schools American history and civil government, English history, and general history; _General Laws_ of Alabama, 1919, art. 23, p. 634; _Digest of the Statutes_ of Arkansas, 1921, par. 9066, p. 2330, also _Laws_, 1921, act 285, p. 328 for regular grade work; _Compilation of Laws_ of Tennessee, 1917, art. XVII, 1461a 24, Vol. I, p. 993, also _Laws_, 1919, ch. 142, sec. 3, p. 525, Sen. Bill no. 506; _Code_ of West Virginia, 1916, ch. 45, par. 155a, p. 594. General history was also included. _Public School Law of North Carolina_, 1923, p. 87, art. 30, sec. 322.

[309] _Laws_ of Georgia, 1918, p. 919 (no. 60). This is probably an outgrowth of the movement found in the previous period to teach history and government from a pro-Southern viewpoint.

[310] _Laws_ of New York, 1918, 674, p. 892, approved April 17, 1918.

[311] _Laws_ of New Hampshire, 1921, ch. 85, sec. 13, p. 125.

[312] _Acts_ of Georgia, 1919, p. 295; _General Laws_ of Alabama, 1919, p. 634; _Compilation of Laws_ of Tennessee, 1917, 1461a 24, Vol. I, p. 993; _Statutes and Amendments_ Code of California, 1917, ch. 552, 1607, p. 736.

[313] For a full discussion see