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I grew up in a Florida parochial school in the '60's-70's, and we studied slavery. In fact our 5th grade class had to put on a mock Civil War, it was a big project for elementary school kids.
In 1997 as an adult, I saw the movie Rosewood. I was shocked! I never heard this bit of Florida history in my entire life. I was talking about the movie to the African-American co-worker next to me. I asked her if she was ever taught about Rosewood in Florida schools. She said "no" too! We thought that was odd, but we were never in JUST a Florida history class, so I think it is very important for each state to start a curriculum for a seperate class JUST about their state. It may be an eye-opener.
Was it a subject that was touched upon briefly in school or did your class dig deep into the history of slavery in America?
I'm curious because knowing a lot about such an important part of history shapes people's attitudes today.
American History in college, yeah, we dug into the roots, the causes, how it all started, every aspect of it. You can't learn about American History without understanding the history of slavery, the two go hand in hand.
American History in high school, not so much. Yes, we discussed it a little, the emancipation proclamation, etc. But we didn't get into the root causes.
Schools don't know what context to teach the subject in. Is it a component of a unit ,or it is a unit in itself ? Slavery lasted a long time comprising of probably three eras in American history an that makes it difficult for teachers to attempt to cover it completely.
Starting in elementary school in Colorado it was a very in depth subject and went on into high school in both history and social studies. Me being a American history buff added to that by spending extra time on the subject. I would not say I knew more then my pears on the specific subject how ever I knew more instances like we studied theUnderground Railroad and the people and routs. I got interested in the process and fundamentals of the people that operated and utilized it. We all knew William Still but I would read his written records.
The same with the Civil War. I would sit and read solders diaries.
I grew up in a Florida parochial school in the '60's-70's, and we studied slavery. In fact our 5th grade class had to put on a mock Civil War, it was a big project for elementary school kids.
In 1997 as an adult, I saw the movie Rosewood. I was shocked! I never heard this bit of Florida history in my entire life. I was talking about the movie to the African-American co-worker next to me. I asked her if she was ever taught about Rosewood in Florida schools. She said "no" too! We thought that was odd, but we were never in JUST a Florida history class, so I think it is very important for each state to start a curriculum for a seperate class JUST about their state. It may be an eye-opener.
When I was in school in the 60s, there was a requirement that, in Jr. High, we had to take a state history class. When we moved from Ohio to Michigan in early 1964, the transcripts showed I had been enrolled in an Ohio history class, so the decision was made that I didn't need the Michigan history class. I was overjoyed because I hated studying history! Later I was wishing they had paid closer attention to the fact that I had been in that class less than two weeks before we moved, because I knew nothing at all about either state!
We did learn about slavery in American history, but, now that I think about it, it really wasn't covered extensively. I learned more from watching the "Roots" TV mini series!
Define "study".
The problem in any History class (US, World, whatever) in high school. Time constraints (going to a block schedule of 85 minutes of class every other day compared to 45 minutes every day loses you 39 hours of class time over the course of the school year), pacing guides and curriculum creep causes material coverage to be a mile wide and an inch deep.
Add to the above the trend in larger districts to require all the teachers of a subject to be on the same topic at the same time all year and you get the inability to explore anything in depth.
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