Competing Narratives

Welcome to the Early 20^th Century schoolbook exhibit on the American Civil War! The following sections will contain an array of excerpts and annotations from United States history textbooks published in the first decades of the 1900s. As you move through the following tabs, writing in blue anchored on the right of your page will serve as a guiding narrative voice to provide context and insight into why the selected passages are significant. Annotations on the passages will highlight, explain, and paraphrase different aspects of the writing to make them easier to understand in context. The purpose of this arrangement is to allow you to see just how diverse historical narratives and interpretations around common historical topics/events can be, as well as allow you to see the different versions of history being taught in this particular time period.

 Still present within the debates around education were differences related to how to describe the institution of slavery as it had existed before the war.

Published only a year after Susan Pendleton Lee’s best-selling book – Northern authors such as Horace Scudder try responding to the issue of slavery and whether or not to define it has a pleasant condition.

In addition to (and also related to) the issue of slavery, disagreement began to present itself around how authors interpreted the cause of the Civil War and which side was responsible for inciting the conflict.

Published only three years apart – albeit at different sides of the country and for very different audiences – compare the differences in the histories being taught to students in different parts of the country. According to these passages, the war was either “forced by a radical South” or “forced upon a peaceful South” which wanted only to protect its rights (depending on where you lived).