Forgive the Austin Powers reference, I haven’t blogged in a while and I’ve regressed as a result. Throw me a frickin’ bone here. On the topic of Austin Powers, there is a scene where Mr. Powers is attempting to get up to speed on decades of American history in a single night. He sums it up in a single sentence, “Jimi Hendrix Deceased, Drugs. Janis Joplin Deceased, Alcohol. Mama Cass Deceased, Ham Sandwich.”
While I was in middle and high school, there was a shift away from teaching students an Anglocentric history. Our books primarily taught US history still, but there was an increased focus on the social history and experience of American Indians, women, and, later, immigrant populations. When studying world history, China loomed as large as Rome. Generally, I think the shift away from Anglocentric, whig history is a positive step. Students should be exposed to history that connects with them, history should be taught in an inclusive way that contextualizes history with the cultures, influences, and aftershocks that make up the events taught in class.
With an increased focus on the individual cultures and peoples that built the United States, one might assume that US students learn more about the Dutch element of US history. The Dutch gave us Santa Claus, New York, doughnuts, and brought African slavery to the Colonies. Despite the influence that the Dutch had on the form of the US government, stance on religious tolerance, and economic growth through the Dutch East India Company, the AP US history curriculum devotes more attention to Spanish colonialization than the influence of the Dutch on the US.
I think the lack of focus on the Dutch has a couple of causes:
- Dutch influence is hard to separate from English influence and it is much easier to teach the English narrative.
- The golden age of the Netherlands occupies a period of time not focused on in US history.
- Students generally learn about the founding of the colonies, and then jump to the war for independence. Any time devoted to the 1600’s tends to focus on American Indian relations and religious tolerance. The Dutch aren’t necessary to teach either.
- There is no cultural/political benefit to separating the Dutch from other subsets of white, western history.
- The Dutch are definitionally WASPs and benefited from whig history, spending time focusing on their contributions might diminish the benefits of the more contextualized history taught today.
- Dutch culture is German culture, and western education tends to value Latin cultures more than German cultures.
- The Netherlands are not a global superpower today; there is no reason to specifically identify Dutch influence on American history to help students contextualize current events.
Does it matter that Dutch contributions to American society, good or bad, are not highlighted as Dutch? I’m not sure. However, I am sure that the Dutch are not the only culture to have their influence on American minimized in childhood education. I would be interested to find other examples and identify a way to give students an opportunity to learn about cultures or peoples that interest them and close these education gaps.
Interested in what students learn across the country? Find more here.
*The author of this post does not identify as Dutch, nor does he have any particular affiliation to the Netherlands.
Polly Wanna Math 