Past as Prologue History vs. Social Studies.

The article discusses the relevance of history and social studies curriculum in America. The 1943 debate over the ability of social studies curriculum to train Americans for world leadership came in the middle of World War II (1939-1945) as the United States appeared to re-educate and attempt to democratize Nazi-dominated Europe. A survey of 7,000 in-coming students at 36 colleges and Universities across the country exposed a "vast fund of misinformation on many basic facts." Adding to the concern was that most of these students had studied either American History, government or social studies while in High School and that eighty percent of the institutions of higher learning did not require a United States history course to qualify for an undergraduate degree.