It is precisely such a sentiment that influenced the American Turner-Bund, formerly the American Gymnastic Union and made up of Germans, at their annual convention in June, 1923, to endorse the movement of the Sons of the American Revolution,—a movement inaugurated “to revise history textbooks, ... with a view to eliminating or correcting alleged distortion of facts.”[745] The resolution of the Turner-Bund alleged that “many textbooks now in use contain distinctly pro-French and pro-British statements, neglecting throughout American history the work of the German people in its development.”[746] The resolution further carried the indictment of a school history which states that “Alsace-Lorraine was stolen in 1871 from France by Germany,” whereas, it was asserted, “France stole it from Germany two hundred years before.”[747]
Besides the effort of the German-Americans “to put a stop to the prevailing tendency to misuse our public schools for undermining American sentiment in favor of British colonialism,” the Steuben Society avowed as one of its purposes the desire to “foster in American children of German blood a proper pride of ancestry as a necessary basis of true American patriotism.”[748] Such is the intent of Frederick Franklin Schrader in his book “1683-1920.” His purpose is made clear by the following statement found in the preface:
“A blanket indictment has been found against a whole race. That race comprises upward of 25 per cent of the American people and has been a stalwart factor in American life since the middle of the seventeenth century. This indictment has been founded upon tainted evidence. As is shown in the following pages, a widespread propaganda has been, and is still, at work to sow the seeds of discord and sedition in order to reconcile us to a pre-Revolutionary political condition. This propaganda has invaded our public schools, and cannot be more effectively combatted than by education.” The assertion that a charge of “German propaganda has no terrors for the author,” is also included in the preface, for “statements of fact may be controverted; they cannot be disproved by an Espionage Act, however repugnant their telling may sound to the stagnant brains of those who have been uninterruptedly happy because they were spared the laborious process of thinking for themselves throughout the war, or that no inconsiderable host which derives pleasure and profit from keeping alive the hope of one day seeing their country reincorporated with ‘the mother country’—the mother country of 30 per cent of the American people. It is to arouse the patriotic consciousness of a part of the remaining 70 per cent that this compilation of political and historical data has been undertaken.”[749]
To insure this “proper pride of ancestry” it is the opinion of the author that there should be given greater publicity to German contributions in the making of the United States. Among these contributions, the Germans would have it a matter of more general knowledge that the first iron works in this country were established by a German (Thomas Reuter in 1716); that the first American-printed Bible was printed by a German (Christopher Sauer in 1743); that the first paper to print the Declaration of Independence in America was the Pennsylvania Staatsboten of July 5, 1776; that it was the Germans who first called Washington “the father of his country”; that General Herkimer of Oriskany was of German extraction; that Steuben formulated the principles and regulations that governed the American army when it was created; that Germans have contributed valuable inventions; that Lincoln was of German descent; that Molly Pitcher was a German; and that of the ideals of liberty and of education the Germans were conspicuous creators.[750]
Nor would the Germans have the Americans forget such incidents as the saving by Germans of American refugees from a “bloodthirsty mob of Mexicans at the Southern Hotel, Tampico, Mexico,” through their aid in 1914,[751] the help of Germans in holding Fort McHenry in the War of 1812,[752] and that “the German element furnished nearly 200,000 men, natives of Germany” for the Northern army in the Civil War.[753]
THE CENSORSHIP OF PATRIOTIC GROUPS, FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS AND OTHERS
Other agencies than the Hearst newspapers and those groups united by religious and racial bonds have interested themselves in attacking the histories used in the public schools. Most active among these censors are various patriotic organizations and individuals, notably newspaper editors. Through such forces many investigations of textbooks have been undertaken, resulting, at times, in the exclusion of the books under criticism from the public schools.
During the World War, European history textbooks bore the brunt of attack. Discussions tending to bestow praise upon the Central Powers, or in any way to disparage the institutions or prowess of the Allies, were deemed disloyal to the cause in which the United States was engaged. Not only were history textbooks condemned but also textbooks in foreign language, particularly in German. The same spirit showed itself in many avenues through which public opinion could be affected. Thus a federal judge enjoined the production of “The Spirit of ’76,” a film depicting the Wyoming Massacre and Paul Revere’s ride, because it tended “to make us a little bit slack in our loyalty to Great Britain in this great emergency.”[754]
To those who feared a diluted Americanism, it seemed quite apparent that sinister forces were abroad, and in the attacks made upon authors of history textbooks, it was frequently charged that the preparation of school histories was in the hands of German paid agents. Indeed, the activities of pro-German forces to control the content of history textbooks, it was alleged, had been operating for some time, and since 1915 had been directed by Dr. Dernburg, under whom definitely made plans had been perfected.[755] This conclusion was reached by the skeptical when to one of his agents was attributed this statement: “The Americans do not love the British, and they are inclined to like the Germans. By controlling the preparation of school histories, we can begin to make Americans from the time they are children see the German point of view.”[756]
Among the organizations which feared the inculcation of disloyalty through a study of history as commonly written was the Fathers of Soldiers and Sailors League. It was through their influence that the James Harvey Robinson histories were excluded from the schools of Des Moines, Iowa, because of the statement regarding Germany contained in these books.[757] Among the objections raised against Robinson’s Medieval and Modern Times were the characterization of the German government, the failure to fix the responsibility upon Germany for bringing about the World War, and the discussion of the violation of “all laws of humanity as well as of international law” by Germany. In addition to criticisms directed against the 1916 edition of this book, the Des Moines objectors felt that there was a pro-German bias evident in the 1918 Supplement in such a statement as the following: “So while Germany was able, as we shall see, to conquer important portions of Central Europe as the war proceeded, she lost all her colonies. The question whether she is to have them back or not will be one of the great problems to adjust at the end of the war.”[758]