Slavery in Secondary History Textbooks from the United States and Brazil

ABSTRACT

The United States and Brazil were the two largest slave societies in the history of New World slavery, and the legacies of that history remain salient in both nations. Slavery and the slave trade are important topics to be taught in history courses, and future generations need to be given accurate information about the history and legacies of slavery to be well-informed citizens. A content analysis of textbooks used in the two countries compared how slavery was presented to students and assessed the degree to which the complexities and legacies of slavery were addressed. All of the textbooks (a) incorporated the history of slavery within national narratives of progress; (b) gave minimum attention to the unique experiences of women and indigenous people; and (c) presented a decontextualized view of slavery.

Notes

¹ Most historians agree that the White Lion was not the first ship that carried African captives to be sold into bondage in mainland North America as colonial census records show the presence of Africans already in Virginia at the time of the ship’s arrival (Berlin, 1998). The arrival of African captives with the White Lion does, however, symbolize the beginning of the continual forced importation of Africans to what would become the United States.

² Topics included citizenship education (Gonçalves e Silva, 2004; Myers, 2007; Schugurensky & Madjidi, 2008); identity, race, and racism in education (Dávila, 2003; Jones De Almeida, 2003; Silva, 2008); and affirmative action policies (Darby, 2010; Htun, 2004).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nafees M. Khan

Nafees M. Khan is an assistant professor of Social Foundations at Clemson University. His research interests incorporate the legacies of slavery as related to education and the experiences of African Diaspora communities. He serves on the Operational Committee for the Slave Voyages database consortium (www.slavevoyages.org). In addition, he is on the planning and advisory committee of the African Diaspora Consortium (www.adcexchange.org), where he serves with the College Board to develop a new Advanced Placement (AP) Seminar course on the African Diaspora.