As the Declaration of Independence’s 250th anniversary looms, K-12 teachers say they’re working in a climate of increased scrutiny and uncertainty.
In a recent survey, more than half said teaching basic civics concepts now feels “difficult,” with nearly 6 in 10 worrying about potential backlash for teaching something the “wrong way.”
Yet Americans in 2026 — and this generation especially — could probably use a lesson in those values: Just 47 percent of adults in a recent survey could correctly identify why the original 13 Colonies declared independence from Britain in 1776.
Matthew Vriesman, a history teacher in Michigan, said that while teachers in most places worry about the school board looking over their shoulder, on a day-to-day basis they’re more worried about keeping students engaged.
And most students, he said, can easily see through patriotic narratives. “If we describe a world to them that doesn’t actually resonate with their reality — some of the overly patriotic, ‘You have to know about these 10 guys who solved all the world’s problems,’ that’s not a compelling argument.”
His student Christina Le, 18, laughed when asked about “patriotic history.” Part of the fun of studying history is studying “struggle and resistance,” she said — and the art, music and culture that they produce.
“You don’t really love America and American ideals if you decide to ignore everything that America has done to rectify these issues that have been there since the beginning,” Le said. “I think that’s really the beauty of history. How boring would it be to only see one perspective, only one idea, that America has always been like this?”
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✍️: Greg Toppo,
@the_74
📸: Emily Scherer for The 19th
