檢視美國歷史教科書之爭議

Debate of American History Textbook: A Historical Review

美國歷史教科書的爭議不是經常發生在新的歷史事證的發現，較多是在意識型態和不同價值之間的拉拒下而產生。本文的研究對象為美國的中小學（K-12）的歷史教科書爭議，藉由歷史回顧與既有研究文獻，整理分析美國歷史教科書之爭議點何在，並檢視其背後代表的美國發展的南北差異問題。本文發現美國南北兩方不同的史觀，雙方雖然各有堅持，但是在教科書上的共識上大致協調，這是教科書商現實的考量。偶有少數州會在教科書上出現較極端的說法，但是整體的制衡力量仍是實質且有效。除了內戰的辯論外，英雄化問題、種族、宗教、與階級的紛爭也是歷史教科書的爭議所在。整體而言，這些爭議是意識型態、區域差異、州權爭取、聯邦體制，商業利益的各種交錯影響的產物。

The most significant debated issues of the American history textbook usually didn't arise with new findings from historians. Instead, it is a conflict under contending ideologies. This article is to review the textbook conflicts along with the history timeline. Major conflicting issues identified in this article include Civil War, over-herorization of specific figures, race, religion, and class. The last presentation of history on the textbook came through compromise among different interest holders of ideology, religion, region, state right advocates, union followers, and economic sector. Among them religious stance is the missing link for non-Americans to see through the debate. This article suggests the religious lens is good tool to comprehend this textbook issue.