North Carolina Creates New US History Class Focusing On "Founding Principles"

The Daily Tar Heel reports:

High school students across the state can look forward to spending more quality time with America’s Founding Fathers. In fact, they won’t be able to graduate without doing so.

A bill signed into law by Gov. Bev Perdue last week, known as “The Founding Principles Act,” requires local school boards to develop a semester course focused on the founding philosophy of the U.S. government by the 2014-2015 school year.

The act states that students must understand Founders’ writings in order to preserve the country’s republican form of government.

The course will emphasize founding documents, such as the Declaration of Independence, in addition to concepts within the documents, including inalienable rights and the separation of powers. Students must pass the course to graduate...

In a poll conducted by the Daily Beast earlier this year, only 12 percent of Americans could name one of the authors of the Federalist Papers. Sixty-five percent incorrectly stated the purpose of the Constitutional Convention.

The act also permits schools to post documents that influenced the development of the U.S. legal system, including the Ten Commandments. Displays of religious documents must be accompanied by a sign quoting the First Amendment, according to the bill.

William Marshall, a UNC law professor with expertise on church and state issues, said the display’s context would be considered if it was challenged in court.

“The Establishment Clause is very imprecise,” he said. “I think that the court would look at how it’s implemented.”

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