JDS,

Legality is determined by time. In the case of the emancipation
proclamation, time showed it was legal and necessary.

We may seriously differ in what blemishes we share with children at what
age. When I did the web site for Christopher Columbus for 1st graders, I
wanted to give a sense that he'd done great harm to the Native Americans
without taking about from his navigational feats. When I did the site for
Pocahontas (with assistance from members of this list), I had to decide how
much of the truth of the ill-treatment of the Indians by the colonist I
should include when the students were just kindergartners.
http://www.educationalsynthesis.org/famamer

For history, we generally don't present too many of the blemishes in high
school. College is a good time to learn about the nitties and gritties.

That said, I am of the personal opinion that history is best learned by the
maturing, the mature, and the sage.

                                         Anne

At 07:48 PM 2/26/03 -0500, you wrote:
>I didn't say that freedom for the slaves wasn't a meritorious act.  It
>clearly was so.
>
>Legal, is a different matter.
>
>I think that in teaching children on such matters you must objectively
>present the entire picture with all the blemishes.  The goal, after all, is
>to make sure they are knowledgeable on our history so we aren't "doomed" to
>see our mistakes repeated.
>
>JDS
>
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Anne Pemberton
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