How Solid Is the Rock: Gauging the Historical Accuracy of Schoolhouse Rock

by Stephanie Evans, Undergraduate Student of Interdisciplinary Studies

For seventeen years, people have watched the childrens' television program Schoolhouse Rock, but what did the people who watched these outrageously popular children's cartoons learn? This research paper compares the information presented in the American History portion of the program with the actual events of history and illustrates how the information and ideas of this segment of Schoolhouse Rock are false and exclusive. More specifically, the paper focuses on the ten segments of America Rock, the American History portion of Schoolhouse Rock. In order to separate exclusive, Eurocentric, myth perpetuating propaganda from inclusive, documentable historical fact, the project seeks to gauge the historical accuracy of the educational information presented. While Schoolhouse Rock is a child's program, and children are not equipped to understand (nor should they be made to endure) the depths of injustices that people have endured throughout time, there is no justification for institutions teaching children, (and adults), false and exclusive history. Furthermore, if it [propaganda] "develops into a hardened institution, contaminating the flow and usurping the place of genuine education, it does so because there are forces at work trying to keep the mass of the people addressed permanently in the position of infants in arms." (Katz, 465). Therefore, if we are to become responsible educated adults, it is extremely important that the information concerning our history be presented accurately and allow for the many varied perspectives that constitute a more accurate picture of the human experience. Education, unlike propaganda, requires and promotes critical thinking. The objective of this study is to serve as a springboard for dialogue and promote awareness of the falsification of popular history as well as to initiate critical thinking about representative cultural democracy that is innate in American history.

Introduction

Schoolhouse Rock, a highly successful film and television program, was the idea of advertising executive, David McCall, who wanted his son to know as much about academic subjects as he did about rock and roll lyrics. The entire program covers mathematics, science, anatomy, economics, grammar, computer technology, and American History. This study focuses on the ten cartoon segments in the history section, America Rock, and for purposes of this paper an even smaller section is used to illustrate the major thesis.

McCall along with Tom Yohe and George Newall collaborated with educators and jazz musicians to combine education with entertainment. The result was an award-winning ABC television program. The popularity and the impact of the show is very evident: "the fact is, our innocent lyrics and pictures made literally billions of impressions between 1973 and 1985. (A TV 'impression' being defined as one show, seen by one viewer, one time.)" (Yohe, ix) The program won four Emmys for outstanding achievement in children's programming and was brought back by popular demand in 1992; it is still being aired today. The programs are available on CD-Rom and videocassettes, the lyrics have been reissued by alternative bands to make new C. D.s., and, in 1995, the entire program was the inspiration for an off-Broadway production. The successful marketing and mass production of the show has acculturated an entire population.

The information presented in America Rock, the ten historical segments under discussion, reflects both the institutionalized and the popular cultural perception of American history. For this, and many other reasons, this program is an excellent point of departure. It is the premise of this research that inherent fallacies exist in the information presented. If these lessons are recycled into the same system of which they are a product without critical analysis, the result will not be real education. This paper is not about being politically correct, it is about being historically accurate.

Methodology

This study compares and contrasts each of the ten segments presented in America Rock, with actual recorded historical fact. In each segment, the lyrics of the cartoon's songs are compared to the historical event, as recorded in selected educational history texts. The lyrics from The Official Guide to Schoolhouse Rock are analyzed in contrast to historical events as they are represented in two nationally renowned educational texts: Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States, 1492-Present and John Murrin's Liberty, Equality, and Power: A History of the American People Volume 1, to 1877. Howard Zinn's text is utilized because it presents history from the perspective of the general population, rather than that of the elite population who traditionally instruct in or attend America's institutions of higher education. John Murrin's text is utilized because it is one of the textbooks for history instruction at California State University, Long Beach. Murrin provides a perspective that does not profess to be fundamentally radical or conservative, thus it includes a perspective of history that represents both the general populace and the traditional institutions of higher education. Though many different sources were utilized for context, these two books provide the data base for the main body of the information and standards used in refuting the assumptions presented in the song lyrics. Both the lyrics and refutations are recorded here in direct quotes from the main sources in an effort to keep the necessary focus on the contradictions presented. Although the scope of the overall study allowed extensive detail, the intent of this research paper is to present only the most glaring examples of lyrics that contradict the historical facts as cited in the selected texts. Consequently, the information presented here is by no means a complete list, it is simply a broad reflection of the fundamental factual problems found in popular presentations of American History.

Findings

Because of limited space, the segment listed below has been selected to exemplify the ten segments of American Rock. In my oral presentation of the ten segments, as with these examples, excerpts from the song lyrics are presented followed by relevant historical citations that refute the ideas presented by the program.

In the "Shot Heard 'Round the World," segment, the authors depict the start of the American Revolution. The piece declares that "the ride of Paul Revere, set the nation on its ear, and the shot at Lexington heard 'round the world... and the father of our country beat the British here at York town, and brought freedom to you and me and the U.S.A. (Yohe, 48)."

This idea is not only false and exclusive, it is an excellent example of how popular cultural myth evolves into accepted historical fact. First, Paul Revere never made the ride to Concord. "Paul Revere. . . was captured past Lexington by a small British patrol. Dr. Samuel Prescott, returning from a lady friend's house at the awkward hour of 3:00 a.m., managed to get the message through to Concord (Murrin, 200)." We are more than likely to think of Paul Revere as a hero because of a famous poem written by Harvard professor Henry W. Longfellow (1807-1882). He wrote a clever, but fictitious poem entitled "Paul Revere's Ride." Second, the popular picture of "us" (America) as the good guys versus "them" (England) as the bad guys, is destroyed by the most elementary investigation: "On October 19, 1781, Cornwallis surrendered his entire army of 8,000 men. Virginia planters hovered nearby to reclaim their thousands of escaped slaves, only to find that many of them had died in the siege (Murrin, 230)." Third, "Watching the new, tight discipline of Washington's army, a chaplain in Concord, Massachusetts, wrote: 'New lords, new laws. The strictest government is taking place and great distinction is made between officers and men. Everyone is made to know his place and keep it, or be immediately tied up, and receive not one, but 30 or 40 lashes (Zinn, 78)." Fourth, the notion that the "father of our country" brought freedom to everyone is clearly proven false by acknowledging that "at the very time the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed. . .almost one quarter of the North American population lived in total bondage. . . . In fact, the Constitution explicitly legitimized the institution of slavery in three of its provisions: It counted a slave as only three-fifths of a person for the purpose of apportioning seats in the House of Representatives; it prohibited Congress from abolishing the slave trade until 1808, and it provided for the swift return of fugitive slaves to their owners (American Civil Liberties Union)." Finally, "by a paradoxical act of poetic justice, it was this American - an oppressed American born into slavery. . . who carried the American standard in the prologue that laid the foundation of American freedom. It was Attucks, according to eyewitnesses, who shaped and dominated the action on the night of the event known to history as the Boston Massacre. . . . Crispus Attucks was the first martyr of the Revolution (Bennett, 61)."

Results and Discussion

The expected findings of half-truths, omissions, and glorifications throughout America Rock were not only substantiated, but surpassed. For seventeen years this false information has been, and still continues to be, disseminated without the slightest concern for the legitimization of the widespread falsification of the American historical record that has ensued. Without being subjected to critical evaluation, such historical inaccuracy may provide the platform from which further popularization of false historical record will be perpetuated. This study provides a prime reason for persuading history educators to edit for accuracy, requiring that media executives who claim to be concerned with children's education be held accountable, and encouraging all parents to examine critically the contents of children's programming.

The producers of America Rock had hoped to enhance children's awareness, education, and memorization of significant events in American history. After critical examination, their story is found to be the same false history to which children had been exposed, since the European colonization of North America. Erica Engstrom, who wrote a detailed essay on the history of Schoolhouse Rock, stated "Rock's premise consisted of the simple notion that music enhances learning." If information is false, however, putting it to music will not make it true; music will only make the lies more memorable. The corporate-owned mass media, in this case, the purveyor of institutionalized misinformation, distorts and perverts education. This practice, regardless of how entertaining it m ay be, is neither beneficial to children of the past nor the children of the future.

Stephanie Evans is a senior in the Interdisciplinary Studies Program at CSULB and will graduate in May 1999 with a B.A. in Comparative Humanities. This program has helped her to explore how race, socio-economic group, and gender influence American cultural identities. Stephanie is extremely active on CSULB's campus in academics, student leadership, and community service. She is a McNair Scholar, President of the Cap and Gown Chapter of the Mortar Board National Honor Society, and has just been elected to the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society. Her work at the Community Service Learning Center has earned her a summer research internship as a 1999 California Pre-Doctoral Scholar at the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University. She will began a Ph.D. program in African American Literature (with certificates in Women's Studies and Social Justice Education) this fall at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She hopes to become a professor and a mentor in the CSU system. Stephanie was the first-place winner in the category of Humanities and Letters at the 1998 CSULB Student Research Competition.