Florida Launches Conservative High School History Course

In 2026 the Florida Department of Education, under Governor Ron DeSantis, introduced a history course that replaces the Advanced Placement U.S. History curriculum. The FACT program describes the course as a conservative interpretation that highlights the Founders’ Protestant faith, portrays the Constitution as antislavery, and uses a textbook aimed at building patriotism.

Salon

The course follows the 2022 Stop W.O.K.E. Act, which barred instruction on “divisive” topics, and expands the FACT program, a red-state alternative to the College Board. Florida’s reforms position the state as a testing ground for Republican education policy.

Salon

Governor Ron DeSantis has called the AP curriculum “woke.” The Florida Department of Education oversees the rollout. Frederick Hess, director of education policy at the American Enterprise Institute, praised the primary-source focus. Dana Goldstein of the New York Times reported on the course. The National Coalition of History and the Organization of American Historians issued a joint statement opposing it.

Salon

Thirteen of the thirty-nine Constitution signers were from the South, and an estimated twenty-five delegates owned enslaved people. The document counted enslaved individuals as three-fifths of a person for representation, barred a federal ban on the slave trade until 1808, and included a fugitive-slave clause. Black people were excluded from citizenship.

Salon

DeSantis said the AP program “examines the complexities of American history” in a way that undermines patriotism. The Florida Department of Education described the new course as a corrective to “woke” narratives, stressing unity. Historians argue the Constitution is a compromise protecting slaveholding interests, not an antislavery document. Their joint statement warned that omitting slavery would suppress debate and hinder national progress. The curriculum’s antislavery claim therefore conflicts with scholarly consensus.

Salon

• “focuses on the Protestant faith of the Founders, argues that the U.S. Constitution is an antislavery document and recommends a textbook written explicitly to build patriotism.” — Dana Goldstein, New York Times reporter

Salon

• “Our nation’s history is complex,” — National Coalition of History and Organization of American Historians (joint statement)

Salon

• “The study of it requires not just a celebration of our triumphs, but frank discussion of our shortcomings, indeed our divisions.” — National Coalition of History and Organization of American Historians (joint statement)

Salon

• “stifles that debate and our ability to move forward as a nation,” — National Coalition of History and Organization of American Historians (joint statement)

Salon

Florida officials anticipate adoption of the course by other Republican-controlled states, expanding the FACT program’s influence. The rollout will be monitored for legal challenges and for responses from academic groups urging inclusion of slavery and civil-rights perspectives in public curricula.

Salon