On September 17, 2025, the Department of Education announced plans to prioritize investments in patriotic education, emphasizing “the role of faith” and “the influence of Western Civilization, including ancient Greece, Rome, and Judeo-Christianity,” on the “first principles” of American government. At both the state and federal level, policymakers and education reformers have used arguments for civic learning to reorient curricula in both K-12 and higher education around narratives of American exceptionalism, with significant implications for what histories we teach and why.

In the 21st-century United States, conversations around civics often focus on great books of the western tradition, founding documents, constitutional principles, federal institutions, and, in many cases, what policymakers deem sufficiently patriotic. But the founders themselves understood the creation of the United States within a global context. The Declaration of Independence, for example, famously addresses the people and nations of the world, framing an argument for sovereignty by way of international recognition "among the powers of the earth."