s an ordeal. Some teachers managed to form a bond of trust with their students by smuggling forbidden information into classrooms. Others who tried this approach were reported and ended up losing their jobs or worse. Teachers had to choose between either scrapping the government approved syllabus and living at risk or following orders by lying to their students (McMullen).Even in 1925, the American government was trying to control what could and could not be taught. John T. Scopes was a teacher in Tennessee that dared to teach Darwin's theory of evolution. The state government outlawed the teaching of evolution in March of 1925. Scopes was tried for breaking that law in July of 1925. William Jennings Bryan, a former presidential candidate, prosecuted the case while the famous Clarence Darrow provided the defense. Although Bryan showed no knowledge in either the Bible or biology when he was cross-examined by Jennings, Scopes was found guilty. His conviction was eventually overturned by the State Supreme Court, even though the court upheld the statute which Scopes had broken ("The Scopes Trial").Where there is controlled knowledge, propaganda inevitably follows. Propaganda is the systematic attempt to manipulate the attitudes, beliefs, and actions of people through the use of symbols such as words, gestures, slogans, flags, and uniforms. The Soviets used propaganda in the schools to instill negative attitudes towards people living under capitalist systems (Tift 74). Textbooks were repeatedly and systematically doctored to reflect the views the government wanted expressed (McMullen).In America, it is the businesses that promote propaganda in the schools. As early as 1953, the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development wrote a pamphlet entitled "Using Free Materials in the Classroom." The American Association of School Administrators followed suit in 1955 when it published "Choosing Free Materials for Use in the Sc...
