A team of historians have racked up a long list of big errors in two social studies textbooks custom-written for Virginia schools. In the books published by Five Ponds Press, students will find that 12 states joined the Confederacy instead of 11, Thomas Jefferson began his presidency in 1800 instead of 1801 and the United States entered World War I in 1916 instead of 1917.
The historical inaccuracies were brought to light last month following the review of the books "Our Virginia: Past and Present" and "Our America: To 1865," both published by the Weston, Conn.-based company.
The state ordered a review of its social studies books after "Our Virginia: Past and Present" was spotlighted last October for a factual error related to African-American contributions to the Confederacy during the Civil War.
The book states, "Thousands of Southern blacks fought in the Confederate ranks, including two black battalions under the command of Stonewall Jackson." Those assertions are not supported by Civil War scholarship, according to Carol Sheriff, the William and Mary history professor who brought the original error to light.
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