Florence in Florida
Florida is now at the center of conservative efforts to make a distorted, partisan view of Western civilization the anchor, not only of education, but of politics in the state.
Over the last four years, Tallahassee has emerged as the new Florence, the center of a campaign to revive the study of Western civilization. But whereas 14th-Century Florence, Italy was the epicenter of the European Renaissance devoted to the development of humanism, Florida is now at the center of conservative efforts to make a distorted, partisan view of Western civilization the anchor, not only of education, but of politics in the state.
If the Medicis were the extravagant patrons of the original Florence, it is the republicans in the Florida state legislature who are driving this agenda today. In 2022, it passed a bill to create the Hamilton Center, now the Hamilton School for Western Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida. (I insert the label “Western” here because every culture has its own classical intellectual tradition.)
A year later, Florida became the first state to adopt the “Classical Learning Test” (CLT) as an alternative to the SAT and ACT exams. Jeremy Tate, who created the CLT In 2015, contends that “the classics” articulate “what it means to be human.” While there is nothing particularly wrong about studying these texts, Tate’s assertion is troubling in that he is clearly implying that reading James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, or other authors do not “have the ability to express what it means to be human.”
And a few weeks ago, Florida approved a new US history course FACT, (“Florida Advanced Courses and Tests), which students can take instead of the College Board’s AP US History exam. This fall the state is piloting the FACT course, and the Florida State Board of Education would like to pass a law that allows students who pass the course to receive college credit at all four-year public universities in Florida (but will not receive college credit for universities outside of the state).
FACT emerged out of a conservative critique of the 560-page framework of the AP exam. Critics claimed it represents a “woke” ideology and presents “too negative” an interpretation of American history. The FACT approach to US history will instead emphasize America’s Protestant origins and highlight the nation’s Western classical values rather than focus on themes such as racism, sexism, and class, which conservatives have labeled “divisive.”
The 214-page FACT curriculum devotes a great amount of attention to the study of Western and American classical sources such as the Federalist Papers. Yet the overwhelming majority of texts were written by white males. There are only 17 core and additional primary sources by women and people of color. The curriculum includes, not surprisingly, Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and his “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” But it does not include one primary source from a Black, Latino, Native American, or Asian American woman. W.E.B Dubois is not included in the curriculum.
The American Historical Association (AHA), the flagship organization of professional historians in the US, has objected to the project, concluding that “By privileging political talking points over sound scholarship, the framework promotes outdated pedagogy and inaccurate history unworthy of Florida’s public schools.” The AHA statement points out that “the course framework repeatedly interprets founding documents through Biblical passages that no founder would have intended to serve as a model for the United States government.” “Political indoctrination through rote memorization,” it warns, “will not provide a meaningful alternative to college history instruction.”
Florida students must also take a course on the evils of communism. In announcing the new standards in November 2025, thirty-four years since the end of the Cold War, the head of the Florida Board of Education claimed that they were a response to “the resurgence of Communist ideologies across the United States and throughout the world.”
Having already established a “Victims of Communism Day” in 2022, Florida has mandated that schools teach “the truth about the brutal realities of life under communism” and cultivate a “deeper appreciation for the blessings of liberty that define our nation.”
In other words, students will scrutinize the horrors of communism and celebrate the “virtues” of capitalism. They will be exposed to these lessons—all while trying to make them square with the reality of a $7.25 per hour federal minimum wage and daily exposure to extreme wealth inequality throughout the Sunshine State, which ranks 5th in a national survey of states with the worst gaps between rich and poor, and where more than 2.7 million people live below the poverty line (including 15.5% of children).
A few weeks ago, I wrote an essay titled “The Myth of Civilizational Erasure” and argued that, despite the increase in non-English speakers and non-Christians, the United States remains a Western nation. Many conservatives, regardless of race, contend political, cultural and social divisions in the United States are a function of mass immigration and a “woke” American educational system that is “left leaning” and does not spend enough time reading Western classics such as Pericles’ Funeral Oration and American foundational documents, such as the Federalist Papers, Constitution, and Declaration of Independence.
When I arrived at the University of Florida in 2020 several politicians questioned the practicality of a liberal arts degree, but after investing millions in the Hamilton Center and providing Floridian students alternative standardized exams and courses that emphasize Western Classics, the state of Florida is supporting the liberal arts.
I applaud this commitment to Western Civilization and recognizing the benefits of a liberal education, but the irony is that students who are studying and extolling the virtues of Western Civilization are watching an American president who on an everyday basis violates the ostensible foundation of Western Civilization, the rule of law. They should be outraged because, as many Western civilization advocates preach, “it’s the rule of law that separates them” from other civilizations.
In reality, Western Civilization is far more complex. The version being taught in Florida is a distorted view. For instance, students who study Ancient Greece praise it as the worlds first democracy even though it was a slave society that only allowed white male elites the right to vote. American “democracy” imitated their Ancient Greek forefathers and did the same. However, in 1828 the white elite allowed poor white males to vote to ensure Black people remained at the bottom, and the white elite stayed at the top. This fact is not anti-American, woke, “democratic socialism,” or any other buzz word conservatives use to promote American exceptionalism or patriotic history.
A messier—and more realistic—version of American history is unfolding before our eyes. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 permitted all African Americans the right to vote, but, in recent weeks, several southern states such as Alabama and Louisiana have redrawn districts that will eliminate Black congressional representation. While southern African Americans can vote, they have been disempowered because a majority of white southerners are Republicans, and many white voters, including white democrats, tend to vote for white candidates.
The Hamilton Center school website asserts that studying there will “prepare you to think deeply, explore widely, speak with conviction, and lead with purpose.” But this is promise is not unique to this framing of the liberal arts. Indeed, there is no evidence that concludes studying Western Classics will improve civil society, end political division, or create a “more perfect union.”
During the next decade I am confident that students who develop a passion to study Western Classics in Florida will obtain high-earning careers because many will receive competitive internships and develop extensive networks in the state, effectively cashing in on conservative connections forged through this curriculum.
Tallahassee’s commitment to the study of Western classical education in secondary and post-secondary schools will produce the next generation of Heritage Foundation scholars, politicians, judges, lawyers, and business people in Florida and beyond. Their career trajectories will follow from the state and private funding of Western classics, not as an intellectual enterprise of free speech, but as a partisan incubator that promotes a conservative agenda.
Dr. David A. Canton is Associate Professor of African American Studies and History at the University of Florida.
