Were the changes to the College Board’s framework for its Advanced Placement U.S. history exam just superficial or did they represent an overhaul of objectionable content laid out in 2014? Writing elsewhere on NRO, Frederick M. Hess and Max Eden of the American Enterprise Institute say they are surprised at the “thoroughness” of the revisions.

On the one hand, the most egregious examples of anti-American bias have been removed. They write: “For instance, the framework no longer describes Manifest Destiny as simply ‘built on a belief in white racial superiority’ but rather motivated by a desire for ‘economic opportunities and religious refuge’ and a belief in ‘the superiority of American institutions.’”

Furthermore:

Those institutions — self-government, civil society, and democratic capitalism — are all now given the respect and attention they deserve. The framework now addresses economic growth and American entrepreneurialism where before the only economics to speak of consisted of allusions to inequality and exploitation. Astonishingly, discussion of religion and its import was largely absent in 2014. That is no longer the case. Whereas in the 2014 framework one could be forgiven for thinking that the Declaration of Independence was consequential only insofar as it inspired rebellion in Haiti, the new framework makes clear that the Declaration “resonated throughout American history, shaping Americans’ understanding of the ideals on which the nation was based.”

These views differ completely from the views of Stanley Kurtz, who also wrote about the subject on NRO. Perhaps we need to read the originals ourselves. That can be done here.