The objectives of this article are, first, to capture the main camps and patterns of the "social studies wars" since the beginning of the twentieth century and, second, to describe critical episodes from that long history that will help put the contemporary controversies in historical perspective. Here, the author features six critical episodes beginning with the reactions to the 1916 "Report on Social Studies" and concluding with the 1980s' revival of history. The author concludes by drawing three "lessons" that social studies teachers might consider from this history of curriculum disagreement in social studies: (1) teachers have choices; (2) freedom is powerful; and (3) traditional discipline-based approaches seem to have staying power. He asserts that far from being simply an academic matter, controversy over the teaching of social studies in schools represents a tangible forum through which Americans have struggled over competing visions of the good society and the desirable future. At its heart, this is a struggle over both the nature of social studies and the kind of society in which we want to live. (Contains 27 notes.)