The objective of this article is to analyse the teaching of three topics that are decisive in the contemporary history of Colombia: violence, drug trafficking and armed conflict. It is of fundamental interest to define the incorporation of the development of historical thought in the classrooms through the analysis of textbooks, the material most widely used by social science teachers in the country. Emphasis was placed on content analysis, cognitive level, concepts and historical thinking skills in three textbooks published by important publishing houses in the country, and currently being used in Colombian classrooms. A mixed methodology that combined both qualitative and quantitative information was used. An "Access" database was built and information was exported to the "Stata" or "Nvivo" programs. The analysis of the textbooks reviewed revealed an impoverishment of historical discourse and a cognitive model of deficient learning, in which higher intellectual capacities such as analysis, synthesis, conceptualisation, information management, systemic and critical thinking, research and metacognition, were not promoted. Most of the proposed activities required from the students only actions with a minimum level of complexity such as transcription, repetition and memorisation of information.