Understanding the 1619 Project
Overview
In August 2019,ย The New York Timesย published a series of feature stories entitled theย 1619 Projectย in order to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of enslaved Africans to British North America. Subsequently, theย 1619 Projectย has gone viral and perhaps sparked the most important societal debate in a generation about the importance of American slavery to founding of the United States. In response to what many conservatives perceived as the 1619 Projectโs unpatriotic and anti-America rhetoric, in January 2021 the Trump administration released theย 1776 Reportย as a rebuttal to the 1619 Projectโs overarching narrative and key claims. In this course, Professor Hill will provide a detailed overview of the projectโs mission, goals, arguments, key advocates, and opponents. The presentation will contextualize the 1619 Projectโs impact, as well as explain why it continues to spark controversy.
Professor Hillโs Recommended Reading:
โHow the 1619 Project Came Together – The New York Times.โ Accessed August 9, 2021.ย https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/18/reader-center/1619-project-slavery-jamestown.html.
โThe 1619 Project.โย The New York Times, August 14, 2019, sec. Magazine.ย https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/1619-america-slavery.html, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/1619-america-slavery.html.
Pulitzer Center. โThe 1619 Project Reading Guide: Quotes, Key Terms, and Questions.โ Accessed August 9, 2021.ย https://pulitzercenter.org/builder/lesson/1619-project-reading-guide-quotes-key-terms-and-questions.
Schwartz, Sarah. โLawmakers Push to Ban โ1619 Projectโ From Schools.โย Education Week, February 3, 2021, sec. Social Studies.ย https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/lawmakers-push-to-ban-1619-project-from-schools/2021/02.
Serwer, Adam. โThe Fight Over the 1619 Project Is Not About the Facts.โ The Atlantic, December 23, 2019.ย https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/12/historians-clash-1619-project/604093/.
โWe Respond to the Historians Who Critiqued The 1619 Project – The New York Times.โ Accessed August 9, 2021.ย https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/20/magazine/we-respond-to-the-historians-who-critiqued-the-1619-project.html.