Shit I Have to Teach in Twenty Minutes
A podcast for history teachers or anyone in a hurry. Eric and Rob interview historians about what are the important concepts about a given topic and they provide free lesson plans aligned with that discussion.
Shit I Have to Teach in Twenty Minutes
S1/E18 Reconstruction with Kidada Williams
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Dr. Kidada WIlliams sits down with Eric and Rob to discuss ways to teach about the Reconstruction era in the United States. Dr. Williams is a history professor at Wayne State University and she delves into the lives of African American victims and survivors of racist violence. Her work, I Saw Death Coming, was longlisted for the 2023 National Book Award for Nonfiction and won the 2024 Organization of American Historians’ Civil War and Reconstruction Book Award. She urges teachers to consider four major concepts when teaching the Reconstruction era in their classrooms. First, they should discuss what the congressional and constitutional framers had in mind regarding Reconstruction. They should emphasize what African Americans wanted and achieved. Teachers should also focus on who attacked and abandoned Reconstruction, and how and why that occurred. Finally, teachers should explore the legacies of Reconstruction today since we are still living in a world created by what happened after the Civil War. She urges teachers to challenge the notion that Reconstruction failed. Rather, teachers should identify the important gains made while also demonstrating how Reconstruction policies and African Americans were deliberately and violently attacked by white southerners and how white northerners and westerners abandoned what was a limited commitment to advancing African American freedom, equality, and opportunity. She notes that African Americans resisted these challenges in a number of ways.
Lesson Plans and resources:
The African American Agency during Reconstruction lesson can be found at https://bit.ly/4vPSc75
Reconstruction and the Violence Within lesson can be found at https://bit.ly/4tzpYfe
Dr. Williams's Seizing Freedom Podcast can be found at https://seizingfreedom.vpm.org/
The National Museum of African American History and Culture’s Educational Resources can be found at https://www.searchablemuseum.com/for-educators/
Credits
Opening theme music, “Bossa Bossa,” created by Clare Howard www.clarehoward.com Music supported by the National Council for History Education www.ncheteach.org
Transition theme music, “The Clock is Ticking,” created by Emily Hahn.
Logo artwork created by Jessica Goldman.
Shit I Have to Teach in 20 Minutes is produced by Eric Hahn and Rob Good. Audio and video editing by Sebastian Rosales.
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