Page 150 - 1619 Project Curriculum

1 of 11

Reading Guide for ​The 1619 Project ​Essays

The index below offers a preview and guiding questions for the 18 essays included in ​The 1619
Project​ from ​The New York Times Magazine.

1. “The Idea of America” by Nikole Hannah-Jones (pages 14–26)

Excerpt “Our Declaration of Independence, signed on July 4, 1776, proclaims that ‘all
men are created equal’ and ‘endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable
rights.’ But the white men who drafted those words did not believe them to be
true for the hundreds of thousands of black people in their midst. ‘Life, Liberty
and the pursuit of Happiness’ did not apply to fully one-fifth of the country. Yet
despite being violently denied the freedom and justice promised to all, black
Americans believed fervently in the American creed. Through centuries of black
resistance and protest, we have helped the country to live up to its founding
ideals…Without the idealistic, strenuous and patriotic efforts of black
Americans, our democracy today would most likely look very different — it
might not be a democracy at all.”

Key Names, abolitionist, American Revolution, Civil Rights Act, Crispus Attucks,
Dates, and Declaration of Independence, Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, Jim
Terms Crow, Mason-Dixon Line, National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People (N.A.A.C.P.), Reconstruction, W.E.B. Du Bois

Guiding 1. How have laws, policies, and systems developed to enforce the
Questions enslavement of black Americans before the Civil War influenced laws,
policies, and systems in years since?
2. How has activism by black Americans throughout U.S. history led to
policies that benefit all people living in the U.S.?

2. “Chained Migration” by Tiya Miles (page 22)

These materials were created to support ​The 1619 Project​, published in ​The New York Times Magazine​ August
2019. You can find this and more educational resources at ​www.pulitzercenter.org/1619