Teaching Hard History

From 1936 to 1938, the Federal Writers’ Project collected stories from people who had been enslaved. The WPA Slave Narrative Collection at the Library of Congress is a valuable resource; these oral histories are also problematic. Interpreting these narratives within literary and historical context, students can develop primary source literacy. Historian Cynthia Lynn Lyerly outlines unique insights these texts can add to your curriculum.

You can find a complete transcript in the show notes for this episode, along with a list of resources to help you teach the hard history explored in this episode.

And educators! Get a professional development certificate for listening to this episode—issued by Learning for Justice. Listen for the special code word, then visit learningforjustice.org/podcastpd.

It’s time for our first call-in show! We know things are chaotic for you and every other educator right now. We feel it too, so this seems like the perfect time to talk. Pick up the phone and dial 888-59-STORY (888-597-8679). Our lines are open until Sunday night, April 19. Teaching hard history is even harder right now, so let’s talk about resources you can use if you’re teaching virtually. Ask us your questions; tell us your stories. And let us know how you’re doing.

Whether you work with elementary, middle or high school students or whether you teach social studies or English language arts, the coming months are a good time to plan how you can bring accurate, foundational content about enslavement into your lessons. Tell us how you’ve been introducing your students to enslavement. What have you learned? What can we do to help? And we’ll try to have you on the show next week. P.S. If you like, you can also email us at [email protected].

Throughout the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, the forced labor and bondage of Indigenous peoples was integral to the economic and political history of what became the Southwestern United States. Historian and author Andrés Reséndez outlines the significance of silver mining, Indigenous enslavement and resistance in the history of New Mexico and Latin America. We also examine how, as white settlers moved west, so-called “free soil” states like California continued to institutionalize coerced labor.

You can find a complete transcript in the show notes for this episode, along with a list of resources to help you teach the hard history explored in this episode.

And educators! Get a professional development certificate for listening to this episode—issued by Learning for Justice. Listen for the special code word, then visit learningforjustice.org/podcastpd.

A hundred years before the first ship carrying enslaved Africans arrived in Virginia, Europeans introduced the commercial practice of enslavement in “The New World.” And for the next 400 years, millions of Indigenous people throughout the Americas were enslaved through several forms of forced labor and bondage. Historian and author Andrés Reséndez calls this “The Other Slavery,” and his work is changing our understanding of the transatlantic slave trade.

Educators! Get a professional development certificate for listening to this episode—issued by Learning for Justice. Listen for the special code word, then visit learningforjustice.org/podcastpd.

And you can find a complete transcript on our website, along with resources to help you teach the hard history explored in this episode. Resources like these...

• Teaching Hard History, Summary Objective 1
• Teaching Hard History, Summary Objective 2

Andrés Reséndez History, University of California, Davis

• The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America
• A Land So Strange: The Epic Journey of Cabeza de Vaca

References:

• Ancient History Encyclopedia, Atahualpa
• Spanish forced labor, Encomienda
• Spanish forced labor, Repartimiento
• Southern United States, Convict leasing
• PBS: Slavery by Another Name, Slavery v. Peonage
• Interviews with Historians, Brett Rushforth
• Portuguese slave trade, São Jorge da Mina
• American Heritage, Columbus and Genocide
• Massimo Livi-Bacci, The Depopulation of Hispanic America after the Conquest
• Spain, New Laws of the Indies for the Good Treatment and Preservation of the Indians
• Nancy E. van Deusen, Global Indios: The Indigenous Struggle for Justice in Sixteenth-Century Spain

And you'll find a full episode transcript on our site.

The systems that enabled and perpetuated African and Indigenous enslavement in what is now the U.S. have much in common, and their histories tell us a great deal about the present. Professors Bethany Jay and Steven Oliver join us to talk about connections between the first two seasons and how to teach them, and we preview what’s to come in season three.

You can find a complete transcript in the show notes for this episode, along with a list of resources to help you teach the hard history explored in this episode.

And educators! Get a professional development certificate for listening to this episode—issued by Learning for Justice. Listen for the special code word, then visit learningforjustice.org/podcastpd.