A Young People’s History of the United States: Revised and Updated

I knew A Young People’s History of the United States book was working when students started to come into upper-level classes talking about Claudette Colvin before Rosa Parks was mentioned!

The book is very accessible to my students and it’s a great way to differentiate the class materials.

I adopted A Young People’s History of the United States as my primary textbook this year and my students love it! It fits especially well with my theme of resistance for the year. Already in the first few weeks of school they have learned how to be critical of the unified “us” and “we” narratives of the people that make up the United States found in more traditional textbooks, and they now reflexively ask for the larger story of anything they read.

Instead of marching through U.S. history from the “beginning” in 1492 to the current era, I have shaped my course by units, and the chapters in the A People’s History book allow me to jump around as needed to give them the information they need to understand each topic, but also how each topic or group of people ties into the others.

Using the book, and the materials at the Zinn Education Project website, the students are taking a hard look at what they’ve been taught, learning from voices they otherwise might not get to hear, and grasping a deeper level of the multiple “we’s” that make up US.

The combination of using student-led and inquiry discussions this year with A Young People’s History has changed the entire dynamic of humanities this year.

Students come to class bursting with questions and ideas to start discussions.

There has been a significant increase in engagement, motivation, connections to current events, and in general learning to question most everything, as well as history (something kids appreciate a lot).

As an 8th grade history teacher, I use A Young People’s History of the United States as my primary “textbook” every year. I use this book in a variety of ways and each chapter leads to rich and interesting class discussions. I have created activities where excerpts of the chapter are on the walls and students walk around the room reading excerpts and talking with others in order to answer questions on a note-catcher. Students have participated in Socratic seminars where they discuss what they learned in particular chapters, and groups will sometimes support each other by reading sections of a chapter and sharing what they learn with each others (jigsaw). I have also created an “escape room” where small groups need to answer questions correctly in order to unlock a room and enter another.

To supplement what we learn from the book, students have really enjoyed participating in mixers. Poetry of Defiance: How the Enslaved Resisted and Who Fought to End Slavery? Meet the Abolitionists are two favorites. These lessons are so engaging for my students and they walk away with such a deep understanding and appreciation for 1) the ability of the enslaved to maintain their human dignity through acts of resistance and 2) the tenacity of the abolitionists to demand freedom by any means necessary. Every year, I am so moved by the poems that they create using the Poetry of Defiance lesson.

In a time when some folks in the federal government are doing whatever they can to silence educators, I am grateful for the Zinn Education Project and all of the resources that are available for teachers who want to continue teaching the real history of our country. Even my 8th graders understand that there is no way to grow and improve as a nation without truly understanding and learning from the mistakes that have been made.

A Young People’s History of the United States is a staple in our classroom. We take a look at the “discovery” of the Americas through the lens of those that were “discovered” and hold to account the colonizers who brought pain, suffering, and death to native populations. We learned that Columbus and his crew also used violence and brutality toward the Taíno people. They enslaved many Taíno men, women, and children, and, by some estimates, the Taíno population declined from millions to just a few thousand within a few decades of Columbus’ arrival.

By learning about events like wars, genocide, slavery, and oppression, young people can develop a greater appreciation for the struggles of those who came before them and the progress that has been made. Students need to know the “hard history” because, without it, our story is incomplete. It provides a sense of empathy for others who have experienced hardship and injustice, and can inspire young people to work towards a better, more equitable future for all. By confronting and acknowledging unpleasant parts of history, we can work towards reconciliation and healing and create a more just society.