Democracy & Citizenship Archives

Rethinking What We Know About the Vietnam War

Teaching Activity. Zinn Education Project. 21 pages.
Two lessons to introduce key facts about the Vietnam War and the Pentagon Papers, documents that provide essential history that is often ignored by textbooks.

Dec. 12, 1870: Joseph H. Rainey First African American in U.S. House of Reps

Joseph H. Rainey, from South Carolina, was the first African American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Dec. 15, 1791: Bill of Rights Ratified

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, known as the United States Bill of Rights, were ratified.

Dec. 1961: Christmas Shopping Boycott

Aaron Henry (Mississippi state NAACP president, pharmacist, drugstore owner) and the Coahoma County NAACP organized an effective Christmas shopping boycott in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

Teacher Mini-Grants to Commemorate the 15th Amendment in 2020

Apply for a mini-grant to teach the 15th Amendment in 2020, the 150th anniversary of the Constitutional right to vote regardless of "race, color, or previous condition of servitude."

The Overseer Class: A Manifesto

Book — Non-fiction. By Steven W. Thrasher. 2026. 400 pages.
Explores what happens when members of historically minoritized groups are selected for high-visibility positions of power within existing institutions.

Jan. 10, 1966: Voting Rights Activist Vernon Dahmer Murdered

Vernon Dahmer was killed when the Ku Klux Klan fired bombed his home. This was one day after Dahmer offered to pay the election poll tax for anyone who could not afford it.

Martin Luther King Jr.: Beyond “I Have a Dream”

Resources about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., beyond the traditional narrative.

Oct. 4, 1774: Declaration of Independence from Britain

Residents of Worcester, Massachusetts demanded a new government be elected by the people, divorced from the British Crown and Parliament, setting the stage for nearly 100 more declarations that would sweep through the Thirteen Colonies before the summer of 1776.

Oct. 16, 1776: Petition for Religious Freedom

In Virginia, under threat of persecution, Baptists preached and petitioned for freedom of religion to be carved into law.

Aug. 3, 1980: Reagan Gives “State’s Rights” Speech at Neshoba County Fair

Reagan appealed to the “George Wallace-inclined voters” and to white supremacy in his stump speech at the Neshoba County Fair, mere miles away from where three civil rights workers were murdered by the Klan in 1964.

Attica Prison Uprising | Zinn Education Project

Sept. 9, 1971: Attica Prison Uprising

The Attica Prison Uprising began when prisoners took control of part of the prison in Upstate New York.

Mural by Blake Chamberlain on an interior wall of the Women's Rights National Historical Park Visitor Center depicting influential people of the women's suffrage movement.

Seneca Falls, 1848: Women Organize for Equality

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. 17 pages.
A role play allows students to examine issues of race and class when exploring both the accomplishments and limitations of the Seneca Falls Convention.

Teaching Activity by Bill Bigelow

Claudette Colvin (photo) | Zinn Education Project

March 2, 1955: Claudette Colvin Refuses to Give Up Her Bus Seat

At age 15, Claudette Colvin refused to give up her bus seat to a white woman in Montgomery, Alabama.

Feb. 6, 1961: “Jail, No Bail” in Rock Hill, South Carolina Sit-Ins

The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) sent four volunteers to Rock Hill, South Carolina to sit-in.

Feb. 24, 1969: Tinker v. Des Moines Case Wins Free Speech Rights for Students

The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in Tinker v. Des Moines that students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”

Dec. 20, 1990: Dr. Yolanda Huet-Vaughn Refused Service in First Gulf War

Kansas reservist Dr. Yolanda Huet-Vaughn refused orders to serve in the first Gulf War (Desert Storm).

March 6, 1857: Dred (and Harriet) Scott Decision

The Supreme Court declared in horrific Dred Scott v. Sandford ruling that “Any person descended from Africans, whether slave or free, is not a citizen of U.S.”

Feb. 15, 1851: Shadrach Minkins Arrested by U.S. Marshals Under Fugitive Slave Act

U.S. Marshals arrested Shadrach Minkins, who had escaped from slavery in Norfolk, Virginia.

March 30, 1952: Charlotta Bass Accepts U.S. VP Nomination

California newspaper owner and anti-Klan activist Charlotta Spears Bass became the first African American nominated to be a U.S. political party's vice-presidential candidate.

What the Koch Brothers Want Students to Learn About Slavery

By Adam Sanchez

Given that the billionaire Charles Koch has poured millions of dollars into eliminating the minimum wage and paid sick leave for workers, and that in 2015 he had the gall to compare his ultra-conservative mission to the anti-slavery movement, he’s probably the last person you’d want educating young people about slavery. Yet the history-teaching wing of the Koch brothers empire is seeking to promote an alternate narrative to slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction.

Theme: Democracy & Citizenship

Dec. 12, 1870: Joseph H. Rainey First African American in U.S. House of Reps

Dec. 1961: Christmas Shopping Boycott

Teacher Mini-Grants to Commemorate the 15th Amendment in 2020

Jan. 10, 1966: Voting Rights Activist Vernon Dahmer Murdered

Martin Luther King Jr.: Beyond “I Have a Dream”

Oct. 16, 1776: Petition for Religious Freedom

Aug. 3, 1980: Reagan Gives “State’s Rights” Speech at Neshoba County Fair

Sept. 9, 1971: Attica Prison Uprising

Seneca Falls, 1848: Women Organize for Equality

March 2, 1955: Claudette Colvin Refuses to Give Up Her Bus Seat

Feb. 6, 1961: “Jail, No Bail” in Rock Hill, South Carolina Sit-Ins

March 6, 1857: Dred (and Harriet) Scott Decision

Feb. 15, 1851: Shadrach Minkins Arrested by U.S. Marshals Under Fugitive Slave Act

March 30, 1952: Charlotta Bass Accepts U.S. VP Nomination

What the Koch Brothers Want Students to Learn About Slavery

Oct. 10, 1871: Octavius Catto Killed on Election Day in Philadelphia

Medgar Evers

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