What the Black Man Wants
Frederick Douglass demands voting rights and civil equality for Black Americans in an 1865 speech.
What the Black Man Wants (en español)
In Spanish, Frederick Douglass demands voting rights and civil equality for Black Americans in an 1865 speech.
Statistics From the Civil War
This reading features statistics on the number of deaths during the Civil War.
Statistics from the War (en español)
In Spanish, this reading features statistics on the number of deaths during the Civil War.
W. E. B. Du Bois Reflects on the Purpose of History
W. E. B. Du Bois questions the way that Reconstruction was studied and taught in an excerpt from his 1935 book Black Reconstruction in America.
Verifying the Story
Journalists discuss the difficulties they faced in verifying the facts after the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
Why Study Reconstruction?
The Reconstruction era was a pivotal moment in American history. Civil rights were set in motion as Americans grappled to rebuild after the division and trauma of the Civil War, raising essential questions about freedom and democracy.
Roosevelt Williams Recalls Voting in Alabama
Roosevelt Williams describes voting in segregated Alabama in the 1930s and 1940s.
The Spirit of Liberty
Judge Learned Hand, a federal judge and legal thinker, reflects on the roles of the law and citizens’ hearts and minds in upholding liberty.
Telling Fact From Fiction on Social Media
Journalists and media professionals discuss the benefits and challenges of using social media to report and understand any fast-moving story.