UW Press: Understanding and Teaching American Slavery

Understanding and Teaching American Slavery
Edited by Bethany Jay and Cynthia Lynn Lyerly
Foreword by Ira Berlin

“Many instructors find the subject of slavery intimidating. This volume provides them with the necessary background content, as well as effective and interesting sources and methods, for engaging students and steering them away from common misperceptions.”
—Roy E. Finkenbine, author of Sources of the African-American Past

Perhaps no topic in U.S. history is as emotionally fraught as the nation’s centuries-long entanglement with slavery. How can teachers get students to understand the racist underpinnings of that institution—and to acknowledge its legacies in contemporary America? How can they overcome students’ shame, anger, guilt, or denial? How can they incorporate into the classroom important primary sources that may contain obsolete and racist terms, images, and ideas? This book, designed for college and high school teachers, is a critical resource for understanding and teaching this challenging topic in all its complexity.

Opening with Ira Berlin’s reflections on ten elements that are essential to include in any course on this topic, Understanding and Teaching American Slavery offers practical advice for teaching specific content, utilizing sources, and getting students to think critically. Contributors address, among other topics, slavery and the nation’s founders, the diverse experiences of the enslaved, slavery’s role in the Civil War, and the relationship between slavery and the northern economy. Other chapters offer ideas for teaching through slave narratives, runaway ads, spirituals, films, and material culture. Taken together, the essays in the volume help instructors tackle problems, discover opportunities, and guide students in grappling with the ugliest truths of America’s past.

Author. Photo credit, Name Bethany Jay is an associate professor of history at Salem State University.

Author. Photo credit, Name Cynthia Lynn Lyerly is an associate professor of history at Boston College.

“Profoundly useful. . . . Although the variety and ingenuity of teaching methods presented here are exceptional, the contributors are even more effective at calling out the difficult realities educators have with teaching slavery—such as discussing the sensitive issue of race; identifying slavery as a national, not just a Southern, institution; and reconciling its cruelty with the growth of American politics and economics. . . . Accessible and relevant to any classroom at any level.”
—Choice

“A book that has the potential to change the way that slavery is taught in American schools. It takes a comprehensive look at slavery across American history, offering dozens of concrete suggestions for teaching strategies and learning objects that could be used in all K-12 social studies classrooms.”
—Education Week

“Every teacher should read this book and be reinvigorated in the task of presenting history accurately and thoroughly. Every citizen should read this book and be rededicated to the ideals of this society—equality and fairness.”
—Foreword Reviews

“A substantial contribution. Appropriate for instructors at both the college and secondary school levels, this book provides ample background information and practical classroom activities along with advice on pedagogy.”
—Nicholas J. Aieta, recipient of the American Historical Association's Eugene Asher Distinguished Teaching Award

Of Related Interest
Understanding and Teaching U.S. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History Edited by Leila J. Rupp and Susan K. Freeman	Understanding and Teaching the Vietnam War Edited by John Day Tully, Matthew Masur, and Brad Austin