Rationale
This unit seeks to explore the intersection of social and political identities, and specifically how they have impacted--and have been impacted--throughout various periods in American history. The unit will incorporate a number of readings and case studies that exemplify each of the topics of study. Some of these topics include colonization and early American history, African slavery in North America, the Civil War, Reconstruction, and its ultimate failure, the women’s suffrage movement, the civil rights movement, and more. It is no secret that there is much inequality across the country, and it can usually be traced back to some combination of the aforementioned periods in history, and the interconnectedness of people’s social and political identities. My students have detailed the inequality and persecution they have faced across these political and ideological lines in the past, and I believe that this curriculum unit will present an opportunity for them to not only understand the historical, societal, and political roots behind “the origins of our discontents,” but will better prepare them to navigate and overcome them.
While the core areas of the unit will be identified in the following sections, how students will grapple with them is an important area of emphasis as well. Given that these topics affect all Americans, this unit is of particular relevance to my students’ lives. Indeed, they have described as much to me in casual conversations, as well as in anecdotal examples during class discussions. One of the principal aims of this unit is to provide students with the tools to navigate the intersectionality of social strata such as race, class, and gender. Besides giving them the content knowledge and vocabulary necessary to make sense of the realities they often face, the activities in this unit will be community-facing and will provide students with tangible strategies and tools to tackle the myriad issues that they often describe, as well as what history has already shown.
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