George Will Challenges 1619 Project’s Major Thesis

Syndicated columnist George Will has attacked a major thesis of the 1619 Project that defending slavery was one of the reasons plantation owners revolted against the British who had promised freedom for slaves. "The war was supposedly ignited by a November 1775 British offer of freedom to Blacks who fled slavery and joined British forces. Well," he …

‘A New Origin Story’: The 1619 Project, Now a Book

Released in hardcover in November, 2021, "A New Origin Story: The 1619 Project," based largely on a series of articles in the New York Times, has become an instant bestseller after sparking a great deal of online debate. The original essays are expanded; additional historians offer contributions; short fiction and poems are added which complement …

1619 Project Actually Holds America To Its Highest Ideals, Conservative Columnist Contended

Some conservatives are still steaming over the NYT's 1619 Project. They see it as an attack on the honor of the American experiment or certainly the honor of its founders. Michael Gerson, a conservative columnist for the Washington Post, pointed out, however, that America's founders WERE uniquely hypocritical in fighting a war for freedom while …

Joe Biden Believes in American Exceptionalism

On this July 4th holiday weekend, the "American exceptionalism" promoted by President Joe Biden and almost every other president deserves examination. Biden frequently talks about America as an inspiring idea -- equality of opportunity in a nation of immigrants, with the inalienable rights of each individual recognized -- not based on geography, tribe, ethnicity or …

1619 Project, Nikole Hannah-Jones, and Ida B. Wells: Expanding the Discourse on American History

The New York Times' 1619 Project continues to generate controversy (follow on Google News), and will continue to do so as it is lives on through a "a new origin story" expanded book, an audio book, and a lyrical children's story by Nikole Hannah-Jones, the journalist who conceived the project. Update: The University of North …

Black American History #2: Slavery in the Colonies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4syEkyOzmY&t=6s Crash Course: "In the 17th century, as the British colonies in the Americas were getting established in places like Jamestown, VA, the system of chattel slavery was also developing. Today, we'll learn about the role that slavery played in early American economy and how slavery became a legally accepted practice in the first place, …

1776 Project, A Reply to NYT’s 1619 Project, Receives Scathing Reviews

In one of its last acts, the Trump Administration posted a response to the New York Times' 1619 Project interpreting American history beginning with the arrival of the first slave ship on Virginia's shores, called the 1776 Project. It sought to develop a curriculum for students of history and other Americans as to the country's …

NYT’s 1619 Project Continues to Stimulate Debate, and Garners Major Award

Debate over The New York Times' 1619 Project continues, along with a prestigious journalism award that validates the ground-breaking nature of the work. A 1776 Project of predominantly black scholars and writers has been formed to rebut the Times' thesis that America's unique identity was born in 1619 when the first slaves arrived in Virginia. …

NYT’s 1619 Project Riles Mainstream Historians As Ideological Framing and Misleading Interpretation

"Academic historians, conservatives, and Trotskyist socialists rightly reject The New York Times’ reframing of the past," reported Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic, in a compilation of serious criticisms of the 1619 Project. The Atlantic's Adam Serwer was equally acerbic. "The fight over the 1619 Project is not about the facts. A dispute between a small …

‘Five Things They Don’t Tell You About Slavery’

Rick Lowry in the conservative National Review: "It didn't begin or end in the United States." 1. Through much of human history, slavery was ubiquitous and unquestioned. 2. The East African slave trade lasted into the 20th century 3. Islam was a great conveyor belt of slavery (as was Christianity) 4. The Atlantic slave trade …