The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What is “revisionist history”? What critiques of the academy’s traditional approach to Black history have been made?

Teaching Suggestion: The 1619 Project has been critiqued by some as a work of “revisionist history.” An objective approach to the book requires that students understand the revisionist nature of history itself; if their responses reveal gaps in their understanding, you might offer the first resource listed below. Students are likely to have variable prior knowledge of criticisms leveled against traditional conceptions of Black history. You might offer them the second resource listed below to ensure that everyone is prepared with solid background information.

• This article from Humanities—the magazine of the National Endowment for the Humanities—explains why revision is at the core of the discipline of history.
• This interview from the Harvard Gazette offers a historian’s perspective on the problematic ways in which Black history has been taught.

2. What is the New York Times’s 1619 Project? Why was it created, and what is its central thesis? Why is this project controversial?