Grade 9 Unit 3
A Young People's History of the United States brings to U.S. history the viewpoints of workers, slaves, immigrants, women, Native Americans, and others whose stories, and their impact, are rarely included in stories for young people. Beginning with a look at Christopher Columbus’s arrival through the eyes of the Arawak Indians, then leading the reader through the struggles for workers’ rights, women’s rights, and civil rights during the 19th and 20th centuries, and ending with the current protests against continued American imperialism, Zinn in the volumes of A Young People's History of the United States presents a radical new way of understanding America’s history. In so doing, he reminds listeners that America's true greatness is shaped by our dissident voices, not our military generals.
Big Ideas
Assumptions about groups of people are harmful.
There are lingering effects of colonization on Indigenous peoples today.
Rhetoric can have two sides– one used for good and one used for bad.
History can be interpreted in many ways.
Social, economic, and political conflict can change the roles of citizens and existing structures of political systems.
As minorities and women continued to experience prejudice and discrimination, groups formed to improve civil rights for all.
Culminating Task - Research Paper
In 2019, five Masterman students - Alison Fortenberry, Tatiana Bennett, Nia Weeks, Taryn Flaherty, and Aden Gonzales - wanted to learn more about the 1967 student walk out in Philadelphia. Their research produced a 104 page document that includes “letters of endorsement from historians, oral history interviews with key participants, and an essay on the lasting impact the event had in the quest for racial justice” (Ahebee, 2020). This document outlined the violence that student protestors faced that day as they addressed the lack of response to a list of demands they had presented earlier. The demands included an end to tracking that forced most African American students out of higher academic courses, the right to demonstrate pride in their African roots by wearing African centered clothing and natural hairstyles, the removal of uniformed police officers from public schools, and the addition of African-American studies to the curriculum. The work of Masterman students highlighted how the story of violence perpetrated against the student protestors has been silenced in mainstream accounts of the event.
In this research paper you will be tasked with continuing this work of uncovering the hidden histories of the city of Philadelphia. You will research a specific person, event and/or location in order to bring to light hidden histories - both positive and negative - that should be part of our collective memory.
