Forgotten America: Rediscovering Events That Changed the Nation

Smallpox swept across colonial America in waves, devastating cities and ravaging vulnerable populations. In the course’s inaugural lesson, explore how early Americans thought about and responded to the scourge. Get to know inoculation’s leading proponents as well as its skeptics. And see how smallpox and germ warfare affected the outcome of the Revolutionary War.

Owing to political and social pressure, motion pictures opted to censor themselves in the 20th century. Peek behind the curtain to see how moral panic collided with free speech and artistic expression in Hollywood and track the demise of the Hays Code with the wide release of films like “Psycho” and “Bonnie and Clyde.”

Many in the United States sought to restrict immigration in the late 19th century. In this lecture, focus on Chinese exclusion. Why was the federal government so eager to curb a population it had depended on for cheap railroad labor? And how did the Chinese Exclusion Act lay the groundwork for Japanese internment 60 years later?

The most fatal ailment in the United States at the turn of the century, tuberculosis made its mark on American politics, culture, and even infrastructure. Explore consumption’s lasting impact on westward expansion, desserts, popular fashion, lawn furniture, and everyday manners, and learn about the scientific theory that transformed how Americans understand the disease.

During the Great Depression, a cadre of World War I veterans descended on Washington, DC, to demand fair pay, transforming the National Mall into a long-term campsite. Examine the fight for veteran benefits in the United States, focusing on the so-called Bonus Army and their efforts in the interwar years.

Investigate the rise of the American fascist movement, starting with the spread of antisemitic conspiracy theories by famed industrialist Henry Ford. See how Nazi sympathizers like Charles Lindberg lobbied against US involvement in World War II. And track the movement’s swift demise after its extremism became impossible to ignore.

Delve into the fascinating lives of Grimké sisters Angelina and Sarah, crusaders of the abolitionist cause. Examine the religious ideologies, institutional infrastructure, and robust social networks that empowered America’s incredibly controversial antislavery movement, paying special attention to how the sisters’ public struggles highlighted the connection between abolition and women’s rights.

Before 1922, a woman’s citizenship status in the United States was tightly bound to her husband’s. Here, become acquainted with activists Ethel Mackenzie and Ruth Bryan Owen and dig into the political and legal battles that ensued as both women tried to wrestle citizenship back from the federal government.

The military vote has always been controversial—especially in war. Travel back to 1864 to piece together the coalition that kept Abraham Lincoln in the White House, examining the complicated logistical effort to count ballots on the battlefront, before examining the long fight to enfranchise soldiers after the Civil War.

Though we are used to sidewalk ramps and closed captions today, comprehensive accommodations for disabled Americans are a relatively modern phenomenon. Get to know the activists who organized on behalf of disability rights and accessibility legislation in the 20th and 21st centuries, from San Francisco’s 504 sit-in to the Capitol

The largest slave rebellion in US history broke out in 1811. Spend the course’s penultimate lecture unpacking the violent struggle between the enslaved and their enslavers on Louisiana’s notoriously brutal sugar plantations. What triggered the rebellion? What was its goal? And what did its extreme violence suggest about slave uprisings in America more broadly?

Conclude the course with a focus on Thanksgiving, America’s greatest feast. Explore the holiday’s roots, which stretch back to the colonial period and Civil War. Then, turn your attention to Thanksgiving’s transformation in the 20th century, from the South’s reluctant embrace of a Yankee holiday to FDR’s controversial “Franksgiving.”