Overview

Embracing an argument-based model for teaching history, the Debating American History series encourages students to participate in a contested, evidence-based discourse about the human past. Each book poses a question that historians debate--How democratic was the U.S. Constitution? or Why did civil war erupt in the United States in 1861?--and provides abundant primary sources so that students can make their own efforts at interpreting the evidence. They can then use that analysis to construct answers to the big question that frames the debate and argue in support of their position. Emancipation and the End of Slavery poses this big question: How and why did emancipation become a goal of the Union war effort?

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9780190057077

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Reviews

The advantage that Debating American History has over other projects and texts currently available is that it brings a very clear and focused organization to the notion of classroom debate. The terms of each debate are clear. The books introduce students to historiography and primary sources. Most of all, the project re-envisions the way that US history should be taught. No other textbook or set of teaching materials does what these books do when taken together as the sum of their parts.--Ian Hartman, University of Alaska Debating American History repositions the discipline of history as one that is rooted in discovery, investigation, and interpretation.--Ingrid Dineen-Wimberly, University of California, Santa Barbara Debating American History is an excellent replacement for a 'big assignment' in a course. Offering a way to add discussion to a class, it is also a perfect 'active learning' assignment, in a convenient package.--Gene Rhea Tucker, Temple College 'Who freed the slaves?' is one of the hottest and most significant questions in the field, and this Debating American History volume does a great job of translating the complexities of the historiography for uninformed readers.--Luke Harlow, University of Tennessee, Knoxville The authors identify major questions about emancipation and present different perspectives on it in clear and lucid prose. The questions raised and differing arguments presented demand that students see emancipation as neither inevitable nor easily explained but, rather, as a historical problem deserving investigation and debate.--Daniel Vivian, University of Louisville

The advantage that Debating American History has over other projects and texts currently available is that it brings a very clear and focused organization to the notion of classroom debate. The terms of each debate are clear. The books introduce students to historiography and primary sources. Most of all, the project re-envisions the way that US history should be taught. No other textbook or set of teaching materials does what these books do when taken together as the sum of their parts.--Ian Hartman, University of Alaska Debating American History repositions the discipline of history as one that is rooted in discovery, investigation, and interpretation.--Ingrid Dineen-Wimberly, University of California, Santa Barbara Debating American History is an excellent replacement for a 'big assignment' in a course. Offering a way to add discussion to a class, it is also a perfect 'active learning' assignment, in a convenient package.--Gene Rhea Tucker, Temple College 'Who freed the slaves?' is one of the hottest and most significant questions in the field, and this Debating American History volume does a great job of translating the complexities of the historiography for uninformed readers.--Luke Harlow, University of Tennessee, Knoxville The authors identify major questions about emancipation and present different perspectives on it in clear and lucid prose. The questions raised and differing arguments presented demand that students see emancipation as neither inevitable nor easily explained but, rather, as a historical problem deserving investigation and debate.--Daniel Vivian, University of Louisville

The advantage that Debating American History has over other projects and texts currently available is that it brings a very clear and focused organization to the notion of classroom debate. The terms of each debate are clear. The books introduce students to historiography and primary sources. Most of all, the project re-envisions the way that US history should be taught. No other textbook or set of teaching materials does what these books do when taken together as the sum of their parts. --Ian Hartman, University of Alaska Debating American History repositions the discipline of history as one that is rooted in discovery, investigation, and interpretation. --Ingrid Dineen-Wimberly, University of California, Santa Barbara Debating American History is an excellent replacement for a 'big assignment' in a course. Offering a way to add discussion to a class, it is also a perfect 'active learning' assignment, in a convenient package. --Gene Rhea Tucker, Temple College 'Who freed the slaves?' is one of the hottest and most significant questions in the field, and this Debating American History volume does a great job of translating the complexities of the historiography for uninformed readers. --Luke Harlow, University of Tennessee, Knoxville The authors identify major questions about emancipation and present different perspectives on it in clear and lucid prose. The questions raised and differing arguments presented demand that students see emancipation as neither inevitable nor easily explained but, rather, as a historical problem deserving investigation and debate. --Daniel Vivian, University of Louisville

Author Information

Joel M. Sipress received his PhD in US History from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Superior, where he teaches US and Latin American History. He serves as coeditor of the Debating American History series with David J. Voelker.

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