A Bundle of Silences
"A Bundle of Silences: Reimagining Interpretive Approaches to the Past" is a series of seven pre-recorded 30-minute webinars featuring scholars discussing key aspects of the American Revolution according to RevolutionNJ's Interpretive Framework. Each video offers an overview and case studies that illustrate how specific themes enhance our understanding of the past.
Videos and Additional Resources for Educators
Property and Sovereignty
In Property and Sovereignty: Native Americans and the United States, Dr. Jimmy Sweet explores how the concepts of property and Native American sovereignty were grappled with in the formation of the United States and New Jersey more locally.
Revolutionary Ideals
What is democracy? How are the ideas of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness defined and for who? In The Fundamental Ideas and Values of the American Revolution, Dr. Shankman provides an overview of the “America Political Experiment,” exploring how the notion of democracy was wrestled with during the founding of the United States.
New Jersey as a “Battleground”
In Political Participation and the Battlegrounds of the American Revolution, Dr. James Gigantic explores the key theme of New Jersey as a “Battleground” by diving into the various considerations and decisions facing people at the outset of the American Revolution.
Historical Process
How do we know what we know? A simple question with a complicated answer. In the webinar Historical Process, Dr. Gonzalez-Tennant explores the way historians, archeologists, and archivists make sense of the past and how the fragmentary nature of evidence shapes the stories they can tell.
Exclusion and Inclusion
Who was excluded and included in our nation’s history? In what way? How did this shape the way people experienced day-to-day life? In Exclusion and Inclusion, Dr. Roberts explores how the American experience was defined by processes of exclusion and inclusion.
Political Participation
Who gets to partake in the political process of the United States and to what extent? How has the institution of voting been differentially applied and experienced? Who is considered a citizen and by extension what rights do they have? In Puzzle of Citizenship: Black Americans and the Birthright Principle, viewers will join Dr. Martha Jones in exploring how the complicated question of personhood and political participation are engaged with throughout the history of the United States.
Movement of People
New Jersey is one of the most diverse and densely populated states in our nation, but how did it get there? In The Movement of People, Dr. Lopez explores the migration of people on and out of the state throughout its history.