During the mid-19th century, southerners and northerners both had fears around slavery. What did many southerners fear? What did many northerners fear?
What threatened to upset the “delicate equilibrium of power”?
In the course of three months how many men died in Bleeding Kansas? How long did the events around Bleeding Kansas continue?
In 1857 the Supreme Court refused to free an enslaved person. What was his name? What was the reasoning?
At the end of the video, President Abraham Lincoln called the nation “A House Divided.” What did he mean by this?
How has this documentary made you think differently about the civil rights era?
In what ways does this program affect your views of history and the ways it should be told?
How do you define civil rights? In light of your answer, what would you say are the beginning and ending dates of the civil rights era in the United States?
Some of the interviewees implied that during the civil rights era “there were two Americas.” Do you think this is an accurate description?
How do the interviewees in this film describe their experiences as students during integration?
How does the social climate of your school compare/contrast to that of public schools during integration?
How does the theme of forgiveness appear in the stories?
In what tangible ways can you see the impact of the civil rights era in your community?
Historians often ensure historical accuracy via fact-checking. How could someone ensure the stories in this film are accurate? How is fact-checking for oral history similar to the process for printed documents? How does it differ?
Why are some “voices” readily heard in the historical record while others are not? In what ways can historians seek out unheard voices?
The stories in this program will be archived at the Library of Congress. What are some steps and technologies we can use to preserve these stories for future generations?