US history, as most of us know it, is defined by big names and dramatic moments. Many struggles have tried to build toward a safer, more equitable world, and we move from abolition, to suffrage, to industrialization, to civil rights as if it is inevitable. Progress, the story goes, is almost a given.

Yet, there is so much more to the story. American history zigs and zags. It is full of twists, turns, and bumps along the way—five steps forward followed by several steps back. We find that the protections, rights, and privileges enjoyed in the United States today have surprising origins, born of long-building uprisings, erratic sequences, and dizzying legal battles. And there were times during which ideologues, medical skeptics, and violent slavery advocates held enormous sway. It was, in fact, unsung activists—abolitionists, medical professionals, suffragists, veterans, and disabled children among them—who helped bring progress about, risking everything, including their own lives, to move the country forward. Without them and their tireless efforts, the United States would be a very different place today.

In Forgotten America: Rediscovering Events That Changed the Nation, delve into the public health crises, civil rights battles, and censorship fights that transformed the United States. In just 12 lectures designed and led by historian and author Dr. Rachel Michelle Gunter, you will:

• See how responses to smallpox and tuberculosis shaped everything from military preparedness during the Revolution to how we eat ice cream.
  
• Examine how battles over wartime suffrage and veteran benefits continue to benefit service personnel both active and retired.
  
• Investigate how elements of American fascism inspired the German Nazi Party.
  
• Unpack brutal responses to slave uprisings down south and antislavery conventions in Philadelphia.
  
• Explore how individual activists transformed personal predicaments into protracted legal and political battles that wound up extending key rights and privileges to new sectors of the population, from married women to the disabled.
  

From the German Coast Uprising to the ADA

Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, and Susan B. Anthony are well-known figures in American history—men and women mythologized in grade school textbooks and documentary series. They are remembered for the causes they championed as well as the fights and controversies that surrounded them, from the Civil War to civil rights to woman suffrage. And while their status and centrality in the national story are more than deserved, a more authentic and complete portrait of US history requires a deeper dive. The lesser known are equally important, and the battles they waged—whether noble or not—are a central part of the American story.

Forgotten America focuses on the obscure and understudied, piecing together a story of the United States that may shock and surprise you. Combining recent research with a deep dive into primary source material, you will get to know America better through people and events such as:

• Unsung activists. Reformers big and small have shaped the privileges and protections Americans enjoy today. Get to know Sarah and Angelina Grimké, antislavery advocates in the antebellum period, alongside dedicated activists Jennifer Keelan and Bob Kafka—warriors in the long fight for disability accommodations in America.
  
• Overlooked uprisings. Despite their long-term impact, some acts of resistance in the United States have not received the popular attention they deserve. Zero in on the German Coast Slave Uprising and Bonus Army encampment.
  
• Understudied legal and political battles. The Constitution can only go so far; some rights had to be fought for and earned in court or through Congress. Reconstruct Ruth Bryan Owen's fight for married women's citizenship rights in Florida after seeing how Asian Americans and their allies pushed back against discrimination in the 19th and 20th centuries.
  
• Fringe ideological movements. America prides itself on a long tradition of democracy and liberalism, but there were times dangerous ideas captured the popular imagination. Delve into Nazism and fascism in the United States, focusing on movement icons like the famed industrialist Henry Ford and pilot Charles Lindberg.
  
• Vanquished disease outbreaks. Though medicine has come a long way, disease has left an indelible mark on American life. Determine the impact of diseases like smallpox and tuberculosis as well as responses to them on American war efforts, fashion, furniture, and even desserts.
  

When all is said and done, you will add a whole new slate of new characters and conflicts to your lexicon. From the dangers of homegrown fascism to the success of the ADA, the fight over inoculation to the struggle for veterans pay, emerge with a more detailed and complex picture of the people and fights that defined US history.

Correcting the Record

This course doesn't just focus on the unknown. It looks at the widely known, too—the commonplace customs and popularly held assumptions that have endured over the course of decades. Where do these myths come from? And, more importantly, are they based in fact? Using primary and secondary source evidence, Dr. Gunter tackles—and often corrects—common historical misunderstandings from the colonial period to the recent past.

Over the course of these lectures, you will confront the stubborn myth that early Hollywood films reflected a more innocent America, examining how films first acquiesced to and then ultimately circumvented the infamous Hays Code censors. You will dig into the origins of Thanksgiving, from its dubious connection to Plymouth pilgrims to its uneven spread across the United States. You'll reexamine the fight for women's suffrage, focusing on the links between suffrage and abolition as well as between suffrage and the movement to restrict the rights of immigrants. And you'll have the opportunity to reevaluate what you think you know about American life and culture.

As you examine the lesser-known aspects of the American past, you're encouraged to assemble a more complete portrait of the United States—one that spotlights Henry Ford's antisemitic sympathies as well as the valiant rebels, determined veteran campers, persevering suffragists, and courageous activists who fought valiantly for justice. It asks you to look at the country's darkest moments in tandem with its greatest triumphs, moving from the German Coast Uprising's brutal end to the election of Ruth Owen Bryan to the US House of Representatives. As you add new histories and characters to your knowledge arsenal, you'll also have the chance to correct misunderstandings and challenging myths you may not have previously questioned. More than just a history, Forgotten America pays special attention to the good, the bad, and the ugly. It spotlights the underappreciated and underexplored to help us understand not only our past, but our present as well.
Homepage