The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

PREFACE-CHAPTER 2

Reading Check

1. Which historical event changed Nikole Hannah-Jones’s perspective on Black history when she learned about it?

2. Whom does the text call the original freedom fighters of America’s democracy?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What goal for the 1619 Project does Hannah-Jones lay out in the book’s preface?

2. What does the text claim motivated Virginians to declare independence from Great Britain?

3. What is the purpose of the Chapter 2 anecdote about Ashley Ramkishun and Samuel Sarfo’s 2019 marriage license application?

Paired Resource

20 and Odd: Africans’ Arrival in 1619

• This 27-minute documentary tells the story of the Africans who arrived on the White Lion.
• This resource relates to the theme of 1619 as America’s True Founding.
• How and why does this documentary attempt to humanize these distant historical figures? What additional information did you learn from this film? Would any of this additional information have strengthened or weakened the arguments Nikole Hannah-Jones makes in this section of the book, or is this information extraneous to her arguments?