Saturday Webinars

About the Series

Our live teacher webinars provide content-rich and interactive PD through conversation.  We’ll share a reading packet with registrants several weeks before the event and provide space for early discussion between participants.  The documents, pre-seminar conversation, and questions asked in the discussion board are vital to shaping the direction of the panelists’ conversation.  Audience members ask questions during the event, comment in the lively chat, and share resources and ideas.

So—grab a cup of coffee and join us online! 

Our online seminars meet monthly on select Saturday mornings from 10.45am–12pm ET. Excerpts for discussion, a pre-seminar discussion board, a link to the seminar recording and relevant primary sources will be made available to registrants.

Those who remain digitally present for the duration of the conversation will receive an attendance letter from Teaching American History for 1.25 hours of professional development.

Learn More about Webinars

Spring 26 1776 & Beyond: Understanding the Declaration through American History

 

Inside the Writing of the Declaration of Independence

Step into the summer of 1776 and uncover the story behind America’s iconic Declaration of Independence. In this webinar, we’ll trace Jefferson’s thought from first to final draft, explore the role of the Committee of Five, and dive into the politics of the Second Continental Congress. Perfect for social studies educators who want to bring the drama, debate, and daring ideas of the Revolution to life in their classrooms. 

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Slavery & the Declaration: Voices of Conflict

Race and Civil Rights

Explore how the Declaration of Independence was interpreted through the lens of slavery in antebellum America. This webinar examines pro-slavery defenses, abolitionist challenges, and Abraham Lincoln’s use of the text in the fight against slavery. Intended for social studies educators, we’ll unpack how these debates shaped the nation and continue to influence discussions about liberty and equality today. 

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The Progressive Critique of the Declaration

Explore how early 20th-century Progressives challenged the ideals of the Declaration. This webinar examines debates over imperialism, the role of the government, and eugenics, revealing how these controversies reshaped ideas of liberty, citizenship, and America’s role in the world. Perfect for social studies educators looking to bring the complexities of history to life in the classroom. 

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Reform Movements & the Declaration: Women's Rights

Women's History Month

Discover how the Declaration of Independence inspired the women’s rights movement. This webinar explores the ways reformers challenged the nation to live up to its promise of liberty and equality, examining key campaigns, speeches, and writings that connected the struggle for gender equality to the ideals of 1776. Social studies educators will gain a deeper understanding of the historical roots of reform and how these ideas continue to shape American society today. 

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Reform Movements & the Declaration: Civil Rights

Explore how the Declaration of Independence shaped the struggle for civil rights in America. This webinar examines how activists and movements challenged the nation to live up to its promise of liberty and equality, highlighting key campaigns, speeches, and actions that connected the fight for racial equality to the ideals of 1776. Social studies educators will gain insights into the historical roots of reform and the enduring impact of these movements. 

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Race and Civil Rights

Jefferson: The Enslaver

The whole commerce between master and slave is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous passions, the most unremitting despotism on the one part, and degrading submissions on the other. 

-Notes on the State of Virginia: Query 18, 1784

 The man who wrote these words enslaved over six hundred individuals over the course of his life.  Join us as we discuss the most perplexing aspect of Jefferson: how the author of the Declaration of Independence could actively participate in the American system of race-based chattel slavery. Documents to be discussed include:

Draft of the Declaration of Independence

Notes on the State of Virginia: Queries 14 and 18

Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Henri Gregoire

Watch Recording

Jefferson: The Atheist?

The moral certainty therefore is that there will be an Anti-federal Majority in the Ensuing Legislature, and this very high probability is that this will bring Jefferson into the Chief Magistracy . . . the scruples of delicacy and propriety . . . ought not to hinder the taking of a legal and constitutional step, to prevent an Atheist in Religion and a Fanatic in politics from getting possession of the helm of the State . . . 

-Alexander Hamilton, letter to John Jay, May 1800

Join us as we take a deep dive into the mudslinging politics of the 1790s and Jefferson’s role in the contentious election of 1800. Documents to be discussed include:

First Inaugural Address

Letter from Thomas Jefferson to John Holmes

Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Roger Weightman

Watch Recording

Jefferson: The Revolutionary

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

-The Declaration of Independence, 1776

Spend some time with us as we chat about Mr. Jefferson and his revolutionary words!  Documents to be discussed include: 

Rough Draft of the Declaration of Independence

A Summary View of the Rights of British America

Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Henry Lee

Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Roger Weightman

Watch Recording

Jefferson: The Reformer

That all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion.

-A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom, 1779

Jefferson wanted to be known to posterity for his authorship of the Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom.  Join us as we discuss his influence on early American civic culture and the codification of individual freedoms. Documents to be discussed include:

Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom

Bill on Slavery 

A Bill for a More General Diffusion of Knowledge

Draft of the Northwest Ordinance

Watch Recording

Jefferson: The Statesman

May [the Declaration] be to the world . . . the signal of arousing men to burst the chains under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings and security of self-government.

-Letter to Roger C. Weightman, 1826 

Jefferson lives!  Join us on this chilly December morning as we review Jefferson’s legacy and role in American history. Documents to be discussed include:

Inaugural Address

Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Gov. William H. Harrison

Letter from Thomas Jefferson to John Colvin

Watch Recording

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Learn more about MAHG and how you can be the expert teacher your students need. Admission is conducted on a rolling basis.