Gather with a small group of teachers from around the country for three days immersed in discussion and exploration of a single topic in American history. Multi-Day Seminars are a free opportunity for teachers hosted near an important historical site. Teachers will prepare ahead of time for seminars by reading selected historical documents in the provided course packet. Once the seminar begins, the discussion leader guides a peer-to-peer, text-based conversation among all participants. Meals, materials, double-occupancy rooms, and historical site visits are 100% covered by Teaching American History. At the end of each course, every teacher receives a letter of participation for fifteen contact hours of continuing education and a stipend of $600 to help defray travel costs.

The era of Reconstruction is among the most consequential—but also misunderstood—periods of all American history. This seminar introduces participants to the purpose and implications of Reconstruction. It devotes particular attention to the ways in which Americans restored formally rebellious states into a federal republic; the definition and scope of constitutional liberty in the wake of emancipation; and the limitations of the federal state in enforcing civil rights. The seminar is not comprehensive. It does not delve into questions of labor reform, education, the American West, the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, or political corruption in the Ulysses S. Grant administration. Instead, the seminar asks two foundational questions: 1) How did Americans of diverse political persuasions understand the purposes and scope of Reconstruction? 2) To what extent did Reconstruction succeed in its primary purpose of preserving the Union and amending the Constitution to bolster a self-governing republic? Note: seminar participants who do not have a basic working knowledge of the narrative and/or major events of Reconstruction would do well to review brief but comprehensive Allen C. Guelzo, Reconstruction: A Concise History (2018).  

Please note: The Multi Day Application period is April 9-30, 2024