The birthright citizenship case the Supreme Court just decided demonstrates how deep-rooted this practice is.

This book by Professor Kate Masur and artist Liz Clarke is a graphic history of Reconstruction in Washington, DC. Professor Masur writes, "When we place the enormous significance of slavery's destruction at the center of Reconstruction history, it makes sense to alter our understanding of when the period began and ended. Instead of starting in the spring of 1865, when Confederate generals surrendered to their U.S. Army counterparts, we begin with the onset of the Civil War in 1861, when soldiers of the U.S. Army entered the slave states and enslaved people began escaping toward U.S.

Why we celebrate the end of slavery on Juneteenth By Sydney Combs National Geographic June 16, 2026 Photograph by Callaghan O’Hare, Reuters

Welcome to the teaching resources page for Freedom Was In Sight! A Graphic History of Reconstruction in the Washington, D.C., Region. These resources were

YouTube video by CBS Chicago

Two historians from our Teach the Black Freedom Struggle series — Martha S. Jones and Kate Masur — filed an amicus brief challenging an executive order undermining birthright citizenship.

Freedom Was in Sight: Reconstruction as the Second Founding

The framers of the 14th Amendment endorsed a capacious definition of ‘American.’

YouTube video by Brennan Center for Justice

In today’s Muster, JCWE Book Review Editor talks with Angela Diaz about her book, Continuous State of War: Empire Building and Race Making in the Civil War-Era Gulf South, which was published by UGA P...

Call for Papers 2026 American Society for Legal History Annual Meeting (November 12 - 14, 2026) The Program Committee of the American Society for Legal History invites proposals for the 2026 meeting t...