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'''The 1619 Project''' is a [[long-form journalism|long-form journalistic]] [[Historical revisionism|revisionist historiographical work]] that takes a critical view of traditionally revered figures and events in [[History of the United States|American history]], including [[Patriot (American Revolution)|the Patriots]] in the [[American Revolution]], the [[Founding Fathers of the United States|Founding Fathers]], along with [[Abraham Lincoln]] and [[Union (American Civil War)|the Union]] during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]].<ref name="atlantic-wilentz" /><ref name=":6" /><ref name="atlantic-friedersdorf2" /><ref name="Wilentz-NYRB" /> It was developed by [[Nikole Hannah-Jones]], writers from ''[[The New York Times]]'', and ''[[The New York Times Magazine]].'' It focused on subjects of [[slavery]] and the founding of the [[United States]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=August 14, 2019|title=The 1619 Project|language=en-US|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/1619-america-slavery.html|access-date=September 7, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=August 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190817015721/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/1619-america-slavery.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The first publication from the project was in ''[[The New York Times Magazine]]'' of August 2019.<ref name="why">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/20/magazine/1619-intro.html |title=Why We Published The 1619 Project |last=Silverstein |first=Jake |author-link=Jake Silverstein |date=December 20, 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=January 31, 2020 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200131014950/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/20/magazine/1619-intro.html |archive-date=January 31, 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref> The project developed an educational curriculum, supported by the [[Pulitzer Center]], later accompanied by a broadsheet article, live events, and a podcast.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wnyc.org/story/new-york-times-1619-project/|publisher=[[WNYC]]|title=In '1619' Project, the Times Puts Slavery Front and Center of the American Experience|date=August 16, 2019|access-date=August 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190817005943/https://www.wnyc.org/story/new-york-times-1619-project/|archive-date=August 17, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>
The project has become a leading subject of the
In March 2020, in light of persistent criticism of the project's portrayal of the role of slavery, including from one of its own consulting historians, [[Leslie M. Harris]], ''The New York Times'' issued a "clarification", modifying one of the passages on slavery's role that had sparked controversy.<ref name="The New York Times 2020">{{cite web | title=An Update to The 1619 Project | website=[[The New York Times]] | date=March 11, 2020 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/11/magazine/an-update-to-the-1619-project.html | access-date=December 30, 2020 | archive-date=March 12, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200312105044/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/11/magazine/an-update-to-the-1619-project.html | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Butcher 2020">{{cite web | last=Butcher | first=Jonathan | title=The New York Times Begins Correcting the Historical Record on "1619 Project" | website=The Heritage Foundation | date=March 16, 2020 | url=https://www.heritage.org/american-founders/commentary/the-new-york-times-begins-correcting-the-historical-record-1619 | access-date=December 30, 2020 | archive-date=December 21, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201221102544/https://www.heritage.org/american-founders/commentary/the-new-york-times-begins-correcting-the-historical-record-1619 | url-status=live }}</ref> In September 2020, controversy again arose when the ''Times'' updated the opening text of the project website to remove the phrase "...understanding 1619 as our true founding..." without any accompanying editorial note to point to what was being redone.{{efn| Silverstein said that the phrase had actually been removed in December 2019.<ref name="Silverstein-On-Criticism" />}} Critics — including the ''Times''{{'}} own [[Bret Stephens]] — claimed the differences showed that the newspaper was backing away from some of the initiative's controversial claims.<ref name="VanityFair">{{cite web |last=Pompeo |first=Joe |date=October 14, 2020 |title="This Isn't Jayson Blair": With 1619 and Caliphate Controversies, the New York Times Turns on Itself |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/10/the-new-york-times-turns-on-itself |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025162855/https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/10/the-new-york-times-turns-on-itself |archive-date=October 25, 2020 |access-date=October 17, 2020 |work=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]}}</ref> The ''Times'' defended its practices, with Hannah-Jones saying that most of the project's content had remained unchanged.<ref name="WaPo-1619-2020" /><ref name="CNN-12Oct20202">{{Cite news |last1=Stelter |first1=Brian |authorlink1=Brian Stelter |last2=Darcy |first2=Oliver |authorlink2=Oliver Darcy |date=October 12, 2020 |title=1619 Project faces renewed criticism — this time from within The New York Times |website=[[CNN]] |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/12/media/new-york-times-1619-project-criticism/index.html |url-status=live |access-date=October 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201014054521/https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/12/media/new-york-times-1619-project-criticism/index.html |archive-date=October 14, 2020}}</ref><ref name="Silverstein-On-Criticism" />
In 2020, ''The New York Times'' premiered a dedicated podcast series.<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 23, 2020 |title=Listen to '1619,' a Podcast From The New York Times |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/podcasts/1619-podcast.html |access-date=January 28, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In 2021, a book anthology of essays and poetry ''[[The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story]]'' was published, as well as a children's picture book ''[[The 1619 Project: Born on the Water]]'' by Hannah-Jones and [[Renée Watson (author)|Renée Watson]]. In January 2023, [[Hulu]] premiered a six-part documentary TV series created by Hannah-Jones and ''The New York Times Magazine''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Silverstein |first=Jake |authorlink=Jake Silverstein |date=January 26, 2023 |title=A New Expansion of The 1619 Project |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/26/magazine/1619-project-hulu.html |access-date=January 28, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> This series won an Emmy for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series at the 75th [[Creative Arts Emmy Awards]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=''The 1619 Project'' Docuseries Wins an Emmy |last=Jensen |first=Grace |work=Pulitzer Center |language=en-US |url=https://pulitzercenter.org/blog/1619-project-docuseries-wins-emmy |date=January 10, 2024 |access-date=March 23, 2024}}</ref><ref>[https://www.emmys.com/shows/1619-project Television Academy]</ref>
==Background==
[[File:AfricansatJamestown1619.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A 1901 illustration of the landing of the [[first Africans in Virginia|first enslaved Africans in Virginia]] in 1619. The ''White Lion'' is seen anchored in the background.]]
{{Further|Slavery in the colonial history of the United States}}
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== Project ==
The project dedicated an issue of the magazine to a re-examination of the legacy of slavery in America, at the anniversary of the 1619 arrival of the first enslaved people to Virginia. This framing challenges the idea that American history began with the signing of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] in 1776, which created the [[United States]], or with the arrival of the [[Pilgrims (Plymouth Colony)|Pilgrims]] in 1620.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Joshua |first=Zeitz |author-link=Joshua Zeitz |date=November 25, 2020 |title=How America Outgrew the Pilgrims
The project quickly grew into a larger endeavor,<ref name="AN" /> encompassing multiple issues of the magazine, with related materials in other ''Times'' publications, as well as a school curriculum developed in collaboration with the Pulitzer Center.<ref name="AN" /> With support from the [[Smithsonian]], the project recruited a panel of historians to research, develop, and fact-check content.<ref name="TWP">{{Cite news|last=Tharoor|first=Ishaan|date=August 20, 2019|title=The 1619 Project and the far-right fear of history|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/08/20/project-far-right-fear-history/|url-status=live|access-date=August 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190821012136/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/08/20/project-far-right-fear-history/|archive-date=August 21, 2019|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The project was envisioned with the condition that almost all of the content would be from African-American contributors, deeming the perspective of Black writers an essential element of the story to be told.<ref name="vox">{{Cite news|last=Charles|first=J. Brian|date=August 19, 2019|title=Why conservatives are bothered by the New York Times' project on slavery|work=[[Vox.com|Vox]]|url=https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/8/19/20812238/1619-project-slavery-conservatives|url-status=live|access-date=August 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190820124436/https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/8/19/20812238/1619-project-slavery-conservatives|archive-date=August 20, 2019}}</ref>
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In an essay for ''[[The New York Review of Books]]'', historian [[Sean Wilentz]] accused the project of cynicism for its portrayal of the [[American Revolution]], the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] and [[Abraham Lincoln]], who Wilentz wrote is "rendered as a [[white supremacy|white supremacist]]".<ref name="Wilentz-NYRB">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2019/11/19/american-slavery-and-the-relentless-unforeseen/ |first=Sean |last=Wilentz |title=American Slavery and 'the Relentless Unforeseen' |date=November 19, 2019 |magazine=[[The New York Review of Books]] |access-date=August 24, 2020 |archive-date=August 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814135117/https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2019/11/19/american-slavery-and-the-relentless-unforeseen/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In a December 2019 letter published in ''The New York Times'', Wilentz, along with fellow historians [[Gordon S. Wood]], [[James M. McPherson]], [[Victoria Bynum]], and [[James Oakes (historian)|James Oakes]] expressed "strong reservations" about the project and requested factual corrections, accusing the authors of a "displacement of historical understanding by ideology". The letter disputed the claim, made in Hannah-Jones' introductory essay, that "one of the primary reasons the colonists decided to declare their independence from Britain was because they wanted to protect the institution of slavery". The ''Times'' published the letter along with a rebuttal from the magazine's editor-in-chief, [[Jake Silverstein]],<ref name="NYT-response"/><ref name="atlantic-serwer">{{Cite web|last=Serwer|first=Adam|date=December 23, 2019|title=The Fight Over the 1619 Project Is Not About the Facts|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/12/historians-clash-1619-project/604093/|access-date=July 27, 2020|website=[[The Atlantic]]|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191224112432/https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/12/historians-clash-1619-project/604093/|archive-date=December 24, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> who defended the accuracy of the 1619 Project and declined to issue corrections. Wood responded in a letter, "I don't know of any colonist who said that they wanted independence in order to preserve their slaves{{Nbsp}}... No colonist expressed alarm that the mother country was out to abolish slavery in 1776."<ref name="atlantic-friedersdorf">{{Cite web|last=Friedersdorf|first=Conor|authorlink=Conor Friedersdorf|date=January 6, 2020|title=1776 Honors America's Diversity in a Way 1619 Does Not|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/01/inclusive-case-1776-not-1619/604435/|access-date=July 27, 2020|website=[[The Atlantic]]|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716232507/https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/01/inclusive-case-1776-not-1619/604435/|archive-date=July 16, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Wood-response">{{cite web |url=https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/24/nytr-d24.html |title=Historian Gordon Wood responds to the New York Times' defense of the 1619 Project |date=December 24, 2019 |access-date=August 1, 2020 |publisher=World Socialist Web Site |archive-date=August 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819031451/https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/24/nytr-d24.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In an article in ''[[The Atlantic]]'', Wilentz responded to Silverstein, writing, "No effort to educate the public in order to advance social justice can afford to dispense with a respect for basic facts", and disputing the accuracy of Silverstein's defense of the project.<ref name="atlantic-wilentz">{{cite web |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/01/1619-project-new-york-times-wilentz/605152/ |title=A Matter of Facts |date=January 22, 2020 |first=Sean |last=Wilentz |authorlink=Sean Wilentz |access-date=August 1, 2020 |work=[[The Atlantic]] |archive-date=May 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200530035047/https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/01/1619-project-new-york-times-wilentz/605152/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
Also in December 2019, twelve scholars and political scientists specializing in the [[American Civil War]] sent a letter to the ''Times'' saying that "The 1619 Project offers a historically-limited view of slavery." While agreeing to the importance of examining American slavery, they objected to what they described as the portrayal of slavery as a uniquely American phenomenon, to construing slavery as a [[capitalist]] venture, and to presenting out-of-context quotes of a conversation between Abraham Lincoln and "five esteemed free black men". The following month,
In January 2020, historian Susan Parker, who specializes in the studies of [[Colonial United States]] at [[Flagler College]], noted that slavery existed before any of the [[Thirteen Colonies]]. She wrote in an editorial in ''[[The St. Augustine Record]]'' that "The settlement known as [[San Miguel de Gualdape]] lasted for about six weeks from late September 1526 to the middle of November. Historian Paul Hoffman writes that the slaves at San Miguel rebelled and set fire to some homes of the Spaniards."<ref>{{Cite web |first=Susan|last=Parker|url=https://www.staugustine.com/news/20190824/1619-project-ignores-fact-that-slaves-were-present-in-florida-decades-before |title='1619 Project' ignores fact that slaves were present in Florida decades before |access-date=December 6, 2019 |archive-date=December 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191226164933/https://www.staugustine.com/news/20190824/1619-project-ignores-fact-that-slaves-were-present-in-florida-decades-before |url-status=live }}</ref> Writing in ''[[USA Today]]'', several historians—among them Parker, archaeologist [[Kathleen A. Deagan]] also of Flagler, and civil rights activist and historian [[David Nolan (American author)|David Nolan]]—all agreed that slavery was present decades before the year 1619. According to Deagan, people have "spent their careers trying to correct the erroneous belief" in such a narrative, with Nolan claiming that in ignoring the earlier settlement, the authors were "robbing black history".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Ellis|first=Nicquel Terry|date=January 1, 2020|title=Forget What You Know about 1619, Historians Say. Slavery Began a Half-Century before Jamestown.|work=[[USA Today]]|url=https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/nation/2019/12/16/american-slavery-traces-roots-st-augustine-florida-not-jamestown/4205417002/|access-date=October 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201143804/https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/nation/2019/12/16/american-slavery-traces-roots-st-augustine-florida-not-jamestown/4205417002/|archive-date=February 1, 2021}}</ref>
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