What should we call the decades of American history between 1800 and 1860? Edward Ayers proposes “The Era of the New Nation.” He and his wife Abby have been traveling the country exploring the way we commemorate these decades. He […]
Ed Ayers
Ed Ayers in the “burned-over district”
The historian and his wife Abby recently toured “the quiet farmlands and serene towns along the Erie Canal” once known as the “burned-over district.” As Ayers writes in this piece at Bunk: “Religious revivals, reform movements, and political conflict had […]
Ed Ayers takes “History on the Road”
Learn all about Ed and Abby Ayers‘s “Discovery of America Tour’ here. A taste: My wife and I are embarking on a journey. We are looking for traces of America’s past from the first six decades of the 19th century, […]
Ed Ayers: The history classroom is a “community of trust”
University of Richmond historian Ed Ayers recently visited a high school history classroom. He reflects on what he saw here. A taste: I recognized in those two sessions what I had learned four decades ago when I started teaching history: […]