With and without the vote and throughout American history, young people have been a force to be reckoned with as they take action and stand in support of the issues that matter most. In 2020 this legacy will continue; millions of young people will be eligible to vote in American elections for the first time and countless more will likely participate in the electoral process in other ways. The Young People Shake Up Elections (History Proves It) video series from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History shares 10 stories of young people shaping and changing elections throughout American history.
The Videos
Each video features a cast of teens telling two stories of young people impacting American electoral politics and reflecting through critical dialogue on what it means to be a young person participating in elections today. The videos end with a prompt to spark conversation among your students about the public issues they care about and how they might take part in the upcoming elections.