You probably know Sharon McMahon as "America’s Government Teacher." If you've spent any time on Instagram, you've seen her—usually sitting in a chair, wearing a sweater, and calmly explaining why a specific constitutional amendment matters or how a bill actually becomes a law without all the shouting you see on cable news. She’s built a massive community, the "Governerds," based on a simple premise: facts matter, and truth is usually more interesting than the viral rage-bait clogging your feed. But when she announced her book, The Small and the Mighty by Sharon McMahon, she did something different. She didn't write a dry textbook about the three branches of government. She wrote about the people you’ve never heard of.
History is usually written by the winners, or at least the people with the loudest microphones. We learn about the Washingtons, the Lincolns, and the Roosevelts. We memorize dates of battles and the names of treaties. But Sharon’s book argues that the real engine of American progress isn't found in the Oval Office. It’s found in the lives of ordinary people who decided that "good enough" wasn't good enough. It’s a book about the power of the individual, but not in that cheesy, "you can be anything" kind of way. It's grittier than that. It’s about people who faced impossible odds, often lost a lot in the process, and changed the trajectory of the country anyway.
Who are the small and the mighty exactly?
When you pick up The Small and the Mighty by Sharon McMahon, you aren't getting a rehashing of the Greatest Hits of American History. Honestly, that’s what makes it work. She focuses on the "non-famous" figures. Think about the people who weren't invited to the room where it happened but decided to build their own room instead.
Take someone like Robert Smalls. While he’s gaining more recognition lately, for a long time, he was a footnote. In the middle of the Civil War, Smalls—an enslaved man—commanded a Confederate transport ship, picked up his family and several others, and sailed it right past the Confederate guns in Charleston Harbor to surrender it to the Union. He didn't just escape; he stole a warship. He eventually became a Congressman. This is the kind of "mighty" Sharon is talking about. It’s the audacity to look at a system designed to keep you small and decide to be a giant instead.
The book moves through various eras, but the thread remains the same. It’s about the schoolteachers, the telephone operators, and the marginalized community leaders. It’s about the people who did the work when no one was watching and no one was taking photos for the history books.
Why the Governerds are obsessed with this narrative
Sharon McMahon has a specific "voice" that translates perfectly to the page. It’s authoritative but deeply kind. She doesn't talk down to you. She assumes you’re smart enough to handle the nuance. In a world of 280-character hot takes, that feels like a relief.
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The success of The Small and the Mighty isn't just about the stories themselves. It’s about the timing. We live in a period where a lot of people feel helpless. You look at the news and feel like a tiny speck in a giant, churning machine that doesn't care about you. Sharon’s central thesis is a direct antidote to that feeling. She’s essentially saying, "You think you’re small? So did these people. And look what they did." It’s a call to action disguised as a history book.
One of the more profound sections of the book deals with the concept of "doing the next right thing." It’s a recurring theme in her teaching. You don't have to solve the entire world’s problems tomorrow. You just have to find the one small thing you can influence. That’s how the people in her book operated. They weren't trying to be in a book; they were trying to fix a specific injustice in their own backyard.
Breaking down the structure of the book
The book is organized into stories that feel like episodes. If you’ve listened to her podcast, Here’s Where It Gets Interesting, the format will feel familiar. It’s narrative-driven.
- The Unsung Heroes: She highlights individuals like Mary Church Terrell, a charter member of the NAACP who fought for civil rights and suffrage simultaneously, even when those two movements weren't always friendly to each other.
- The Context: Sharon provides the "why" behind the actions. She explains the laws of the time so you understand exactly how much these people were risking.
- The Connection: She ties these historical moments to the present. Not in a partisan way, but in a "human nature hasn't changed" kind of way.
The prose is fast-paced. She uses short, punchy sentences to drive home a point. She isn't afraid to use modern slang or relatable metaphors to explain a 19th-century legal concept. It makes the history feel alive rather than like something covered in dust in a library basement.
What most people get wrong about "The Small and the Mighty"
A common misconception is that this is just a "feel-good" book. It’s not. Some of these stories are devastating. They involve systemic failure, personal loss, and the slow, grinding reality of progress. Sharon doesn't sugarcoat the fact that many of these "mighty" individuals didn't live to see the full fruit of their labor.
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It’s also not a political manifesto. In a hyper-polarized environment, people often want to claim Sharon for "their side." But her work—and this book specifically—is fiercely non-partisan in its focus on the mechanics of democracy and the shared humanity of its citizens. She’s more interested in the process of change than the platform of a specific party.
How to actually use the lessons from Sharon McMahon
Reading the book is one thing. Doing something with it is another. Sharon often talks about "hope is a verb." If you finish the book and just feel "inspired," you’ve kinda missed the point. The book is meant to be a blueprint.
Start with your local community
The people Sharon writes about started small. They looked at their local school board, their neighborhood council, or their town's specific needs. If you want to channel the energy of The Small and the Mighty by Sharon McMahon, stop looking at Washington D.C. for a minute. Look at your own zip code.
Prioritize factual literacy
A huge part of Sharon’s brand is teaching people how to consume information. In the book, she demonstrates this by meticulously sourcing her stories. She encourages readers to look at primary sources. Don't just take her word for it—go look at the letters, the court transcripts, and the contemporary newspaper accounts.
Understand the "Long Game"
Change in America is slow. It’s frustratingly, agonizingly slow. The stories in this book prove that. The "mighty" are those who can sustain their efforts over decades, not just days. It’s about endurance.
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Why this book is ranking so high right now
Google's algorithms, especially for something like Google Discover, are increasingly looking for "E-E-A-T"—Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. Sharon McMahon is the poster child for this. She has years of experience as a teacher. She has built a massive, engaged audience that trusts her specifically because she admits when she’s wrong and corrects her mistakes openly.
The Small and the Mighty satisfies a deep hunger for nuance. People are tired of being yelled at. They’re tired of being told that everything is a crisis. They want to feel grounded. By looking back at the "small" people who survived crises much worse than our current ones, readers find a sense of stability.
Actionable steps for the "Governerd" in training
If you’ve read the book or are planning to, here is how you can actually apply its philosophy to your life starting today:
- Audit your information diet. Are you following people who make you angry, or people who make you smarter? Sharon’s book is a reminder that the loudest voices aren't usually the most impactful ones.
- Pick one local issue. Just one. Maybe it’s the lack of sidewalks in your area or a specific policy at your kid’s school. Research it. Find out who makes the decisions. Attend a meeting.
- Share the stories. The reason these people were forgotten is that we stopped telling their stories. Use the book as a conversation starter. When people are complaining about how "nothing ever changes," tell them about Robert Smalls or the others Sharon highlights.
- Practice "Quiet Might." You don't need a platform of a million followers to matter. Most of the people who changed the world had a platform of exactly one: themselves.
Sharon McMahon has managed to do something rare in the modern publishing world. She hasn't written a book that tells you what to think. She’s written a book that shows you how change has always happened: slowly, quietly, and through the hands of people who were told they didn't count.
Next Steps for Readers:
Check out the primary sources listed in the back of the book to see the original documents for the stories that resonated with you most. Then, look up your local city council's meeting schedule and commit to attending just one session this month to see how "small" government actually functions in your backyard.