ERIC ED481929: America's Heritage: An Adventure in Liberty. High School Edition. First Edition.

123 Pages·2003·1.8 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 481 929
SO 035 416
America's Heritage: An Adventure in Liberty. High School
TITLE
Edition. First Edition.
INSTITUTION
Houston Independent School District, TX.
PUB DATE
2003-00-00
NOTE
121p.; Developed in cooperation with the Robert and Janice
McNair Foundation and the American Heritage Education
Foundation, Inc. For the Elementary Edition, see SO 035 414.
For the Middle School Edition, see SO 035 415.
AVAILABLE FROM
American Heritage Education Foundation, Inc., 3701 W.
Alabama, Suite 200, Houston, TX 77027-5224. Tel: 713-627-
2698; Fax: [phone]; e-mail: [email protected];
Web site: http://www.americanheritage.org/.
Guides
Classroom
PUB TYPE
Teacher (052)
Non-Classroom
Guides
(055)
EDRS PRICE
EDRS Price MF01/PC05 Plus Postage.
DESCRIPTORS
Character Education; Citizenship Education; *Curriculum
Enrichment; *Democracy; Heritage Education; High Schools;
Instructional Materials; *Public Schools; Social Studies;
Student Educational Objectives; *Thematic Approach; *United
States History; *Values
ABSTRACT
These curriculum materials are intended to supplement
classroom resources for teaching high school students the roots of U.S.
heritage and the responsibilities of American citizenship. The materials are
divided into 14 sections:
"Purpose";
"Letter from Superintendent";
(1)
(2)
"Forward: Miracle of America";
"Preface: From Oppression to Freedom";
(3)
(4)
"American Heritage Themes";
"1622 Mayflower Compact--
(5)
(6)
Responsibility" (HISD Character Education Focus October);
"1776
(7)
Declaration of Independence--Freedom" (HISD Character Education Focus
November);
(8) "1787 Federalist 47--Responsibility" (HISD Character Education
December);
"1791 First Amendment--Unity" (HISD Character Education Focus
(9)
February);
(10) "1794 Entrepreneurs in History--Progress" (HISD Character
Education Focus April; Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie, James Hill,
John D. Rockefeller);
(11) "1916 American's Creed--Responsibility" (HISD
Character Education Focus January);
"1976 U.S. Flag/Federal Flag Code--
(12)
Freedom" (HISD Character Education Focus March);
"1998 Religious
(13)
Expression in Public Schools--Unity" (HISD Character Education Focus May);
and (14) "2000 What Is an American?--Responsibility" (HISD Character
Education Focus May).
(BT)
Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
from the ori inal document.
0,
America's Heritage: An Adventure in
0,
00
Liberty. High School Edition. First
Edition.
Houston Independent School District
American Heritage Education
Foundation, Inc.
Robert and Janice McNair Foundation
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Otfice of Educational Research and Improvement
BEST COPY AVAILABLE
PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION
DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS
CENTER (ERIC)
BEEN GRANTED BY
0-This document has been reproduced as
received from the person or organization
originating
1:1 Minor changes have been made to
improve mproduction quality.
°
Points of view or opinions slated in this
TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
document do not necessarily represent
INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)
official OER I position or policy.
1
AMERICA'S HERITAGE
adventure in Liberty
an
High School Edition *
First Edition
Developed and provided by
The Houston Independent School District
in cooperation with
The Robert and Janice McNair Foundation
and
The American Heritage
Education Foundation, Inc.
"If a nation expects
to be ignorant and free,
in a state of civilization,
it expects what never was
and never will be."
Thomas Jefferson
LIBERTY ENUGHTENING THE WORLD
1
BEST COPY AVAILABLE
America's Heritage: An Adventure in Liberty
Curriculum Materials for High School Teachers
Teachers are provided these resources as a supplement to school resources as they
deliver instruction focused on developing an understanding and teaching of our
nation's factual and philosophical heritage to promote Freedom, Unity, Progress, and
Responsibility among our students and citizens.
Developed and provided by:
The Houston Independent School District
in cooperation with
The Robert and Janice McNair Foundation
and
The American Heritage Education Foundation, Inc.
3701 W. Alabama, Suite 200
Houston, TX 77027-5224
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
email: [email protected]
www.americanheritage.org
These materials will help teachers accomplish the requirements of
Texas Education Code 28.002(h).
Teachers are free to copy any of these materials for educational purposes.
@ 2003
4
Copyright 0 2003, 2002, 2000 The American Heritage Education Foundation, Inc.
May be duplicated for educational purposes.
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High School
Table of Contents
-
America's Heritage: An Adventure in Liberty
Purpose
6
Letter from Superintendent
7
Forward: The Miracle of America
8
From Oppression to Freedom
Preface:
9
American Heritage Themes
21
HISD Character Education Focus - September
Page
Theme
Unit
1622 - The Mayflower Compact Responsibility
25
HISD Character Education Focus - October
Freedom
1776 - The Declaration of Independence
31
HISD Character Education Focus - November
Responsibility
47
1787 - Federalist 47
HISD Character Education Focus - December
Unity
1791 - The First Amendment
69
HISD Character Education Focus - February
Progress
1794 - Entrepreneurs in History
81
HISD Character Education Focus - April
Cornelius Vanderbilt
Andrew Carnegie
James Hill
John D. Rockerfeller
Responsibility
1916 - American's Creed
101
HISD Character Education Focus - January
Freedom
1976 - U. S. Flag / Federal Flag Code
103
HISD Character Education Focus - March
Unity
1998 - Religious Expression in Public Schools
111
HISD Character Education Focus - May
Responsibility
2000 - What is an American?
121
HISD Character Education Focus - May
5
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Purpose
In 1995, the Texas Legislature directed the State Board of Education to implement the following
law:
The State Board of Education and each school district shall
foster the continuation of the tradition of teaching United
States and Texas History and the free enterprise system in
regular subject matter and in the reading courses and in the
adoption of textbooks. A primary purpose of the public school
curriculum is to prepare thoughtful, active citizens who
understand the importance of patriotism and can function
productively in a free enterprise society with appreciation
for the basic democratic values of our state and national
heritage.
Texas Education Code §28.002(h)
The American Heritage Education Foundation, Inc. (AHEF) is a non-profit corporation dedi-
cated to the understanding and teaching of our nation's factual and philosophical heritage
to promote freedom, unity, progress, and responsibility among our students and citizens.
AHEF has provided these materials to help students become thoughtful, active, and pro-
ductive citizens.
For more information, contact:
The American Heritage Education Foundation, Inc.
3701 West Alabama, Suite 200
Houston, Texas 77027-5224
[phone]
[phone] facsimile
www.americanheritage.org
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6
MEMORANDUM
November 7. 2000
All HISO Teachers and Administrators
TO:
FROM.
RoO Paige
Superintendent of Schools
SUBJECT:
AMERICA'S HERITAGE: AN ADVENTURE IN LIBERTY
FIRST EDITION HISD SUPPLEMENTAL CURRICULUM
Texas Education Code 28.002 (h) .Required Curriculum provides that "a primary
purpose of the public sChool ourricukim is to prepare thoughtful, aCtive citizens
who understand the importance of patriotism and cen function productively in a
free enterprise society with appreciation for the basic democragc values 05 our
In keeping with this mandate, I went to share with
stale and national heritage."
you a supplemental curriculum entitled, America's Heritage: An Adventure te)
I betieve this concept ;$ vitally important to Irie future of our nation With
Liberty.
your leadership, this curriculum can positively and creatively influence our
students to become, productive, committed United States citizens.
On so doing,
the msonal growth of alif students will profoundly irnpact our entire socio-
economic system al freedom, arid free entel'onse.
s my hope that all of us in the
I have a perSonal commitment to this effort,
ft
Houston, Independent School Districi share the strong, common goal and desire
that ow- odlizens and leaders of twriorrow will embrace the four key themes of this
curriculum:
Although
responsibility.
freedom,
and
this
unhy,
progress.,
supplemental curriculum is. a contirruEng., year-round program, it COuttil alSO be
intensified during November, HISD's American Heritage Month,
Additional
American Heritage Monih matenals and activities are inciuded.
If you have any questions CT need additional information, ptease contact your-
district superintendent Thank you for yodr interest and, support
at-1,1 0
RP
RP:nb
t3oard Members
cc:
BEST COPY AVAILABLE
3
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FOREWARD
The Miracle of America:
A Revolutionary Idea
In only a little more than 200 years, our ancestors transformed this country from a wilderness
into a great nation. This nation demonstrates what can be accomplished by free people who
create a government limited to serving the people rather than being their master.
The moral and ethical basis of good conduct was derived from the faith that built America.
That faith grew from the common belief that each individual is endowed with basic rights
and responsibilities by our Creator. That is the foundation of our democratic republic ex-
pressed in the Declaration of Independence.
Today, we live in a highly interdependent society that cannot work well unless there is a
general agreement on the rules of good conduct and the penalties for the violation of these
rules. Our Founding Fathers also emphasized that a democratic republic cannot survive
without a high degree of literacy and knowledge.
More importantly, the survival of our democratic republic depends on trustworthy citizens
who support a common set of moral and spiritual values for individual conduct, values
rooted in the beliefs and knowledge of the Founders of America who were responsible for
writing the Declaration of Independence.
The character of society is determined by how well it transmits true and time-honored values
from generation to generation. These values are not an add-on or supplement to national
values but rather determine the character and essence of the country itself.
I commend the educators who will use this material in teaching their students the roots of our
heritage and the responsibilities of American citizenship as well as the need for all of us to
express our patriotism and love of country to those we touch.
Dr. Richard J. Gonzalez
Co-founder,
American Heritage Education Foundation
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PREFACE
1776
From Oppression to Freedom
Modern History's First Experiment in Self-Government:
Do Americans Today Understand What Freedom Really Means?
The concepts of freedom, equality of all men, unalienable rights, and self-government of, by,
and for the people are, historically, very new ideas. Modem man's recorded history is approximately
5,000 years old, yet the American experiment in self-rule is only 225 years old.
What types of governments or societies existed on our earth prior to 1776? Except for the city-
states of classical Greece and, to a lesser degree, parliamentary England after the 1642-48 English civil
war, all nations were organized in one form or another under "Ruler's Law" in which all power and
decision-making rests in one central, authoritarian unit. Ruler's Law has existed in many forms:
Monarchy:
a royal government headed by a monarch, a hereditary
sovereign or king, who rules by 'divine right,'
Autocracy:
government by an absolute dictator or monarch who rules by
inherent right, subject to no restrictions,
Plutocracy:
government by an exclusive, wealthy class,
Aristocracy:
government by those with inherited titles or those who
belong to a privileged class,
Oligarchy:
government by an exclusive few,
Empire:
an aggregate of kingdoms ruled by a monarch called an
emperor,
and
Military Dictatorship:
government by one or a few top military leaders.
(Skousen, The Making of America 44)
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