ERIC ED512023: Our Documents: A National Initiative on American History, Civics, and Service. Teacher Sourcebook, Volume II

92 Pages·2003·2.5 MB·English

by  ERIC

A National Initiative
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on American History,
Civics,
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Teacher Sourcebook, Volume II
Our Documents
is a program of:
The Sourcebook
is sponsored by:
The National Archives and Records Administration,National History Day
and The History Channelare proud to partner in the Our Documents
initiative and this second volume ofthe Our DocumentsTeacher Sourcebook.
This program is not just about looking at old documents.The documents
are a catalyst for getting teachers,students,parents,and all Americans to
strengthen their understanding and appreciation ofthe records and values that
undergird our democracy.Exploring the historical milestones they represent
teaches us about our continual quest to “form a more perfect union.”
This year we are making more supporting material for the 100 documents
available,sharing new ideas on how you can use these documents in your
classes,and inviting you and your students to participate in a vote on the 10
most significant documents in our history.
When President Bush launched the Our Documentsinitiative in September
2002 he noted,“Our history is not a story ofperfection.It is a story ofimperfect
people working toward great ideas.”We hope you find this sourcebook helpful as
your classes explore the great ideas at the heart ofour union.
John W.Carlin Cathy Gorn,Ph.D. Libby O’Connell,Ph.D.
Archivist ofthe Executive Director Historian in Residence
United States National History Day The History Channel
Our Documents:
A National Initiative on American History,
A Timeline: THE 100 DOCUMENTS IN CHRONOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
1777 1778 1782
Declaration of Articles of Confederation— Treaty of Alliance Original Design
Independence— This is the first “blueprint” of with France— of the Great Seal
The formal statement of government adopted by the Believing that they would of the United States—
1776 separation and list of griev- Continental Congress during benefit militarily by allying Several years in the
Lee Resolution— ances, as well as the princi- the Revolutionary War. Wary themselves with a powerful making, the Great Seal is
Richard Henry Lee, Virginia ples that inform them, is of a strong central power in nation, the revolutionary adopted by Congress;
delegate to the Second issued by the Continental the wake of their experi- colonies form an alliance it symbolizes the sover-
Continental Congress, urges Congress on behalf of the ences with Britain, the with France against Great eignty of the new nation.
the Congress to declare 13 American colonies Articles reserve the right for Britain. According to this
colonial independence from against Great Britain. each state to maintain “its first military treaty of the
Great Britain on June 7. His sovereignty, freedom and new nation, the United
statement to the independence.” The Articles States will provide for a
Revolutionary Congress, identify Americans as defensive alliance to aid
which is adopted and forms citizens of their own state France should England
the basis of the Declaration first, and of the United States attack, and neither France
of Independence, is known second. nor the United States will
as the “Lee Resolution.” make peace with England
until the independence
of the United States is
recognized.
National History Dayis a
nationally acclaimed history
education program that is
promoting the study of civics
and citizenship among the
nation’s students and teachers.
National History Day is
encouraging students in grades USA Freedom Corps is a
6-12 to participate in its annual White House Coordinating
student competition on Council created by President
Exploration,Encounter, George W. Bush to help foster
Exchange in History and is a culture of service, citizenship
challenging teachers to develop and responsibility in America’s
lessons to restore the study of communities. To find out more,
our nation’s heritage to a go to www.usafreedomcorps.gov.
prominent place in the
classroom. To find out more,
go to www.nationalhistoryday.org.
The Teacher Sourcebook is
The National Archives and sponsored by The History
Records Administrationis Channel. Now reaching 83.2
a federal agency that provides million Nielsen subscribers, The
ready access to essential History Channel brings history
government records that to life in a powerful manner
It is the purpose ofOur Documents: document the rights of and provides an inviting place
American citizens, the actions where people experience
A National Initiative on American
of Federal officials, and the history personally and connect
History, Civics, and Service,to
national experience. Through their own lives to the great
promote public exploration of how
the National Archives lives and events of the past.
our democracy has taken shape over
Experience, the National The History Channel received
time.Our Documentsis an initiative of Archives is developing new, the prestigious Governor’s
National History Day and The National interactive educational award from the Academy of
Archives and Records Administration in programs to give people a Television Arts & Sciences for
cooperation with the USA Freedom Corps. deeper understanding of the the network’s Save Our History
contemporary importance and campaign dedicated to historic
Civics, and Service value of our country’s recorded preservation and education.
history. To find out more, go to Find out more at
www.archives.gov. www.historychannel.com.
1783 1787
Treaty of Virginia Plan— Northwest Ordinance—
Paris— Having agreed the This ordinance, passed by the
Ending the Articles of Confederation Confederation Congress on July
war between were too weak a basis 13, establishes the United States’
Great Britain on which to build a new control over the territory north
and its former national government, the of the Ohio River and east of
colonies, delegates to a the Mississippi River. The
this treaty convention charged with ordinance lays the groundwork
formally creating a new for national westward expansion by
recognizes the Constitution for the defining steps for the creation of new states.
United States United States adopt this
as an new blueprint for
independent government on May 29.
nation. Written by Virginia
convention delegate
James Madison, this plan proposes a strong central
government composed of three branches: legislative,
executive, and judicial. It also enables the legislative
branch to veto state laws and use force against states
that fail to fulfill their duties.
Our
Documents:
A National Initiative on
American History, Civics, and Service
Teacher Sourcebook, Volume II
The Our Documents: A National Initiative on American History, Civics,
and Service ■ Teacher Sourcebookis sponsored by The History Channel.
The Our DocumentsInitiative is also sponsored by Siemens and US News
& World Report.
© Copyright 2003 National History Day
May be duplicated without permission for educational purposes. Not for resale.
Compiled and Edited by: Maria Mazzenga and Julie McCullough, National
History Day
Contributions and Editorial Assistance by: Lee Ann Potter and Daniel Rulli,
National Archives and Records Administration
Development and Editorial Assistance by: Cathy Gorn, Executive Director, National
History Day
Image Editors: Mark Robinson, National History Day, and Jeff Reed, National
Archives and Records Administration
Design by: Jane Farthing, Art Director, Rabil + Bates Communication Design Company
1787 continued
Constitution of the Federalist Paper No. 10—
United States— In order for the newly drafted
After months of debate in Constitution to become law, it needs
Philadelphia, the to be ratified by nine of the 13 states.
Convention charged with Some voters in the states have to be
constructing a system of convinced that the new Constitution
government to replace is worth adopting. The Federalist
that created by the Papers, which are a series of
Articles of Confederation newspaper essays written by James
adopts a new national Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and
Constitution. This John Jay, are written to promote
Constitution creates a the ratification of the Constitution.
representative democratic In Federalist No. 10, Madison
republican form of argues that the representative
government with a system democratic republican form of government created by the
of checks and balances. The new government will have new Constitution provides a remedy for the diseases to
three branches: the Legislative branch that will include a which such governments are most prone: factions.
House of Representatives and a Senate, an Executive
branch, and a Judicial branch.
Timeline CONTINUED ON PAGE 9
Lesson Plans:
20 Numerous,Various,Revealing,
Ubiquitous,and Teachable Documents
Contents
35 Worksheets for Analyzing
Historical Sources
42 Using Our Documents to
Introduction: Expanding Initiative
Meet Local Standards:
4 Toward “A More Perfect Union”:
A View from Virginia
The Our Documents Initiative in
47 Lessons that Work:
its Second Year
Last Year’s Our Documents
7 The People’s Vote,Town Hall Meeting
3 Educator Competition Winners
& The Preservation Video
48 Jefferson and the
Exploration of the West
Working with Our Documents 51 George Washington’s
Farewell Address
10 Understanding Our Documents:
57 “Jim Crow Must Go”:
A Competition for Students
the Civil Rights Act of 1964
11 Teaching Our Documents:
A Lesson Competition for Educators More About Our Documents
13 List of the 100 Milestone Documents 72 Preserving Our Documents:
The Charters of Freedom
15 Introducing Students to Primary
Source Documents 78 Selected Bibliography
we the people
in order to form a more perfect union
… participate
investigate
discover…
www.ourdocuments.gov
Introduction: Expanding Initiative
Toward “A More Perfect Union”:
The Our Documents initiative revolves around
100 milestone documents
drawn from thousands of public
laws, Supreme Court decisions, inaugural speeches,
treaties, constitutional amendments, and other national
artifacts that have shaped us as a people. These documents,
which reflect the diversity and unity of our nation, are available to the public through
the Our DocumentsWeb site: www.ourdocuments.gov. The goal of the initiative is to
engage students, teachers, parents, and members of the general public in reading the
milestone documents, reflecting upon them, and discussing them in the hopes
of creating “a more perfect union.”
It is the purpose
Last year,that engagement took many forms.The 100 Documents
of Our Documents: and the Our Documents Teacher Sourcebookwere posted on the
A National Initiative on www.ourdocuments.gov website.40,000 hardcopies ofthe Teacher
American History, Civics, Sourcebookwere distributed to educators across the country.Our
and Service,sponsored Documentssponsored a teacher lesson plan competition to generate use
by the National ofthe documents and appreciation for the nation’s history in the
Archives and Records schools.The winning lessons from last year’s competition are published
in this volume ofthe Teacher’s Sourcebook.Our Documentsalso con-
Administration, National
ferred recognition upon students who used the documents in their 2003
History Day, and the USA
National History Day projects in historically innovative ways.
Freedom Corps to
promote public
This year,the Our Documentsinitiative continues.The updated Web site
exploration of how our
and this volume ofthe Teacher Sourcebookare available to educators.
democracy has
Our Documentswill also hold another lesson plan competition for edu-
changed over time.
cators,and students will again be recognized at the June 2004 National
History Day Awards Ceremony for making excellent use ofthe docu-
ments in History Day projects.We are,moreover,encouraging educators
and students to join the general public in a national Our Documents
vote.Starting on September 17th,2003,Constitution Day,Americans
will begin casting votes for their personal top ten most significant
documents in United States history.Participants can write in their own
choices,or choose from the list of100 milestone documents (see pages
7-8 for more details).Cast your vote at www.ourdocuments.gov.
4 ■ www.ourdocuments.gov
The Our Documents Initiative
in its Second Year
The Our Documents Teacher Sourcebook: Volume II
What do Matthew Brady, Carrie Chapman Catt, Ansel Adams,
Orson Welles, and J. Howard Miller have to do with the
100 milestone documents? A few hints: Matthew Brady created the first photo-
graphic documentation of a war. Carrie Chapman Catt was the president of the National American
Woman Suffrage Association in 1920. Orson Welles produced plays for the Federal Theater Project,
a program of the Works Progress Administration established during the Depression to relieve
unemployment among artists and writers. J. Howard Miller created some of the most memorable
posters designed to rally the public for war in the 1940s, including the easily recognizable “Rosie
the Riveter” poster calling women to work in the nation’s factories as men left for battle overseas.
Indeed,these individuals may not be the first to come to mind when
looking over the list ofmilestone documents,but their lives are very
much connected to them.Without Matthew Brady,we would know less
than we do about Document 39,the Articles ofAgreement Relating to
the Surrender ofthe Army ofNorthern Virginia,because Matthew
Brady photographed the location where those articles ending the Civil
War were signed.Without Carrie Chapman Catt’s diligent efforts,
Document 63,the Nineteenth Amendment,might not have been rati-
fied and women might still not possess the right to vote.After Franklin
Roosevelt’s joint address to Congress leading to a Declaration ofWar
against Japan in 1941,Document 73,J.Howard Miller and an army of
artists were charged with creating dozens ofposters designed to unify
Americans behind the war effort.These individuals have left what we
might view as the “supporting record”ofthe 100 milestone documents.
These supporting materials are the focus ofthe lessons and activities
contained within this volume ofthe Our Documents Teacher Sourcebook.
One aim here is to expose the range and variety ofmaterials related to
the milestone documents,materials that reveal the depth and character
ofthe documents themselves.Accordingly,the lessons and materials
within this volume focus on selected photographs,posters,fliers,
print documents and other materials that support the 100 milestone
documents themselves.
www.ourdocuments.gov ■ 5
This volume ofthe Our Documents Teacher This sourcebook offers the educator several
Sourcebookalso seeks to relate the milestone resources designed to facilitate the use ofthe
documents to this year’s National History Day milestone documents in the classroom.The list
theme,Exploration,Encounter,Exchange in ofdocuments,timeline,and selected bibliogra-
History.All ofthe individuals mentioned phy are reprinted here to generate basic
above,for example,can be connected to this comprehension and further exploration ofour
year’s National History Day theme.Matthew nation’s archived past.Information on this
Brady’s use ofthe new media ofphotography, year’s student and educator competitions are
for example,yielded a record ofwar that trans- included,as well.This volume also contains
formed Americans’views ofmilitary encoun- thoughtful lesson plans and worksheets that
ters.Suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt helped to illuminate the variety ofprimary sources sup-
transform the nature ofpolitical exchangein porting the milestone documents,from photos
the United States by pushing for the passage of to posters to other kinds ofprint materials.
the Nineteenth Amendment.The milestone The lesson plans also tie the milestone docu-
documents’supporting materials do not neces- ments and supporting materials to this year’s
sarily have to relate to individuals,however. National History Day theme,Exploration,
Orson Welles was a director involved in the Encounter,Exchange in History.Another activity
Federal Theater Project,but one does not have shows how one teacher adapted Our
to focus on him or any other director in Documentsto effectively meet local standards.
research on that subject.Print materials like Finally,Our Documentsrecognizes last year’s
the playbill you will see within this Sourcebook teacher competition winners by publishing
came from the Federal Theater Project,part of their lesson plans,with the hope that other
the second halfofthe New Deal (Document teachers will benefit from their innovative use
69).Such items are supporting materials that ofthe documents.
can be examined for the encountersand
exchangesthey generated between artists,the
public,and the federal government.
6 ■ www.ourdocuments.gov
The People’s Vote,
Town Hall Meeting,
& The Preservation Video
Discover... Investigate… Participate in Our Documents
We invite all Americans to participate in Our Documentsthrough a series of events and programs
to get us thinking, talking, and teaching about the milestone documents that have helped create the
United States of America. The initiative includes:
The People’s Vote: 100 Documents That Shaped America
Starting on Constitution Day,September 17,all Americans will be able to
vote on what they have found to be the 10 most significant documents in
American History.Write in your favorite documents or choose from the
list ofthe 100 milestone documents provided by the National Archives.
Whole schools can get involved in this discussion and then vote at
www.usnews.com/vote.
U.S.News and World Reportis sponsoring the national vote by creating
a special issue detailing these milestone documents.The commemorative
issue will provide a paper ballot for the national vote and be available on
newsstands starting September 15.Go to www.usnews.com/vote for more
information or to vote for your top 10 documents.
Our DocumentsPoster
Celebrate the documents that founded our nation and made America what
it is today.Siemens is helping Americans understand the importance of
these milestone documents by underwriting an exciting commemorative
poster.Contact your NHD coordinator at www.nationalhistoryday.org or
e-mail [email protected] to receive a copy ofthis special poster
for your classroom,library,and school.
www.ourdocuments.gov ■ 7
Web Site Fosters Dialogue updated.But what technology is used for
About Democracy preservation? What are some ofthe lesser
known documents in the collection that have
Go to www.ourdocuments.gov and see the
had an important impact on our lives? Find
original speeches,international treaties,
out the answers to these and many other ques-
Supreme Court cases,patent designs,and
tions when The History Channel explores Our
Constitutional amendments that changed the
Documentsin a new Save Our Historydocu-
course ofhistory.Read transcriptions and
mentary,dedicated to historic preservation
historical interpretations ofthese documents.
and history education.A free study guide for
Have your class view a comprehensive
students and teachers will be available on line
annotated timeline ofthe documents and
at www.savehistory.comcloser to air date.
use these resources to prepare NHD projects.
Go to www.historychannel.comor check
Our DocumentsTown Hall Meeting your local cable listing for show times.
Airdate:Sunday,October 5,2003.
Our Documents: A Hundred
The History Channel presents Our Documents
Documents That Shaped The Nation
Town Hall Meeting,exploring National
Oxford University Press has published a
Archives’s collection of100 milestone
commemorative book ofthe 100 milestone
documents and what these documents mean
documents that have shaped our nation.
to our lives today.Stacey Bredhoff,Senior
Comprised ofdocuments judged by the staff
Curator from the National Archives,Dr.James
ofthe National Archives to be essential in the
Horton from George Washington University,
development ofthe United States from its
and Dr.Steven Gillon from the University of
founding to 1965,Our Documentsbegins with
Oklahoma will lead the discussion with middle
a forward by award-winning historian Michael
and high school student participants.This
Beschloss,a preface by the Archivist ofthe
program may be taped for classroom use.Go
U.S.,and an essay on how the documents were
to www.historychannel.com.or check your
selected.Filled with color photos and historical
local cable listings for show times.
information on documents such as the original
Save Our HistoryTM: Our Documents design for the Great Seal,the patents for the
A Preservation Documentary electric light bulb,the check that purchased
Alaska,and many other fascinating docu-
Airdate:Saturday,December 20,2003.The
ments,this book is the perfect companion for
National Archives reopened the Rotunda for
students,teacher,and all Americans who
the Charters ofFreedom on September 17,
appreciate the historical legacy ofthe
2003.The U.S.Constitution,Declaration of
nation’s archives.Order your book today at
Independence and the Bill ofRights have been
www.oup-usa.org!
conserved and their encasements have been
…
Help us form a More Perfect Union
Go to www.ourdocuments.gov today!
8 ■ www.ourdocuments.gov