Hoyt G. Sorrells
It is at this point that justification of the unit's title, A Comparative Literary View of U.S. History, 1820-1900, will become evident. The implementation of this unit will require collaboration between the Social Studies teacher, the Librarian, the Technical Center Director and the Art Department. The unit will be comprised of lesson plans for maximum liability partnership-two person team cooperative learning exercises. These plans will direct students to employ the I-Search Process to do their comparison research. Student teams will be called maximum liability partnership (MLP) teams to keep them ever mindful that the success or failure of the team rests on each individual student to do his or her part. The original concept, the research, the artistic portrayals and the written and verbal presentations are the complete responsibility of both partners. The I-Search process will afford students the opportunity to be at once original and creative. This unit is written with the specific intention of giving 8
th
Grade students the opportunity to be original (take ownership) and creative, that is, enjoy a written research assignment. The I-Search allows the student to write in the first person which tends to eliminate plagiarism. For middle school age students, the elimination of plagiarism is a God send.
To ensure the flow of instruction and fold the content of this unit into the Social Studies/History Curriculum as naturally occurring or sequential, the reading assignments of textbook materials during the two weeks prior to the first week of the unit, that would ordinarily occur in order to comply with the Social Studies Curriculum Handbook, will serve to build students' background knowledge. Students will read, "U.S. Policies Toward Native Americans,"(Dorf, p.300-305); "Life in the North and the South 1789-1860,"(Dorf, p. 310-328); "Westward Expansion 1821-1853,"(Dorf, p.354-371) and, "The Road to War 1820-1861,"(Dorf, p.378-401). Assessment of these assignments will reassure the teacher(s) that students have a basic understanding of the material. Along with the reading, providing students with a concise, complete set of notes will allow students to refer back to important points they may otherwise miss. Any necessary additional instruction should be accomplished prior to commencement of the unit under discussion here.
Students' background knowledge of events leading to what would ultimately become the United States of America can now be used to make comparisons of literary accounts of these events. In the first week students will be introduced to excerpts from a selected list of speeches, personal accounts of Native Americans and former slaves as well as accounts of Mexican writers. A detailed list of: speeches, personal accounts and books is covered in the bibliography. These documents will present students with additional information about any one of the historical events toward which students may wish to direct their research. It can be ascertained by a brief perusal of Attachments A & B that students will have directions for their I-Search Proposals and a I-Search guide to lead them through their research. Student creativity will be brought into focus as each team develops an art piece or other visual illustration to support their presentations of the I-Search Paper to their peers.
By the end of the first week or the beginning of the second week student teams will have chosen their topics and begun their research. In order to find accounts for comparison from sources other than those written in their textbooks students will be referred to the words of certain Native American leaders, some Mexican leaders and several firsthand accounts from former slaves. The students will not be limited to recommended sources. However, the people and sources that will be recommended are valid for purposes of conducting comparative research. One example of differing accounts of the same historical event is that of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. It can safely be argued that the defeat of a significant U.S. Army Cavalry unit, the Seventh Infantry, by a combined force of Native American tribes was an important historical event for both Native American and the U.S. Government. One of America's Civil War heroes, George A. Custer, was killed along with over two hundred soldiers. Native Americans had proved that it was possible, however unusual the circumstances, to defeat the U.S. Army in battle. Whatever attitudes of military superiority the U.S. Army may have entertained were brought into question. And yet, the 8
th
Grade textbook, seven hundred seventy eight pages of print, illustrations, charts, maps and graphs only spent three paragraphs, one hundred sixty two words on the topic of the Little Bighorn. In those three short paragraphs we are told the what; who; when; where; why and how of the battle, but there is no mention of the significance of the victory for the Native Americans or the defeat for the U.S. Army. For students who choose to compare accounts of the Battle of the Little Bighorn the textbook account can be compared to accounts of the battle by Black Elk, Sitting Bull, Lone Horn or his seven-foot tall son, Touch the Clouds. Students are free to find other accounts of Little Bighorn for comparison. Students will be encouraged to pay special attention to the various styles of expression employed by the authors of the accounts they choose.
One additional and final example or opportunity for comparison of accounts involves America's encounters with Mexico. Since Texas was sparsely populated by Mexicans and eventually more densely populated by American southerners bent on spreading slavery to Mexico's northern territory, there is no need to consider the 1836 war between Texas and Mexico as being significantly different from the 1846 war between the U.S. and Mexico. The former was purportedly for the independence of Texas. The latter was purportedly the result of Mexico's invasion of U.S. territory. The account given in the 8
th
Grade textbook graciously spent five paragraphs, approximately two hundred sixty words to describe the, "War With Mexico...;"(Dorf, p.362 ) This textbook account or other accounts of students' choices can be compared to accounts of Mexico's wars with Texas and the U.S. as written by Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, Benito Juarez, Francisco Madero, Emiliano Zapata or several Mexican historians.
Just as it is important that students' background knowledge of the westward expansion be undertaken successfully prior to the commencement of their I-Search Projects, it is of equal importance that students develop an understanding of the tenets of the Monroe Doctrine as well as the beliefs professed by proponents of Manifest Destiny. Hence, the first objective of the first lesson plan must be an explanation of the I-Search Project. The next objective must be reading and interpreting both the Monroe Doctrine and Manifest Destiny.
While assigning an I-Search Project allows students to be at once original and creative, such projects also calls for teacher(s) to be at once counselor, facilitator and director. The teacher(s) needs to provide students with clear instructions on the content and composition of an I-Search Paper; set a timeline for step completion of students' proposals; searches and I-Search Papers and the presentations thereof. The teacher(s) must provide essential background information, information that must be common to all participating students. The teacher(s) must arrange Tech Center and Library research times. The teacher(s) must collaborate with Art Teachers to provide students with materials and directions for the art or illustration part of their presentations. The teacher(s) needs to provide ongoing guidance and assessment of students' progress or lack thereof. Using the I-Search process allows students the freedom to take a position, then, search for validation or invalidation of their position. The educational policy locally is that 7
th
and 8
th
Grade students develop their ability to take a position on an issue and write a persuasive letter, essay or speech stating and defending their position.
The following are the lesson plans for the I-Search:
WEEK 1: Day 1:
DO NOW: (Inform students of an open note quiz on Day 5.)
1. What do you know about the I-Search Process?
2. What would you like to know about the I-Search Process? (2 or 3 questions)
(Students' seating will be arranged so that teams sit side by side for the duration of the I-Search Project.)
OBJECTIVES:
1. Describe the I-Search Process. (Handout)
2. Explain the upcoming I-Search Project. (Students will take notes and time will be allowed for questions and answers.)
HOMEWORK:
Write a minimum of a half page description of what you think you are supposed to do for the I-Search Project.
Day 2-
DO NOW:
1. What do you know about America's westward expansion?
2. What do you think you need to know about it?
OBJECTIVES:
1. Share questions from Day 1's H.W. (Teacher will provide answers.)
2. Explain the I-Search Proposal. (Handout)
3. Explain I-Search timeline. (Handout)
HOMEWORK:
1. Read designated excerpts of the "Monroe Doctrine." (Handout)
2. List all unfamiliar terms or phrases.
Day 3-
NO NOW:
1. Answer a five question Pop Quiz. (Questions consist of topics addressed in the passages, not comprehension. Questions should inform teacher as to who did the reading and also inform the students about the absolute necessity of completing their H.W. assignments.)
OBJECTIVES:
1. Share definitions of terms and phrases from Day 2's H.W.(Students take notes.)
2. Read the "Monroe Doctrine" excerpts aloud in class and have students underline or highlight the five major points of that doctrine.
HOMEWORK:
1. Answer teacher generated questions that address comprehension of the major points of the "Monroe Doctrine."
Day 4-
DO NOW:
1. Students will copy the definitions from the chalkboard for: doctrine, manifest, destiny, context, annexation and continentalism.
OBJECTIVES:
1. Take notes on the importance of the roles played by the "Monroe Doctrine," and the policies of manifest destiny in America's westward expansion. ( 8-10 minutes and not more than four notes.)
2. Read the following excerpts from Wikipedia's "Manifest Destiny:" "Context and Interpretation," "Themes and Influences," "Continentalism," "Mexico and Texas," "All Mexico," and "Native Americans."
HOMEWORK:
Identify the: what, who, when, where, why and how for each of the five sub-titles listed in Objective 2, where possible. (Questions listed on a handout.)
Day 5-
DO NOW:
Briefly review the major points of the "Monroe Doctrine" along with the main ideas of the five sub-titled excerpts of "Manifest Destiny." (10 min.)
OBJECTIVES:
1. Administer a 15 question quiz-open notes-on the items listed in the DO NOW.
HOMEWORK:
1. Write five questions you might want to research for your I-Search Project. Provide a short rationale for each of your questions.
WEEK 2-
Day 1-Students will choose their topics and select the questions they want answered.
Days 2 thru 4-Classes will visit the Library and select books from a set of books that will be set aside by the Librarian. Topics will range from Native American tribes to America's Westward Expansion to the topic of slavery. Students will be encouraged to select their books and begin the collection of information. Students will take notes and record the necessary information to cite their sources.
Day 5-Teacher and students will review the status of searches and address any changes that students want or need to make. Teacher should pay special attention to the status of students' notes and citation information and make corrections as needed.
WEEK 3-
Day 1 & 2-Students will visit the Tech Center and access the Internet and search for additional information on their topics. Students will take notes and record Internet sites for their citations of sources.
Days 3 thru 5-Students will write and edit their I-Search Papers. Teacher(s) will facilitate their writing and provide advice, suggest changes and help edit as needed.
NOTE:
Throughout this three-week period students will work with their various Art Teachers and Language Arts Teachers if need be.
Sources
Bial, Raymond. The Cherokee. Marshall Cavendish Corporation. 1999.
This book is important because of its explanations of who the Cherokee people were; what they believed; where they lived and their written language. This book describes the path of the first Cherokees from the northwest to ultimately settle in the southeastern United States. They were spread throughout most of Kentucky; SE Tennessee; SW North Carolina; NW South Carolina; NE Georgia and SW West Virginia and SW Virginia. The Cherokee spoke an Iroquoian language. They were the largest group subjected to the 'Trail of Tears' movement from their homeland to the Oklahoma Territory during the winter months of 1838 and 1839.Yet, they sided with the Confederacy during the Civil War in hopes of regaining their homeland. The Cherokee Nation were given a written language by a so-called mixed-blood Cherokee named Sequoyah. The Cherokee, links eastern Native Americans to the Midwest culturally and geographically and thereby provides a rich source of information for research of Native cultures.
Blaisdell, Robert. Great Speeches by Native Americans. Dover Publications, 2000.
There could be no literary comparison of U.S. history without this book. It is replete with examples of speeches by ordinary and great Native Americans. The presentation of speeches demonstrates the Native American's mastery of what was a foreign language to them. The experience of reading these speeches will provide students with examples of different ways of speaking and hopefully give students some insight into how Native Americans thought and expressed their feelings about their plight.
Brown, Dee. Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West. Henry Holt and Company. New York. 1970.
This book provides a Native American point of view on many of the battles fought between themselves and the U.S. Army on the Great Plains. The presentation of the lives of the Plains Indians in their diversity of language, customs and nomadic lifestyles is essential to any comparison of historical accounts of Native Americans and encroaching European populations. This book introduces the reader to the differences between the nomadic western natives and the settlement dwelling farmer natives of the east. This book allows the reader to contrast the vast spaces required for the nomadic buffalo hunting peoples of the plains to the relatively smaller areas of rich soil needed by their eastern counterparts. The reader will also see the difference in the dispositions of the two groups of natives. This publication will enable the reader to appreciate the initial acceptance of European newcomers. The sheer vastness of the Great Plains, in the thinking of Native Americans, should have allowed both native and new comers to coexist. However, Wounded Knee, highlights the Europeans' seeming unquenchable thirst for more and more land once the discovery of yellow metal was announced. No research of historical accounts of America would be complete without Wounded Knee.
Dorf, Linda, et al., eds. American History. Globe Fearon. Parsippany. 2003.
This work is the 8
th
Grade Social Studies Textbook.
Dramer, Kim. Native Americans and Black Americans. Chelsea House Publishers. Philadelphia. 1997.
This work discusses various myths employed by Europeans to justify their exploitation of Native Americans and the land. It also describes other myths that were dedicated to the creation of enmity between Native Americans and African Americans, who would otherwise have formed alliances based on their mutual interests. This work gives examples of both conflict and cooperation between African and Native Americans. The breadth and depth of relations between African and Native Americans span the ownership of slaves by Native Americans through intermarriage between the two groups.
Garbarino, Merwyn S. The Seminole. Chelsea House Publishers. New York/Philadelphia. 1997.
This publication will prove itself to be an important resource because its explanation of the risks and advantages of the location of this group in proximity to large slave populations. The term Seminole is taken from a Creek word, semanoli, which refers to runaways. The Seminoles of Florida held a great attraction for slaves of the surrounding region. Their relatively easy acceptance of runaway slaves and their fierce resistance to U.S. military intervention made the Seminole region a natural haven for fugitive slaves.
The descriptions of Seminole daily life, their beliefs and ceremonial practices and the military strategies they employed in battles with the U.S. Army as well as other Native Americans make this book important to any researcher comparing historical accounts of Native American and/or African American cultures of the 19
th
Century.
Greene, Meg. Slave Young Slave Long: The American Slave Experience. Lerner Publications Company. Minneapolis. 1999.
This work describes the high and low points of the lives of slaves from their arrival on North American shores through their eventual freedom. The value of this book lies in the descriptive accounts of individual slaves at every juncture of the institution of slavery. The stories of Antoney and Isabella, believed to be two of the first arrivals in the British North American colonies in 1619, and 'Antonio the negro' who married and purchased freedom for himself and his wife are compelling. The account of Hosea Bidell, who was separated from his wife of twenty-five years when their master sold her, speaks to the perpetual fear with which every slave lived. This book also discusses the suitability of slave labor to the African and the incongruity of slave labor and the Native American. Slave Young Slave Long, also sheds some light on the interpersonal relations between slave owners and their slaves.
Hurmence, Belinda. My Folks Don't Want Me To Talk About Slavery. John F. Blair, Publisher. Winston-Salem. 1984.
Contained within this work are ninety-nine pages pregnant with the first hand accounts of former slaves. As you might imagine, there are no political experts or historians among the twenty-one narratives presented. Nonetheless, the reader will find invaluable the accounts of the conditions under which slaves lived and toiled. Prior to the actual commencement of hostilities between the Union and the Confederacy every slave served a life sentence, not only of themselves, but of their subsequent generations. The sense of resignation to their pitiful plight virtually jumps off the page into the mind of the reader. Hence, one reads terms like good master. In the narrative of one, who could be an ancestor of this writer, Ria Sorrell writes, "...;when he whupped one, he didn't whup much; he was a good man."( ) Why such narrations are important should be self-evident. The reader need only consider the title to grasp their importance.
Johnson, W. Fletcher. Life of Sitting Bull and History of the Indian Wars of 1890-1899.
Edgewood Publishing Company. 1891.
This book outlines the life of Sitting Bull from his familial information through his rise to become War Chief of the Lakota Sioux Nation. Excerpts describe Sitting Bull's military genius and bravery.
Katz, William L. Black Indians. Simon & Schuster. New York. 1986.
Beginning with its description of the actual first foreign colony on North American soil, occurring in 1526 on the Pee Dee River of South Carolina, this work offers many accounts of early American history that have been deemed unacceptable by traditional historians. However, from its identification of L.Vasquez de Ayllon, the man who began the practice of black slavery in North America through Black Indians' numerous examples of early interactions between African runaways and Native peoples which began in the 16
th
Century this work provides an entirely different perspective on American history, especially the early relationships between Native and African Americans.
Macrorie, Ken.I-Search Paper Training Manual
The I-Search method is explained from its inception through its many various changes and uses.
Thomas, David H, et al., The Native Americans: An Illustrated History. Turner Publishing, Inc. 1993.
This anthology contains a wealth of Native American historical accounts. It is full of illustrations and photographs of various phases of Native American life. There are examples of Creation Myths from virtually every Native American culture. This book presents accounts of the first interactions between Native peoples and Europeans. It briefly addresses the first interactions of Native peoples and Africans. Some information
about every facet of Native American history and culture can be found from artists' renditions of important historical events, such as the "Trail of Tears" to the "Creation Story of the Commanche." It will prove itself an invaluable resource as a look into the lives of Native peoples whoever they were or wherever they lived in North America.
Wright, Ronald. Stolen Continents: The New World Through Indian Eyes. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992.
This book presents features of tribal cultures of both North and South America. This work focuses on Aztec, Maya and Inca the major cultures of Central and the western and northwestern parts of South America. It focuses the reader's attention on the Iroquis and Cherokee Nations of North America. The most important contribution of this work is it clarifies the interconnectedness of the many lesser tribal groupings under the umbrella of these major cultural groups. It puts to rest the notion of a pure group implied by the term tribe. The idea that any native group descends of a single ancestor is highly questionable. However, within any tribe many previous Native American cultures are represented. An example of this multiculturalism is the Iroquois, who are representative of six separate and distinct groups: Mohawk, Oneida, Onandaga, Cayuga, Seneca and the Tuscarora. These is also evidence that many Iroquois could trace their lineage to the Huron and the Algonquin, both of which groups are thought to be the mortal enemies of the Iroquois. This work will help the reader understand that all Native American groups are somehow connected to each other, although not a monolith.
Benito Juarez
www.elbolero.gob.mx/kids/history/html/biojuarez.html
(Accessed June 10, 2009)
Black Codes
www//everything2.com/Black%20Codes
(Accessed April 8, 2009)
Black Elk Speaks: Walking The Black Road
www.firstpeople.us/articles/Black-Elk-Speaks/
(Accessed January 29, 2009)
Black Kettle Wanted Peace
www.cyberlodg.com/mlcity/blackkettle.html
(Accessed June 1, 2009)
"Chief Joseph:" Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt (1840-1904)
www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/a-c/chiefjoseph.html
(Accessed March 12, 2009)
Chief Seattle, Suquamish 1786-1866
www.suquamish,nsn.us/chief.html
(Accessed March 12, 2009)
Chief Sitting Bull (Tatanka Iyotake)
www.indigenouspeople.net/sittbull.html
(Accessed April 2, 2009)
Famous Quotes by Sitting Bull
www.quotesdaddy.com/author/Sitting+bull
(Accessed June 3, 2009)
Family Stories from the Trail of Tears, Edited by Lorrie Montiero
www:anpa.ualr.edu/digital-library/Family%20Stories%20the%20Trail%20of%20...;
Jim Crow laws
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim-Crow-laws
(Accessed April 8, 2009)
Legends of America: Native American Quotes
www.legendsof America.com/NA-Quotes3.html
(Accessed June 3, 2009)
List of Native American Leaders
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/list-of-Native-American-leaders
(Accessed June 1, 2009)
Manifest Destiny
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manifest-Destiny
(Accessed April 2, 2009)
Manifest Destiny: An Early Agenda of Expansion
www.pbs.org/kera/usmexicanwar/prelude/md-an-early-agenda.html
(Accessed June 19, 2009)
Manifest Destiny: A Mexican Viewpoint on the War with the United States
www.pbs.org/kera/usmexicanwar/prelude/md-a-mexican-viewpoint.html
(Accessed June 19, 2009)
Manifest Destiny: Native American Displacement Amid U.S. Expansion
www.pbs.org/kera/usmexicanwar/prelude/md-native-american-displacement.html
(Accessed June 19, 2009)
Monroe Doctrine; December 2 1823
www.avalon.law.yale.edu/19th-century/monroe.asp
(Accessed June 19, 2009)
Sitting Bull: The True Story by Christiane Whiteswan Sterne
www.manataka.org/page55.html
(Accessed May 28, 2009)
Tecumseh's Speech of August 11, 1810: To Governor William Harrison, Indiana Territory
www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Cove/8286/harrison.html?20091
(Accessed June 1, 2009)
The Post War years: Free At Last
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~cap/SCARTOONS/caremanc.html
(Accessed March 31, 2009)
War's End: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
www.pbs.org/kera/usmexicanwar/war/wars-end-guadalupe.html
(Accessed June 19, 2009)
Young Chief Joseph Speaks
www.spokaneoutdoors.com/josephspeech.html
(Accessed March 12, 2009)