This unit is designed around three inquiries reflected in the focus questions: (1) Is partisanship unavoidable in our constitutional democracy?; (2) How should “We the People” balance the need for security with the desire for liberty?; and (3) Should national decisions about domestic and foreign challenges during the nation’s early years continue to shape how we live together? Although the inquiries are distinct, each subsequent inquiry also contributes to students’ deeper understanding of previous focus questions. For example, lessons 1-3 address the question “Is partisanship unavoidable in our constitutional democracy.” Yet, later lessons add to students’ understanding of partisan conflicts as they explore political conflict over the Alien and Sedition Act, the Louisiana Purchase, entry into the War of 1812, and seminal Supreme Court decisions. This is intentional. While the lessons ask students to answer this question by the end of lesson three, lessons four through ten continue to challenge students to think about political disagreements throughout the nation’s early years. This provides an opportunity for students to answer the focus question through a formative assessment during the unit, but continues to build their understanding in learning subsequent history. Using the focus questions as a summative assessment will allow students to understand that history is not just a series of facts to be learned, but provides students with “the invaluable mental power we call judgment.”[1] Thus, teachers should continue to refer to the focus questions throughout the unit.
The second focus question is taken up through lessons 4-7. The challenge of balancing our need for security with our desire for liberty is explored through a variety of events during this period of history. Students analyze President Washington’s decisions (staying neutral in European affairs, response to western border disputes, the use of treaties to avoid full scale war, handling of the Whiskey Rebellion, the creation of a national bank), as well as those of presidents Adams (Alien and Sedition Acts), Jefferson (Louisiana Purchase), and Madison (War of 1812).
The third focus question provides an opportunity for students to reflect upon the range of domestic and foreign policy decisions and their role in shaping their world today. Not only does this allow students to reflect on previously explored events with a new lens, but new content is introduced in lessons 8-10. In terms of domestic issues, students learn how the Supreme Court used its power to establish the scope and limits of the power of the federal government relative to the states and individuals. Once the Court enunciated its power of judicial review in Marbury v. Madison, it used that power to interpret other constitutional clauses (Interstate Commerce Clause, the Contract Clause, the Necessary and Proper Clause and the Supremacy Clause). These decisions supported the development of capitalism, asserted the supremacy of the federal government in certain areas, and enunciated the doctrine of implied powers. Foreign policy is examined through the Monroe Doctrine and its use over time as students seek to answer the lesson question, “Should the Monroe Doctrine continue to shape American foreign policy?”.
The final lesson in this unit leverages President Washington’s Farewell address as a lens to view both past and present challenges. Students use Washington’s advice to reflect on leadership during this period of history and consider its applicability to today.
[1] Sam Wineburg, Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts: Charting the Future of Teaching the Past
In this unit students explore the differences in the development of the Northeast, South, and West during the antebellum period. They examine how industrialization, westward movement, and the rapid expansion of slavery affected Americans prior to the Civil War. The unit commences with an examination of how historians analyze primary sources as students explore the early industrial revolution with a specific emphasis on the factory system in Lowell, Massachusetts. In considering the technological changes of the era, students compare the economic development of the North and South. In doing so, they explore how changes in agriculture, communication, transportation and immigration affected different regions of the nation. Through a variety of literacy strategies, students explore the extension of democracy and Native American removal during the Age of Jackson. They also explore how Jackson used the power of the presidency to attack the Bank of the United States and its favoritism toward the wealthy elite. Students then focus on westward expansion, examining art and other primary sources to assess the treatment of Native Americans. They evaluate how the Age of Jackson moved American society both toward and away from its core ideals. Through an exploration of Manifest Destiny, students assess its influence on westward expansion, including the annexation of Texas and the resulting Mexican War. By the end of the unit, students are able to develop an argument based on evidence about the positive and negative consequences of territorial and economic expansion on American Indians, the institution of slavery, and the relations between free and slaveholding states.
