This unit traces the founding of our country and our subsequent search for a national identity. We trace the origin of minority exclusion and intolerance from the encounters of Columbus and Native Americans to modern civil rights speeches by Martin Luther King. Students examine their own inclination toward conformity or rebellion as we study the Revolutionary period. Biographical data about Ben Franklin and his sister is used to explore the significance of gender in 18th century America. This unit centers on the group of men that gathered to write the Constitution, the issues they faced, and the regional, economical, philosophical, and moral differences that were represented.
Students conduct in-depth research on one delegate.
This biographical data is shared in a whole group discussion for the purpose of drawing conclusions about the race, gender, and class of those chosen to write our Constitution. From the point of view a constitutional delegate, each students researches, writes a speech and debates an issue from the 1787 constitutional convention that reflects the larger themes of populism v. elitism, states rights v. federal government responsibility, small states v. large states, north v. south, etc. This 3-4 week unit uses the term wilderness in a very broad sense. The sub-themes of myth v. reality and pragmatism v. idealism are applied to the study of each group of settlers. The push to settle the continent provides an excellent opportunity to examine our history of intolerance by examining the treatment of Mormons, Native Americans, African Americans, and Asian Americans.