Promises Made vs. Promises Kept: Comparing/Contrasting and the Promises the Founding Fathers Made to the Colonists
Day 1:
New Learning Target
Starting today we will be focusing on a new learning target. That learning target is:
Understands the implications of the social, political, geographic and economic effects war/conflict have had on the United States.
This means that we will be examining how the Revolutionary War affected the creation of our country in social, political, geographic, and economic terms. Our new learning goal is: Students will be able to compare/contrast the promises made by the rebel leaders about the government/new country and the realities of the government/new country.
Critical Thinking Skill: Compare/Contrast
Throughout the next few weeks as we work on the new learning target, we will also be practicing comparing and contrasting. For this you will need the Compare/Contrast Matrix which will be our graphic organizer throughout the following lessons.
Before we can start learning about how the war affected the new nation, we first have to understand the lenses we will be using to look at the affects. Below are the dictionary definitions of these lenses. (Definitions are from Google.)
Social - relating to society or its organization.
Political - relating to the government or the public affairs of a country.
Geographic - based on or derived from the physical features of an area.
Economic - considered in relation to trade, industry, and the creation of wealth.
Story of Thomas Jefferson
One of the most influential people in the creation of the United States of America is Thomas Jefferson. We will be learning about the beginnings of our country today through considering his story first.
Promises Made by the Rebels Before and During the War
Now we will begin looking at what the rebels promised the rest of society if they separated from England. These promises included some ideas of what the new country would be like. We will record these promises on your compare/contrast matrix.
Notes: (Green text = ideas/promises from Common Sense. Red Text = ideas/promises from Declaration of Independence.)
Day 1 Homework:
Write your own definitions for Social, Political, Geographic, and Economic
List the promises about the new country made by the rebels
Day 2:
First, we will review what we learned last time with the activity below.
Realities of the New Government
Now that we understand the expectations for the new country, lets uncover what the new country actually was like when it was created, starting with the story of George Washington
Read Choices
On your own or together, we will read parts 3 and 5 of Choices. If you would like to read the Articles of Confederation you may do that as well.
Now, on your own or with a partner, I would like you to do the same thing we did last class with these documents. Look through the Constitution of the United States and under the "Realities After the War" column of your compare/contrast matrix please write down the characteristics of the new government.
If you would like to know more about our new government, there is a link to an article below about George Washington's reluctance to become the first president.