In what ways did John Quincy Adams and Thomas Jefferson contribute to the formulation of the Monroe Doctrine?
For American diplomacy, the war against Japan was not just about the destruction of Japanese supremacy in the Pacific, China, and Southeast Asia. The ultimate issue was just what would replace Japan's imperial design of a "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere." This lesson plan focuses on two major postwar problems"”the future of China and (using French Indochina as a test case) the future of Western imperialism in Southeast Asia.
The newly re-elected Abraham Lincoln sought to unite the American people by interpreting the waning conflict as a divine judgment upon both sides of the war. This lesson will examine Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address to determine how he sought to reunite a divided country through a providential interpretation of the Civil War.
What arguments were put forth in objection to the Sedition Act? Supporters of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison believed the Sedition Act was designed to repress political opposition to President John Adams and the Federalists.
The U.S. victory over the Japanese Navy at Midway succeeded in stopping the Axis advance in the Pacific, and by early 1943 the Marines had driven the Japanese from Guadalcanal. This lesson will guide students through the military campaigns of the Pacific theater, tracing the path of the Allied offensives.
In 1798, Jefferson predicted the consequences of the passage of the Sedition (and Alien) Act. In this lesson, students will look at documents reflecting some of the consequences of the Sedition Act. How close was Jefferson's prediction?
What was life like for women in the first half of the 19th century in America? What influence did women have in shaping the attitudes towards slavery? Towards women's suffrage?
In this lesson students synthesize the information gathered in the earlier intelligent briefings and in the written intelligence in order to build a relationship with one other team of student diplomats
In this lesson, students are introduced to Tocqueville's argument about the "omnipotent" power of the majority in America and its consequences. After an initial statement that the "very essence" of democracy is majority rule, he contrasts the means by which state constitutions artificially increase the power of the majority with the U.S. Constitution, which checks that power.
In this lesson, students, working with their empire teams, will negotiate a treaty.
One of the important roles of diplomats is to negotiate treaties between countries
In Tocqueville's discussion of how the majority in America constrains freedom of thought, he makes some of the most extreme criticisms against democracy. For example, he says "I do not know any country where, in general, less independence of mind and genuine freedom of discussion reign than in America"; and, "there is no freedom of mind in America."
A key role of diplomats is to gather and analyze intelligence. In this lesson, students acting as diplomats will present a short "intelligence briefing" to the representatives of the other Early Modern empires.
In this lesson, students continue their examination of Tocqueville's argument about the power of the majority and its consequences. Having suggested previously that the majority can crush a minority without even hearing its screams, he elaborates on the dangers of unchecked and unlimited power in democratic America and how to deal with it.
Students listen to a biography of Martin Luther King, Jr., view photographs of the March on Washington, and study King's use of imagery and allusion in his "I Have a Dream" speech.
Read the letter from the Federal Convention President to the President of Congress transmitting the Constitution
By immersing themselves in primary sources (George Catlin's letters), students will learn the difference between objective and subjective writing styles. They will draw facts out of the letters to create newspaper articles in Activity 1, and write their own letters as if they were members of the Catlin family in Activity 2. These activities are designed to enliven historical figures, to connect the "current events" of the past with the current events of the present, and to help students read and interpret historical documents.
This lesson presents 13 documents and photos related to the 1804-6 expedition into the newly acquired Louisiana Territory. The documents include a list of Indian presents Lewis purchased, his receipts for wine and tobacco, Jefferson's letter to Madison announcing the purchase of Louisiana, and Jefferson's message to Congress communicating the discoveries of the expedition.
This site features maps of the famous expedition. The Corps of Discovery collected 30 maps from Indians, trappers, and traders, and prepared 140 maps -- most of them drawn or compiled by Clark. The website shows the King map (created for the expedition) and the first map displaying their geographical discoveries. Descriptions of expedition members, life on the trail, and help provided by Indian tribes are included.
This lesson invites students to create a "Driver's License" for characters that have made a contribution to western expansion in the United States.