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Unit Title: Enlightenment Ideals As Realized by Jefferson and Others Author: Stephen Bertetti Grade Level: 10 School: T.C. Williams H.S. Time Estimated: 1 Block Overview: This lesson works well with an honors class that has a background on the Enlightenment, the Declaration of Independence, and parts of the U.S. Constitution that relate to the 3/5 person rule and the first 10 amendments. During this lesson, students will use primary sources from late 18th century and early 19th century American history to judge how well Thomas Jefferson and others’ implemented the ideals of the Enlightenment into the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. They will finish with a discussion of whether Thomas Jefferson and others were justified with the limitations they placed on the Enlightenment ideals. Historical Background: From the late 17th century through to the late 18th century, European thinkers were influenced by the developments of the Scientific Revolution. These Enlightenment philosophers wanted to use the ideas from science and apply them to the world of human interaction. The Europeans borrowed from the Greeks and Romans building on their notions of democracy, equality, and freedom. In turn, American revolutionaries absorbed these Enlightenment ideas and used them as both a justification for revolution and a guide for a new republic. However, the American writers of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights did not include a great number of people in their interpretation of democracy, equality, and freedom. As one of the principle authors of the Declaration of Independence and as a participant in the forming of the new nation, Thomas Jefferson was a leading spokesman for the Enlightenment values. Besides Jefferson, other founding fathers espoused the ideals of the Enlightenment but always with their own limitations. Objectives: During this lesson, students will

1. Read and interpret primary sources from late 18th century and early 19th century America.

2. Identify ideas from the Enlightenment in the sources. 3. Describe opinions and biases in the sources. 4. Give an example from an 18th century U.S. document that reaffirms or negates the

ideas presented in the primary source. 5. Compare and contrast the opinions presented in the primary sources. 6. Predict future conflicts that will arise from the differences that are presented. 7. Evaluate and judge the creators of the United States as to how well they

incorporated the ideals of the Enlightenment into U.S. government. Standards of Learning:

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Skills: World Civilization II SOL 1a The student will improve skills in historical research by identifying, analyzing, and interpreting primary and secondary sources to make generalizations about events and life in world history

Content: World Civilization II SOL 6d The student will demonstrate knowledge of changes during the eighteenth century by explaining the political and social ideas of the Enlightenment and the ways in which they influenced the founders of the United States, specifically the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States of America and the Bill of Rights.

Materials: • Copies of the U.S. Constitution (including the Bill of Rights) and the Declaration

of Independence (from the textbook.) They will be used as references during the lesson. The students should already be familiar with these documents from a previous lesson. Part of World Civilization II SOL 6d includes studying the Enlightenment values in these documents. This should be done prior to this lesson.

• Enlightenment resources. World History teachers will have covered the Enlightenment in depth beforehand, as it is a large SOL in the curriculum. These teachers can use whatever resources they have used in their previous lessons to review background. However, American History teachers or others who have not covered the Enlightenment and need to give background information on the Enlightenment can go to the following website http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/searchfr.php?function=find&keyword=&topEnlightenment=1 and look at the various documents and pick the sources that they want to use to teach the Enlightenment. There are cartoons as well as primary document text sources. The following links on the page are suggestions:

Voltaire’s Understanding of Inequality Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen Reason Liberty Equality Fraternity French Constitution, Rights of Man and Citizen The Bill of Rights, 1689 Declaration of Independence, 1776 Virginia’s Declaration of Rights, 1776 Montesquieu, the Spirit of the Laws A Vindication of the Rights of Woman The Abolition of Negro Slavery

• Picture of Thomas Jefferson at http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/jefferson/biog/ljpic.htm • Laptop computers (provided by ACPS for all students at T.C. Williams) with the

following website addresses that students can look at for secondary and primary sources online. 1. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=rbpe&fileName=rbpe14/rbpe147/14701000/rbpe14701000.db&recNum=0&itemLink=D?rbpebib:46:./temp/~ammem_s98Y::&linkText=0

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2. http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/documents/searchdisplay.cfm?ID=357 3. http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/documents/searchdisplay.cfm?ID=399 4. http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/documents/searchdisplay.cfm?ID=356 5. http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/documents/searchdisplay.cfm?ID=340 6. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jefferson/enigma/trials.html 7. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jefferson/true/ 8. Copies of letters between Abigail Adams and John Adams at

http://www.gilderlehrman.org/teachers/module1/tool_is_pop2.html 9. Copy of excerpt from Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s The Life of Martha Ballard,

Based on her Diary 1785 to 1812 pages 169 to 174 discussing the success rate of Martha Ballard’s deliveries compared to male doctors of the time. This is an example that women were men’s equals when given the chance.

• Guided lesson worksheet with questions that will focus students’ attention on the tasks for the lesson.

Strategies:

1. Hook Eight Minutes • Display an image of Jefferson on a screen using either a TV with TVator

or a computer projector. Use the website http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/jefferson/biog/ljpic.htm for the image. Ask students to brainstorm words that describe him. Put those words on the board. Then, ask students which word they think best describes him and why.

2. Introduction Seven Minutes

• Put students into assigned groups of three and have them recall 5 ideals of the Enlightenment. This follows a lesson on the Enlightenment so they should be able to recall some or they can look at their notes if they need to. For American history teachers, refer to the sources listed under the second bullet under Materials. Call on 3 or 4 students to share some of their thoughts with their classmates. After this warm-up, inform students that the objective for today is to examine this question on the board (newsprint), “How well did the creators of our nation (and specifically Thomas Jefferson) implement the ideals of the Enlightenment?

2. Secondary Source Readings Twenty-five Minutes

• Review with the students what a primary source is and what a secondary source is and inform students that they are going to examine a secondary source and some primary sources.

• To give the students some background to the argument over Jefferson, have them go to the secondary sources on the website http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jefferson/true/ and have them read the three short paragraphs about the relationship between Sally Hemings and Jefferson. Then, have them go to the website http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jefferson/enigma/trials.html and have them read the first three and then the fifth and sixth paragraphs of Wood’s essay as an introduction to the debate over Thomas

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Jefferson. Also, have them read the second paragraph of Rakove’s essay at the website http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jefferson/enigma/rakove.html

• Write the word presentism on the board and give the students a definition of the term (The imposition of present-day values and assumptions on individuals and societies of the past.) Tell students that this concept is at the center of this debate. Put these two questions on an overhead and ask the students which question is best to ask: Is it right that we judge Jefferson by today’s values? Should we try to understand him in comparison to people from his own age?

• Ask the following questions for general understanding of the debate: Why is it important that we understand Jefferson today? Does our notion of Jefferson say something about our society today as Wood suggests? How? Is it more important to think of Jefferson as a failure for keeping slavery or is it more important to think of why Jefferson came to hate slavery in a time when slavery was so popular? After knowing that Jefferson fathered children with a slave woman, is anything Jefferson writes on the notion of slavery creditable? Is he a hypocrite?

3. Primary Source Readings Twenty Minutes

• Now tell the students they are going to examine these viewpoints by looking at some primary sources as historians do.

• Pass out the guided lesson worksheet to each student. • Assign a different primary source to each group. They should go to the

assigned website and read the selection out loud with their group and answer the corresponding questions on the worksheet.

• After the first 3 questions are done, they should check their answers with the teacher.

• On question #4, they should merge with another group to discuss any similarities or differences between the primary sources for each group.

• With the other group, discuss possible answers to questions #5 and #6. 4. Class Discussion Fifteen Minutes

• Ask one student from each group to present their findings to the class and their conclusions.

5. Wrap Up 20 Minutes (finish rest for homework)

Using the sources they were given and any notes from the lesson, students should write a 3 paragraph essay evaluating Thomas Jefferson and other creators of the U.S. government. They should think about these issues:

• Should we remember the creators of the Constitution for their successes in creating lasting documents dedicated to Enlightenment ideas?

• Or, should we remember them for their failures to address the issues of slavery and women’s rights?

Assessment:

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1. Completion of the guided lesson worksheet for each student in the pair. All questions need to be answered in complete sentences.

2. Participation in the discussion on the creators of the U.S. government. 3. A three-paragraph essay evaluating the creators of the U.S. government (students

can use the notes from the lesson,). Teachers should use the rubric for the essay to evaluate the essay

4. Working on task throughout the lesson. Teachers should use the rubric for assessing class work

Differentiation: Groups should be mixed ability. Instead of reading the two secondary source essays, the teacher could give the students a quick synopsis of the debate. For the primary sources, you could read a few together as a class and with the teacher guiding the students through the sources. The teacher can also assist in helping students answer the questions on the worksheet. If you do this, you won’t need to cover seven primary sources, but perhaps read only three, and keep the focus solely on Thomas Jefferson. Resources: Wilson, Douglas, “Thomas Jefferson and the Meanings of Liberty,” Portrait of America, Volume 1: to 1877, edited by Stephen Oates and Charles Errico, pp. 101 – 113. McGinty, Brian, “Sunrise at Philadelphia,” Portrait of America, Volume 1: to 1877, edited by Stephen Oates and Charles Errico, pp. 116 to 131. Activity 1.2, “Debating the Ideal Form of Government: A Meeting of Minds”, History Alive, Volume 7, Modern Europe, Teachers’ Curriculum Institute. Kerber, Linda K., “The Revolutionary Generation: Ideology, Politics, and Culture in the Early Republic,” The New American History, edited by Eric Foner, pp. 31 – 54. Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher, A Midwife’s Tale. Kerber, Linda K., “’Ourselves and Our Daughters Forever’: Women and the Constitution, 1787 – 1876,” One Woman, One Vote: Rediscovering the Woman Suffrage Movement, ed. Marjorie Spruill Wheeler, pp. 21 – 36. Websites: Virginia Slave Laws, Digital History Website http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/documents/searchdisplay.cfm?ID=217 The Three-Fifth Compromise, Digital History Website http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/documents/searchdisplay.cfm?ID=306 Slavery and the American Revolution, Digital History website http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/documents/searchdisplay.cfm?ID=414 Slavery and the American Revolution, Digital History website http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/documents/searchdisplay.cfm?ID=301

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Thomas Jefferson, Digital History website http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/documents/searchdisplay.cfm?ID=397 Dearest Friend, John and Abigail Adams, PBS American Experience website http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/adams/sfeature/sf_letters.htm

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Questions for Primary Sources Directions: Read the primary source from late 18th century and early 19th century and answer the following questions. 1. Identify ideas from the Enlightenment that are being considered in the sources. 2. Describe the general opinion of the author of the source and name his or her bias (who or what do they represent or support). 3. Give an example from an 18th century U.S. document (Declaration of Independence or U.S. Constitution) that reaffirms or negates the ideas presented in the primary source. 4. Meeting with another group, compare (find any similarities) and contrast (find any differences) the opinions that are presented in the primary sources that you have. 5. Predict the future conflicts that will arise in the United States from the different views that are presented. 6. Evaluate and judge the creators of the United States as to how well they incorporated the ideals of the Enlightenment into U.S. government. (You can use the back of this paper if you need to.)

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Rubric for answer sheet, working together as group, and class discussion

Teacher Name: Student Name: ________________________________________

CATEGORY 4 Excellent 3 Good 2 Satisfactory 1 Unsatisfactory

Focus on the task Consistently stays focused on the task and what needs to be done. Very self-directed.

Focuses on the task and what needs to be done most of the time. Other group members can count on this person.

Focuses on the task and what needs to be done some of the time. Other group members must sometimes nag, prod, and remind to keep this person on-task.

Rarely focuses on the task and what needs to be done. Lets others do the work.

Contributions Routinely provides

useful ideas when participating in the group and in classroom discussion. A definite leader who contributes a lot of effort.

Usually provides useful ideas when participating in the group and in classroom discussion. A strong group member who tries hard!

Sometimes provides useful ideas when participating in the group and in classroom discussion. A satisfactory group member who does what is required.

Rarely provides useful ideas when participating in the group and in classroom discussion. May refuse to participate.

Attitude Never is publicly

critical of the project or the work of others. Always has a positive attitude about the task(s).

Rarely is publicly critical of the project or the work of others. Often has a positive attitude about the task(s).

Occasionally is publicly critical of the project or the work of other members of the group. Usually has a positive attitude about the task(s).

Often is publicly critical of the project or the work of other members of the group. Often has a negative attitude about the task(s).

Accuracy of Facts (Content)

All supportive facts are reported accurately.

Almost all supportive facts are reported accurately.

Most supportive facts are reported accurately.

NO facts are reported OR most are inaccurately reported.

Support for Topic (Content)

Relevant, telling, quality details give the reader important information that goes beyond the obvious or predictable.

Supporting details and information are relevant, but one key issue or portion of the storyline is unsupported.

Supporting details and information are relevant, but several key issues or portions of the storyline are unsupported.

Supporting details and information are typically unclear or not related to the topic.

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Interpreting Primary Sources: Impact of the Revolution Abigail Adams’ Letter to John Reading 1: I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a Rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice, or Representation.

Abigail Adams to John Adams, 1776 Reading 2: As to your extraordinary Code of Laws, I cannot but laugh. We have been told that our Struggle has loosened the bands of Government every where. That Children and Apprentices were disobedient--that schools and colleges were grown turbulent--that Indians slighted their guardians and Negroes grew insolent to their masters. But your letter was the first intimation that another tribe more numerous and powerful than all the rest were grown discontented.... Depend upon it, we know better than to repeal our masculine system. Although they are in full force, you know they are little more than theory. We dare not exert our power in its full latitude. We are obliged to go fair, and softly, and in practice you know we are the subject. We have only the name of masters, and rather than give up this, which would completely subject us to the despotism of the petticoat, I hope General Washington, and all our braves heroes would fight.

John Adams to Abigail Adams, 1776

http://www.gilderlehrman.org/teachers/module1/tool_is_pop2.html

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A Midwife’s Tale 169 Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

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Judging Thomas Jefferson and the Founding Fathers

Teacher Name: Student Name: ________________________________________

CATEGORY 8 Excellent 7 Good 6 Satisfactory 4 Poor

Focus on Topic (Content)

There is one clear, well-focused topic. Main idea stands out and is supported by detailed information.

Main idea is clear but the supporting information is general.

Main idea is somewhat clear but there is a need for more supporting information.

The main idea is not clear. There is a seemingly random collection of information.

Support for Topic (Content)

Relevant, telling, quality details give the reader important information that goes beyond the obvious or predictable.

Supporting details and information are relevant, but one key issue or portion of the storyline is unsupported.

Supporting details and information are relevant, but several key issues or portions of the storyline are unsupported.

Supporting details and information are typically unclear or not related to the topic.

Accuracy of Facts (Content)

All supportive facts are reported accurately.

Almost all supportive facts are reported accurately.

Most supportive facts are reported accurately.

NO facts are reported OR most are inaccurately reported.

Grammar & Spelling (Conventions)

Writer makes no errors in grammar or spelling that distract the reader from the content.

Writer makes 1-2 errors in grammar or spelling that distract the reader from the content.

Writer makes 3-4 errors in grammar or spelling that distract the reader from the content.

Writer makes more than 4 errors in grammar or spelling that distract the reader from the content.

Sentence Structure (Sentence Fluency)

All sentences are well-constructed with varied structure.

Most sentences are well-constructed with varied structure.

Most sentences are well-constructed but have a similar structure.

Sentences lack structure and appear incomplete or rambling.