Political critique assignment
Background: Thomas Jefferson was President of the United States from 1801-1809. He was responsible for the writing the Declaration of Independence, facilitating the Louisiana Purchase and pushing Manifest Destiny. He also wasn’t very well liked for many different reasons by large numbers of people in the United States during his lifetime, so much so that during the presidential election of 1800 he couldn’t secure 51% of the vote. This resulted in the U.S. House of Representatives selecting him as president (the first time in U.S. history that occurred). One of the biggest mysteries and controversies surrounding Jefferson was his relationship with one his slaves, Sally Hemings, and whether he was the father of her children though he was married to someone else. To this day there remains no definitive proof of his fathering Hemings’ children though DNA evidence is mixed.
Directions: Based on the information provided within the internet links made available to you, explain whether you think there really is/was (a) any definitive proof of Jefferson’s fatherhood of Hemings’ children (b) any real reason for anyone besides Hemings or her children to care about this situation (c) an effect on the United States’ issue of slavery and its validity at the time (d) any reason to have had Jefferson removed from office if his fatherhood could have been proven at the time.
Students should decide the method of expressing their evidence based views of parts a, b, c, and d. For example, use MS Power Point, Animoto, Prezi, MS Word, MS Publisher, etc. There is no minimum amount of text or video time other than that students adequately address (respond to) parts a, b, c, and d supported by clear evidence from the internet resources I provided under the Thomas Jefferson section at www.socialstudiesguy.com under Sally Hemings Controversy. Your work should be emailed to me at no later than Wednesday 3/16/13 at 11:59 p.m.
The internet links are listed below in case you cannot access them from school at the www.socialstudiesguy.com website:
http://www.monticello.org/site/plantation-and-slavery/thomas-jefferson-and-sally-hemings-brief-account
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jefferson/cron/1977wolf.html
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/h/sally_hemings/
I can analyze historical sources (secondary) and interpret their validity and accuracy vis-à-vis my own perceptions of the data.
CCSS clarifying objectives addressed in this learning activity-
AH1.H.1.4 Use Historical Research to: 1. Formulate historical questions; 2. Obtain historical data from a variety of sources; 3. Support interpretations with historical evidence; 4. Construct analytical essays using historical evidence to support arguments.
AH1.H.4.1 Analyze the political issues and conflicts that impacted the United States through Reconstruction and the compromises that resulted (e.g., American Revolution, Constitutional Convention, Bill of Rights, development of political parties, nullification, slavery, states’ rights, Civil War).