A Comparative Study
Ben Widner
Summary
The focus of this lesson is to acquire an understanding of the
language used in the Declaration of Independence and
to analyze both the works that may have influenced the Declaration
and the documents/works that may have been influenced by the Declaration.
One of the focus points of Maier's book is that it was not just
Thomas Jefferson that wrote the Declaration, but a committee of
five (influenced directly by the Enlightenment) and then edited
by a committee as well. Hopefully through the lesson, students
will learn that even what we consider the greatest works are rarely
completed by only one individual.
Vital Theme and Narrative
Habit of the Mind
To analyze and interpret influence of famous works
Objectives
Students will grasp important concepts of the Declaration
of Independence (including time and place). Also, students
will be able to identify and discuss the works that influenced
the Declaration of Independence and those influenced
by it.
Procedures
Students will first have to acquire some background
knowledge in order to understand the historical context of the
Declaration of Independence.
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View John Trumbull's painting and discuss student
observations.
-
Read the Declaration together, identifying
key words and phrases, asking questions such as: Did the framers
intend for all people to have inalienable rights?
-
Place students in groups and receive one of
the following documents to analyze its impact.
-
Pre-Declaration: Magna Charta,
British Bill of Rights, John Locke's Two Treatises of
Government.
-
PostDeclaration: Frederick Douglass: "What
to the slave is the Fourth of July?", Lincoln's Gettysburg
Address or Emancipation Proclamation, Martin
Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, and
France's Declaration of the Rights of Man. Each
group will have to locate specific areas of the document
that relate to the Declaration. Finally, groups
will have to interpret how each of the individuals that
created these documents/speeches would have interpreted
the Declaration.
Ideas for Assessment of Student Learning
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