Understanding by Design: Model Stage 2 for the Lead-up to the American Civil War

Understanding by Design:

Model Stage 2 for the Lead-up to the American Civil War

Chris M. Stewart

Montana State University, Northern Plains Transition to Teaching.

Moving from Stage 1 to Stage 2 of the lesson design process was a thought-provoking exercise.  By trying to think “like [an] assessor” from the beginning of the planning stage, it was pivotal to determine what and how students would be expected to demonstrate their understanding of the materials (Tomlinson and McTighe, 2006, p. 34).  Though it had been presented clearly through the texts, actually applying the concept of designing a unit backward really clarifies and shows the major benefits of this method of design.

            For a unit such as the pre-Civil War period, there are very fundamental questions and debates at the heart of the conflict.  It is important for students to not only know about them, but to experience and, in a sense, live them.  It is not enough for students to merely know that the southern slave owners wanted to protect their “curious institution,” but to understand – and even be placed in a position of arguing for – their justifications and perceived attacks on their way of life.  Now more than at almost any other point in history, the American body politic is echoing this same debate: federalism versus states’ rights.  As such, it is an issue on which at least some students will already have strongly-held opinions.  For them, and for those who may not have a strong opinion one way or that other, it is important to participate in understanding both sides of the argument.  To that end, a mirror of that longstanding disagreement could be used in the classroom through a series of debates pitting pairs of students against other pairs. 

Though the overarching theme would be the same for each debate, the specifics could be different.  For instance, a particular set of debates could be over the 1828 Nullification Crisis, with one side representing South Carolina’s argument that if a federal law were found detrimental to a state’s “sovereign interests,” it had the right to “nullify” it within its borders (US History).  The other side, in turn, would take the Federal/Jackson position that the federal government had the right to impose tariffs and taxation on states – by force, if necessary.  Similar debates could be structured around topics such as Jackson’s “War Against the Bank,” or even (potentially) defending the indefensible by needing to adopt the South’s ongoing justification of a slave-based economy.  Though a sensitive topic, it is remarkable how deep – and at times, compelling - many of the southern arguments in favor of the “status quo.”  Deep seated fears of widespread violence, economic collapse, and moral decay were paired with assertions that slaves’ living conditions were better than those of free men in the North or in Europe.  In both listening to their classmates, and conducting deep research in order to win their own debates, students would be exposed firsthand to the many issues and difficulties the North and South faced in trying to reconcile and compromise amid their vast differences.

Along a tangential vein, students would be expected to be able to discuss the reason slavery had been allowed to endure at all.  In a nation founded on the principles of equality and liberty, how had the forced servitude of millions been overlooked?  Moreover, how had many of those very men we look to as paragons of liberty and freedom – Washington, Jefferson, for instance – been lifetime slave-owners?  In researching and writing for themselves, students will be able to engage and wrestle with these difficult, paradoxical questions that would ultimately only be resolved in 1865.

Finally, students could be expected to complete a “propaganda poster” for a particular area of the conflict.  Whether for or against the institution of slavery as a whole, or for a particular “flash point” such as Bleeding Kansas or the aforementioned Nullification Crisis.  This would allow students to utilize their own strengths creatively, while delving into and understanding the material for themselves.  If a student felt best making an animation or short video, that could be accommodated as well.  All projects would, however, need to be chronologically limited to the crisis it depicted.

By trying to incorporate different elements of understanding – speaking, listening, writing, and a more open “choose your own style” propaganda piece – this unit would be able to engage students in a variety of ways, while still achieve a deep and personal understanding of the events and people.  Many of the debates waged in the early 19^th century have particular relevance today – those of states’ rights, national financial institutions, and taxation being only a few.  By framing those issue in such terms, hopefully students would be able to see such events more personally than they otherwise might.

Resources

Tomlinson, C.A., and McTighe, J. 2006. Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

U.S. History (2012). American History: From Pre-Colombian to the New Millennium. Retrieved from: http://www.ushistory.org/us/index.asp on Sunday July 7th, 2012.

Appendix

Backward Design Unit Plan Template

Stage 1 – Desired Results

Content Standard(s)/Overarching Performance Goals Topic: The Causes of the American Civil War & Secession

Understanding(s) Students will understand that… Though the question of slavery was the central component to the conflict, the Civil War was also the result of a myriad of events, societal tensions/sectionalism, and unresolved questions about the powers of government and the fundamental nature of a united federation of states.

Essential Question(s) ·      How had the drafters of the US Constitution left open the question of slavery?  Why? o   How did the societies of the North and the South differ in the early- to mid-19th century?  How would those differences affect the eventual outbreak of hostilities between the two societies? o   What were the respective arguments for and against the ideas of States’ Rights and Federalism? ·      How had the justifications for and against the continuation and expansion of slavery shifted from the 1780’s? o   How had the abolition of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade changed the conditions for slave owners in the South? o   How did the establishment of the Mason-Dixon Line and Manifest Destiny exacerbate rather than quell tension between the North and South? ·      How and why would the election of Abraham Lincoln be the final breaking point between the two societal factions, ultimately leading to civil war?

Students will know…                                   o   The questions surrounding slavery had been deliberately left unresolved by the Founding Fathers, figuring that they institution would naturally die out over time. o   The North and South differed wildly in their societies.  While the North rapidly pursued urbanism and industrialization, the South remained committed to the rural, agrarian lifestyle made possible by slave labor. o   While the proponents of federalism held that once entered into, union between states was irrevocable and perpetual, advocates of the states’ rights argued that states were sovereign and union was by its very nature voluntary and dissolvable through popular consent. o   While the question of slavery had in the 1780’s been thought – and argued – to be a temporary phase that would die out over time, by the mid-1800’s with the abolition of the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade, it had become a self-sustaining industry.  Further, popular opinion in the South had transformed from viewing slavery as a necessary evil, to viewing it as a societal good. o   In the northern states, an abolitionist movement had taken hold.  It sought to limit the expansion of the slave-based industry as the United States expanded westward. Students will be able to…

Stage 2 – Assessment Evidence

Summative Performance Task(s) & Product(s) ·      Participate in pairs in a debate between the merits of federalism vs. states rights. ·      Write a thoughtful paper explaining/exploring the Founding Fathers’ decision to allow slavery in a country that had established itself on the notion that “all Men are created equal.” Should be based on primary sources studies in class. ·      Construct a “propaganda poster” – either abolitionist or states rights - to disseminate to the other side, striving to convince them to join your “noble cause.”  Though design creativity is highly encouraged, each poster should strive to retain the actual ideas and beliefs of its given argument.

Key Criteria for use in evaluating performance/s listed above: ·      Appropriate use of context and period vocabulary. ·      Demonstration of understanding both sides of the slavery debate. ·      Geographic and chronological knowledge of major events.

Other Evidence (tests, formative and non-performance assessments) ·      Keep an ongoing weekly journal detailing the arguments and rationale of both the slave owners of the South, and the abolitionist movement in the north.  Each entry should reflect a different period of thought, and should be “dated” to reflect its intended timeframe. ·      Be able to identify the Northern and Southern states by map – including which new states & territories had been brought in as free or slave, and the border-states that would retain slavery but never secede, and be able to place the Mason-Dixon and Missouri Compromise lines.

Stage 3 – Learning Plan

Learning Activities: (utilize the WHERETO ideas)