Democracy in Theory and Practice

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 08.03.09

  1. Unit Guide
  1. Introduction
  2. Objectives
  3. Rationale
  4. Background Knowledge
  5. Strategies
  6. Activities
  7. Appendices
  8. Endnotes
  9. Annotated Bibliography
  10. Annotated Children's Bibliography

Taxes, Rebellion, and the Birth of a New Nation

Valerie J. Schwarz

Published September 2008

Tools for this Unit:

Strategies

Days 1-12

The unit will begin by providing the students with background knowledge about the French and Indian War and the role George Washington played. This will set the stage for the Proclamation of 1763. As a simulation activity, I will take the class out for recess. We will play soccer in a very small area, even though a large field is accessible. The students should become irritated and vocal about their concerns. If they do not, I will question them to lead them into a discussion about why we played in such a confined area. I will explain that this is exactly how the colonists felt when King George the III would not let them go beyond the Appalachian Mountains. The class will discuss why King George III did not want the colonists to have problems with the Native Americans. Through our discussion, I will explain how the colonists kept pushing the Native Americans off of the land.

Next, the increased taxes and the need for royal tax collectors will be acted out in class. Several students will be assigned the position of soldiers. Then I, acting as King George the III, will begin imposing some of the taxes. The students will be given money of the time, tobacco leaves, in a token economy. The tax collectors will be responsible for levying the taxes. Taxes will be placed on every piece of paper, printed material, and book used by the students for every in class assignment. This will represent the Stamp Act. The Townshend Act will place a tax on lead (pencils) and paint. Finally the Sugar Act will tax the students at lunchtime. The royal tax collectors will check lunches and issue taxes. These taxes will continue until the colonists rebel.

In the meantime, I will begin reading Saratoga Secret, a historical fiction book about the Battle of Saratoga. This novel improves the students' background of the war and gives them a sense of what it was like to live during it. The classroom instruction will include some other key events such as the Boston Tea Party and the Boston Massacre. These events will be taught using excerpts that will be read aloud. Following the reading the students will use drama techniques to form statues of the colonists. When a student in the statue is tapped, the student will speak out and explain how he/she is feeling as a colonist.

Next the students will make a timeline of the events that led to the Revolution. Creating the timeline will strengthen their understanding of the order and the events that led to the American Revolutionary War. It will also teach them how to make a timeline and how to search for pictures of events online. The students will learn how to locate pictures and how to put them into a word document. Work on the timelines will continue for five days.

After a week or two of the taxes, the students should be getting quite poor and annoyed. The students will take on the perspective of the colonists and empathize with them. By engaging them in this activity the students develop a strong sense of resentment against the taxes, the king (the teacher), and also against the tax collectors. They will have to come together much like the colonies did and develop a plan. If the students need some "guidance" a reading passage and questions or a short, internet research assignment about the Sons of Liberty, the boycott, or Patrick Henry may be assigned. Eventually, the "colonists" should rebel against King George III.

Next, the students will be introduced to the Declaration of Independence, the role Thomas Jefferson played in writing this document, and how it listed out the grievances to King George III. The students will work in groups to list out their grievances and then write their own Declaration of Independence. Next, the declarations will be compared and contrasted with a few of the grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence. This activity will incorporate the following strategies: writing, comparing and contrasting, and the use of primary sources.

Once the Declaration of Independence is issued the rebellion will be underway. I will present the numbers of soldiers and ships that the colonies have at the inception of the war. Then I will then display England's resources. As a class we will compare and contrast these figures. The students will be encouraged to come up with an idea about how they could possibly take on the much more powerful country of England. After they come up with their ideas they will share them with the class. Next I will explain what the colonists really did and the role Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin played in order to convince the world to join the revolution.

The key events and battles particularly the ones that took place in Virginia will be examined. Following instruction and acting out the surrender at Yorktown, the students will create a diagram of the battle on a map. This could be done with any battle, particularly if one is more relevant to your particular state standards. By acting out and drawing a diagram of a battle, the students will be able to internalize what happened and be able to apply the information.

Once the war is over, the next phase of the unit will teach about the dilemma facing the states and the decision making process. The first issue that will be addressed is the need for rules (a Constitution). The students will learn how James Madison's views for electing the president evolved.

Day 13

First, I will model Madison's ideas outlined in Federalist #10, tyranny of the majority, and #51, human nature. Fourth graders clearly understand what is fair and what is unfair. In this simulation I will explain that the states essentially have no government. The Articles of Confederation are weak, there is no one to enforce the rules, and the people are not following them. Therefore in the simulation activity, there are no rules. Then the teacher will empty out some candy from a bag that will be labeled "Danger, government power". There will be less pieces of candy than the number of students in the class. Two distinct groups will be formed representing the majority and the minority. The students in the majority group will randomly be selected to come and take some candy (government power). The students in the minority group will always be selected to come and take some candy after the majority group has gone. The result should be that the majority group has a chance to get some candy and that the minority group will most likely never get any candy because it will already be snatched up. This procedure will be repeated three times. Each time the minority group should get more and more frustrated with the unfairness.

Why are you mad? (There are no rules.) I will explain that this is the exact point about which Madison worried. He was afraid that the people whose voices were never heard would get frustrated and feel like they could never have a say in the government. Just like the people in this class who never got candy became frustrated and realized they were never going to get any. This simulation demonstrates Madison's fear of tyranny of the majority in a way my students will understand. This important concept influenced the way government power is distributed throughout the American government.

Day 14

Now the four forms of organized government will be explored using candy to represent the power of the government. Through questioning and determining what is fair and unfair, the students will evaluate different scenarios representing the different forms.

It was stated that we need rules. Well, who is going to make the rules? Let's say that I get to make the rules. I take out some more candy and decide that I get all of it. How do you feel about that? Is it fair?

The students of course feel that it is not fair. Then I explain that this represents rule by a king. Then I reuse the same bag of candy. I choose two students to decide who should get the candy. Again the class is questioned as to the fairness, and they find it unfair. Then I explain that this is called an oligarchy, when the king appoints a small group to rule a country.

Then I will suggest how about we all make the rules? Who thinks the girls (if there are more in your class) should get the candy? Since there is a majority of girls, all of the girls raise their hands and get the candy. Then I suggest that three of the tables (clusters of desks) get the candy. Some of the boys are left out again. Then I suggest that students with hair to their shoulders can get some candy. Once again the same group is excluded. I explain how this is like the first exercise we did where some people never got any candy. This represents how some people would never get a say in the government. This would represent what is called a direct democracy.

Finally, I recommend that they elect someone who they can trust to make fair decisions. If the person that they elect makes too many bad decisions, they can kick the person out. The class has an election and selects a president. The president decides to divide the candy up so that everyone can have some.

By the end of this activity the form of government chosen will be a representative democracy or a republic. The students will have walked in James Madison's shoes and will have learned how the Founders established the Constitution, or the rules for our country.

Day 15

Recapping the simulations from the past two days, I remind the class that we agreed there was a need in the new nation to establish rules. James Madison faced lots of conflicts during the process of writing the Constitution. Madison was famous for helping the delegates to compromise. We will look at three of the compromises over the next few days. The first issue we will look at is how do we decide representation? I will divide the class into 6 groups. Virginia will have eight students, New York will have four students, New Jersey will have two students, Delaware will have one, Massachusetts will have five, and Connecticut will have three. The number of students in each group is based on the population figures from the Official Census of 1790. I proportioned the numbers so they can be used in the classroom (see Appendix A). Depending on the number of students in your class a different state could be chosen to assure that every student is placed in a group.

Now we will look at the argument for equal representation. Let's say every state gets one vote. How do you feel about that? Is it fair? Each state can have a quick discussion to decide. Then I will ask each state if they like equal representation. The groups that like it will move to one side of the room. The groups that don't like it will move to the other side of the room. We will look at which states are in favor of equal representation (the small states) and which states are opposed (the large states). Then we will look at the Official Census from 1790 (Appendix B) on the overhead and decide which states were small, big, or somewhere in between.

Next the students will examine the other side of the issue. Let's say every two people (population) in each state will equal one vote. Every state will get a minimum of one vote. So the students will determine how many votes they can have. The states that favor representation based on population will move to one side of the room. The states that are against it will move to the other side of the room. Again, we will draw a conclusion that the large states favor representation by population. We will revisit the Official Census from 1790 and predict the states that would have preferred this method.

I will explain that James Madison's idea for a bicameral system, meaning that Congress was composed of a Senate and a House of Representatives, became part of the Constitution. Ultimately Madison's idea would be compromised and the Senate would use equal representation and the House of Representatives would use population.

Day 16

The next debate would be to determine who should be counted in when determining population for voting and population for taxation. The students will be divided into the five groups. The state of Virginia will have eight people. Three of the people will be slaves. They will have a sign to wear designating them as a slave or a free person. The signs will be blue and red (Appendix C). Blue will represent the "people" and red will represent "property". The word "free" will be all blue. The word slave, symbolically, will have the s - l -a in blue letters and the v-e in red letters. This will visually display the image that the slaves counting only as three-fifths of a man. Slaves were considered to be people, but under the laws, in the world in which they lived, were considered property. Using the chart below, I would then assign students in my class to represent a state (making sure the total number of population equals the number of students in my class). The chart is proportioned based on actual population figures from the Official Census of 1790. By using the proportioned census figures, each group will be accurately portrayed. I will be able to manipulate the states used to fit the number of students in my class. As this unfolds, I want to make sure that Delaware is included. This will help the students to see the one-to-one correspondence of a person counting for representation and also paying tax for their property.

For this simulation I will model using Delaware, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina and Virginia. The class will first look at the population issue. Delaware, you have 1 person, so you will get one vote. I record this information on the chart on the overhead (Appendix E). Where is New York? How many votes would you have? (4) I continue to record each response on the chart so the students can keep track visually.

Massachusetts, how many votes would you get? (5) Virginia, how many do you get? (8)

Actually, you would only get five, because you only have five free people. The students should make a statement about it being unfair because their population is eight. Yes, but only five of the people are free I would explain. Massachusetts, do you think Virginia should have more votes than you since they have the same number of free people as you?

This discussion will unfold. After a few minutes of banter, I would explain that we need to move on, but we will come back to this issue once we get through the second half of this debate. North Carolina, how many votes will you get? The student should say four, but may comment that it should be five.

Next I would summarize the scenario and the dilemma that just unfolded. The other half of this debate involves how slaves will count toward taxation. Using the same states. I will again begin with Delaware. Delaware your population is one so you owe me $100 because your people own property. Again, I will record this information on Appendix E to help the students to see it visually. The $100 was arbitrarily chosen to represent 1 vote. Massachusetts, how much do you owe? ($500) They pay me and I move on to New York. New York pays $400. North Carolina, how much do you owe? ($400) $400 would cover the property the free people own, but you also owe $100 for the slave that you own. That is additional property that you have. A debate should ensue. The students in a slave state should point out that if the slaves don't count for representation how can they count for taxation? A free state should make the point that the slave states want them to count for representation when it gives them more votes, but they don't want them to count when you have to pay money for having them. The students will recognize that slave states can't count slaves when they help and not count them when they hurt.

At this point I would allow the class to debate, and ensuring that only one group speaks at a time. Once the students have reached the heart of the issue I would explain again that this is just what it was like at the Constitutional Convention. James Madison again had to compromise to bring the north and the south into agreement. This has become known as the three-fifths compromise. Slaves would count as three-fifths of a whole person for representation and three-fifths of a whole person for taxation.

Day 17

The final piece will be to continue with this role play/debate style of delivery to examine the first amendment. I will again divide the class into equal groups. Each group will be given a sign denoting their religion. For example, I will have six groups representing the following religions: Anglican, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Baptist, and Quaker.

How would the Quakers feel if I said you are not allowed to practice your religion in this country? The Quakers should speak to the unfairness. I would ask each group substituting their religion into the question. So we agree that it is not fair to prohibit a group from practicing their religion.

I will pose the question to the class how would your group feel if Congress established the Anglican religion as the national religion for the United States? Everyone would have to go to the Anglican Church on Sundays for a two-hour service? The groups can discuss the question and get ready to share their response with the class. How would the Anglicans feel about it? The Anglicans response should reflect that they already go to that church so it doesn't bother them. How would my Protestant group feel? The Protestants would comment that they already go to their own church, and they don't want to go to a different one. How does my Jewish group feel? They would say something to the effect that they go to temple or to synagogue and it's not fair that they have to go to a church.

Then, I would poll each group. I would have the groups that do not like this idea move to an area of the room. Five sixths of the class would move to that area. I would summarize this part by stating that 5/6 of the people are unhappy and are being forced to practice a religion that is not their own.

Then I would have my groups separate again. How would you feel if a national religion was not established and you could practice whatever religion you wanted? I would again give the class a few moments to discuss this question within their groups then, I would poll each religious group. How does our Anglican group feel? They may state that they are proud that their religion is the national religion

After all groups are polled, I would move the unhappy groups to one area. At this point the only group that may move to this area would be the Anglicans. Five-sixths of the class will move to the happy place.

I will ask the Anglican group if they can still go to church on Sunday? (Yes) Can you still practice the way you wish? (Yes) I will then ask each of the groups if they feel Congress should establish a national religion? (No) Then I will point out that this is the reason why the first amendment states that the Congress cannot establish or prohibit a religion.

Day 18 & 19

The students will develop an essay about James Madison as their culminating activity. It will be three paragraphs. The first one will be the introduction, the middle one will speak about one of the compromises and the last paragraph will bring the essay to a close. By writing this essay the students will integrate writing into social studies. It will help students to hone their essay writing skills and also show what they learned about Madison.

Day 20

The students will take a test to show what they learned from this unit.

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