American Democracy and the Promise of Justice

There will be two different focuses in this lesson.

1. What kind of government do we have not only in the United States but also the government we have on the Navajo Reservation?
2. The history of voting and the inequality that took place in the United States. I will be using the history of the way Native Americans faced inequality in voting on and off the reservations they live on. Also touching on the fact that in our previous history Native Americans did not have the right to vote and were considered non-citizens for quite a while in our United States history.

This curriculum is created for elementary kids. First graders around the age of six and 6 and 7-year-old children. Just how much do children know and understand about the government and voting in the United States. When it comes to teaching the history of voting rights within the United States history’s we need to be mindful about the way we teach a lesson about the inequality that existed in our past and in ways still in the present today. What is a democracy? How has it shaped the United States into what it is today? What does the right to vote have to do with democracy? Was the right vote, fair to everyone regardless of gender or race? What is the history of voting for Native Americans? What does voting look like on the Navajo Reservation? How did people of different races overcome the right to vote? What do people vote for? What branches of government does the United States have?  These are some of the questions that will help guide the curriculum.  

Was voting ever a fair and equal process? Were all people allowed to vote? This part of the lesson would introduce students to the idea about fairness and the right to vote. With the idea that not all kids are aware that racism played a huge part in voting in the United States this lesson would be a sensitive talk. In this lesson, I will introduce the idea that not all people or races or gender were allowed to vote. I will use this lesson to talk about how Native Americans long ago were not allowed to vote because of their race. Also to take look at how in some ways there is still discrimination when it comes to being able to vote on some reservation.

In this curriculum, you will not only be presented with United States history but also the history of the government with the perspective of tribal governments.