US History Unit Activity

Unit: A Time of Upheaval

This Unit Activity will help you meet these educational goals:
 Inquiry Skills—You will use content knowledge to develop compelling questions or
supporting questions, gather evidence, evaluate and use evidence, develop credible
explanations of historical events and developments based on reasoned interpretation of
evidence, develop explanations and make persuasive arguments in support of your
conclusions, and communicate your conclusions.
 21st Century Skills—You will employ online tools for research and analysis, use critical
thinking and problem solving skills, communicate effectively, and assess and validate
information.

Introduction
As part of the course, you have learned how important analysis is to the study of history. This
Unit Activity continues the practice of reading and analyzing historical primary documents. In
this activity, you will evaluate three documents for historical importance. You will then show
your analysis through a short essay.

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Directions and Analysis

Task 1: Analyzing Historical Documents
In 1954, the Supreme Court handed down a unanimous decision in the case of Brown v.
Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. The decision stated that “separate educational
facilities are inherently unequal” and began the process of national integration of public
schools. In response, southern legislators in Congress signed a statement of opposition to
the court’s decision.

Read the declaration of resistance to Brown v. Board of Education, which has been called the
Southern Manifesto. Then write a brief essay of one to two pages examining the following
question:

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© 2013 EDMENTUM, INC.
 Brown Vs The board
In the United States history are county was one of the last to abolish slavery, but just because
we got rid of slavery it was never really gone. In some cases famers would work people of color to the
bone with little pay. This was discrimination against all blacks, mexican ,and other minoritys. This
discrimination lasted all the way up to the 50’s the prime time when blacks ruled the streets to get there
rights. This is were the case brown VS the Education Board comes in.
Earl Warren was the Chief of Justice in the 50’s who faught for the rights of Blacks. This was a
time where life for African American was the hardest, but they faught for there rights and stood side by
side for equality. Racial segergation was a county wide infection that poisoned the United States with
fear that wasn’t necessary.
People fear what they don’t know, this was true in americans case thye didn’t trust African
Americans because well they inslaved them for such a long time. Americans feared reblelion and they
had the right to be afraid, but Blacks were just like the rest of them they want to be completely free,
not put in places were only they could be regulated by Whites. It was considered a threat because the
whites were afraid of what is not know and this case it was the Blacks.
Discrimination was every where Bus, Water fountains, restrooms, and may more. This was not
just fear this was a form of mockery towards people of color. This battel all began in a classroom full
of whites. The board of Education was out rage that a person of ethnic background was trying to
attempt to go to school with whites which was ment for people of color. The colored people were
outraged by this and fought for the end of segragation.
Earl Warren won this case and finaly the end of Segration was upon them and the End of Rasim
was fianly coming to an end. This was a very important event of all of Untited States, even for the
people who didn’t wanted segragtion. This would change the way that humans interacted with other
humans.

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 Why did the authors of the Southern Manifesto claim that Chief Justice
Earl Warren’s decision was a threat to the US constitutional order?
Consider what type of arguments they make. Can you link their
argument to any other situations in US history?

Follow the steps described below, and use the links to help you formulate a well-
organized and well-reasoned essay with a clearly stated thesis, or argument, in response
to the assignment. Use the dropbox to submit your final version to your teacher, along
with notes taken during the course of your essay development.

1. Gather sources. Before writing your essay, review the sources in the Resources section
below. Then begin gathering additional sources—either online or otherwise—to support
the views you present in your essay. For each source, consider the following questions:
 Who authored the document?
 What is the purpose of the document?
 When was the document written?
 What significant historical event or movement does the document represent?

2. Read and evaluate sources. Next, examine each source and think about how you will
use it to support a thesis. Be an active researcher by asking the following questions about
each source you reference:
 What is the credibility of the source?
 Is there any noticeable bias?
 How does the author form his or her argument?
 What are the important themes, main ideas, and arguments presented in the
document?

3. Write your essay. Reference your notes and the provided documents to write a short
essay in a new document. Be careful to keep the following ideas in mind:
 To avoid plagiarism, make sure to cite your sources properly with in-text citations
as well as a works-cited page.
 When you finish, reread the essay to check for all of the points above, and then
proofread it to be sure your work doesn’t contain errors in grammar or spelling.

Task 2: Analyzing Sources

For this task, you will be reading and analyzing two articles on the 1968 Democratic National
Convention in Chicago. The first article is about the convention and its bosses, and the
second is about the police response to demonstrations. Before reading either document, read
through the instructions below.

a) Read each document and take notes on the key information in that document. Enter your
notes in the appropriate table below.

Type your response in the tables:

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 Article 1: Convention Bosses
name and author of Democratic Convention
article
date and location August 2008
published
Is this a primary This a secondary sorce because no one lived this event
source? Explain.
Why did the author
consider the welcome
sign ironic?
How does the author They were impacted with stress and hate
describe the impact of
the convention?
What events are blacks and whites marching together had been shattered
responsible for the as riots swept the Watts section of Los Angeles
failure of the United Johnson administration had made a fateful commitment
States to enter a to keep increasing the numbers of troops to fight a
“golden age” after ground war in Vietnam
Johnson’s 1964 U.S. troops and shattering any notion that the war was
victory and the nearly won. Johnson withdrew from the presidential
passage of the Civil campaign that March. Martin Luther King Jr. was
Rights Act? assassinated in Memphis
How did Humphrey Johnson's war policies
win the nomination? compounded the sense of betrayal among those who
opposed the war.
Could a candidate win Not really know one in are country is against the war we
in a similar way all felt attacked on 9-11-01 so no are new canadated
today? could not use this for statisics
Who were the other Nixon and Humphrey were the candidates in 1968. Nixon
candidates in 1968, opposed the vietnam war n focused on winning the
and what were the southern states. Humphrey was hampered by the war,
major differences assassination of MLK n the subsequent riots. The popular
among them? votes were close but Nixon won majority in electoral
colleges due to the southern states.

Article 2: Police Response to Demonstrations

name and author of Battleground Chicago: The Police and the 1968 Democratic National
article Convention by Frank Kusch
date and location 2004
published
Is this a primary This is a primary source it is a story of someone
source? Explain
How does the article Events of the riots and the post riots and how the riots
describe what came to be.
happened in Chicago?
How does the article Was a rasist white man that didn’t like the blacks and was
characterize Mayor abusive to the community.
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 Daley?

Mayor Richard Daley

Describe the actions of Getting rid of the scum that were sitting in the political
the demonstrators. offices
Describe the actions of They were trying to stop the riots and was oppressing the
the police. people
Where was the United “charismatic Kennedy gone, McCarthy was seen as the
States pictured as a last best hope in the Democratic Party to redress the
police state? racial divide. This division was especially acute in
Chicago, still one of the most racially segregated of the
bigger northem cities.”
Who were the Mostly people of color
protestors?
What was the primary to protest there right to do anything most of them were
goal of the protestors? being oprresed by the political and residentials that were
filled with rasist white men.

b) Reference your notes and the provided documents to write a half-page essay that
describes how these two primary-source historical documents form their respective
arguments. Compare and contrast the key points, main ideas, and arguments presented
in the documents. Make sure your essay addresses the following questions:

 What techniques do the authors use to form their arguments?

 Is there any evidence of bias or stereotypes?

Using the author-date system, make sure to cite your sources properly with in-text
citations as well as a works-cited page for any information you use from outside sources,
including the two provided documents. When you have finished, reread the essay to
check for all of the points above, and then proofread it to be sure your work does not
contain errors in grammar or spelling. Then use the dropbox to submit your final version to
your teacher, along with notes taken during the course of your essay development.

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Resources
Writing Resources
 Research and Writing Info Center
 Creating a Thesis Statement
 Methods for Writing a Quality Paper
 Chicago Manual of Style: Author-Date System

Content Resources
Task 1
 The Warren Supreme Court
 Brown v. Board of Education

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Task 2
 1968 Democratic Convention
 Dementia in the Second City
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Evaluation
Your teacher will use this rubric to evaluate the completeness of your work as well as the
clarity of thinking you exhibit.

Score Task 1: Criteria

8–9  The essay includes a clear and concise claim or thesis statement.
Distinguished  Ideas are presented extremely logically.
 Two or three pieces of evidence from the sources support the main claim.
 The essay is written in a very coherent manner, with smooth transitions from
one idea to the next.
 The essay contains few, if any, grammatical errors.

5–7  The essay includes a clear claim or thesis statement.

Proficient  Ideas are presented logically.
 Some evidence from the sources supports the claim, but not as much as
compared to the highest-scoring essays.
 The essay written in a coherent manner, with transitions between ideas.
 The essay contains a few grammatical errors.

2–4  The essay includes a claim or thesis statement, but it may not be arguable.
Basic  Ideas are not always presented logically.
 Limited supporting evidence from the sources supports the claim.
 The overall development of the essay is not as coherent when compared to
higher-scoring essays.
 The essay may contain minor and major grammatical errors.

0–1  The essay includes a claim or thesis statement that is off track; or no thesis
Inadequate statement is presented.
 Ideas are not presented logically.
 No supporting evidence from the sources supports the claim.
 The essay is lacking in its overall organization and coherence.
 The essay contains a number of major errors that distract the reader from the
content.

— The essay is completely off topic or blank.

Non-Performance

Score Task 2: Criteria

8–9  Includes relevant, well-formed notes that provide thorough analysis of the two
Distinguished historical primary sources
 Provides notes that substantially answer the questions raised in the task
 Essay effectively evaluates the key points, main ideas, and arguments
presented in the historical documents

5–7  Includes notes that satisfactorily evaluate the two historical primary sources
Proficient  Provides notes that clearly answer the questions raised in the task
 Essay sufficiently evaluates the key points, main ideas, and arguments

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 presented in the historical documents

2–4  Includes some notes that show evaluation of the two historical primary
Basic sources, but key points from the texts may be omitted
 Provides notes that adequately answer most of the questions presented in
the task
 Essay pinpoints some key points, main ideas, and arguments presented in
the historical documents, but only restates rather than analyzes this
information

0–1  Includes few notes that inadequately discuss or miss important information
Inadequate from the documents
 Provides notes that partially answer some of the questions presented in the
task
 Essay discusses only minor points, ideas, and arguments presented in the
historical documents

—  Is completely off topic or blank.

Non-Performance