New York Archives Junior (https://considerthesourceny.org/new-york-archives-jr/fall-2023): Designed for grades 4-8, NY Archives JR! The Fall 2023 theme issue is on the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) people. Some Haudenosaunee people sided with the British. In 1777, colonists attacked Haudenosaunee homes.
Treason of the Blackest Dye (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4SGafhwyfo) This video was created as a companion to the Fall 2024 NY Archives JR! and tells the story of the capture of John Andre and the area known as the Neutral Zone during the Revolution.
Created for teachers of the 4th and 7th grades, this educational guide provides five lessons that introduce students to Fort Orange and the world of New Netherland.
Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site (https://parks.ny.gov/historic-sites/17/details.aspx): In the critical months that General George Washington spent at Newburgh, he made some of his most important contributions to shaping the American republic. It was here that Washington rejected the idea of an American monarchy.
Theme 4: We the People
Federal Hall (https://parks.ny.gov/historic-sites/17/details.aspx): On Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, George Washington took the oath of office as our first President. The building serves as a museum and memorial to our first President and the beginnings of the United States of America.
First Steps to Freedom (https://nysm.nysed.gov/sites/default/files/ep_teachers-guide_final_links_a_1.pdf): The educational materials in this guide were developed around President Abraham Lincoln’s Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation of 1862, a draft of which is in the collections of the New York State Library in Albany, New York.
The Fifteenth Amendment Educator Guide (https://nysm.nysed.gov/fifteenth-amendment): On February 3, 1870, the United States ratified the 15th Amendment, which allowed all African American men the right to vote. The educational materials in these activities were developed to explore the ratification of the 15th Amendment.
Fraunces Tavern Museum (https://www.frauncestavernmuseum.org/history): Built by the De Lancey family in 1719, 54 Pearl Street has been a private residence, hotel, and one of the most important taverns of the Revolutionary War. The Fraunces Tavern Museum website featuring educational resources focused on the taverns impact during the American Revolution and its’ evolving legacy today.
Review by Linda Rice (reposted from the Journal of the American Revolution)
Set in New York at the time of the American Revolution, Chains spans May 27, 1776 to January 19, 1777. As the novel opens, the young teenage protagonist, Isabel, is optimistic about her future as her owner, Miss Mary Finch, has died and had let Isabel know beforehand that she and her five-year old sister Ruth would be free upon her passing. Unfortunately, no lawyer is present to produce the will that shows Miss Finch’s wishes. Mr. Robert Finch, Mary’s nephew and only surviving relative, has come to claim Isabel and Ruth and accuses Isabel of lying about the will. He proceeds to sell Isabel and her sister to Elihu and Anne Lockton from New York. The couple are Loyalists, and while Mrs. Lockton treats Ruth as a kind of pet that she shows off to friends she entertains, she treats Isabel, whom she refers to as “Sal,” in a harsh and degrading fashion, always showing her disfavor.
Isabel has two aims: to protect her sister and to gain freedom. She lives in fear that the Locktons will sell Ruth and thus separate them. At one point Mrs. Lockton provides sweets to them, something that was unusual. But she had laced them with something to make Isabel fall into a deep sleep. When Isabel awakens she learns that Mrs. Lockton has sold Ruth into slavery in the West Indies. This crushes Isabel, who is unable to escape due to constant monitoring by the Locktons.
While doing errands in town for Mrs. Lockton, Isabel meets Curzon, a teenage slave of Mr. Bellingham, a Patriot. Curzon asks Isabel if she would be willing to spy on the Locktons to get information to the Patriots. Initially Isabel refuses but then begins doing so. Mrs. Lockton finds out and punishes her by branding her cheek with an “I” for “insolence.” It takes Isabela six days to regain consciousness after the branding.
Mrs. Lockton makes Isabel care for Lady Seymour, Elihu’s aunt, who lives in town. As Isabel goes to town she is able to deliver messages about Loyalist activities to the Patriot soldiers. Lady Seymour has compassion for Isabel, treating her with kindness and feeding her well. Her house burned in the great fire of New York (September 21, 1776), and Isabel saves her as well as a portrait of her husband and some letters that were dear to her. This becomes important late in the book as Lady Seymour, then an invalid and unable to speak, gestures to Isabel that she approves of her taking coins that she had saved.
The Locktons don’t recognize Isabel as intelligent, which works to her advantage when she is in the room delivering food or waiting for orders when Mr. Lockton is talking with other Loyalists. Isabel learns of the plot to kill Gen. George Washington and shares this with Patriots who come and arrest Mr. Lockton. However, he is soon released and later escapes by hiding in a barrel of cheese. Readers learn that Ruth has not been sold to the West Indies but rather sent to Charleston, South Carolina. Isabel plots her escape for the night that people are distracted by a celebration of Queen Charlotte of Great Britain’s birthday. Though Mrs. Lockton had Isabel locked in a potato bin during the ceremonies, she manages to dig her way out, find a pass and forge papers showing she is free.
Curzon, who had fought in battle for the Patriots, was shot in the leg and held at Bridewell as a prisoner of war. Isabel is able to see him by bribing the guards with food. On the night of her escape, she goes to Bridewell and says she was sent to clean the cells where “prisoners been dropping dead like flies. Fever.” “Curzon lay insensible, his skin burning with fever, his eyes rolled up into his head. I called his name and pinched him, but he did not look my way nor speak a word.” Isabel claims Curzon is dead, loads him in a wheelbarrow and covers him with a filthy blanket. The two manage to make it to the wharf and to a boat. “I rowed that river like it was a horse delivering me from the Devil. My hands blistered, the blisters popped, they re-formed and popped again. I rowed with my hands slick with blood … The sun rose beyond the water, at the other side of the river. I was on the west bank. I was in Jersey. I had set myself free.” At this point Curzon awakes asking where they are, and Isabel replies “I think we just crossed the river Jordan.” The book ends with Isabel asking Curzon if he can walk and with an advertisement for the sequel Forge that gives the account of Isabel Gardner (formerly Sal Lockton) and companion Curzon Bellingham.
The first teaching strategy for Chains is a set of ten questions designed to guide students in a close reading and deeper study of the novel. These questions may be used as the basis of class discussions, exams or essays.
Questions for Study and Discussion for Chains 1. How do Isabel’s and Curzon’s views of freedom differ in chapter 6? Also consider whether this changes as the novel progresses. 2. What evidence exists that Mr. Lockton is conspiring against the Patriots? Trace his journey from the point that he is arrested to the last mention of him. 3. In chapter 29 Isabel speaks of being “chained between two nations.” What does this mean? 4. Isabel’s grandfather speaks to her about the river Jordan in chapter 26, and in the last paragraph of the book, Isabel states “I think we just crossed the river Jordan.” What is the significance of the river Jordan?
5. Discuss the circumstances by which Isabel secures a copy of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense in chapter 39. How does the pamphlet influence her in later chapters? 6. How does the author contrast Lady Seymour and Mrs. Lockton in chapter 41? 7. In what ways was the relationship between Isabel and Lady Seymour a reciprocal one where each benefited? Consider especially the events of chapters 31 and 44. 8. It may be said that at the time of Chains, both Isabel and America are rebellious, young, and conflicted. Explain. 9. Identify three scenes that you believe are the most important in Chains and explain why each is key to the novel. 10. The trilogy of which Chains is book one is called Seeds of America. What role do seeds play in the novel?
While these questions help to ensure close reading and provide opportunities to check for student understanding in a traditional way, the next activity engages students in a more creative, nontraditional manner as they use symbolic thinking and hands-on creativity.
Coat of Arms Overview and Instructions
A coat of arms is a visual design in the form of a shield, that goes back to Medieval days when families and communities used them to show their identity. The coat of arms includes a motto or slogan that captures the important essence of the family, nation, school, or in our case, Chains. A coat of arms can be elaborate, including features such as “supporters” (visuals on each side of the shield) and “toppers” (one or more visuals at the top such as a crest, torse, helmet, or crown).
This assignment consists of three parts: 1) Pre-writing via the writing frames for the coat of arms; 2) The visual coat of arms; 3) A paper that explains the symbols chosen in connection with the character the student chose from Chains.
Visual Coat of Arms
The slogan “Per Aspera ad Astra” is Latin for “Through hardships to the stars” which is why the top of the crest features stars. There are three stars, each with an initial, representing Isabel in the middle and Curzon and Ruth on each side. The pre-writing in Table 1 provides additional insights about the symbols and colors used in Isabel’s shield.
How Rightwing Money Tries to Shape the Teaching of American History
By Alan Singer
The Bill of Rights Institute sponsors events and provides scholarships for the annual conference of the National Council for the Social Studies. On the face of it, it seems innocuous, until you dig a little deeper. The NCSS sells sponsorships, display booths, and sessions that combined can cost a publisher or an organization almost $15,000 which it uses to cover the cost of the convention. At the 2024 NCSS National Conference in Boston, Bill of Rights Institute representatives conducted ten sessions. I have no idea what the Bill of Rights Institute actually pays, but I do know the money and their curriculum initiatives come from the rightwing Koch Foundation and its network of aligned organizations including Americans for Prosperity and the Stand Together Trust. In a 2017 interview with the conservative research group Accuracy in Academia, the President of the Bill of Rights Institute claimed it was working with “approximately one-quarter of the nation’s secondary school teachers in American history, civics, and social studies.”
Koch Industries, the second largest privately held company in the United States, is a $115 billion conglomerate that owns oil refineries and pipelines, markets oil, coal, and chemicals, wood pulp and paper. It uses the Koch Foundation and network to fund conservative causes including challenges to climate science, support for corporate tax cuts, and eliminating federal regulations and environmental controls. The Koch network channeled over $9 million to Project 2025 advisory groups. Other major financial backers of the Bill of Rights Institute include the Adolph Coors Foundation, the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation and the Bradley Impact Fund, and the Sarah Scaife Foundation, all donors to the Heritage Foundation for creation of Project 2025. Much of that money was channeled through and the Donors Capital Fund.
In 2014, Bill Bigelow, writing for the Zinn Education Project, accused the Koch Brothers of trying to shape social studies curriculum through their Arlington, Virginia-based Bill of Rights Institute, founded in 1999. According to Bigelow, the Bill of Rights Institute’s tactics to infiltrate social studies include presentations at conferences, essay contests for students, and free seminars for teachers on topics like “Being an American,” “Preserving the Bill of Rights,” and “Heroes and Villains: The Quest for Civic Virtue.” Bigelow argued that their curriculum material “cherry-picks the Constitution, history, and current events to hammer home its libertarian message that the owners of private property should be free to manage their wealth as they see fit.” In one lesson students learn, “The Founders considered industry and property rights critical to the happiness of society.” Of course in many cases their belief in individual property rights included the right to enslave Africans and confiscate land from North America’s indigenous population. In his review of Bill of Rights Institute curriculum and background material, Bigelow found “nothing that could help teachers show students how race and social class shaped the U.S. Constitution” and “nothing that invites students to think about the Constitution from the point of view of anyone other than the elites who drafted it,” including the new nation’s enslaved population.
I attended a regional social studies council conference where a representative from the Bill of Rights Institute made multiple presentations including one on African American participation in the American War for Independence. The lesson plan and supplementary material is available of the Bill of Rights Institute’s website (https://billofrightsinstitute.org/lessons/paths-to-freedom-african-americans-and-the-revolutionary-war). With the Trump administration’s war on museum displays and social studies curriculum that portray negative aspects of U.S. history like the brutality of chattel slavery, I think it is a good example of how the Bill of Rights Institute skews the teaching of American history in line with patriotic history as championed by Project 2025 and the Trump administration’s The 1776 Report. This lesson acknowledges slavery but emphasizes, I believe incorrectly, how the American Revolution was a significant step towards emancipation using isolated examples to support its contentions. The reality is that with the development of the cotton gin in the 1790s and the expansion of cotton production and textile manufacturing at the start of the 19th century slavery in the United States expanded exponentially.
Excerpts from a statement by the Bill of Rights Institute followed by my comments in italics.
The resistance against Great Britain and the Revolutionary War inspired American colonists to think about their natural and constitutional rights. The language and principles of liberty, equality, and self-governance led White and Black Americans to question the institution of slavery and to challenge it more directly. Their diverse efforts led to the largest emancipation in world history at that time and freed an estimated 100,000 enslaved people.
This is misleading. Neither the Declaration of Independence nor the Constitution challenged the existence of slavery in what would become the United States. A majority of the men who wrote both documents were slaveholders. A statement blaming the King of England for imposing the slave trade on British colonies was removed from the Declaration of Independence. The Constitution indirectly acknowledged the legitimacy of slavery with the three-fifth compromise and provisions for the capture and return of freedom-seekers.
Some colonists acknowledged the moral wrong of slavery while protesting British violations of their rights in the 1760s and 1770s. Pamphleteer James Otis wrote that, “The Colonists are by the law of nature free born, as indeed all men are, white or black.” Pennsylvanian Benjamin Rush wrote, “It would be useless for us to denounce the servitude to which the Parliament of Great Britain wishes to reduce us, while we continue to keep our fellow creatures in slavery just because their color is different from ours.” While some colonists addressed the contradiction of slavery and freedom, Black Americans challenged the institution.
Neither George Washington nor Thomas Jefferson freed enslaved Africans that they owned during their lifetimes. A 1773 letter written by Patrick Henry, who is remembered for declaring “Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death,” is telling about the attitudes of white colonialists about the institution of slavery. In the letter, Henry wrote “Would any one believe that I am Master of Slaves of my own purchase! I am drawn along by ye. general inconvenience of living without them.”
Enslaved persons appealed to revolutionary ideals to argue for their natural rights. In 1773, four enslaved persons in Massachusetts petitioned the legislature for their freedom “which, as men, we have a natural right to.” The following year, a group of enslaved men presented a freedom petition claiming their natural rights and right to consent. “We have in common with all other men a natural right to our freedom without being deprived of them by our fellow men.” The legislature did not yet act upon the petitions, but Black Americans continued to petition for their freedom during the war as did Nero Brewster and 19 other enslaved individuals in New Hampshire in 1779.
The petitions were almost always unsuccessful.Only one of the original thirteen colonies, Massachusetts, outlawed slavery. Most of the enslaved Africans emancipated during the war were emancipated by the British.
Once the Revolutionary War began in 1775 at Lexington and Concord, free and enslaved Blacks joined both the patriot and British sides. Several Black patriots fought bravely at the Battle of Bunker Hill alongside White soldiers, but General George Washington forbade their service in the Continental Army that fall. However, dire manpower needs caused Washington and Congress soon to reverse that policy. The differing states had varied recruiting policies during the war: only South Carolina and Georgia prevented all Blacks from serving. A total of 5,000 free and enslaved Blacks fought for the patriot side throughout the war.
After Lord Dunmore offered freedom to any enslaved Africans who escaped to the British lines, an estimated 20,000 former slaves fought for their freedom by joining the British. The most famous of these was Titus Cornelius, Colonel Tye, who initially fought with Virginia’s Ethiopian Regiment and later led the New Jersey region’s Black Brigade.
Three Pounds Reward – Run away from the subscriber, living in Shrewsbury, in the county of Monmouth, New Jersey, a Negroe man, named Titus, but may probably change his name; he is about 21 years of age, not very black, near 6 feet high; had on a grey homespun coat, brown breeches, blue and white stockings, and took with him a wallet, drawn up at one end with a string, in which was a quantity of clothes. Whoever takes said Negroe, and secures him in any gaol, or brings him to me, shall be entitled to the above reward of Three Pounds, proc. And all reasonable charges paid by John Corlis. Nov. 8, 1775.
The British consistently encouraged enslaved persons to escape to support the British war effort and disrupt the American cause rather than out of a sincere desire for Black freedom.
During peace negotiations George Washington demanded that the British return formerly enslaved Africans including people he claimed to own as contraband. The British refused and evacuated as many as 20,000 Black Loyalists to Nova Scotia and other parts of the British empire.
During the war, General Washington’s aides, John Laurens and his friend Alexander Hamilton, developed an emancipation plan. In 1779, Congress endorsed their plan to raise a contingent of 3,000 enslaved men in South Carolina and Georgia who would be granted their freedom in exchange for military service. The legislatures of those two southern states rejected the scheme because of their opposition to emancipation and to arming enslaved persons.
In November 1775, George Washington issued an order barring both free and enslaved Black men from serving in the colonial army. In January 1776, Washington permitted the enlistment of free Black men who already were serving in the army and in 1777, all free Black men were permitted to join. Only Rhode Island offered freedom to enslaved men who joined the army. In a letter to Laurens’ father, Washington explained his fear that if the colonists did not arm enslaved Africans and offer them freedom, the British would and the war could be lost. Despite Washington’s pragmatic change of position, the plan was never implemented.
Bill of Rights Institute Guiding Questions:
How did African Americans participate in the Revolutionary War?
How did their actions reflect a desire to enjoy their natural rights?
Objectives:
Students will be able to connect actions taken by African Americans during the Revolutionary War to an understanding of natural rights of equality and justice.
Students will summarize the main ideas of historic texts.
Students will create an argument supported by evidence from primary sources. How did African Americans participate in the Revolutionary War? How did their actions reflect a desire to enjoy their natural rights?
These materials are missing from the Bill of Rights Institute’s suggested documents.
A. This charge against the King of England was removed from the original draft of the Declaration of Independence before it was signed on July 4, 1776:“He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither . . . Determined to keep open a market where men should be bought and sold, he has suppressed every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable commerce.”
B. Boston King’s Escape to the British Lines (1779): “As I was at prayer one evening, I thought the Lord Heard Me, and would mercifully deliver me. [P]utting my confidence in him, about one o’clock in the morning, I went down to the river side and found the guards were either asleep or in the tavern. I instantly entered the water, but when I was a little distance from the opposite shore, I heard the sentinels disputing among themselves. One said, I am sure I saw a man cross the river. Another replied, there is no such thing. When I got a little distance from the shore I got down on my knees and thanked God for this deliver-ance. I traveled until five o’clock in the morning and then concealed myself until seven o’clock at night, when I proceeded forward thro’ brushes and marshes for fear of being discovered. When I came to the river, opposite Staten Island, I found a boat and altho it was near a whale-boat, I ventured into it and cutting the rope, I got safe over. The commanding officer, when informed of my case, gave me a passport and I proceeded to New York.”
C. Pennsylvania Gazette on April 12, 1780 reported on a Monmouth County raid led by Colonel Tye:On the 30th ult. a party of Negroes and Refugees, from the Hook, landed at Shrewsbury in order to plunder. During their excursion, a Mr. Russel, who attempted to make some resistance to their depredations, was killed, and his grandchild had five balls shot through him, but is yet living.” On September 9, 1780, Philadelphia Gazette reported: “One of these attempts (and one which very nearly proved successful) was made about the 1st of September, 1780, by a body of Refugees black and white, including among the former the mulatto leader known as “Colonel Tye.” The party made an unexpected attack on Huddy’s house, which was bravely defended by himself and a girl of about twenty years of age, named Lucretia Emmons. The house had been a station for a detachment of the militia, and fortunately the guard had left there several muskets, which the girl now loaded as rapidly as possible and handed to Huddy, who fired them successively from different windows, wounding several of the assailants and causing them to greatly overestimate the number of defenders. This caused them to shrink from further direct attack, and they then set fire to the house, which, of course, ended all hope of successful resistance on Huddy’s part, and seeing the flames beginning to spread, he, to save his house, agreed to surrender on condition that they would extinguish the fire, which terms they accepted.”
D. George Washington, while headquartered at Newburgh, New York, objected to British plans to evacuate formerly enslaved Africans as a violation of the provisional peace agreement and he sought to find and reacquire people he claimed as his own property. In an April 1783 letter to Benjamin Harrison, the Governor of Virginia, Washington wrote: “I transmitted the list of your Slaves to a Gentleman; a worthy active Man, of my acquaintance in New York and requested him to use his endeavors to obtain and forward them to you. All that can be done, I am sure he will do, but I have but little expectation that many will be recovered; several of my own are with the Enemy but I scarce ever bestowed a thought on them; they have so many doors through which they can escape from New York, that scarce any thing but an inclination to return, or voluntarily surrender of themselves will restore many to their former Masters, even supposing every disposition on the part of the Enemy to deliver them.”
E. Virginians Petition to Protect Slavery (1784):“Some men of considerable weight to wrestle from us, by an Act of the legislature, the most valuable and indispensable Article of our Property, our SLAVES by general emancipation of them. … such a scheme indeed consists very well with the principles and designs of the North, whose Finger is sufficiently visible in it. … No language can express our indignation, Contempt and Detestation of the apostate wretches. … It therefore cannot be admitted that any man had a right … to divest us of our known rights to property which are so clearly defined.”
F. Article in the New-York Packet, April 4, 1785:“It would be greatly injurous to this state if all the Negroes should be allowed the privileges of white men, unless there could be derived some possible means consistent with liberty, to separate them from white people, and prevent them from having any connection or intercourse with them . … [I]f they are emancipated on any other terms, it must be evident to the most common understanding, what will be the consequence in a short time; besides the shame we should most inevitably incur from a mixture of complexions, and their participating in government, … still greater consequence is to be dreaded, which is a total subversion of our liberties.”
G. Jupiter Hammon, poet and minister, was enslaved on Long Island. In 1786, he addressed this statement on slavery to the African population of New York State:“Now I acknowledge that liberty is a great thing, and worth seeking for, if we can get it honestly, and by our good conduct, prevail on our masters to set us free. That liberty is a great thing we may know from our own feelings, and we may likewise judge so from the conduct of the white people, in the late war. How much money has been spent, and how many lives have been lost, to defend their liberty. I must say that I have hoped that God would open their eyes, when they were so much engaged for liberty, to think of the state of the poor blacks, and to pity us. He has done it in some measure, and has raised us up many friends, for which we have reason to be thankful, and to hope in his mercy.”
H. According to the Mount Vernon library, seventeen members of the Mount Vernon enslaved population, fourteen men and three women escaped, many to a British warship anchored in the Potomac River. Hercules Posey, George Washington’s cook, and Ona Judge, Martha Washington’s personal servant successfully escaped bondage during Washington’s Presidency while the family was in Philadelphia. They fled to freedom when Washington tried to rotate them back to Virginia to avoid Pennsylvania’s emancipation laws. Posey was later sighted in New York City. Frederick Kitt, who oversaw the executive residence in Philadelphia, placed an advertisement in the Philadelphia Gazette and Daily Advertiser offering a $10 reward for Judge’s capture. In 1847, The Liberator published a letter from Reverend Benjamin Chase describing a visit with Ona Judge Staines who was now elderly where she recounted her escape. From Philadelphia Judge secured passage on a ship bound for Portsmouth, New Hampshire. A few months after arriving in Portsmouth, Judge was recognized by a friend of Martha Washington’s granddaughter and George Washington enlisted the customs collector there, a federal employee, in an unsuccessful effort to capture Judge. The runaway slave ad and The Liberator article are included on the Bill of Rights Institute web page as “Further Reading,” but not the letter from Washington to the Portsmouth Customs Collector.
I. Letter from President George Washington to Joseph Whipple, Customs Collector, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, November 28, 1796:I regret that the attempt you made to restore the girl (Oney Judge as she called herself while with us, and who, without the least provocation absconded from her Mistress) should have been attended with so little success. To enter into such a compromise, as she has suggested to you, is totally inadmissible, for reasons that must strike at first view: for however well disposed I might be to a gradual abolition, or even to an entire emancipation of that description of People (if the latter was in itself practicable at this Moment) it would neither be politic or just, to reward unfaithfulness with a premature preference; and thereby discontent, beforehand, the minds of all her fellow Servants; who by their steady adherence, are far more deserving than herself, of favor. … If she will return to her former Service, without obliging me to resort to compulsory means to effect it, her late conduct will be forgiven by her Mistress; and she will meet with the same treatment from me, that all the rest of her family (which is a very numerous one) shall receive. If she will not, you would oblige me, by pursuing such measures as are proper, to put her on board a Vessel bound either to Alexandria or the Federal City.”
Lesson Activity by Hank Bitten, NJCSS Executive Director
It is important for students to understand the constitutional procedures for the transfer of power in the event of the death or physical or mental incapacity of the president. The 25th amendment has been invoked three times since its ratification in 1967. Section 2 was invoked twice, and Section 3 was invoked once in 1981.
1973 Resignation of V.P. Spiro Agnew (R) when both houses approved Gerald Ford (R) as Vice-President
1974 Resignation of President Richard Nixon when V.P. Gerald Ford (R) became President and both houses approved Nelson Rockefeller (R) as Vice-President.
1981 Surgery for President Ronald Reagan following a gunshot wound.
Essential Question: Does the 25th Amendment provide a transition of presidential power from one person to another without being challenged?
Read Section 2 of the 25th Amendment and discuss the following scenarios:
Section 2
“Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.”
Scenario A:President Trump passes unexpectedly, and Vice-President J.D. Vance becomes President under Section 1 of the 25th Amendment.
Who should President Vance nominate as the new Vice-President? (Member of Congress, Governor, Cabinet Secretary, someone from the media, business executive, etc.)
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (Since Rep. Johnson is not able to vote for himself, the Republican majority is 219 with 218 votes required for a majority).
If Rep. Mike is not elected by the House, would the election of someone from the Democratic Party be accepted?
119th Congress, Senate (2025–2027) 51 votes needed for a majority.
119th Congress, House (2025–2027) 218 votes needed for a majority.
Majority Party: Republicans (220 seats)
Minority Party: Democrats (215 seats)
Other Parties: 2 Independents (Caucus with Democrats)
Total Seats: 435
Scenario B:President Trump passes unexpectedly between the 2026 Midterm Elections and the meeting of the new Congress on January 3, 2027.and Vice-President J.D. Vance becomes President under Section 1 of the 25th Amendment.
Who should President Vance nominate as the new Vice-President if the Democratic Party controls either the House or the Senate?
Should the current Congress (House and Senate) that was meeting at the time the Vice-President became President continue until a Vice-President was selected or should the newly elected Congress vote on the candidate?
Scenario C: Who should President Vance nominate as the new Vice-President if the Democratic Party controls both the House and the Senate?
Is there a Republican who would be acceptable to a majority of Democratic representatives in both houses?
What would happen if President Vance refused to nominate a Vice-President?
If we do not have a Vice-President and if the Speaker of the House is a Democrat but the Senate Majority Leader a Republican, should the person next in line to succession as president be the Speaker of the House as current law states or should the presidency go to the Majority Leader in the Senate who is from the same political party as the President?
Scenario D: If there is no Vice-President, would it be possible under Section 4 to declare that President Vance was unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office? (in the event of a physical, emotional, or mental incapacity.)
Section 4:
Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
What ‘other body’ should Congress select?
If the Speaker of the House is a Democrat and the person next in line to become Acting President, could this be challenged if the Majority Leader in the Senate was a Republican (same party as President Vance)?
If a Democrat becomes Acting President, could this person fire all members of the Vance Cabinet and replace them with new officers consistent with his/her political party? (Democrat) Would this be challenged?
“In a purely legal sense, as Acting President, the Vice President can employ all the powers and tools of the office of the president. Historians have characterized the Acting President as playing “a critical role as decisionmaker,” and “tak[ing] care of the day-to-day business” of the White House. The Acting President has the constitutional authority to “move the troops, report on the State of the Union, propose a new budget, send judicial nominees to the Senate for confirmation, remove the secretary of the treasury, do virtually all the things that presidents do. He might even prepare to control his national party apparatus and to secure its presidential nomination.” (Page 44)
“Senator Bayh responded by noting that the Vice President does “not have the office of President but that of Acting President. He does not get the full powers and duties of the office of President unabated. He is Acting President.”
Setting this symbolic distinction aside, the Acting President would be constitutionally empowered to conduct the same acts as the President. In the floor debate in the Senate, for instance, Senator Bayh expressed his belief that the Vice President acting as President would be able to fire and appoint cabinet officials. When Senator Hart expressed concern that a Vice President acting as President would remove cabinet members to “consolidate[] his position” as Acting President, Senator Bayh admitted that this concern was legitimate, but declared, “we do not want a Vice President who is acting in good cause, say, for example, in a 3-year term of office, being unable to reappoint Cabinet members who may have died or resigned.” (Page 71)
Scenario 5: President Vance continually frustrates both Houses of Congress with a nomination for Vice-President.
According to the following statement from the Yale Law Reader’s Guide, could President Vance be impeached? From Yale University
“Depending on the circumstances, actions taken by the President or other officials to frustrate the Twenty-Fifth Amendment process may constitute an impeachable offense.” (page 8)
The 25th Amendment
Section 1
In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.
Section 2
Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.
Section 3
Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.
Section 4
Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.
In this lesson, students learn about the bonds that unite Jewish Americans as an ethnic group, and the rich diversity that exists within the community. In addition, students will deepen their understanding of the multifaceted nature of identity across groups.
Essential Questions
● How are Jewish Americans an ethnic group?
● What visible and invisible components make up each person’s unique identity?
● How do the multiple components that make up identity help us understand the diversity of Jewish Americans?
● What are key positive and negative experiences of Jewish Americans both historically and today?
Learning Outcomes Students will be able to:
● Explain how Jewish Americans are an ethnic group that is connected through a shared history, ancestry, culture, religion, sacred texts, and more.
● Understand that Jewish Americans are remarkably diverse in appearance, skin color, ethnic subgroup, and religious practice.
● Analyze the visible and invisible components of individual and group identities and make connections to their personal identities.
● Develop a better understanding of other people, cultures, and ethnic groups, how all groups have commonalities and differences within them, and the parallels that exist between Jewish Americans and other groups.
● Determine central ideas or information from primary and secondary sources.
● IAmJewish:PersonalReflectionsInspiredbytheLastWordsofDanielPearl, Ruth Pearl and Judea Pearl eds., Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2004. (9 excerpts)
HANDOUTS
Identity Iceberg document, availableonline
Jewish American Diversity Fact Sheet, availableonline
Jewish Americans: Identity, History, and Experience Fact Sheet, availableonline
Lesson Plan
1. INTRODUCTION
Introduce the topic and emphasize that this lesson examines what unites the Jewish American community, as well as its diversity. While individual identity is personal, Jewish American group identity is based on ties of history, culture, ancestry, religion, language, celebrations, communal and familial traditions, common values, and a sense of a common ethnic peoplehood.
Further explain that this lesson explains some of the challenges Jewish Americans faced historically and continue to face today, including prejudice, discrimination, and antisemitism. It also explains experiences of acculturation and assimilation, and associated benefits and losses. Ultimately, students will be introduced to Jewish American history to deepen understanding of Jewish American experiences over time and Jewish American contributions to American society.
2. IDENTITY ICEBERG ACTIVITY
Provide students with the identity iceberg worksheet and explain that only a small part of an iceberg is visible above the waterline, while most of the iceberg’s mass lies below the waterline and is invisible. Tell students, that like an iceberg, some parts of identity are visible to others, while other parts are invisible.
Watch the video: “Diverse Jewish Stories: Jonah” (3:08 minutes) and ask students what they can determine about Jonah’s identity from what they viewed.
Explain that they are going to investigate various components of an individual’s identity. For this activity, students may choose to focus on their own identity, an imaginary student identity, or a celebrity’s identity. Emphasize that it is optional to use themselves as the subject in this activity, and that no one should disclose private information unless they would like to do so.
Either in small groups or as a whole group, students can brainstorm categories that will be used on the identity iceberg worksheet, or you can share suggested categories below, that include visible, sometimes visible, and invisible aspects of identity.
Suggestedcategories:
● Gender
● Race
● Ethnic appearance
● Visible religious signs: religious head coverings (kippah, yarmulke, hijab, turban); tzitzit (Jewish ritual fringes); cross, Star of David necklace, kirpan (Sikh religious knife), other)
● Age (child, middle schooler, teen, young adult, middle age, elderly, etc.)
● Language(s) (accent, second language, regional dialect, formality of speech)
● Religion/level of religious practice/spirituality/philosophy
● Family’s national origin/immigrant/refugee/forced migration
● Nationality/citizenship
● Violence, trauma, or intergenerational trauma
● Activity, passion, or a job that is an important part of identity
● Other cultural or group or family aspect of identity
With the list of identities categories handy, ask students to write in categories of identity on a blank identity iceberg worksheet that are:
● usually visible to others above the water line, in the top third
● sometimes visible, and sometimes invisible, close to the waterline
● usually invisible to others, in the bottom third of the iceberg
Ask for student volunteers to share their identity icebergs with the class. Identify commonalities and differences across the student examples.
MakingConnections
Think about groups whose identities are sometimes visible and sometimes invisible. What happens when members of these groups publicly express their identities?
The following are two options for an activity centered on learning about Jewish American diversity.
Option A: Arrange students into small groups. Provide each group with the Jewish American Diversity Fact Sheet (2 pages) and review the contents together. Instruct the groups to cut the document so that each fact is its own strip of paper. Next, have the students put the facts into groupings that they think go together, encouraging them to have no more than six groups. Once the facts have been grouped, have the students provide a title for each of the groupings. They then should review each grouping and revise until they are satisfied with their sorting. Finally, have each group share the titles they came up with, the facts they included with that title, and explanation as to how they arrived at the title and the facts that they have associated with it.
Option B: Have students read the Jewish American Diversity Fact Sheet (2 pages).
In small groups or as a class, have students discuss and respond to the following questions:
● In what ways are Jewish Americans a diverse ethnic group?
o Suggestedresponses: racial and physical appearance, ethnic subgroup, language, food and cultural traditions, religious observance, origins, etc.
● What bonds Jewish Americans across diversity?
JEWISHAMERICANS:IDENTITY,HISTORY,ANDEXPERIENC
o Suggestedresponses: shared Jewish history, ancestry, values, sacred texts, religious rituals, traditions, celebrations, culture, and a sense of common peoplehood.
● What is meant by the term “Jewish peoplehood”?
o Suggestedresponses: Jewish peoplehood refers to the idea that all Jews are connected to one another across time and geography and share a common destiny. Other identity categories fail to capture the complexity of Jewish group identity.
● What did you learn that surprised you?
o Suggestedresponses:Jews are incredibly diverse and are multiracial. There is not one way of being Jewish, but many, and there is no single physical appearance that characterizes what Jews look like. At the same time, Jews feel a strong sense of common peoplehood.
● Where have Jewish Americans come from?
o Suggestedresponses: Jewish Americans have ancestry from many different countries, and some Jewish Americans have lived in the U.S. for centuries. Many Jewish Americans are of Eastern and Central European Jewish descent. There is a significant Middle Eastern Jewish population in many parts of the U.S. (from Iran, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, and Yemen). Jewish Americans also have roots in North Africa (Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco), East Africa (Ethiopia), Central Asia (Bukharan Jews from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan), Central and South America, and beyond. Regardless of recent origins, Jewish Americans, like Jews everywhere, are connected to each other and to their ancestral homeland of Israel; Judaism highlights this connection in daily prayers and Jewish holidays.
MakingConnections
In what ways are other American ethnic groups diverse? Consider the diversity among other American ethnic groups and pan-ethnic groups (groups with origins in a large diverse region). Consider diversity among African Americans, Asian Americans, Latino/a Americans, and Native Americans.
o Suggestedresponses: racial and physical appearance, language, food and cultural traditions, religious observance, origins, ethnic subgroups, etc.
The following additional videos and texts can be viewed by students to provide examples of Jewish American racial, ethnic, and religious diversity, and may help to answer the previous questions on Jewish American diversity.
● Video Series on Jewish Americans: Faces of American Jewry, is a 2021 series of 2-3 minute long videos on Jewish Americans produced by the American Jewish Committee.
● Reading: “Being Jewish in the United States,” (2 pages), Facing History and Ourselves. Judaism’s religious diversity in three short readings by three teens on their relationship to Judaism with discussion questions.
4. I AM JEWISH: PERSONAL REFLECTIONS INSPIRED BY THE LAST WORDS OF DANIEL PEARL ACTIVITY
This activity is based on excerpts from the book, IAmJewish:PersonalReflectionsInspiredbytheLastWordsofDanielPearl.
Tell students that Daniel Pearl was a Jewish American journalist, raised in California. Pearl was working as the South Asia Bureau Chief of TheWallStreetJournal, based in Mumbai, India. In early 2002, soon after 9/11, he was kidnapped and later beheaded by terrorists in Pakistan for being Jewish. After losing their son, Daniel Pearl’s parents asked a diverse group of Jews to reflect on what being Jewish means to them in memory of Pearl, reflecting on Pearl’s last words which were: “My father is Jewish, my mother is Jewish, I am Jewish.”
Divide students into small groups and assign each group to read two or three brief excerpts from IAmJewish:PersonalReflectionsInspiredbytheLastWordsofDanielPearl. Provide them with the PDFs or digital versions so that they can respond to the following prompts on the excerpts regarding individual and group identity:
1. What elements of identity does the author stress? (culture, family, ancestry, history, religion, social justice, community, etc.)
2. Highlight or underline one key sentence or phrase from each excerpt to share with the class. 3. Why do Jews not fit neatly into racial and religious categories?
Ask students to share one word that jumps out on what being Jewish means to the writers and compile them in a shared visual medium for the class.
AdditionalResourceforIAmJewishActivity
The following additional video can also be viewed by students and used to answer the activity questions.
Video: “I Love Being Jewish,” (7:24 minutes) Jane Parven, high school student Jane Parven discusses her Jewish American identity, antisemitism, and goal of eliminating all forms of hate. 3/14/2018, Massachusetts
5. JEWISH AMERICANS: IDENTITY, HISTORY, AND EXPERIENCE ACTIVITY
Have students read the Jewish Americans: Identity, History, and Experience Fact Sheet (4 pages).
You may first want to explain and define the key terms from the Fact Sheet before students read it, or you may check comprehension of the following key terms during the discussion: acculturation,assimilation,racialization,WhiteSupremacy,andantisemitism.
Next, in small groups or as a class, ask students to discuss and respond to the following questions:
● What does acculturation and assimilation mean? Why do people acculturate or assimilate?
oSuggestedresponsestosecondquestion: To fit in, make friends, succeed in school, get a job, not feel different, or because after living and going to school in the new culture and language, they feel part of the dominant culture.
● What does a member of an ethnic group gain from assimilation? What does a member of an ethnic group lose from assimilation?
o Suggestedresponses: Gains: a sense of belonging, success in school and jobs, a new positive hyphenated culture and identity. Losses: lack of connection to their parents’ culture, gap between generations, loss of language, traditions, and religious practices.
● What are some of the ways Jews have been racially categorized? What does racialization mean? o Suggestedresponses: While Jews are not a racial group, they have been categorized as non-white, as the “Hebrew race,” seen by Nazis as an inferior race, seen by White Supremacists as non-white, as threatening to replace white people, and as a threat to racial purity. Racialization is when a dominant group decides another group is a separate lower race.
● What were some of the push factors for Jewish immigration in the 19th and 20th centuries? Why were Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany refused entry to the U.S.? How has immigration shaped the Jewish American experience?
o Suggestedresponses: Jews came to the U.S. as immigrants and refugees fleeing persecution, pogroms, poverty, war, and revolution in the 19th and 20th centuries. Anti-Jewish prejudice in the U.S. in the 1930s and U.S. immigration law prevented most Jewish refugees from being admitted during the Holocaust, dooming Jews to their deaths in Nazi-occupied Europe. Jewish immigration experiences and family histories of escaping persecution have made many Jewish Americans empathetic to the plight of other immigrant and refugee groups in the U.S. today.
● In what way(s) do you think the Holocaust shifted perceptions of Jews in American society?
o Suggestedresponses: Before the Holocaust, Jews experienced a lot of open discrimination. After learning how prejudice led to the genocide of the Holocaust, more overt forms of anti-Jewish discrimination decreased but hatred of Jews did not go away.
● Based on what we have learned about changes in how Jews have been racially categorized, what conclusions can we draw about race as a social construct?
o Suggestedresponses: If light-skinned Jews can be categorized as non-white or white, then racial categories and boundaries are socially constructed and can and do change.
● What are some of the noteworthy contributions Jewish Americans have made to American society?
o Suggestedresponses: Jews have been leaders in the labor, civil rights, feminist, and other rights movements; contributors and founders in the film industry, in American music, literature, and comedy, and in science, and medicine.
● What is antisemitism? How does anti-Jewish hate show up in different ways?
JEWISHAMERICANS:IDENTITY,HISTORY,ANDEXPERIENC
o Suggestedresponses: Antisemitism is anti-Jewish prejudice or hate. It often shows up through Holocaust or Nazi imagery that is used to intimidate or threaten Jewish students. It shows up with Jewish students being excluded from diversity discussions or allyship, or in being excluded for not disassociating themselves from Israel. It also shows up in accusations that the Jewish “race” threatens white purity. Historically, Jews faced discrimination in jobs, education, housing, and social acceptance.
MakingConnections
What parallels are there between Jewish Americans and other American ethnic groups?
o Suggested responses: Experiences of immigration and being refugees, prejudice and discrimination, assimilation and acculturation, connection to origins and traditions, contributions, and communal pride.
How have other groups responded to prejudice and discrimination?
o Suggested responses: Activism, legislation, education, ethnic pride, celebratory events, seeking representation, standing up for others experiencing discrimination.
6. CONCLUSION
In an Exit Slip, or as a group discussion, have students reflect on what they have learned in this lesson. The following questions can help guide the discussion:
1. Name some ways Jewish Americans are connected as an ethnic group, how are they internally diverse, and what you have learned about Jewish American history and experiences?
2. When you think about your individual and group identities, what are some things that connect the group, and some ways your identity reflects diversity within that group?
3. How are the experiences of Jewish Americans distinct from other groups’ experiences?
7. EXTENSION ACTIVITIES
1. Through the resources from this lesson and external research, students have been provided with detailed information on the positive impact Jewish Americans have made on society. To spotlight these contributions, have students create social media style posts that highlight three reasons Jewish Americans should be recognized and celebrated alongside other American ethnic groups, for example with Jewish American Heritage Month, celebrated in May (no actual social media accounts are needed, as this can be done using templates here , or use your own).
2. Have students conduct research about Jewish American contributions to American society and evaluate how these contributions have impacted their lives or the lives of others. Students could focus on contributions in particular fields, such as science, medicine, literature, art, music, politics, law, business, sports, entertainment, etc. Students can use people from the Jewish Americans: Identity, History, and Experience Fact Sheet or follow their own interests. Their research and discoveries can be presented in a variety of ways, such as a multimedia presentation, a digital or traditional poster, a speech, a written biography, etc. Students can use people from the Jewish Americans: Identity, History, and Experience Face Sheet, the Weitzman National Museum ofAmerican Jewish History Hall of Fame virtual exhibit, or follow their own interests.
3. Ask students to choose one aspect of their own identity and write a one-paragraph reflection on why that aspect of their identity is important to them. Please complete: “I am (chooseanaspectofidentity) because …, and it is important to me because ….”
Jewish Americans: Identity, History, and Experience Fact Sheet
Jewish American Diversity Fact Sheet
Jewish Americans have come to the United States from all over the world and have brought a rich variety of different Jewish cultural traditions with them.
The Jewish people originated about 3,000 years ago in Southwest Asia, in the land of Israel.
Jewish Americans, like Jews everywhere, feel a strong connection to each other and to the ancestral homeland of Israel. Jewish tradition and rituals reinforce these connections in many ways, from the content and direction of daily prayers to Jewish holidays. For example, Jews around the world conclude the Passover Seder with “Next year in Jerusalem.”
Jews are a distinct ethnic group connected by rich traditions, thousands of years of history, ancestry, language, and religion. Jewish American ethnic identity may be expressed through food, language, holidays, celebrations, a feeling of connectedness to other Jews (Jewish peoplehood), remembrances of historical and ancestral experiences, connections to Israel, a commitment to social justice, and cultural elements such as music, literature, art, and philosophy that are also part of Jewish life.
Jews do not fit exclusively into predefined categories, and frequently self-identify as both an ethnic group and a people.
o Jewish Americans are an ethnic group among diverse American ethnic groups.
o The concept of Jewish peoplehood means that Jews around the world are connected to each other across time and geography and share a common destiny.
There are several major Jewish ethnic subgroups:
o Mizrahi Jews are racially diverse Arabic- and Farsi-speaking Jews indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa for over 2,500 years.
o Sephardic Jews are originally Judeo-Spanish or Ladino-speaking Jews expelled from Spain and Portugal to North Africa, the Ottoman Empire, and Central and South America, beginning with Spain’s expulsion in 1492.
o Ethiopian Jews are Amharic-speaking Jews originally from Ethiopia.
o Ashkenazi Jews are or were Yiddish-speaking Eastern and Central European Jews.
Major languages and literature of Jewish expression include English, Hebrew, Arabic, Yiddish, Ladino, and Farsi. Hebrew, the language of Jewish scripture, is often a lingua franca that has united different Jewish ethnic subgroups.
The physical appearance of Jewish Americans is very diverse, and skin color can range from light skinned to dark skinned, and includes Middle Eastern Jews, African American Jews, Asian American Jews, Latino/a/x Jews, and Native American Jews. Jewish families include multiracial households and there are diverse appearances both within families and within communities.
The majority of Jewish Americans emigrated from Eastern Europe, and while their racial appearance often reflects this, there is a range of physical appearances, reflecting the movement of Jews over time and place.
For many Jews, Jewish identity is primary, but they may be classified by others based on their skin color. Therefore, Jews often experience a divergence between internal identity and external classification.
Other Jewish Americans or their families emigrated from the Middle East (Iran, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Yemen), North Africa (Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco), East Africa (Ethiopia), Central Asia (Bukharan Jews from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan), Central and South America, and beyond, and are of Mizrachi and Sephardic heritage.
American Judaism has a range of religious denominations, including Reform, Reconstructionist, Conservative, and Orthodox, with a range of observances and practices. At the same time, Jews
are united by shared sacred texts, like the Torah, by celebrations, traditions, and a feeling of connection to other Jews around the world.
Jewish Americans have a wide range of opinions and beliefs about what it means to be Jewish, how Jewish identity is defined, and the extent to which they identify with the religion of Judaism.
Across Jewish denominations, ancestry marks a person as Jewish regardless of the individual’s personal level of religious observance. Traditionally, a person is considered Jewish if born to a Jewish mother. Reform Jews among others consider a person with a Jewish father to also be Jewish.
Jews consider a person who converts to Judaism, without Jewish ancestry, to be as Jewish as any other Jew.
Jews are part of the Jewish American community by birth, adoption, marriage, and by throwing their lot in with the Jewish people through conversion or being part of a Jewish family
Douglas Rushkoff is a writer, journalist, and professor of media studies. “Jews are not a tribe but an amalgamation of tribes around a single premise that human beings have a role. Judaism dared to make human beings responsible for this realm. Instead of depending on the gods for food and protection, we decided to enact God, ourselves, and to depend on one another. So out of the death cults of Mitzrayim [Egypt] came a repudiation of idolatry and a way of living that celebrated life itself. To say “l’chaim [to life]” was new, revolutionary, even naughty. It overturned sacred truths in favor of sacred living.… It’s important to me that those, who throughout our history, have attacked the Jews on the basis of blood not be allowed to redefine our indescribable process or our internally evolving civilization. We are attacked for our refusal to accept the boundaries, yet sometimes we incorporate these very attacks into our thinking and beliefs. It was Pharaoh who first used the term Am Yisrael [People of Israel] in Torah, fearing a people who might replicate like bugs and not support him in a war. It was the Spanish of the Inquisition who invented the notion of Jewish blood, looking for a new reason to murder those who had converted to Catholicism. It was Hitler, via Jung, who spread the idea of a Jewish “genetic memory” capable of instilling an uncooperative nature in even those with partial Jewish ancestry. And it was Danny Pearl’s killers who defined his Judaism as a sin of birth. I refuse these definitions. Yes, our parents pass our Judaism on to us, but not through their race, blood, or genes — it is through their teaching, their love, and their spirit. Judaism is not bestowed; it is enacted. Judaism is not a boundary; it is the force that breaks down boundaries. And Judaism is the refusal to let anyone tell us otherwise.” (pages 90–91)
1. Highlight or bold/underline a sentence or phrase from the excerpt that leaves a lasting impression on you. Explain your selection.
2. What elements of their identity does the author stress (culture, family, ancestry, history, religion, social justice, community, etc.)?
3. What do you think being Jewish means to the person in the excerpt?
4. Why do Jewish Americans not fit neatly into racial and religious categories?
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court from 1993 to 2020 and advocate for women’s rights. “I say who I am in certain visible signs. The command from Deuteronomy appears in artworks, in Hebrew letters, on three walls and a table in my chambers. “Zedek, zedek, tirdof,” Justice, Justice shalt thou pursue,” these artworks proclaim; they are ever-present reminders to me what judges must do “that they may thrive.” There is also a large silver mezuzah [Torah verses in a small case] on my door post… I am a judge, born, raised, and proud of being a Jew. The demand for justice runs through the entirety of Jewish history and Jewish tradition. I hope, in all the years I have the good fortune to serve on the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States, I will have the strength and courage to remain steadfast in the service of that demand.” (pages 201–202)
1. Highlight or bold/underline a sentence or phrase from the excerpt that leaves a lasting impression on you. Explain your selection.
2. What elements of their identity does the author stress (culture, family, ancestry, history, religion, social justice, community, etc.)?
3. What do you think being Jewish means to the person in the excerpt?
4. Why do Jewish Americans not fit neatly into racial and religious categories?
Naim Dangoor was a leader of Iraqi Jewry outside Iraq. The location of Babylonia is primarily modern-day Iraq. “When I was a young boy a teacher at school asked me, “Why are you a Jew?” I, with all the practicality of youth, replied, because I was born one!” There is, however, something in this sentiment that rings truer than one might think Judaism is a birthright, a glorious gift from one’s forefathers of faith, culture, and heritage. For me, it is this: my strong Babylonian heritage, the heritage that Daniel Pearl also shared, his mother having been born in Baghdad, that makes me so proud to be a Jew. Babylonia was one of the main birthplaces of the Jewish people, from where Abraham emerged as a founder, and later from where the Babylonian Talmud, forming the framework for Rabbinic Judaism, was created. Its glorious Jewish intellectual eminence fanned out across the known world for more than a thousand years. Currently the descendants of this tradition are spread throughout the globe.” (pages 97–98)
1. Highlight or bold/underline a sentence or phrase from the excerpt that leaves a lasting impression on you. Explain your selection.
2. What elements of their identity does the author stress (culture, family, ancestry, history, religion, social justice, community, etc.)?
3. What do you think being Jewish means to the person in the excerpt?
4. Why do Jewish Americans not fit neatly into racial and religious categories?
Norman Lear is a writer, producer, and social activist. “I identify with everything in life as a Jew. The Jewish contribution over the centuries to literature, art, science, theater, music, philosophy, the humanities, public policy, and the field of philanthropy awes me and fills me with pride and inspiration. As to Judaism, the religion: I love the congregation and find myself less interested in the ritual. If that describes me to others as a “cultural Jew,” I have failed. My description, as I feel it, would be: total Jew.” (page 34)
1. Highlight or bold/underline a sentence or phrase from the excerpt that leaves a lasting impression on you. Explain your selection.
2. What elements of their identity does the author stress (culture, family, ancestry, history, religion, social justice, community, etc.)?
3. What do you think being Jewish means to the person in the excerpt?
4. Why do Jewish Americans not fit neatly into racial and religious categories?
Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl is an Asian American Rabbi ordained by Hebrew Union College. She spent her college summers working as head song leader at Camp Swig, a Reform Jewish camp in Saratoga, California. “My father is a Jew and my mother is a Korean Buddhist. As the child of a mother who carried her own distinct ethnic and cultural traditions — and wore them on her face — I internalized the belief that I can never be “fully Jewish” because I could never be “purely” Jewish. My daily reminders included strangers’ comments “Funny you don’t look Jewish”), other Jews’ challenges to my halakhic [Jewish law] status, and every look in the mirror. Jewish identity is not solely a religious identification, but also a cultural and ethnic marker. While we have been a “mixed multitude” since Biblical times, over the centuries the idea of a Jewish race became popularized. After all, Jews have their own language, foods, even genetic diseases. But what does the Jewish “race” mean to you if you are Black and Jewish? Or Arab and Jewish? Or even German and Jewish, for that matter? How should Jewish identity be understood, given that Am Yisrael [people of Israel] reflects the faces of so many nations? Years ago… I called my mother to declare that I no longer wanted to be Jewish. I did not look Jewish. I did not carry a Jewish name, and I no longer wanted the heavy burden of having to explain and prove myself every time I entered a new Jewish community. My Buddhist mother’s response was profoundly simple: “Is that possible?” At that moment I realized I could no sooner stop being a Jew than I can stop being Korean, or female, or me. Judaism might not be my “race” but it is an internal identification as indestructible as my DNA. Jewish identity remains a complicated and controversial issue in the Jewish community. Ultimately, Judaism cannot be about race, but must be a way of walking in this world that transcends racial lines. Only then will the “mixed multitude” truly be Am Yisrael.” (pages 19-20)
1. Highlight or bold/underline a sentence or phrase from the excerpt that leaves a lasting impression on you. Explain your selection.
2. What elements of their identity does the author stress (culture, family, ancestry, history, religion, social justice, community, etc.)?
3. What do you think being Jewish means to the person in the excerpt?
4. Why do Jewish Americans not fit neatly into racial and religious categories?
Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie is President Emeritus of the Union for Reform Judaism who focuses on interfaith relations and social justice. “I am Jewish. This means, above all else, that I was present at Sinai and that when the Torah was given on that mountain, my DNA was to be found in the crowd… A people is usually defined by race, origin, language, territory or statehood, and none of these categories is an obvious common denominator for the worldwide Jewish people. Peoplehood is a puzzling concept for modern Jews, particularly the younger ones, who often cannot understand what connects them to other Jews in Moscow, Buenos Aires, and Tel Aviv. But I am convinced, to the depth of my being, that Jewish destiny is a collective destiny… It is the covenant at Sinai that links all Jews, including non-observant ones, in a bond of shared responsibility. And if we hope to strengthen the unity and interdependence of the Jewish people, we will have to revive the religious ideas on which these notions are based.” (pages 114–115)
1. Highlight or bold/underline a sentence or phrase from the excerpt that leaves a lasting impression on you. Explain your selection.
2. What elements of their identity does the author stress (culture, family, ancestry, history, religion, social justice, community, etc.)?
3. What do you think being Jewish means to the person in the excerpt?
4. Why do Jewish Americans not fit neatly into racial and religious categories?
Sarah Rosenbuam is a 15 years old from Southern California. “When I say that I am Jewish, I am identifying myself as part of a tradition, connected to our foremothers and fathers, and carrying on to the future a culture, a religion, a way of life. I feel pride and am overwhelmed with joy when I declare that I am part of this incredible people, our people Israel.” (page 54)
1. Highlight or bold/underline a sentence or phrase from the excerpt that leaves a lasting impression on you. Explain your selection.
2. What elements of their identity does the author stress (culture, family, ancestry, history, religion, social justice, community, etc.)?
3. What do you think being Jewish means to the person in the excerpt?
4. Why do Jewish Americans not fit neatly into racial and religious categories?
Senator Dianne Feinstein is the senior US Senator from California since 1992. “I was born during the Holocaust. If I had lived in Russia or Poland — the birthplaces of my grandparents — I probably would not be alive today, and I certainly wouldn’t have had the opportunities afforded to me here. When I think of the six million people who were murdered, and the horrors that can take hold of a society, it reinforces my commitment to social justice and progress, principles that have always been central to Jewish history and tradition. For those of us who hold elected office, governing in this complex country can often be difficult. My experience is that bigotry and prejudice in diverse societies ultimately leads to some form of violence, and we must be constantly vigilant against this. Our Jewish culture is one that values tolerance with an enduring spirit of democracy. If I’ve learned anything from the past and from my heritage, it’s that it takes all of us who cherish beauty and humankind to be mindful and respectful of one another. Every day we’re called upon to put aside our animosities, to search together for common ground, and to settle differences before they fester and become problems. Despite terrible events, so deeply etched in their souls, Jews continue to be taught to do their part in repairing the world. That is why I’ve dedicated my life to the pursuit of justice; sought equality for the underdog; and fought for the rights of every person regardless of their race, creed, color, sex, or sexual orientation, to live a safe, good life. For me that’s what it means to be a Jew, and every day I rededicate myself to that ideal.” (pages 228–229)
1. Highlight or bold/underline a sentence or phrase from the excerpt that leaves a lasting impression on you. Explain your selection.
2. What elements of their identity does the author stress (culture, family, ancestry, history, religion, social justice, community, etc.)?
3. What do you think being Jewish means to the person in the excerpt?
4. Why do Jewish Americans not fit neatly into racial and religious categories?
Senator Joe Lieberman is a former U.S. Senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013, and a Vice-Presidential candidate in 2000. “What does being Jewish mean to me? To me, being Jewish means having help in answering life’s most fundamental questions. How did I come to this place? And, now that I am here, how should I live? My faith, which has anchored my life, begins with a joyful gratitude that there is a God who created the universe and then, because He continued to care for what He created, gave us laws and values to order and improve our lives. God also gave us a purpose and a destiny —to do justice and to protect, indeed to perfect, the human community and natural environment. Being Jewish in America also means feeling a special love for this country, which has provided such unprecedented freedom and opportunity to the millions who have come and lived here. My parents raised me to believe that I did not have to mute my religious faith or ethnic identity to be a good American, that, on the contrary, America invites all its people to be what they are and believe what they wish…. Jews around the world and all who love freedom— the freedom to think, to speak, to write, to question, to pray—will hold Daniel [Pearl] near to our hearts, and from his courage we will draw internal light and strength.” (pages 107-108)
1. Highlight or bold/underline a sentence or phrase from the excerpt that leaves a lasting impression on you. Explain your selection. 2. What elements of their identity does the author stress (culture, family, ancestry, history, religion, social justice, community, etc.)? 3. What do you think being Jewish means to the person in the excerpt? 4. Why do Jewish Americans not fit neatly into racial and religious categories?
Jewish Americans: Identity, History, and Experience Fact Sheet
● The first Jews to arrive in 1654 to what became the United States were Sephardic Portuguese Jews from Brazil, who fled the Portuguese expulsion and Inquisition. The American Jewish community was predominantly Sephardic through the first decades of the U.S.
● From 1840 to 1880, Jewish immigrants were primarily from Central Europe and Germany, fleeing poverty, persecution, anti-Jewish violence, and revolution. During this time, the Reform Movement transformed Jewish practice in America, created the first prayer book for Americans, and established a rabbinical school. By 1880, the majority of U.S. synagogues were Reform congregations.
● Between 1880 and 1924, 2 million Jewish immigrants came to the U.S. from Eastern Europe, pushed by persecution, pogroms, war, and poverty. White supremacist prejudice against Jews and Catholics from Eastern and Southern Europe motivated the passing of the Johnson-Reed Immigration Act of 1924, greatly restricting Jewish immigration through 1965.
● In official U.S. immigration and naturalization law from 1898 to 1941, Jews were categorized as part of the “Hebrew race.” This racialization deemed Jews non-white.
○ Racialization is when a group becomes categorized as a stigmatized group, and that group is seen as a separate lower race by another dominant group.
● Yiddish became a major language of Jewish newspapers, theatre, and culture, while at the same time public schools became the vehicle for acculturation, Americanization, and learning English, with many Jews entering teaching.
● American Judaism was changed by the large wave of Ashkenazi immigrants 1880-1924 from Eastern Europe, and in the next three decades, by the growth of the Orthodox (1920s-50s) and Conservative (1950s) movements. These movements established synagogues, rabbinical schools, seminaries, and universities. For many decades, American Judaism was defined by the Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox denominations.
● In addition to targeting African Americans, the white supremacist racism of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) deemed Jews as non-white, a separate and lesser race that was a threat to American “racial purity,” and targeted Jews with exclusionary immigration legislation and intimidation in large marches on Washington, D.C.
○ White supremacy is the belief that white people are a superior race and should dominate society. White supremacists target other racial and ethnic groups, such as African Americans and Jews, who they view as inferior.
● In the first half of the 20th century, Jews were usually not considered white in American society and, as a result, experienced discrimination in employment, housing, education, and social acceptance.
● From the 1880s through the 1960s, antisemitic employment discrimination with overt and covert “no Jews allowed” notices often led Jews to enter new industries with less discrimination. Housing covenants prohibited Jews or “Hebrews” from purchasing houses in many areas. Elite universities also had quotas, limiting the number of Jews who could attend them until the early 1960s.
● Jewish American allies to the African American community played a significant role in the founding and funding of the NAACP, Rosenwald Schools, and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Julius Rosenwald partnered with Booker T. Washington to build over 5,000 schools for African American students between 1917 and 1932, and by 1928, one-third of the South’s rural Black school children and teachers were served by Rosenwald Schools. In 1931, lawyer Samuel Leibowitz defended the Scottsboro boys.
● Motivated by Jewish tradition’s concern for the worker, and oppressive working conditions for Jewish immigrants, the U.S. labor movement included many Jewish labor organizers, such as Samuel Gompers (founder of American Federation of Labor (AFL) and president 1886-1924); Rose Schneiderman (active 1904-1940s in the Women’s Trade Union League); and Pauline M. Newman (active 1907-1983), Clara Lemlich (active 1909-1951), and David Dubinsky (active 1932-1966 as president) in the International Ladies Garment Worker Union (ILGWU).
● Jews were pioneers in the new film industry in California in the early decades of the 20th century. This included studio heads Harry Cohn (Columbia Pictures 1919-1958), Samuel Goldwyn (active 1913-1959), Louis B. Mayer (active MGM 1915-1951), Carl Laemmle (Universal Pictures active 1909-1939), the Warner Brothers (active 1918-1973), and Adolph Zukor (Paramount Pictures active 1903-1959). Though there was less overt discrimination in California, anti-Jewish prejudice in the U.S. led many studio heads and producers to shy away from Jewish themes in movies for many decades.
● Jewish songwriters enthusiastically embraced American music and contributed to the Great American songbook (1911-1960), Tin Pan Alley (1885-1940), Broadway musicals (1949-2018), and folk and protest music (1930s-1970s). Among these were: George and Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Aaron Copland, Stephen Sondheim, Leonard Bernstein, Bob Dylan, Arlo Guthrie, Phil Ochs, Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon, Peter Yarrow, Carole King, Country Joe McDonald, and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott.
● In the 1920s and 1930s, anti-Jewish conspiracy theories (later used in Nazi propaganda) were openly distributed in the U.S., for example by Henry Ford’s newspaper (TheDearbornIndependent) and Father Edward Coughlin’s radio show.
● Drawing upon white supremacist ideas about Jews and pseudoscientific eugenics “theories,” Nazi racial theories deemed Jews a separate non-white race (racialization), and the lowest race in their racial hierarchy, leading to the genocide of the Holocaust.
● In the 1930s, growing anti-Jewish prejudice in the U.S. led to the U.S. government’s refusal of entry to Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany until 1944, after millions of Jews were already murdered.
○ Refugees are people with a history of persecution or a well-founded fear of future persecution on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.
○ Immigrants are people who have left their country of origin and arrived in another country.
● Some Jews changed their Jewish sounding names to avoid discrimination, be more accepted by American society, not feel different or other, or because they had internalized other people’s negative attitudes about Jews. Starting with immigrants, and common with actors, this practice of name-changing continues to the present day. At the same time, today, many Jewish Americans proudly select Jewish ethnic names, as an expression of pride in their heritage.
● In the decades after the Holocaust, American attitudes toward Jews gradually changed, and overt anti-Jewish discrimination decreased. Descendants of light-skinned Jewish immigrants were able to acculturate or assimilate which brought gains and losses.
○ Acculturation refers to the adoption of many of the practices and values of the majority or dominant culture while still retaining a connection to one’s culture of origin, or a balance between cultures.
○ Assimilation is a process by which a minority group or culture comes to resemble that of the majority culture.
● Assimilation allowed the children of light-skinned Jewish immigrants to change their position on the racial hierarchy from their immigrant parents, though they remained vulnerable to antisemitism. Assimilation also brought loss of community, identity, cultural traditions, and practic
● During the civil rights movement, a large percentage of allies were Jewish activists, disproportionate to their small percentage in the U.S. population. Nearly half the country’s civil rights lawyers were Jewish, and more than half of the non-African American civil rights workers were Jewish, including two of the three men murdered during the 1964 Freedom Summer.
● Jewish women played critical roles in the second wave feminist movement in the 1960s and 1970s: Betty Friedan, Bella Abzug, Gloria Steinem, Letty Cottin Pogrebin, and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg when she worked for the ACLU.
● Jews have also been at the forefront of the LGBTQ rights movement, contributing to major milestones such as the advancement of marriage equality and the fight for HIV/AIDS recognition: Evan Wolfson, Edie Windsor, Roberta Kaplan, and Larry Kramer. Pioneering LGBTQ Jewish elected officials include Harvey Milk in California, and Barney Frank from Massachusetts.
● While anti-Jewish prejudice became less socially accepted over time, antisemitism persisted and persists in various forms today.
○ Antisemitism is hatred, discrimination, fear, and prejudice against Jews based on stereotypes and myths that target their ethnicity, culture, religion, traditions, right to self-determination, or connection to the State of Israel.
● Antisemitism is found across the political spectrum, and manifests differently. In schools, it often shows up through Holocaust or Nazi imagery that is used to intimidate or threaten Jewish students. It also shows up with Jewish students being excluded from diversity discussions or allyship, or for not disassociating themselves from Israel.
● Jews and Jewish institutions continue to be targets of anti-Jewish hate, which can include vandalism, bomb threats, harassment and bullying, physical assaults and violent attacks such as bombings and shootings. For example, in Pittsburgh, PA in 2018, and in Poway, CA in 2019, there were two synagogue shootings with a total of 12 fatalities.
● In different contexts, Jewish Americans may have very different experiences.
○ Light-skinned Jews may experience the benefits of conditional whiteness on the basis of their appearance, for example, in safer encounters with law enforcement. At the same time, they may experience antisemitic prejudice and discrimination on the basis of their Jewishness from people on both extremes of the political spectrum.
○ Jews of color, like all communities of color, face systemic racism, and also face antisemitic prejudice and discrimination on the basis of their Jewishness.
● Jews of all skin colors who are visibly Jewish, from their appearance, name, self-identification, or religious clothing or symbols, e.g., a Star of David necklace or kippah, experience more overt antisemitism.
● Reflecting Jewish tradition’s fondness for the written word, Jewish Americans have contributed extensively to American literature. Among these literary figures are:
○ poets Emma Lazarus, Allen Ginsberg, Adrienne Rich, and Louise Glück.
○ playwrights Ben Hecht, Lillian Hellman, Clifford Odets, Arthur Miller, Neil Simon, David Mamet, and Tony Kushner.
○ writers Mary Antin, Anzia Yezierska, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Isaac Asimov, Saul Bellow, Herman Wouk, Norman Mailer, Bernard Malamud, Elie Wiesel, Philip Roth, Cynthia Ozick, Judy Blume, Art Spiegelman, Anita Diamant, Faye Kellerman, Nathan Englander, Jonathan Safran Foer, and Dara Hor
● Jewish comedians have also played an important role in shaping American popular culture, drawing on their experiences as outsiders looking in on American society. Examples include: Groucho Marx and the Marx brothers, Three Stooges, Jack Benny, Sid Cesar, Mel Brooks, Joan Rivers, Jerry Seinfeld, Sarah Silverman, and Jon Stewart.
● Jewish Americans have made significant contributions to life saving medical advances that have saved millions of American lives including: chlorination of drinking water (Abel Wolman in 1918); polio vaccine (Jonas Salk in 1955, and Albert Sabin in 1961-64); measles vaccine (Samuel Katz in 1958); heart pacemaker and defibrillator (Paul Zoll 1956 and 1960); the mammogram (Jacob Gershon-Cohen in 1964); the Heimlich maneuver (Henry Heimlich in 1974); and identifying that virus genes can cause cancer (Harold Varmus in the 1970s).
This lesson plan on the History of European Antisemitism is a critical tool for social studies teachers, empowering students with the context and critical skills to analyze the evolution of deep-seated hatred. The lesson is indispensable for World History by demonstrating how the Holocaust was the result of centuries of cumulative antisemitism. Furthermore, it strengthens U.S. History curricula by providing the historical framework needed to study WWII and genocide.
Essential Questions
What is antisemitism?
What are four historical forms of antisemitism?
How have these four forms of antisemitism been expressed throughout history?
How can these four forms of antisemitism be expressed in modern times?
What does modern antisemitism, or anti-Jew hate look like?
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to:
Define antisemitism.
Identify four forms of antisemitism (religious, economic, political, and racial) which are interconnected and have manifested in various ways over time.
Trace the evolution of antisemitism from pre-Christian to modern times.
Understand that anti-Jew hate evolves and manifests in ways that don’t fit into the historical forms.
Materials Needed
PRIMARY SOURCES
This slide deck contains the nine primary source examples below. The speaker notes on each slide explain the type of historical form of antisemitism the source represents, as well as offer guides for analysis of each source. Additional context and suggested use for them can be found in the lesson plan, beginning at Section 4.
SOURCE 1: Ecclesia And Synagoga, 1300 CE
SOURCE 2: (optional) Excerpt from Law of Theodosius II, 438 CE
SOURCE 3: German depiction of Blood Libel and Judensau, 15th century
SOURCE 4: (optional) Excerpt from Solomon bar Simson Chronicle, 1140
SOURCE 5 Excerpt from Henry Ford’s The International Jew, 1920
SOURCE 6: Political cartoon “Metamorphosis” from Simplicissmus, 1903
SOURCE 7: Excerpt from a letter written by Hitler to Adolf Geimlich, 1919
SOURCE 8: Magazine cover of the French publication “La Libre Parole,” 1893
SOURCE 9: Excerpt from speech by Senator Ellison DuRant Smith of South Carolina in support of the 1924 Federal Immigration Act
This lesson contains information, images, and text that reveal the extensive discrimination that Jews have faced historically and continue to face in the modern world.
This information can be difficult; allow time to reflect and process.
The term “anti-Jew hate” is a synonym for antisemitism, and both terms are used throughout the lesson. Simply put, antisemitism is anti-Jew hate.
Education about history is key to learning from society’s past injustices and creating a more equitable society. By educating students about anti-Jew hate, we can help them understand the harmful effects of prejudice and encourage them to work towards creating a more tolerant and inclusive society. Here are some specific reasons why we should teach students about antisemitism:
To raise awareness: Many students may not know what antisemitism is or how it manifests in our society. By teaching them about anti-Jew hate, teachers can help raise awareness and encourage students to recognize and challenge instances of antisemitism when they encounter them.To encourage critical thinking: Learning about antisemitism can help students develop critical thinking skills. They can analyze the historical and cultural contexts that have contributed to anti-Jew hate and evaluate the different and evolving ways that it manifests in our society.To promote empathy: Learning about anti-Jew hate can help students develop empathy for those who have experienced discrimination and prejudice. This can help students better understand the experiences of others and become more compassionate and tolerant individuals.
To prevent hate crimes: Antisemitism is a form of hate that can lead to violence and discrimination. By teaching students about it, teachers and students can help prevent hate crimes and create a safer and more inclusive community.
Lesson Plan
1. INTRODUCTION
It’s important to learn about the wider context – the various historical events – which have influenced the evolution of antisemitism.
The following points may be helpful as you introduce the topic:
Today, we will be learning about the history of European antisemitism, including its origins in the ancient Mediterranean world, its evolution through European history, and its manifestations in modern culture. Many people think that antisemitism started with Hitler and the Nazis. However, antisemitism goes back to ancient times.
Unfortunately, antisemitism continues today – both abroad and in the United States. In fact, there are sometimes incidents of antisemitism in countries with very few or no Jews.
Antisemitism is complex and has a number of forms. Antisemitism cannot be properly understood without understanding its religious roots, which is where this lesson begins.
Understanding lesson structure: The following content of the lesson plan is directly mirrored in the presentation deck, which is available on the website. As you are reviewing this lesson plan, please make sure you are referring to the Google Slides Deck for Classroom Presentation to familiarize yourself with the full content and its presentation.
2. DEFINING THE TERM “ANTISEMITISM”
Before diving into the history of antisemitism, it’s important to first define the term and ensure that everyone has a clear understanding of what it means. You can begin by asking your students how they would define antisemitism. Then, ask them to consider their answers in light of the definition of antisemitism outlined below. You will find a slide with the definition in the Google Slides Deck for Classroom Presentationas well as the Antisemitism Glossary of Terms (PDF).
Definitions for antisemitism vary, but ultimately, they all come down to the same thing: Antisemitism is hatred, discrimination, fear, and prejudice against Jews based on stereotypes and myths that target their ethnicity, culture, religion, traditions, right to self-determination, or connection to the State of Israel.
The term Jew-hate can be used interchangeably with the word antisemitism, as they both mean the same thing.
To best communicate that antisemitism is a word for anti-Jew hate, ICS, along with the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Associated Press, and the New York Times all use the single-word spelling.
3. ASSESS PRIOR KNOWLEDGE
Before jumping into the history of antisemitism, begin with what students may already know about this particular type of hatred. Choose one of the following activities to introduce the topic:
Option 1: Using the Prior Knowledge Handout, assess prior knowledge and particular areas of interest among students.
Option 2: More informally, have a brief class discussion around the topic. Some possible questions for starting the conversation can include the following questions. You may want to consider allowing your students time to process these questions in writing first, so that they feel more prepared to share their thoughts.
How long do you think anti-Jew hate has been around?
Where have you learned about antisemitism or past antisemitic events?
Why do you think it is important to learn about antisemitism?
What does it mean for a group of people to feel “othered”?
What do you know about how anti-Jew hate looks today?
Next, explain to your students that you’ll be exploring the history of this hatred. As you go through the presentation, students will see how and why the various stereotypes and myths developed. Understanding this history will also help students to identify antisemitism in their own world, especially as they see the modern examples in the closing activity.
Note:As you go through the Google Slides Deck for Classroom Presentation, you can have your students take notes using the graphic organizers. There are two versions of the organizer – one that has specific prompts to help students look out for key information, and the other is open-ended and allows students to jot down whatever notes they feel are most important.
Judaism originated in the Land of Israel around the 12th century BCE.
Judaism’s notion of monotheism was seen as a radical departure from the polytheistic beliefs that were prevalent in ancient times. This difference in belief, as well as distinct religious practices, often set Jews apart, leading them to be viewed as “other” in the societies in which they lived.
The destruction of the Second Jewish Temple and the creation of the JewishDiaspora in 70 CE furthered the“othering” of Jews. Jews became viewed as outsiders, with their safety and well-being dependent on the tolerance of others.
Meanwhile, upon the Roman crucifixion of Jesus in 30 CE, Christianity began to spread. One of the ways that Christianity distinguished itself from Judaism was through the concept of replacement theology.
In 380 CE, Christianity became the official religion of Rome. In 438 CE, the Roman Empire codified anti-Jewish laws through the Theodosian Code, which established Christianity’s legal dominance over Judaism.
Even after the Roman empire dissolved in the 5th century, succeeding kingdoms and monarchs continued to use the anti-Jewish legal codes of the Roman Empire.
Tell students that this pair of figures personifies the Christian Church (Ecclesia) and Judaism (Synagoga). In the medieval period, they often appeared sculpted as large figures on either side of a church or cathedral entry, and still exist at some places like Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Use the “see-think-wonder” structure to have students analyze what these sculptures are communicating. Facilitation instructions for this primary source analysis discussion are included in the Google Slides Deck for Classroom Presentation.
Primary Source:
Step 1: SEE – What do you notice about the figures? Possible responses:
Ecclesia
Young, attractive, adorned with a crown
Holding a chalice and cross-topped staff
Looking confidently forward
Synagoga
Blindfolded and drooping/hunched over a bit
Carrying a broken lance (possibly an allusion to the Holy Lance that stabbed Jesus) and the tablets of Jewish Law that may be slipping from her hand
Step 2: THINK – What do these details suggest? What message do you think these details communicate?
Elicit student ideas and guide students in their thinking to understand that this is a visual representation of replacement theology. Judaism is being portrayed as an obsolete or flawed religion that is “blind” to the “true” revelation of Christianity.
Step 3: WONDER – What questions do you have?
Students may wonder about the objects in their hands, or they may wonder about the difference in dress. These are great opportunities for further student inquiry.
Optional: Share SOURCE 2: Excerpt from Law of Theodosius II
Context:
The Theodosian Code, which codified anti-Jewish laws, was adopted in 438 CE, roughly 60 years after Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. The following excerpt reveals some of its concrete prohibitions against Jews, as well as some of the attitudes that formed their basis.
Primary Source:
“Wherefore, although according to an old saying ‘no cure is to be applied in desperate sicknesses,’ nevertheless, in order that these dangerous sects which are unmindful of our times may not spread into life the more freely, in indiscriminate disorder as it were, we ordain by this law to be valid for all time: No Jew – or no Samaritan who subscribes to neither religion – shall obtain offices and dignities… Indeed, we believe it sinful that the enemies of the heavenly majesty and of the Roman laws should become the executors of our laws – the administration of which they have slyly obtained… should have the power to judge or decide as they wish against Christians…, and thus, as it were, insult our faith.” [2]
First, consider guiding a discussion allowing students to again share what they see – what stands out to them from this quote. Then, ask students to more specifically identify:
How are Jews being described/perceived by Roman law?
sly/untrustworthy
dangerous
Where do you see elements of a Christian theological view?
Jews being described as “enemies of the heavenly majesty,” and “insult to our faith”
What are Jews prohibited from doing?
serving in public office, presiding in courts → in other words, having any kind of authority over Christians
Explain to students that the ancient origins of antisemitism laid the groundwork for the emergence and persistence of various forms of antisemitism throughout history. In the remainder of this lesson, we will explore four forms of antisemitism – religious, economic, political, and racial – and how they were expressed in the past. It’s important to note that, even though some forms developed earlier than others, there is often overlap or a combination of multiple forms.
5. HISTORICAL FORM OF ANTISEMITISM: RELIGIOUS
Guiding Questions: How did Christianity depict Jews as a threat? What are some historical examples of religious antisemitism?
The notes below, as well as additional content, are presented through correlating slides in the Google Slides Deck for Classroom Presentation. Please refer to the Antisemitism Glossary of Terms for additional definitions of the bolded words below.
● By the early medieval period, Christianity had emerged as the dominant force in both daily and political European life. This power structure reinforced the belief that Christians were superior to Jews. Depicting Jews as a threat to the social order became central to European culture, as the following examples illustrate:
Jews were accused of deicide
The deicide charge was used to justify the murder and forced conversion of Jews during the Crusades (1096-1272)
Jews were seen as a threat to Christian purity
Jews were forced to wear identifying markers (such as yellow badges or special hats) to ensure that a Christian would not accidentally marry a Jew (1215)
Jews were forced to live in segregated areas known as ghettos and were excluded from all activities in mainstream society (13th century)
Jews were associated with the devil and evil
Jews were commonly depicted as having devilish features (e.g., horns, forked tail); Judensau (pronounced you-den-saw) became a category of art portraying Jews engaging in derogatory interactions with pigs
Jewish customs were seen as nefarious, for example, Christians claimed Jews used the blood of Christian children in baking matzah for Passover
The blood libel accusation resulted in the blame and killing of Jews when a Christian child would go missing
Share SOURCE 3: German depiction of Blood Libel and Judensau.
Context:
The artwork below from Medieval Germany displays several of the elements of religious antisemitism described above, including blood libel, Judensau, associations with the devil and evil, and Jews being forced to mark their identity through their clothing. Ask students to carefully examine the visual and describe the connections they make to religious antisemitism.
*Important Teacher Note – Content Warning: Please note that the visual content in this source contains more mature elements. Please consider if this is appropriate for the age group and setting in which you teach. Consider using the alternate image provided below.
Questions for students: How are Jews being depicted in the image? What harmful myth about Jews is represented? How does an image like this reinforce religious antisemitic views?
Possible Responses:
On top is an image of Simon of Trent, reinforcing the blood libel myth
Below, Jews are depicted as being engaged in disgusting and lewd actions with a pig (considered an unclean animal in Jewish tradition) – this represents the idea of Judensau:
A Jewish man is placing his mouth on a pig’s anus
A Jewish child is suckling from the pig
A Jewish man is riding backwards on the pig, alluding to his “backwards” nature in his rejection of Christianity
Both the Jews and the devil are wearing circular badges (one of the identifying markers that Jews were forced to wear in parts of Europe)
Optional: Share SOURCE 4: Excerpt from Solomon bar Simson Chronicle[5].
Context:
By the 11th century, as a result of becoming a diaspora, Jews had settled across many regions of Europe and the Middle East. In 1096, Pope Urban II launched the First Crusade to regain the Holy Land from Muslim rule. Unfortunately, a number of Jewish communities lay en route to the Eastern Mediterranean and were attacked by the Crusaders. Many Christians viewed Jews negatively because they did not embrace Jesus. So, although the Crusaders set off to fight “enemy Muslims,” they quickly incorporated attacking “enemy Jews” as part of their mission. As the Crusaders made their way through France and Germany, they burned synagogues, forced conversions, brutally massacred Jews, and incited anti-Jewish riots.
The following excerpt is from a source known as the “Solomon bar Simson Chronicle.” The chronicle is a Jewish account of the First Crusade.
Primary Source:
“Now it came to pass that as they [the Crusaders] passed through the towns where Jews dwelled, they said to one another: “Look now, we are going a long way to seek out the profane shrine [Jerusalem] and to avenge ourselves on the Ishmaelites [Muslims], when here, in our very midst, are the Jews—they whose forefathers murdered and crucified him [Jesus] for no reason.” Let us first avenge ourselves on them and exterminate them from among the nations so that the name of Israel will no longer be remembered, or let them adopt our faith and acknowledge the offspring of promiscuity.”
First, consider guiding a discussion, allowing students to again share what they see – what stands out to them from this quote? Then, ask students to specifically discuss:
According to this quote, what did the Crusaders want to do to the Jews?
Kill them all (“exterminate them from among the nations”)
What religious antisemitic notions did the Crusaders use to justify their actions?
Deicide charge (“those whose forefathers murdered and crucified him for no reason”)
Jews being evil (“offspring of promiscuity”)
Optional: The graphic organizer gives students space to reflect after learning about each historical form of antisemitism. If time permits, give students a few moments to reflect, either through writing or discussion, about what they have learned in this part of the lesson.
Transition: Explain that the second form of antisemitism we will be discussing is economic antisemitism. The image of the “greedy Jew” may be the most enduring antisemitic stereotype of all. It is during the medieval period that economic antisemitism began to take on forms that are familiar to us today.
6. HISTORICAL FORM OF ANTISEMITISM: ECONOMIC
Guiding Questions: How did Jews first become associated with money/money lending? What are some historical examples of religious antisemitism?
● Starting in the 11th century, many medieval European legal systems prohibited Jews from owning land, farming, or joining craft guilds. These legal systems were based on the types of legal codes from the Roman period, like the Theodosian Code, which were designed to limit Jews religiously and economically.
● With few economic opportunities available, many Jews turned to marginalized occupations, such as tax/rent collecting and money lending on behalf of wealthier Christians. Many Christian lords would use Jews as middlemen to bypass the Christian religious prohibition on usury.
● As a result, the Christian populace depended on Jewish moneylenders, which resulted in resentment and hostility towards Jewish debt collectors (rather than the rulers who were enacting the taxes or charging high interest in the first place).
● Christian leadership exacerbated these tensions by positioning Jews as a scapegoat for the common person’s financial troubles. Though Jews were not the only ones involved in lending money at interest during the Middle Ages, eventually usury – and finance more generally – became identified as a “Jewish practice.”
● This association between Jews and money became deeply entrenched in Western society to the point where it is now a Jewish stereotype.
o Shylock – perhaps the most notorious Jewish moneylender – is a fictional character created by William Shakespeare. It’s important to note that Shakespeare debuted this play at a time when nearly no Jews were living in England – they had all been expelled 300 years earlier. However, the stereotype of the Jewish moneylender was so entrenched by this point that audiences didn’t need to have Jews around for the caricature to resonate.
o Hundreds of years later, Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company, propagated virulently antisemitic notions about Jews in his newspaper The Dearborn Independent, in the 1920s, drawing on medieval tropes that described Jews as ruthless, money-hungry, and in control of the world’s finances. The antisemitic content that was published in Ford’s newspaper had a significant impact because of its vast readership, with articles being picked up by other news outlets across America. Consequently, Ford’s published works played a role in the rise of antisemitism in the United States.
Share SOURCE 5: Excerpt from The International Jew.
Context:
The following excerpt is an illustration of the ideas propagated by Henry Ford in his newspaper, The Dearborn Independent. He collected and published his articles in a book entitled The International Jew: The World’s Foremost Problem. The book became widely read, was translated into several languages, and served as a point of inspiration for later Nazi leadership.
Primary Source:
“Business is to [a Jew] a matter of goods and money, not of people. If you are in distress and suffering, the Jewish heart would have sympathy for you; but if your house were involved in the matter, you and your house would be two separate entities…the Jew would naturally find it difficult, in his theory of business, to humanize the house…he would say that it was only “business.” (June 5, 1920)[6]
Ask students:
● How are Jews being portrayed in this quote?
o Cruel, heartless, entirely driven by greed
o Incapable of displaying “sympathy” or “humanizing” situations if money is involved
Optional: The graphic organizer gives students space to reflect after learning about each historical form of antisemitism. If time permits, give students a few moments to reflect, either through writing or discussion, about what they have learned in this part of the lesson.
Transition: Explain that the third form of antisemitism we will be unpacking is political antisemitism. To understand the roots of this kind of anti-Jewish thought, we need to go back to the French Revolution and the rise of the modern nation-state.
7. HISTORICAL FORM OF ANTISEMITISM: POLITICAL
Guiding Questions: What is the “Jewish Question”? How did the political situation differ for the Jews of Western and Central Europe compared to the situation of those in Eastern Europe? How did the backlash to Jewish emancipation in Europe contribute to political antisemitism? What are some historical examples of political antisemitism?
In the late 1700s and 1800s, the cultural and political status of Jews in Western and Central Europe would begin to change.
The French Revolution created a new category of “citizen” that granted equal rights to everyone (at least in theory). However, some French people wondered whether Jews were capable of really being “French enough” to be entitled to political rights like other citizens of France. This became known as the “Jewish Question.”
In the end, France decided to emancipate its Jewish population in 1791. However, in return, Jews were expected to make changes to various aspects of their cultural and communal life (e.g., stop using traditional Jewish names, refrain from using Hebrew/Yiddish in business transactions, keep their Jewishness private and out of the public sphere).
However, in Eastern Europe (where the majority of European Jews lived) the political situation was very different. Jews in Eastern Europe were not emancipated until 126 years later in 1917.
In Imperial Russia in the 19th and early 20th centuries:
Jews were only allowed to live in the so-called “Pale of Settlement.”
Russian authorities encouraged antisemitic violence and riots known as pogroms.
By the mid-19th century in Western and Central Europe, objections to emancipation began to grow. Resentment and fear helped fuel the prejudices that would manifest into political antisemitism.
Resentment of perceived economic success among Jews fueled false notions that Jews were stealing jobs from Christians and were over-represented in important fields.
As Jews became politically active, they were viewed as proponents of radical/dangerous political views – those held by whatever the powers that be feared.
For example, because figures like Karl Marx and Leon Trotsky were of Jewish descent, this led people to closely associate Jews with communism (even though most Jews were not communists).
More broadly, however, there were widespread conspiracy theories throughout Europe about Jewish governmental and economic control, which hinged on small numbers of Jews in positions of power.
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, published in Russia in 1905, is one of the most widely cited pieces of political antisemitism to this day.
Despite efforts to assimilate and become part of their host societies, Jews continued to stay connected to their own communities and retain aspects of their cultural identities. This led critics to believe that Jews were benefiting from emancipation while remaining a separate group – a group whose loyalty would always be questioned. Jews, therefore, continued to be perceived as “other” and as a threat to European society.
Share SOURCE 6: Political Cartoon – “Metamorphosis”
Context:
The following political cartoon, printed in 1903, comes from a German weekly satirical magazine called Simplicissimus.[7] Explain that metamorphosis means a thing/person changing from one thing to something completely different (such as a caterpillar becoming a butterfly). Then have students take a look at the image below.
Primary Source:
First, consider guiding a discussion allowing students to share what they see – what do they notice when first examining this cartoon? Then ask students more specifically:
What is going on in this cartoon?
A Jewish immigrant is transforming himself from a pauper into a well-respected and affluent member of society
What about the way the Jewish man is portrayed stays the same throughout the three pictures? What changes?
The exaggerated and distorted features remain (hooked nose)
The clothes are more expensive and modern
The items he holds become more valuable and modern
What is this cartoon implying about Jewish emancipation?
That a Jew will always be a Jew – an “other” – no matter how much he changes externally and tries to assimilate
Reinforce the point that many in European society opposed emancipation because their prejudice against Jews led them to interpret Jewish efforts to join society as being motivated by ill intent. Additionally, the reference to the Jewish nose is based on pseudo-scientific notions of Jews being an inferior race, which will be addressed in the final form of antisemitism outlined in this lesson plan.
Optional: The graphic organizer gives students space to reflect after learning about each historical form of antisemitism. If time permits, give students a few moments to reflect, either through writing or discussion, about what they have learned in this part of the lesson.
Transition: Explain to students that the last form of antisemitism you’re going to examine is called racialized antisemitism. While political antisemites fear a “Jewish” political agenda for “world domination”, racial antisemites claim that there is a Jewish agenda for “racial domination.”
8. HISTORICAL FORM OF ANTISEMITISM: RACIAL
Guiding Questions: What term did Wilhelm Marr coin, and what did the term describe? How were the scientific concepts of natural selection and biological inheritance misappropriated by antisemites? What are some historical examples of racial antisemitism?
● In 1859, Charles Darwin debuted his theory of evolution and natural selection. In 1865, Gregor Mendel introduced the concept of biological inheritance – the basis for what we now call genetics.
● Racists and antisemites misappropriated these notions to support their beliefs in white superiority.
● In 1879, German journalist Wilhelm Marr introduced the term “antisemitism” to describe his opposition to Jews as a supposed inferior “race” (please reference the Appendix for more information). Soon, Marr’s new term was being used throughout Europe.
● Marr’s notion of Jews being an inferior race marked a dangerous turn. According to Marr, Jews were a problem because of innate and unchangeable biological differences.
● Racial antisemitism was the primary manifestation of antisemitism in Nazi Germany.
● According to Nazi racial theory, Jews constituted a biologically inferior race which was thought to corrupt the pure German-Aryan stock through “race-mixing” and intermarriage. It became extremely important to the Third Reich to distinguish between those with Jewish and “Aryan” ancestry.
● In 1935, the Nazi government passed the Nuremberg Laws, which legally made Jewish Germans different from non-Jewish Germans. They restricted marriages and sexual relations between those deemed racially German and those with Jewish backgrounds. Under the Nuremberg Laws, only “Aryans” were allowed citizenship. Jews were stripped of citizenship and denied their political rights, and their passports invalidated.
● Eventually, the Nazis passed more discriminatory laws that forced Jews out of many professions, severely limited their movements, and required them to self-identify in public with the infamous yellow stars.
● The Nazis made a great effort to define who was and was not racially acceptable. Their racialized understanding applied to: religious Jews, non-religious Jews, converts from Judaism to other religions, those who were not considered Jewish according to Jewish law but had some amount of Jewish ancestry.
Share SOURCE 7: Excerpt from a letter written by Adolf Hitler to Adolf Geimlich.[8]
Context:
In the politically unsettled period after World War I, the Bavarian state government in Germany established a group on May 11, 1919, to keep an eye on political groups and to carry out “educational work” in order to combat revolutionary activities among disgruntled army veterans. Adolf Hitler joined the “Information Department” as a propaganda writer and informant and participated in education courses organized by the department. Because of his noted rhetorical gifts, Hitler was appointed as a lecturer. He was asked to respond to Adolf Gemlich, a course participant, on September 16, 1919, on the government’s position on the so-called “Jewish Question.”
The letter is an early example of Hitler’s views on Jews before he became the leader of the National Socialist Democratic Party, also known as the Nazi Party, in 1921. The full letter builds on all of the types of antisemitism explored in this lesson. To analyze racial antisemitism, please examine the following excerpt with students:
Primary Source:
“Through a thousand years of inbreeding, often practiced within a very narrow circle, the Jew has in general preserved his race and character much more rigorously than many of the peoples among whom he lives. And as a result, there is living amongst us a non-German, foreign race, unwilling and unable to sacrifice its racial characteristics, to deny its own feeling, thinking and striving, and which nonetheless possesses all the political rights that we ourselves have. The feelings of the Jew are concerned with purely material things; his thoughts and desires even more so…His activities produce a racial tuberculosis among nations…”
Then, discuss the following questions with students:
Where do you see racialized antisemitism expressed?
“thousand years of inbreeding”, “the Jew has preserved his race and character”, “non-German, foreign race, unwilling and unable to sacrifice its racial characteristics”
reveals the thought that Jews are a ‘foreign race’ with undesirable traits, and that they cannot be changed
“the feelings of the Jew are concerned with purely material things”
claims that the so-called greediness of Jews is in fact an inalterable racial characteristic
“his activities produce a racial tuberculosis”
Jews are described as causing disease in society – something malignant and insidious
What other types of antisemitism does Hitler express in this passage?
“possesses all the political rights that we ourselves have”
Disturbed that Jews have equal political rights – echoes the idea that Jews use political rights for nefarious gain
“the feelings of the Jew are concerned with purely material things”
ties in racialized perception of Jews with economic antisemitism
Share SOURCE 8: Speech by Ellison DuRant Smith”[9]
Context:
The Jewish immigrant population in the U.S. significantly grew between 1880-1924. Fears that immigrants posed a threat to the racial and cultural makeup of the U.S. led to efforts to keep Jews out. As a result, America created a new federal law that primarily aimed to exclude Eastern European Jews and Southern Italian Catholics from immigrating to the country: the 1924 Immigration Act. Many of the arguments put forward in support of the law, like this one, were explicitly racist. While the text does not name Jews specifically (aside from Son of a German Immigrant), it’s important to note that this is the kind of thinking that went along with racialized antisemitism – a belief in white superiority above ALL other “races”.
Primary Source:
“Who is an American? … If you were to go abroad and someone were to meet you and say, ‘I met a typical American,’ what would flash into your mind as a typical American, the typical representative of that new Nation? Would it be the son of an Italian immigrant, the son of a German immigrant, the son of any of the breeds from the Orient, the son of the denizens of Africa? …Thank God we have in America perhaps the largest percentage of any country in the world of the pure, unadulterated Anglo-Saxon stock…It is for the preservation of that splendid stock that has characterized us that I would make this not an asylum for the oppressed of all countries, but a country to assimilate and perfect that splendid type of manhood that has made America the foremost Nation in her progress and in her power… [L]et us shut the door and assimilate what we have, and let us breed pure American citizens and develop our own American resources.”
Then, discuss the following questions with students:
How does DuRant Smith express racialized antisemitism?
That only true Americans should only come from “pure” Anglo-Saxon (meaning mostly English) families. They even want to “breed” more of these “pure” Americans.
This idea is part of a bigger way of thinking where people are judged and ranked based on their race. By saying what they think is the “right” race for America, they are automatically saying that other races are “wrong” or “less than.”
How do these ideas suggest a specific, and potentially harmful, vision for who should be considered truly “American” and how immigrants should be treated?
These ideas are harmful because they basically say that only people who are from a specific background (Anglo-Saxon) are truly American and valuable. Everyone else, especially immigrants, is seen as “less than” or a “problem” that needs to be changed.
Share SOURCE 9: Magazine cover of “La Libre Parole”[10]
As a final primary source analysis activity, ask students to look for the four forms of antisemitism they have learned about in a single source, which demonstrates the idea that these types of antisemitism are often interconnected and influence each other. Use the Library of Congress analysis method, “Observe, Reflect, Question,” to analyze the following magazine cover, which reflects many of the concepts from this lesson and can help students visually synthesize those ideas.
Context:
This magazine cover is from a French publication called La Libre Parole. It was printed on October 28, 1893 (just over 100 years after the emancipation of Jews in France).The editor and founder of this magazine was Edouard Drumont, who founded the Antisemitic League of France in 1889. Consider how this cover reflects antisemitic ideas held by parts of French society at the time.
Primary Source:
Step 1 – OBSERVE: Start by having students make observations, focusing on concrete details that they notice.
Observations may include: Tattered clothes, enlarged nose, animalistic/dehumanized features like claws, the money stuffed in his pockets and coming out of the world, he seems to be doing harm to the planet. He’s also in the dark – the sun is on the other side.
Step 2 – REFLECT: Next, ask students to reflect and use the prompt questions to help guide their thinking. What do the details suggest? What stereotypes are represented? In what ways are the four forms of antisemitism discussed in this lesson represented in this one image?
Reflections might include: If you recognize the stereotyped features, then we know this is a dehumanizing depiction of a Jew. Clearly, the illustrator believed that this man is harming the world in multiple ways. That he’s in the dark, along with the claw-like hands, suggests evil activity.
As for how the four types of antisemitism manifest in this image, here are some possible insights:
Political antisemitism. The figure appears to be maliciously grabbing onto the globe, eagerly climbing his way as far as he can go. This reflects a perceived threat of Jewish world domination.
Racialized stereotypes – the enlarged nose, the pointy beard, the beastly features – all exaggerated, and are reminiscent of the idea that Jews are less human and an inferior race trying to soil the purity of white Europeans.
Economic stereotype of the greedy Jew with money stuffed in his pockets echoes the idea that Jews perform harmful economic activities.
While not as overtly featured as the other forms of antisemitism, we can still see representations of religious antisemitism. First, there is the association between Jews and darkness, and therefore evil – a common trope in religious antisemitism. The man also covers his head, something that marks him as a religious Jew.
Step 3 – QUESTION: Finally, encourage students to ask additional questions to help further their learning. Possible questions might include: Why does the figure have exaggerated features? Why does he have on ragged clothes, while shown with an excessive amount of money in his pockets? Why is he illustrated as doing some sort of harm to the world?
Transition to Gallery Walk Activity: Explain to students that, like in the La Libre Parole image, the four forms of antisemitism continue to manifest in society, which will be demonstrated in the following activity. However, as important as it is to be able to recognize these influences, sometimes the way antisemitism is expressed in the current context does not fit neatly into the four historical forms. Today, we are seeing unprecedented levels of anti-Jew hate showing up in schools, sports, social media, and more, with the intent to hurt, intimidate, and marginalize Jews. In the following activity, we will refer to some examples as Evolving Anti-Jew Hate when they do not distinctly fit into the four categories we have learned about.
9. GALLERY WALK ACTIVITY
This activity may be used as a final assignment or as a lesson wrap-up. Students will apply what they have learned through direct instruction in the lesson to modern examples of antisemitism, or anti-Jew hate, that they will analyze independently.
Objective
Through close examination of primary source documents and collaborative group work, this activity will enrich student understanding of how the four forms of antisemitism have manifested in the past as well as the present.
Display the primary sources around the classroom. These primary sources should be displayed “gallery style,” at different stations in a way that allows students to disperse themselves around the room. The primary sources can be arranged in any order. They can be hung on walls or placed on tables. The most important factor is that the stations are spread far enough apart to reduce significant crowding.
There are 14 stations for this activity, so you may want to divide the class into groups and assign each group two or three stations, depending on the number of students in the class. Of course, you may decide to use fewer primary sources, depending upon the amount of time you have to spend on this lesson or what content you want to emphasize.
Instructions
Explain to the students that they will participate in a “gallery walk activity.” Students will move around from station to station, like in a museum or art gallery. They will review the source at each station and answer a few questions per station. Students should write their responses in the space provided on the Gallery Walk Note-Catcher (included in the PDF).
Alternative Gallery Walk Experience: Interactive Digital Gallery
Then, instruct students to click on each image to interact with it by reading an example, answering a self-assessment question about the form of historical antisemitism shown, and considering discussion questions. Teachers can further assess understanding through class discussions or by collecting individual responses to provided prompts. Note that student responses entered on the slide identifying the historical form of antisemitism will not be available to the teacher.
10. CONCLUSION
Have students fill out the exit slip (PDF | Google Doc) or use the questions to hold a class discussion.
Appendix: Race vs. Ethnicity
The term ‘ethnicity’ falls short when describing Jewish identity. The more fitting, ancient term is Am (people). This category predates and differs from later social constructs like race, religion, and ethnicity, explaining why Jewish people don’t fit neatly into any of them.
However, to help students better understand how to define Jews as a group of people, it can be helpful to understand the difference between race and ethnicity, since Jews are often classified as an ethnic and/or a religious group, but NOT a race.
Ethnicity refers to a people’s shared cultural identity, often based on factors such as ancestry, language, religion, customs, and a sense of common history or heritage. It distinguishes one group of people from another based on these cultural characteristics.
The term race is often used to categorize and differentiate people based on physical traits such as skin color, facial features, and hair texture. However, it’s important to note that the concept of race is a social construct and not a scientifically valid biological category. All people are part of the human race.
It’s inaccurate to call Jews a race because they come from a wide variety of backgrounds and exhibit significant physical and visible diversity. This is why ethnicity is the preferred term to describe the Jewish people.
[1] Statues of Ecclesia and Synogoga in Freiburg Germany Cathedral Entrance, c. 1300
[5] Source: Shlomo Eidelberg, The Jews and the Crusaders: The Hebrew Chronicles of the First and Second Crusades (Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1977), pg. 22.
[7] Harris, Constance. The Way Jews Lived: Five Hundred Years of Printed Words and Images. McFarland, 2008. p. 335.
[8] Source of English translation: Jeremy Noakes and Geoffrey Pridham, eds., Nazism 1919-1945, Vol. 1, The Rise to Power 1919-1934. Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 1998, pp. 12-14.
[9] Speech by Ellison DuRant Smith, April 9, 1924, Congressional Record, 68th Congress, 1st Session (Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1924), vol. 65, 5961–5962. https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/1249
Review of From the Republic of the Rio Grande: A Personal History of the Place and the People, by Beatriz de la Garza. Austin: University of Texas Press. 2013.
Reviewed by Thomas Hansen. Ph.D.
This interesting account of a small republic that existed only briefly between Mexico and the USA shows some very interesting histories and traditions that can teach us a lot. From 1839 to 1840, there was a nation between Mexico and the Republic of Texas called the Republic of the Rio Grande, with its capital in Laredo. Some do not know of this temporary republic, jostled between two mega-powers but firmly connected to both by trade, tradition, and blood.
Families from this region had connections to both other republics, often, and there are many documents still in existence showing sale and purchase of land, marriages, and bills becoming laws—all relating to the inhabitants of the area that was called briefly the Republic of the Rio Grande. The author does a very good job of painting a full picture that not involves commerce, history, culture, and politics, but also connects the story of this republic to the author’s own family.
De la Garza mixes the history of the republic with the family history she is able to ascertain through personal records, archives, and the story of the region as found on legal and financial documents. The story is very important to the author, and it can tell us very much about human nature—and about different political forces brought into conflict by a variety of factors: war, environment, need, tradition, and hope.
The author uses vivid language to tell us of the days of the republic, explaining details down to how the dwellings were constructed and including notes on dating, courting, and marriage traditions. The author also shows us the connections among families and the ironic way in which things can change over time, enemies becoming connected in ways their ancestors would have never imagined. There are also stories of love, of loss, and of hope.
The author provides a very valuable service indeed, reminding us of the republic and explaining so much about its short life. We owe her a lot, and we need to teach young people about this important chapter in history lest it be forgotten.
I will not give away the content of the book, something I always avoid doing in my reviews, but will urge teachers of history, of social studies, and of geography to consider reading the book. Both cultural and physical geography are involved in the story, as the people in the region had come from different lands to reach the site and the environment plays a huge role in the commerce and the very existence of the republic. The damming of rivers and the role of agriculture are two central issues in the story of this region.
I would recommend this story be read by all educators near where the republic once existed. It is important history and it is also an important way to enrich one’s perspective of the region. In addition, teachers of the subjects mentioned above can use the book as background reading, to build lessons and units on the history and geography of the area, and to enrich the curriculum on Texas, Mexico, and immigration.
What did Sojourner Truth really say at theWoman’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio on May 28, 1851?
Historical Mystery: Read these two accounts of Truth’s speech and analyze their reliability* using the sourcing form. Then answer the question: Did Sojourner Truth really utter the famous phrase: “Ar’n’t I a woman?”
**Reliable: Historians use “reliable” to mean that a source is the most accurate or honest depiction or account of something from the past.
Version 1, written by Reporter, Marius Robinson, for Salem Anti-Slavery Bugle in June 21, 1851:
One of the most unique and interesting speeches of the Convention was made by Sojourner Truth, an emancipated slave. It is impossible to transfer it to paper, or convey any adequate idea of the effect it produced upon the audience. Those only can appreciate it who saw her powerful form, her whole-souled, earnest gestures, and listened to her strong and truthful tones…May I say a few words? Receiving an affirmative answer, she proceeded: “I want to say a few words about this matter. I am a woman’s rights. I have as much muscle as any man, and can do as much work as any man. I have plowed and reaped and husked and chopped and mowed, and can any man do more than that? I have heard much about the sexes being equal; I can carry as much as any man, and can eat as much too, if I can get it. I am as strong as any man that is now…The poor men seem to be all in confusion, and don’t know what to do. Why children, if you have woman’s rights give it to her and you will feel better…But man is in a tight place, the poor slave is on him, woman is coming on him, and he is surely between a hawk and a buzzard.”
Version 2, written April 23, 1863 for the New York Independent by Frances Dana Gage, who had presided over the convention:
“Well, chillen, whar dar’s so much racket dar must be som’ting out o’ kilter. I tink dat, ‘twixt the niggers of de South and de women at de Norf, all a-talking ‘bout rights, de white men will be in a fix pretty soon…Dat man over dar say dat woman needs to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches…Nobody eber helps me into carriages or ober mud-puddles, or gives me any best place;” and, raising herself to her full height, and her voice to a pitch like rolling thunder, she asked, “And ar’n’t I a woman? Look at me. Look at my arm,” and she bared her right arm to the shoulder, showing its tremendous muscular power, “I have plowed and planted and gathered into barns, and no man can head me—and ar’n’t I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man, (when I could get it,) and bear de lash as well—and ar’n’t I a woman? I have borne thirteen chillen and seen ‘em mos’ all sold off into slavery, and when I cried out with a mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard—and ar’n’t I a woman?”
Version 1
Version 2
What is the document?
Context:
What event is it describing and when did that event take place?
When was the account written?
Text:
How are these two accounts similar (facts, tone, etc.)?
How are they different?
Subtext:
Who wrote the document?
Are there any clues about who the author was?
Based on your comparison of the sources, what do you think the author’s purposes might have been?
What more do you wish you knew so that you could determine which source is most reliable?
Analysis:Did Sojourner Truth really utter the famous phrase: “Ar’n’t I a woman?” Explain your answer.
History of America’s Immigration: The Background to Today’s Border and Asylum Crises
Dr. Harry Stein
Defining American: The Bureau of Naturalization’s Attempt to Standardize Citizenship Education and Inculcate ‘the Soul of America’ in Immigrants during World War 1
In this wood engraving caricaturing the Chinese Exclusion Act, a well-dress Chinese man embodying “Order” and “Industry” sits outside the Golden Gate of Liberty. The sign to his right declares “Communists, Nihilist, Socialist, Fenian & Hoodlum Welcome but no Admittance to Chinamen.”
Four Eras of U.S. Immigration History
The following is a description with vocabulary for each era. Following the four eras is a collection of data that students can use to learn more about each time period. In each era examine who came to the United States, why, and how did government policy favored or discouraged immigration.
Era #1: Populating the Continent-Colonial to 1875
Authority was with individual states, not the Federal Government. States used what was then called “state police power” to set and enforce rules. States set rules stopping the admission of convicts, free Blacks, paupers, diseased, sick or disabled persons or passengers on ships who tried to enter without the captain posting a bond on their behalf. No free person whether black, mulatto, or colored from a Caribbean country, especially Haiti, could enter some states. Haitian seamen on a ship entering Charleston, S.C., could not leave the ship. These powers were confirmed by a Supreme Court decision (Miln Decision, 1837) and the Passenger Cases decision (1849) approved state laws on bonding and taxing incoming passengers. The 1830 Indian Removal Act was another example of state police power. The movement of free Blacks within Missouri and Ohio was also regulated.
There were also federal laws in 1793, 1842 (Prigg decision), and 1850 concerning the return of runaway slaves to their owners. Legislation in 1809 prevented the importing of additional slaves from west Africa. In 1817 the Liberia colony was established and federally funded for free Black who wished to return to Africa. 13,000 did.
Federal laws permitting or excluding contract labor from China and Europe were enacted. In 1862 the Coolie importation from China was stopped under the logic that since slavery was illegal in northern states and Coolies were slaves therefore, they could not get into the USA. In 1867 contract labor was permitted from Europe. In conclusion, high, consistent demand for labor led to favorable State and federal immigration policies.
Northern European Migration from Ireland, UK, Germany, Netherlands
Era #2: Opening and Closing the Immigration Doors, 1875 – 1924
During this era, the power to legislate and enforce laws came totally to the national government. Immigration power resided in the Federal government’s ability to control commerce, Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) and the theory of national sovereignty critical for national security through border control. Between 1871 and 1914, 23.5 million Europeans entered. Eastern and southern Europeans joined those from Ireland, the U.K. and northern Europe. 1.7 million entered in 1907.
The country was industrializing and urbanizing. Labor demand was high. But gradually laws were established excluding some and regulating the entry of others. Many Americans wanted more immigration. Other Americans were critical of who were admitted. By 1924 the doors were almost closed to many Jews, Catholics, Hindus, and Chinese. See the Page Act (1875) and the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882). Research the Foran Act (1885) and the Dillingham Commission (1911).
A 1917 law aimed at South Asians, Indians, who settled in California and Washington and spoke out against British control of their homeland. This was part of a broader American nativist movement merging with white supremacy ideology, anti-communism and earlier opposition to immigrants with physical or mental disabilities. A literacy test was passed. A “barred” zone was created stopping all Asian entry except from the Philippines and Japan, already excluded by an informal 1907 “Gentlemen’s Agreement.” Mexicans were turned into temporary labor migrants. There was also the fear that if the US entered the League of Nations this could endanger national security. In 1920, 16% of the US population was foreign born. Bad foreigners = crime, immorality, and labor conflict.
A 1921 law closed loopholes in the 1917 law and established the first national origin quotas. This law fused beliefs about eugenics, racial bigotry, anti-disabilities prejudice, mixed racial marriages into a category of undesirable immigrant groups. The Johnson-Reed Act (1924) created quotas by ethnic origin. The Border Patrol created an illegal entry called a misdemeanor and felony (1929) if done twice.
The Johnson-Reed Act (1924) confined immigration mainly to northern Europe. National quotas were based on ethnic origins of the 1890 census. Through the Depression of the 1930s and World War II, immigration was severely curtailed. Following World War II, the law remained intact and parallel laws dealing with World War II refugees were created that bypassed but did not displace the 1925 Law.
In 1948, Congress passed the Displaced Persons Act permitting European refugees to enter. In 1948 the law was amended permitting refugees from camps in western Germany who could not return to their former homes in Poland and the USSR to enter the USA. 332,000 arrived including 141,000 Jewish Holocaust survivors between June 1948 and December 1951.
Era #4: Broader Opening of the Doors, 1965 – Present
The 1925 law was replaced by the Hart/Cellar Act of 1965. Racial and ethnic quotas were eliminated. Numerical quotas were retained. Entrance was open to people from anywhere. The law favored family unification, preference for specific occupations, and a new side variety of visas. In 1950, the USA was 90% white with a European origin. By 2000, 50% of new immigrants were from Latin America and 27% from Asia. In 2020, the USA population was 69% European white. This law changed the racial composition and, some say, the national identity of the USA. The acrid, hot odor of 1924 bigotry and nativism returned magnified and channeled through social media. By 2020, some Americans were talking of white racial suicide and replacement theory. Politicians pointed to the loss of border control. The 9/11 Attack on America led to Islamophobia and Muslin immigration bans. Many Americans supported legal immigration and the use of work visas for both unskilled and professional work. Most wanted to stop migration but the government system to judge asylum claims became broken. Since May 2022, a 1.85 million undocumented refugees have been permitted to remain in the country following a favorable “credible fear” claim. By September 2022, 86,815 immigrants were deported and 1.7 million were approved to stay. 200,149 immigrants came to New York City.
More Data:
From February 2021 to September 2023, Border Patrol arrested 6 million migrants who crossed the border illegally.
1.7 million immigrants were released to stay in the USA.
There were about 1,500 immigration judges and asylum officers available to decide these immigrant cases.
People apply for asylum at the border or if they are caught illegally in the country or overstay a visa. They have up to one year to apply. 800,000 applied in 2022.
It could cost $2 billion to hire more staff to eliminate the 2 million backlog of cases.
In some cities, it will take up to ten years to hear a case.
1.3 million have been told they must leave the USA. They have 90 days to do so.
Many do not leave and they disappear. There is no national ID in the United States to identify them.
Some marry Americans and become parents of children who are natural born citizens.
All of this data is used by politicians running for federal office. Some promise to clear them ‘out.’ How they will do this is not clear.
Many local officials run to Washington, D.C., seeking money to care for migrants in their cities. There is a deadlock in Washington, D.C. Many do not want to tax the many to pay for the foreign immigrants. The memory of 1924 is in the air and a chaotic border has become a drug channel.
Our laws were not designed to deal with BOTH old and new reasons for migrations. The latest reasons are climate change, corruption in many countries, and the development of the smartphone, which immediately connected migrants with friends already in the USA who send money to assist migrants in their journey. Migration used to be single men seeking jobs who would then return home. Now, it is entire families seeking a new life in the USA. Many Americans do not know what to make of it and they will vote their hopes and fears.
Teaching about the Indigenous Population of North America
Lessons by Alexandria Neely, Nicholas Zimmerman, and April Francis-Taylor
This package includes four lesson ideas with activity sheets that can be adapted for middle or high school.
The first lesson examines factors that influenced the migration and settlement of indigenous peoples across North America and different theories explaining the path of migration. The second lesson examines governance of different indigenous nations and their interaction with neighboring peoples. It also introduces the impact of geography on history and culture. Lesson three discusses the arrival of Norse Vikings and their interaction with the Mi’kmaq. Lesson four engages students in a discussion of “discovery” by European explorers.
LESSON 1: What factors influenced the migration and settlement of indigenous peoples across North America?
This lesson will be the first among three lessons covering the migration of early humans to the Americas, and their subsequent interactions between neighboring tribes and early-Europeans. Students will explore different theories about early human migration, how early humans arrived in the Americas, where they settled, and the impact of geography on their settlement and lifestyle patterns. It was believed that 13,000 years ago, early-humans traveled to the America’s via the Bering Land Bridge, a now-submerged geographical landmark that connected Northeastern Asia with Northwestern Alaska. However, in recent decades, researchers have discovered the remains of early humans in the Americas dating to 16,000 years ago possibly before access via the Bering Land Bridge was available. After collaborative research on migration theories, students will write an argumentative essay illustrating their stance on which theory best explains the evidence. Students will locate difficult vocabulary contained within the research articles and define terms. Enduring issues and unifying themes include the Impact of Environment on Humans; Population Growth; Impact of Technology.
CONTENT VOCABULARY:
Homo sapiens: Modern humans
Bering Land Bridge: Land that connected Asia and Alaska that was submerged when glaciers melted and sea levels rose.
Clovis people: Possible first human s to migrate from Asia to the Americas.
Clovis-First Theory: Belief that no humans lived in the Americas prior to approximately 13,000 years ago.
Artifact: Items made by human beings that provide clues to the past.
Migration: Movement of people across boundaries to new areas.
A. “The Kennewick Man”: On July 28, 1996, two men at Columbia Park in Kennewick, Washington, accidentally found part of a human skull on the bottom of the Columbia River, about ten feet from shore. Later searches revealed a nearly complete, ancient skeleton, now known as “The Ancient One” or “Kennewick Man.” Public interest, debate, and controversy began when independent archaeologist Dr. James Chatters, working on contract with the Benton County coroner, thought that the bones might not be Native American. He sent a piece of bone to a laboratory to be dated. The results indicated an age older than 9,000 years, making The Ancient One among the oldest and most complete skeletons found in North America. Subsequent research on the bones indicated that the skeleton is between 8,400–8,690 years old.
Questions
1. Who is the Kennewick Man?
2. Why is the discovery of the Kennewick Man significant?
3. In your opinion, how did Kennewick Man arrive in North America?
B. On the timeline of history, the Clovis people appeared out of nowhere and disappeared in the blink of an eye. Archaeologists revealed that the Clovis had a pretty short existence: They first appeared in America around 9,200 B.C. and vanished 500 years later, around 8,700 B.C. So where did the Clovis come from and where did they go? Intense investigation into clues the Clovis left behind was launched as more artifacts were discovered. The Clovis-First Theory proposes that these people arrived in North America, from Siberia, where hunter-gatherer tribes lived.
(Source: Were the Clovis the first Americans? | HowStuffWorks)
Questions
1. According to the text, how long were the Clovis people present in North America?
2. In your opinion, why did the Clovis people migrate to North America?
C. Native Americans — like all humans—are descendants of the first humans, who lived and evolved over millennia in Africa. Though it is unclear when some of the first humans left the continent, evidence suggests that their migration out of Africa occurred approximately 200,000 years ago, gradually populating parts of the middle east, Europe and Asia. The arrival of humans into North America is believed to have occurred between 45,000 to 25,000 ago, the same time other groups of humans migrated into new territories including Australia and East Asian Pacific islands. We can’t be sure of the exact reasons humans first migrated off of the African continent, but it is likely the reason was a depletion of resources like food in their regions and competition for those resources.
(Source: Homo sapiens & early human migration (article) | Khan Academy.)
Questions
1. When does the author of this article claim humans began migrating to North America?
2. Why did humans migrate out of Africa and across the globe?
3. Using the map, how do you think humans migrate to North America?
D. Beginning in the early 1800s, American scientists and naturalists began to speculate about the ways early humans arrived in the Americas. However, it wasn’t until the mid-1920s that scientists determined that towards the end of the Ice Age, the Earth experienced a long period of frigid [below-freezing] conditions. Glaciers formed in the northern region of the Earth. As more of the Earth’s water got locked up in the glaciers, sea levels dropped. In some areas it dropped up to 300 feet. The land beneath the Bering Strait, a waterway separating Asia and North America was exposed and a flat grassy treeless plain emerged. This exposed land is known as the Bering Land Bridge.
Questions
1. What impact do you think the glaciers had on early human migrations?
2. In your opinion, do you think that the Bering Land Bridge was the only way early humans could travel to the Americas?
E. Student teams will examine two other proposed explanations for human migration into North America.
The Pacific Coast Migration Model is a theory concerning the original colonization of the Americas that proposes that people entering the continents followed the Pacific coastline, hunter-gatherer-fishers traveling in boats or along the shoreline and subsisting primarily on marine resources.
The Solutrean hypothesis suggests that Neolithic fishermen and hunters from Northern Europe sailed the Atlantic in tiny boats made of animal skins 18,000 years ago and colonized the eastern United States.
Exit Ticket: What factors enabled early humans to migrate and settle in regions across North America?
LESSON 2. What types of interactions did Native Americans have with neighboring communities? Indigenous tribes in America formed complex, successful societies like the Iroquois Confederacy, and created governing structures and agreements such as the Great Law of Peace. Depending on their location, different indigenous tribes had vastly different power structures, houses, foods, and lifestyles. Students will determine central ideas; provide an accurate summary of the purpose and definition of the Great Law of Peace and the Iroquois Confederacy. Enduring issues and unifying themesincludeImpact of Environment on Humans and Power.
CONTENT VOCABULARY:
Sedentary: the practice of living in one place for a long time.
Nomadic: the movement of a person or people from one place in order to settle in another.
Iroquois Confederacy: Confederation of six tribes across upper New York that played a major role in the struggle between the French and British for control over North America.
COMPELLING QUESTIONS:
Why do you think is it important to learn about different tribes from all over what is now the United States?
Why do you think the Founding Fathers only adopted some aspects of the Great Law of Peace into their writings? Which parts did they leave out? Why do you think they did?
How does geography currently affect the way we live? How do you think it could affect us in the future?
Map of Indigenous people in the Territorial United States
Questions
Which groups on the map have you heard of before? What do you know about them?
Which groups are closest to where you live?
How could their location influence their way of life? Give examples.
How do you think these groups of people could have interacted with each other?
Iroquois Confederacy
a. “The Peacemaker story of Iroquois tradition credits the formation of the confederacy, between 1570 and 1600, to Dekanawidah (the Peacemaker), born a Huron, who is said to have persuaded Hiawatha, an Onondaga living among Mohawks, to advance “peace, civil authority, righteousness, and the great law” as sanctions for confederation. Cemented mainly by their desire to stand together against invasion, the tribes united in a common council composed of clan and village chiefs; each tribe had one vote, and unanimity was required for decisions. Under the Great Law of Peace (Gayanesshagowa), the joint jurisdiction of 50 peace chiefs, known as sachems, or hodiyahnehsonh, embraced all civil affairs at the intertribal level.”
b. “The Iroquois Confederacy established that each nation should handle their own affairs. The Great Law of Peace is a unique representational form of government, with the people in the clans having say in what information is passed upward.” (Source: Britannica)
Questions
What is the Iroquois Confederacy?
What would the benefits of a confederacy be?
What is the primary structure of the Great Law of Peace?
What historical documents remind you of the Great Law of Peace? What documents do you think could have been influenced by the Great Law of Peace?
C. Great Law of Peace
The Great Law of Peace are “teachings [that] emphasized the power of Reason, not force, to assure the three principles of the Great Law: Righteousness, Justice, and Health.” It also includes “instructions on how to treat others, directs them on how to maintain a democratic society, and expresses how Reason must prevail in order to preserve peace.” (Source: Haudenosaunee Guide for Educators)
Selected components:
16. If the conditions which arise at any future time call for an addition to or change of this law, the case shall be carefully considered and if a new beam [law] seems necessary or beneficial, the proposed change shall be voted upon and if adopted it shall be called, “Added to the Rafter.”
24. The chiefs of the League of Five Nations shall be mentors of the people for all time. The thickness of their skins shall be seven spans, which is to say that they shall be proof against anger, offensive action and criticism. Their hearts shall be full of peace and good will and their minds filled with a yearning for the welfare of the people of the league. With endless patience, they shall carry out their duty. Their firmness shall be tempered with a tenderness for their people.
92. If a nation, part of a nation, or more than one nation within the Five Nations should in any way endeavor [try] to destroy the Great Peace by neglect or violating its laws and resolve to dissolve the Confederacy such a nation or such nations shall be deemed guilty of treason and called enemies of the Confederacy and the Great Peace.
93. Whenever a specially important matter or a great emergency is presented before the Confederate Council and the nature of the matter affects the entire body of Five Nations threatening their utter [complete] ruin, then the Lords of the Confederacy must submit the matter to the decision of their people and the decision of the people shall affect the decision of the Confederate Council. This decision shall be a confirmation of the voice of the people.
94. The men of every clan of the Five Nations shall have a Council Fire ever burning in readiness for a council of the clan. When it seems necessary for a council to be held to discuss the welfare of the clans, then the men may gather the fire. This council shall have the same rights as the council of the women.
95. The women of every clan of the Five Nations shall have a Council Fire ever burning in readiness for a council of the clan. When in their opinion it seems necessary for the interest of the people they shall hold a council and their decision and recommendation shall be introduced before the Council of Lords by the War Chief for its consideration. (Source)
Questions
What do these sections tell you about the values of the Iroquois Confederacy?
How does the Great Law of Peace differentiate from more modern United States’ government documents?
What does the Great Law of Peace have in common with the ideals of more modern government?
D. Group Activity: Each group will be working on a separate area of what is now America. The groups are Plains, Northeast, Southwest, and Eastern Woodlands. The groups will look at/research images and readings and answer the sheets that go along with them. They will then participate in a “jigsaw” and fill out the rest of their charts using information from other groups representatives. On each sheet there will be a section at the top where they will write the definitions of nomadic and sedentary, this will be provided by the teacher (see Appendix A).
Plains Indians Information Sheet
“Many people think of the Plains Indians as people who traveled from place to place to find food and basic supplies. Only some of the tribes in this area lived that way. There were more than 30 different tribes who lived in the Great Plains. Like the Europeans who came to America from different countries, these tribes all had their own language, religious beliefs, customs and ways of life.”
“The Plains Indians who did travel constantly to find food hunted large animals such as bison (buffalo), deer and elk. They also gathered wild fruits, vegetables and grains on the prairie. They lived in tipis, and used horses for hunting, fighting and carrying their goods when they moved. Other tribes were farmers, who lived in one place and raised crops. They usually lived in river valleys where the soil was good.” (Source)
“Most Indigenous societies of the Great Plains practiced some form of hereditary chieftainship and recognized a head chief. In theory, the head chief presided over a council composed of war chiefs, headmen, warriors, and holy men. In practice, however, charismatic, self-made war-party
leaders often exercised the most significant authority, especially in times of crisis.” (Source)
Northeast Indians Information Sheet
The most elaborate and powerful political organization in the Northeast was that of the Iroquois Confederacy. A loose coalition of tribes, it originally comprised the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca. Later the Tuscarora joined as well. Indigenous traditions hold that the league was formed as a result of the efforts of the leaders Dekanawida and Hiawatha, probably during the 15th or the 16th century.”
“The Northeast culture area comprises a mosaic of temperate forests, meadows, wetlands, and waterways. The traditional diet consisted of a wide variety of cultivated, hunted, and gathered foods, including corn (maize), beans, squash, deer, fish, waterbirds, leaves, seeds, tubers, berries, roots, nuts, and maple syrup.” (Source)
“Northeastern cultures used two approaches to social organization. One was based on linguistic and cultural affiliation and comprised tribes made up of bands (for predominantly mobile groups) or villages (for more sedentary peoples). The other was based on kinship and included nuclear families, clans, and groups of clans called moieties or phratries.” (Source)
Southwest Indians Information Sheet
“Most peoples of the Southwest engaged in both farming and hunting and gathering; the degree to which a given culture relied upon domesticated or wild foods was primarily a matter of the group’s proximity to water. A number of domesticated resources were more or less ubiquitous throughout the culture area, including corn (maize), beans, squash, cotton, turkeys, and dogs. During the period of Spanish colonization, horses, burros, and sheep were added to the agricultural repertoire, as were new varieties of beans, plus wheat, melons, apricots, [and] peaches.” (Source)
“For those groups that raised crops, the male line was somewhat privileged as fields were commonly passed from father to son. Most couples chose to reside near the husband’s family (patrilocality), and clan membership was patrilineal. In general women were responsible for most domestic tasks, such as food preparation and child-rearing, while male tasks included the clearing of fields and hunting.” (Source)
“Among the Navajo the preferred house form was the hogan, a circular lodge made of logs or stone and covered with a roof of earth; some hogans also had earth-berm walls. Among the Apache, the wickiup and tepee were used.” (Source)
Upland settlements “included dome-shaped houses with walls and roofs of wattle-and-daub or thatch. The groups that relied on ephemeral streams divided their time between summer settlements near their crops and dry-season camps at higher elevations where fresh water and game were more readily available. Summer residences were usually dome-shaped and built of thatch, while lean-tos and windbreaks served as shelter during the rest of the year.” (Source)
Southern Woodlands “Indians” Information Sheet
“The importance of corn in the Southeast cannot be overemphasized. It provided a high yield of nutritious food with a minimal expenditure of labour; further, corn, beans, and squash were easily dried and stored for later consumption. This reliable food base freed people for lengthy hunting, trading, and war expeditions. It also enabled a complex civil-religious hierarchy in which political, priestly, and sometimes hereditary offices and privileges coincided.” (Source)
“Most of the region teemed with wild game: deer, black bears, a forest-dwelling subspecies of bison, elks, beavers, squirrels, rabbits, otters, and raccoons. In Florida, turtles and alligators played an important part in subsistence. Wild turkeys were the principal fowl taken, but partridges, quail, and seasonal flights of pigeons, ducks, and geese also contributed to the diet. The feathers of eagles, hawks, swans, and cranes were highly valued for ornamentation, and in some tribes a special status was reserved for an eagle hunter.” (Source)
“In general, settlements were semi-permanent and located near rich alluvial soil or, in the lower Mississippi region, near natural levees. Such land was easily tilled, possessed adequate drainage, and enjoyed renewable productivity.” (Source)
“In much of the region, people built circular, conical-roofed winter “hot houses” that were sealed tight except for an entryway and smoke hole. Summer dwellings tended to be rectangular, gabled, thatch-roofed structures made from a framework of upright poles.” (Source)
LESSON 3. How did Native Americans, like the Mi’kmaq, interact with foreign societies, like the Norse?
The Norse arrived North America, but their settlements disappeared. Evidence suggests that Norse Viking, Leif Eriksson, traveled to North America in 1000 A.D, roughly 500 years before other European explorers. Students investigate how, why, and where the Norse settled in North America. Students interpret the interactions between the Norse and the Mi’kmaq. It is believed that the Norse voyage to the new continent was the result of climatic fluctuations that forced settlers to seek new lands in an effort to survive and prosper. Upon their arrival to Newfoundland, evidence from the Greenlander Saga suggests that Norse Vikings encountered the Native American tribe, The Mi’kmaq, periodically engaging in limited trade with them, before the two groups engaged in conflict leading some researchers to speculate this was a cause of their disappearance. Students will examine how the physical environment and natural resources of North America influenced the development of the first human settlements and the culture of Native Americans as well as impacted on early European settlements. Students will research and write a 250-word argumentative short-essay, in which they introduce factors they believe influenced the disappearance of the Norse Vikings. Enduring issues and unifying themes include Impact of the Environment, Trade, Technology, and Conflict on human societies.
CONTENT VOCABULARY:
Norse– Settlers, traders, farmers, and seafarers who originated in Scandinavia.
Viking – Norse warriors and seafarers.
Vinland– An area of coastal North America explored by Vikings.
L’Anse aux Meadows – Remains of an 11th-century Viking settlement in Newfoundland
Mi’kmaq- Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, native to the areas of Canada’s Atlantic Provinces.
The Viking Compass
Vikings did not have much material to work with other than wood and animal hair, to make it across the oceans, but they apparently didn’t require much more than that to get to where they were going and make it back again. In 1948 a (partial) wooden artifact was found in Greenland (called the Uunartoq disk), which was assumed to be some form of compass. Only representing a portion of a wheel or ‘disk,’ the partial device had notches carved around the perimeter and scratch marks at a few distinct intervals across the face. (Source)
Questions:
According to the text, what was needed, in order to use the “Viking Compass”?
Why is a compass important when traveling long distances across the ocean?
How might the discovery of this artifact change how we understand European Exploration of the Americas?
Evidence that the Norse reached North America
According to the “Saga of the Greenlanders”, Vikings became the first European to sight mainland North America when a Viking merchant, headed for Greenland, was blown westward off course about 985. Further, about 1000, Leif Eriksson, a notorious viking leader, is reported to have led an expedition in search of the land sighted by the viking merchant, and found an icy barren land he called Helluland (“Land of Flat Rocks”) before eventually traveling south and finding Vinland (“Land of Wine”).The narratives of exploration of a place that sounded like Maine, Rhode Island, or Atlantic Canada were thought to be just stories, until 1960, when Helge Ingstad, a Norwegian explorer, and archaeologist Anne Stine Ingstad, were led by a local man to a site on the northern tip of Newfoundland island. At L’Anse aux Meadows, they discovered the remains of a Viking encampment that they were able to date to the year 1000 — That’s almost 500 years before the Europeans landed in the Americas! (Source)
Questions
Who led the Viking expedition to North America?
How long before Columbus, did the Vikings arrive in North America?
Do you think that it is fair to say that the Vikings discovered North America? Explain.
C. The Norse meet the Mi’kmaq
The Mi’kmaq are among the original inhabitants of the Atlantic region in Canada, and inhabited the coastal areas of Gaspé and the Maritime Provinces east of the Saint John River. This traditional territory is known as Mi’gma’gi (Mi’kma’ki) and is made up of seven districts. Mi’kmaq people have occupied their traditional territory, Mi’gma’gi, centuries before the arrival of the Vikings. Today, the remaining members of the Mi’kmaq community continue to occupy this area, as well as settlements in Newfoundland and New England, especially Boston. While it is not entirely clear, as to how the Mi’kmaq and the Vikings interacted, historical accounts of their interactions have suggested that the Mi’kmaq not only engaged in trade with the Vikings, but they also found themselves engaged in conflict with one another as well.
Going further, researchers have since discovered that the Mi’kmaq had developed oral histories that speak of a Mi’kmaq woman’s ancient premonition [dream] that people would arrive in Mi’gma’gi on floating islands, and a legendary spirit who traveled across the ocean to find “blue-eyed people.” Since the story’s discovery, many individuals have regarded its existence as a foretelling of the arrival of Europeans.
Questions:
What areas of the present-day United States and Canada did the Mi’kmaq people inhabit?
How might the “ancient premonition” [ancient dream] of “blue-eyed people” arriving in North America help us understand how Native Americans viewed and interacted with European explorers?
D. Unknown American Holiday: Leif Erikson Day Leif Erikson was likely born in Iceland around 970 or 980 AD, and was the son of infamous Norse chieftain, Erik the Red. Leif, much like his father, was a true Viking from the start, and began sailing with his crew across present-day western Europe and parts of Scandinavia. Nevertheless, the story begins with Leif traveling to present-day Greenland. It was on this journey in approximately 999 AD, that Leif Erikson and his crew would be blown off-course, to a location they named “Vinland,” meaning “Land of Wine.” While at first it would appear that Erikson found something other than North America, the descriptions of the surrounding area and its inhabitants have led researchers to believe that Erikson is writing about his arrival in North America. In 2024, President Joseph Biden declared October 9th Leif Erikson Day. (Source)
Questions:
When did Leif Erikson arrive in North America?
In your opinion, why does Leif Erikson Day have less recognition than Columbus Day?
E. Group Activity—Investigate the Disappearance the Newfoundland Norse Settlement
Instructions: In groups of three or four, students will be tasked with investigating the possible reasons for the Norse Vikings’ mysterious disappearance from their North American settlement.
Station #1: Climate Change
There was a time centuries ago that settlements in cold northern lands grew little by little with the arrival of new inhabitants. Up to the 15th Century, the territories we now know as Greenland and Newfoundland in North America, reached population sizes of around 2,000. From then on, these lands began to depopulate. Early research said the exodus was due to many problems, but temperature change has often been cited as an explanation for the end of the Vikings. According to this theory, the Nordics arrived in the North during a period that was more or less warm, where they could survive until temperatures fell during a period known as, the Little Ice Age.
Now, new research by the College of Natural Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst concludes that summers were increasingly warm and dry in Greenland and Newfoundland during the time the Nordic settlements were abandoned. Thus, the trigger for the disappearance of the Vikings could have been drought. Source:Climate history: Why did the Vikings disappear from northern lands?].
Questions
1. What other regions did the Vikings visit?
2. How did climate impact the survival of the Vikings in North America?
3. What climate event occurred that made it more difficult for Vikings to live in North America?
The settlement at L”Anse aux Meadows was only in use for roughly twenty years or so. It’s estimated that the Vinland settlements lasted the same amount of time.While scholars do not know why the Vikings abandoned the settlements so quickly, there are several theories. Hostile relations with the natives surely did not help matters. Though their iron tools aided them in battle, the natives dramatically outnumbered the Vikings who only numbered at most in the low hundreds. In an early encounter, one of the viking chieftains that lead the group of norse settlers in Newfoundland, Leif Eiriksson, is recorded to have been “struck by an arrow”. It would later be determined through these records —The Vinland Sagas—that his injuries would prove fatal. While it is not clear what tribes attacked the Vikings during their stay, evidence suggests that it was likely a number of Inuit tribes, including the Mi’kmaq. That being said, due to the increased amount of conflict between the Vikings and Native tribes, the Vikings dubbed their enemies Skraelings, which historians believe translates as either “barbarian” or “foreigner” in the old Norse tongue. It could have also meant “weak” or “sickly” or even “false friend”.
Questions
According to the document, how long were the Vikings in North America?
How did conflict with the Native Americans impact the Vikings living in North America?
Why do you think the Vikings were attacked by Native Americans?
When the Vikings explored south of Newfoundland, in an area they named “Vínland” (which translates as “Wine Land”), they were more interested in finding natural resources they could exploit. However, Kevin P. Smith, a research associate at the Smithsonian Institute who specializes in the Vikings, had a somewhat different opinion. He said that Norse texts indicate that some Vikings believed it offered “opportunities for ‘second sons’ of the chieftain who had established the Greenland colony to carve out their own areas where they could be leaders/chiefs rather than second sons.
Be that as it may, there is a leading theory that presumes the Vikings had abandoned the settlement largely due to its decline in economic importance. For instance, Medieval Europe had coveted [desired] walrus ivory leading to the market’s expansion across the North Atlantic. As such, and by the time the Vikings had sailed to and settled in North America, a series of large walrus colonies had already been established in Northern Greenland, which researchers speculate, ultimately diminished the economic significance of the North American settlement. Going further, many researchers have also speculated that the abandonment of the settlement was also influenced by the nature of walrus tusk hunting; It was dangerous, time consuming, and expensive.
Questions
Using the text, define the term “Vinland.”
Why was the settlement in North America important for the Vikings?
What economic factors influenced the Vikings to abandon their settlement in North America? Explain.
Another important question is why the Norse failed to settle permanently in North America. How was it that they could survive in Greenland for 500 years, but could not establish themselves in Vinland, with its richer resources and better climate? Vinland was a remote place, and voyaging there was risky and uncertain, as we know from the sagas. In the early 11th century, the Greenland settlements were still young and did not have the population nor the wealth to support a new colony in North America. Additionally, there was also little incentive, in that the economy which developed in Greenland did not need expansion to America. There might have been some incentive later in the history of the Greenland settlements, but by that time — the13th and 14th centuries — the inhabitants were preoccupied with their own survival and would not have had the resources or the interest to create a new colony. Greenland was a fragile colony, incapable of sustaining itself as climatic, economic, and political conditions deteriorated. According to Thomas McGovern, a leading authority on Norse expansion to North America, “Greenland simply did not produce enough people or riches to act as a successful base for sustained colonization attempts, and Norse Greenlanders may have seen little immediate benefit in expanding in Vinland.”
Questions
How did the Norse colony at Greenland impact the settlement in North America?
Why did the Norse colony in Greenland begin to collapse?
What happened during the 13th and 14th centuries that prevented Vikings from settling in North America?
LESSON 4. How did interactions among Native Americans and outsiders challenge our understanding of early exploration and the “discovery” of America? It is still debated how and when early humans arrived in North America. Eventually a number of Native American tribes existed across the modern-day United States and the Americas. The laws and alliances, like the Iroquois Confederacy and the Great Law of Peace, made by Native Americans between themselves and outsiders may have contributed to the founding documents of the United States. This lesson is a Socratic Seminar. Students will have collaborative discussions, work civilly and democratically to evaluate diverse perspectives about how early humans migrated to the Americas, the significance of the Great Law of Peace on American law, and the dangers of leaving groups of people out when learning about history. Enduring Issues will be discussed in this lesson include Power and the Impact of Immigration.
VOCABULARY REVIEW MATCHING ACTIVITY
The Bering Land Bridge Clovis First Theory Solutrean Hypothesis Trans-Pacific Migration Theory The Great Law of Peace Artifact Migration Clovis People Nomadic Sedentary Confederacy Iroquois Confederacy Saga of the Greenlanders Mi’kmaq Plains tribes Northeastern tribes Southwestern tribes Southern Woodlands tribes
A. An ancient culture of North America that lived between 10,000 and 9,000 BCE B. The first humans to reach the Americas migrated from Asia by traveling across the Pacific Ocean C. Nomadic people who resided largely in the western plains D. Source on Norse colonization of North America E. Group of people joined together for a common purpose F. The practice of living in one place for a long time G. People who move from one place in order to settle in another H. Indigenous people of what is now Canada and Nova Scotia I. Art, tools, and clothing made by people of any time and place J. Sedentary people of Alaska and Northwestern California K. Sedentary people who resided largely near the Atlantic Ocean L. Oral constitution of the Iroquois Confederacy M. Communities who move from one place to another N. Confederation governed by the Great Law of Peace O. Land bridge connecting Asia to North America P. Hunters considered the first people to arrive in the Americas Q. Belief that early Europeans arrived in the Americas R. People who resided in present day New Mexico and Arizona
COMPELLING QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
Who should be called the “first Americans?” Should anyone?
What could be the consequences of designating one group of people as the “first” be?
Why would it be important to recognize all of the different groups you learned about? What could happen if we do not mention them?
What is the danger of forgetting or leaving out groups of people from history? Is there any?
Which theory of migration do you think is most plausible?
Why do people migrate? Have the motives for migration changed from then to now? How so?
How do we make welcoming communities for those who migrate?
How has your understanding of Indigenous American history and the “discovery” of America changed?
How did interactions among Native Americans and outsiders challenge our understanding of early exploration and the “discovery” of America?
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