Classroom Resource

The Time Trial of John Brown

Subject Area

Social Studies

Grade(s)

5, 10

Overview

In this lesson plan, students debate the legacy of John Brown and how he should be remembered. The lesson includes videos of an actor portraying John Brown, a plea to the people of Concord from Henry David Thoreau, and a John Brown song.  

Social Studies (2010) Grade(s): 5

SS10.5.11

1Identify causes of the Civil War, including states’ rights and the issue of slavery.

Unpacked Content

UP:SS10.5.11

Vocabulary

  • Civil War
  • Missouri Compromise
  • insurrection
  • opposition
  • rebellion
  • personalities
  • political conditions
  • confederacy
  • secession

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Causes of the Civil War, including issues of states' rights and slavery.
  • The importance of the Missouri Compromise, Nat Turner's insurrection, the Compromise of 1850, the Dred Scott decision, John Brown's rebellion, and the election of 1860.
  • Key Northern and Southern personalities, including Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson, William Tecumseh Sherman, and Joseph Wheeler.
  • Social, economic, and political conditions that affected citizens during the Civil War.
  • Alabama's role in the Civil War (Montgomery as the first capital of the Confederacy, Winston County's opposition to Alabama's secession).

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Locate key places and events on a physical and political map.
  • Identify and analyze the causes of political conflict Identify key people and explain their role throughout the Civil War.
  • Describe and draw conclusions about the war affected the citizens of the United States.
  • Interpret and define the role of Alabama in the Civil War.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • There were many factors that led to the Civil War.
  • Key people and ordinary citizens contributed to and were impacted by the Civil War.
  • Alabama responded to, participated in, and was impacted by the Civil War.
Social Studies (2010) Grade(s): 10 - United States History I

SS10.US1.12

Describe the founding of the first abolitionist societies by Benjamin Rush and Benjamin Franklin and the role played by later critics of slavery, including William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Angelina and Sarah Grimké, Henry David Thoreau, and Charles Sumner. [A.1.a., A.1.c., A.1.e., A.1.f., A.1.g., A.1.i., A.1.j.]

Unpacked Content

UP:SS10.US1.12

Vocabulary

  • impact

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Details of the founding of the first abolitionist societies by Benjamin Rush and Benjamin Franklin.
  • The role played by later critics of slavery, including William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Angelina and Sarah Grimke', Henry David Thoreau, and Charles Sumner.
  • The role of religious movements in opposition to slavery, including objections of the Quakers.
  • The impact of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 that banned slavery in new states north of the Ohio River.
  • How the Underground Railroad developed, its impact on American society in the North and in the South, and its leaders, including Harriet Tubman.
  • The impact of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin on the abolitionist movement.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Compare the first abolitionist societies by Benjamin Rush and Benjamin Franklin to the development of later abolitionist societies.
  • Describe the rise of religious of movements in opposition to slavery.
  • Explain the importance of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.
  • Describe the rise of the Underground Railroad and it's leaders.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • There was an important abolitionist movement in the United States from the earliest leaders and groups through the later groups, leaders, and legislation.
Link to Resource
https://americanhistory.si.edu/sites/default/files/file-uploader/Time_Trial_of_…

CR Resource Type

Lesson/Unit Plan

Resource Provider

Smithsonian
Accessibility
License

License Type

CUSTOM

Custom License Type (URL)

https://www.si.edu/termsofuse/

Approved Date

mgsaboyd
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