DECLARING INDEPENDENCE
WELCOME TO QUILL CLOSE READING SERIES! This set of nonfiction-based lessons for the English
Language Arts (ELA) classroom is brought to you by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, America’s
largest living history museum and a leading provider of educational products and programs.
These lessons help students acquire skills needed for college and careers through a close analysis of
some of the most important documents and issues in American history. This unit features a guided close
reading of the Declaration of Independence with additional extension activities that reinforce key skills
and contribute to the effective completion of a writing task. All lessons in the unit are closely correlated
to the Common Core State Standards, but can also be used to address other standards in your state.
You also receive complimentary access to related digital lessons and resources in The Idea of America
(see next page for details).
COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG IN THE E.L.A. CLASSROOM
© 2013 The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Reading and understanding founding documents and the treasures of our national heritage help
students not only expand their skills, but also become the active citizens the republic requires.
Students working through the lessons in this unit acquire critical thinking skills by engaging in the
close analysis of related readings, and then making connections to the big ideas that are central
to our identity as Americans. Students will broaden their world view as they are exposed to
diverse perspectives, promoting the civil discourse that is so important to citizenship.
It’s every generation’s responsibility to teach the next generation what it means to be citizens,
and the rights and responsibilities of that role. As a Center for History and Citizenship, Colonial
Williamsburg partners with educators to ensure that future generations help fulfill our nation’s
promise to become “a more perfect union.”
1
TEACHER INTRODUCTION
DECLARING INDEPENDENCE
WHY ARE “FREEDOM” AND “EQUALITY” EMPHASIZED IN THE LESSONS?
The Great Debate activity explains these values and how they are in tension.
We recommend you start this unit by having students read and discuss The Great
Debate: Student Introduction.
At Colonial Williamsburg, we use a framework called “the Great Debate” to examine how
everyday decisions affected the course of our nation, and the relevance of the past to the
decisions that people make today. In the ELA classroom, this framework helps students in
a number of ways. They can better:
•
•
•
•
identify how authors use language to argue specific points
evaluate how and why characters (whether historical or fictional) make certain decisions investigate and synthesize alternate viewpoints on any given issue
identify underlying ideas in any text, and place those ideas in context in a “bigger picture”
The Great Debate has been a part of the American story since the founding of the nation.
It is based on the notion that all Americans share a set of values. Freedom and equality are
two of those values; the others are private wealth and common wealth, unity and diversity,
and law and ethics. They exist in pairs because they exert tension on each other—for
example, if everyone is completely free, the rights of some will be trampled and there
will be less equality. But if everyone is completely equal, the freedoms of individuals are
subsumed. Most Americans believe strongly in both of these values and want to maximize
both, but if we have too much of one, we have less of its counterpart. There is no one right
way to balance these values. Every generation argues over which of these values should
have more weight, and every generation chooses for itself the optimal “balance.” As long
as Americans hold these core values that are in tension with each other, no issue will ever be
settled “once and for all.” That is the enduring Great Debate, which is, at its heart, the idea
of America.
© 2013 The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
HOW SHOULD I USE MY FREE ACCESS TO “REVOLUTIONARY IDEAS”
DIGITAL RESOURCES?
You will receive instructions for installing two case studies
from The Idea of America on your computer. Once the
program is installed, you will see the case study that is
included with this purchase, “Revolutionary Ideas,” along with
an introductory case study, “The Great Debate,” highlighted
in the scrolling list of case studies. Click on the case study you
want to explore and use the menu at the bottom of the screen
to enter each element of the case study.
•
•
The video activity, “Inside the Founders’ Studio,” is ideally
used with the close reading of the Declaration of Independence.
You may want to use the digital activity “Inside the
Revolutionary Mind” in conjunction with the extension activity
“A Declaration of Principles.”
2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARING INDEPENDENCE
This unit features a guided close reading
of the Declaration of Independence with
additional extension activities that reinforce
key skills and contribute to the effective
completion of a writing task.
ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS
• The Declaration of Independence
is an example of a well-constructed
argument.
• The Declaration of Independence
makes arguments for freedom and
equality in the new nation.
TEACHER INTRODUCTION
A brief explanation of how best to use these materials, and an
explanation of the Great Debate of enduring American values,
and how they are in tension throughout history.
THE GREAT DEBATE:
TEACHER NOTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
STUDENT INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
This excerpt from America: The Pocket Guide explains the analysis
method students will use to evaluate the documents in this packet.
CLOSE READING:
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
© 2013 The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Each activity lists the Common Core State
Standards linked to that activity. For a
complete list of CCSS ilinked to this unit,
see page 39. For correlations to other
standards, both national and state, visit
history.org/standards.
HOW SHOULD I GET STARTED?
We recommend reviewing all materials
first, especially the instructions for the
activities. The centerpiece of the unit is
the close reading of the Declaration of
Independence. However, students will
gain a deeper understanding and be
able to complete the performance task
at a higher level if you begin with The Great
Debate: Student Introduction, and also do
the extension activities.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Students complete multiple close readings of the Declaration of
Independence to evaluate how the argument is constructed and
how the values of freedom and equality are conveyed as founding
principles. Then, as an optional extension or assessment exercise,
students use the Common Core State Standards for Writing to
evaluate the Declaration of Independence as a persuasive argument.
ADDITIONAL KEY CONCEPTS
• Ideas and key phrases in the
Declaration of Independence were
inspired by and borrowed from the
works of other writers.
•The Declaration of Independence
inspired many other writers in their
efforts to argue for freedom and
equality.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
EXTENSION ACTIVITY:
A DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Thomas Jefferson based the Declaration of Independence on the
ideas and writings of others. In this activity, students read excerpts
from a selection of documents Jefferson referenced when writing
the Declaration, and show where and how Jefferson inserted
phrases and ideas from those documents into the Declaration.
EXTENSION ACTIVITY:
PERSPECTIVES ON THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE .
.
29
Students are assigned to read either excerpts from Frederick
Douglass’ Fourth of July speech or the Declaration of Sentiments
from the Seneca Falls Women’s Convention. They evaluate their
assigned document for the clarity of the author’s/authors’ claims
and evidence, and how the document reflects and refutes the
structure and concepts of the Declaration of Independence. Then
they discuss with their peers how their document argues for more
freedom or more equality.
PERFORMANCE TASK:
MY DECLARATION OF FREEDOM OR EQUALITY . . . . . . . . . 36
In this assessment activity, students write a persuasive essay in the
style of the Declaration of Independence. Students can choose
any topic they feel strongly about, and argue using well-supported
claims whether more freedom or more equality is required to
resolve the issue.
COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS
LINKED TO THIS UNIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3