April Lesson Plans (Social Studies)
Pioneer Technology & Arts Academy
Donnie Bell, Social Studies
Week XXXIII: 04.04.17 – 04.05.17
Standard(s)
8.6(D)
Assessment(s)
Group Discussion, Group Project, Individual Assignment, Game
Content
Event – Texas Revolution (10.1835–04.1836)
◦ After Mexico declared independence from Spain, it wanted to protect itself from Native American raids by encouraging immigration to Texas:
□ Abolished slavery and required immigrants to become Mexican citizens, learn Spanish, pay taxes, and convert to Catholicism.
◦ Mexican Government eventually annulled land contracts and banned further immigration into Texas after feeling threatened by Stephen Austin bringing so many Texians.
◦ Texians rebelled against Mexican Government and ultimately declare independence.
Figure – Antonio López de Santa Anna, Mexico
◦ Dictator: "If I were God, I would wish to be more."
◦ Jailed Stephen Austin for trying to promote a rebellion, although Austin was never officially charged. This angered both Texians and Tejanos to revolt for independence.
◦ Led army to assault the Alamo.
◦ General & President of Mexico: Exiled to Cuba, but later summoned to fight US-Mexican War.
◦ Married twice: Both times to wealthy young women under the age of 15. At neither wedding ceremony did he appear.
Figure – Andrew Jackson, N/SC
◦ Seventh President (1829-37).
◦ Indian Removal Act: Transplantation of several Native American tribes to reservations west of the Mississippi River (Trail of Tears).
◦ Founder of Democratic Party:
□ Believed in Manifest Destiny.
Figure – Stephen Austin, VA
◦ Led rebels, but had no military training.
◦ Father of Texas: Implemented his father's (Moses Austin’s) plan—granted by the Mexican Government—which allowed 300 US families to be brought to Texas (The Old 300).
◦ Never married and had no children.
Figure – Sam Houston, VA
◦ First President of Texas.
◦ Seventh Texas Governor (1859-61).
◦ General in Texas Revolution: Defeated General Antonio López de Santa Anna's Mexican Army in the Battle of San Jacinto.
◦ Lived for a few years with the Cherokee tribe.
◦ Democratic Party.
Figure – Jim Bowie, KY
◦ Killed in Battle of the Alamo.
◦ Had orders to destroy Alamo Mission. He instead became the garrison's co-commander.
◦ Popularized the Bowie Knife.
Figure – William Travis, SC
◦ Killed in Battle of the Alamo (26yrs).
◦ Lawyer and soldier.
◦ Called for revolution.
Figure – Davy Crockett, TN
◦ Killed in Battle of the Alamo.
◦ US House of Representatives, Tennessee.
◦ Spoke out against Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act (Manifest Destiny) resulting in his re-election defeat:
“You may all go to hell and I will go to Texas.”
◦ Ran away from home at the age of 13yrs.
◦ Wore a coonskin hat.
◦ Claimed to have killed 105 bears in one year.
Vocabulary
◦ Tejanos – Descendants of Spanish-speaking settlers of Texas and Northern Mexico.
◦ Texian – US English-speaking settlers of Texas (mostly Protestant), later known as Texans.
Trivia
◦ Antonio López de Santa Anna's real leg was amputated after he was hit by cannon fire during a fight with the French in 1838. In 1847, his artificial leg was captured by soldiers of the Fourth Illinois Infantry during the US-Mexican War and can be found in the Illinois State Military Museum still today.
◦ Dallas, TX is named after 11th Vice President (1845–49) George Dallas who served under James Polk.
Pioneer Technology & Arts Academy
Donnie Bell, Social Studies
Week XXXIV: 04.11.17 – 04.12.17
Standard(s)
8.6(D)
Assessment(s)
Group Discussion, Group Project, Individual Assignment, Game
Content
Event – US-Mexican War (1846-48), USA
◦ Known as "Mr. Polk's War", James Polk expanded US to the Pacific by forcing Mexico to sell nearly half of its territory:
□ Attempts to purchase land for $30 million, but Mexico refuses to sell.
□ Polk sends troops to area between Nueces River and Rio Grande.
□ Mexican soldiers provoked into firing upon US soldiers.
□ Polk claims blood shed upon US soil and Congress votes to go to war even though many didn't necessarily believe Polk's claims.
□ Mexican Government committed to fighting summons Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, but troops lacked training and money.
□ US conquers Mexico, but no Mexican Government official wants to negotiate.
□ Treaty eventually signed and land is sold for $15 million.
Figure – James Polk, NC
◦ Eleventh President (1845–49): Served one term due to declining health and having achieved all major objectives.
◦ Democratic Party:
□ Believed in Manifest Destiny à Focused on westward expansion beyond US existing national borders (NM & CA) by bullying Mexico into selling land.
◦ Young Hickory: Mentored by Andrew Jackson (Battle Of New Orleans).
Figure – Samuel Ringgold, MD
◦ Father of Modern Artillery: Invented flying artillery.
◦ First US officer killed in US-Mexican War: Perished from wounds at the Battle of Palo Alto.
Figure – Zachary Taylor, KY
◦ Fought in War of 1812.
◦ General in US-Mexican War.
◦ 12th President (1849-50): Political revenge against Polk and Scott for diminishing his command during US-Mexican War.
◦ Independent, but ran as a Whig.
◦ Old Rough & Ready: Humble à Shared hardships of field duty with troops and treated Mexicans with honor and respect.
Figure – Winfield Scott, VA
◦ General in US-Mexican War: Led US to victory (with 2/3 of Zachary Taylor’s best men).
◦ Old Fuss & Feathers: Military bearing and appearance.
Vocabulary
◦ Manifest Destiny - The belief that the expansion of the USA was both justified and inevitable.
Trivia
◦ Eleventh President (1845–49) James Polk had only hoped to be nominated for Vice President, but secured the Democratic presidential nomination. Because he promised to annex Texas, Polk went on to defeat Henry Clay of the rival Whig Party.
◦ While the official version states that he died from eating cucumbers and cherries after being exposed to the July sun for too long, others speculate that 12th President (1849-50) Zachary Taylor was poisoned 16 months into his first term.
Pioneer Technology & Arts Academy
Donnie Bell, Social Studies
Week XXXV: 04.18.17 – 04.19.17
Standard(s)
8.5(D)
Assessment(s)
Group Discussion, Group Project, Individual Assignment, Reviewsheet, Game
Content
Review – XXXIII-IV
Trivia
◦ Transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau was thrown in jail for having protested the US-Mexican War by not paying taxes.
◦ Elected as a Whig to Congress in 1846, Abraham Lincoln gained notoriety when he lashed out against the US-Mexican War, calling it immoral and proslavery. He was denied re-nomination by his own party. He later went on to become the 16th President (1861-65), elected as a Republican.
Pioneer Technology & Arts Academy
Donnie Bell, Social Studies
Week XXXVI: 04.25.17 – 04.26.17
Standard(s)
8.5(D)
Assessment(s)
Group Discussion, Group Project, Individual Assignment, Reviewsheet, Game
Content
Testing – XXXIII-IV
Trivia
◦ Of Dutch ancestry, 8th President (1837-41) Martin Van Buren is the only president to speak English as a second language.
◦ Before pursuing a career in politics, 40th President (1981-89) Ronald Reagan was a Hollywood actor.
Pioneer Technology & Arts Academy
Donnie Bell, Social Studies
Week XXXVII: 05.02.17 – 05.03.17
Standard(s)
8.29(I), 8.30(D)
Assessment(s)
Group Discussion, Group Project, Individual Assignment, Reviewsheet, Mock Debate, Game
Content
Review/Testing – XXXVII
Trivia
◦ 35th President (1961-63) John F Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, TX on November 22, 1963.
◦ Written in 1892, Francis Bellamy never intended the Pledge to be recited on a daily basis. It was written for a National school celebration to commemorate Christopher Columbus' discovery of America. School children could be expelled for not saying the Pledge in school until 1943 when the Supreme Court ruled that the right to not speak is equally protected under the First Amendment as the right to free speech.