UCANTEACH ICON COURTESY OF PONGSAKORNRED

Founding Generations Founding principles

Enduring Understanding

During the colonial, Revolutionary, and early national periods the Mid-Atlantic was characterized by religious and ethnic diversity, as well as complicated attitudes and practices in relation to religion, race and slavery. The men and women who shaped this era are a refleciton of  the Ethnic diversity and complicated attitudes that continue to  shape the United States today.

essential questions, Knowledge & skills

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
  1. How did the geography and locality of the Mid-Atlantic region (i.e Virginia & Pennsylvania) shape the Colonial American experience and the nation as a whole?
  2. How did the experience of those in Virginia, Washington D.C and Pennsylvania shape the culture of the United States in both the past and the present?
  3. What defines a revolutionary? Why and how did the Revolutionaries respond to the same events differently than the Loyalists?
  4. What role did the individual backgrounds and experiences of key Founding Fathers and Mothers play in the principles they advocated in the Revolutionary era and the formation and ratification of the Constitution? 
  5. What political arguments did the colonists use to justify their rebellion against British authority?  Do these political arguments still exist today?
  6. How did the evolving practices of the new government reflect the principles encased in the Constitution?
  7. How did the practice and issues of slavery shape the formation of the new Nation?
  8. How did religion including religious plurality and religious conflict shape the new Nation? 

ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE
  1. Constitutional Principles: Bill of Rights, Political Parties, Separation of Powers, Federalism, Judicial Evolution, Executive Powers, Legislative Powers, Foreign Affairs, etc…
  2. Who were the “Founding Fathers” of the Mid-Atlantic region:  James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, George Washington, George Mason, Robert Carter III, Charles Carrol, John Marshall, Lord Baltimore, William Penn, Ben Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, et al
  3. Who were the Founding Mothers of the Mid-Atlantic and other regions:  Abigail Adams, Dolly Madison, Martha Washington, Mercy Otis Warren, Sally Hemmings, Esther de Berdt Reed, Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, et al
  4. The Mid-Atlantic Colonial Experience:  Jamestown, Williamsburg, Monticello, Montpelier, Mount Vernon, Washington D.C.  Philadelphia.
  5. African Americans: The rise of slavery in the colonial era, slavery and the Revolution, slavery and the Constitution
  6. Rationale for Colonization:  Economic, Religious, & Political
  7. Religious conflict and compromise:  Protestants, Catholics, Great Awakening, Quakers, Presbyterians, Jews

​ESSENTIAL SKILLS
  1. Analyze and evaluate Revolutionary ideas & principles from the colonial period to the present.
  2. Analyze the ethnic, cultural and religious differences in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, and identify how they evolved during the Colonial and Revolutionary Eras. 
  3. Identify how ethnic and cultural differences in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States shaped the U.S Constitution and Culture into the present.
  4. Identify Constitutional principles rooted in the Mid-Atlantic.
  5. Demonstrate an understanding of Constitutional principles as practiced in both the past and in the present.
  6. Recognize differences in the practice of slavery throughout the United States and analyze the role enslaved peoples played in shaping the new Nation.

Itinerary

Assignments

Prior to the trip all participants will read & study numerous text.  Each text will will be connected to a specific assignment.  Assignments are designed to: 1) model best pedagogical practices, 2) help participants learn the content & 3) be transferable to the Level I & Level II Curriculum. Details for all assignments are available on the Flipped Classroom: Readings & Assignments icon below:

Instructors:
Dr. Matthew mason & Professor Cindy Ness

June 23rd-June 30th, 2024
This seminar will explore the founding generations and founding principles of the United States as seen through the lenses of religion, ethnicity, and slavery in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The Field Study will take place in Virginia, Washington D.C. and Philadelphia. During the colonial, Revolutionary, and early national periods the Mid-Atlantic was characterized by religious and ethnic diversity, as well as complicated attitudes and practices in relation to religion, race and slavery.

Field Study participants will visit locations significant in the evolution of the new nation, including museums, battlefields, and colonial sites created to commemorate important events and individuals. This course is designed for teachers of United States History and is intended for Jr. High School and 5th grade Elementary teachers who include the teaching of Colonial America, the Revolution and Constitutional Principles in their social studies curriculum. Teachers will study significant issues, events, leaders, principles and movements in this region in the colonial, Revolutionary, and early national eras.

The tour will start at the Colonial Triangle in Virginia, e.g. Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown. Participants will study early English agricultural settlement of the South, including the beginnings of the North American slave trade.  In Williamsburg they will study the formation of colonial governments and in Yorktown they will study this key campaign of the Revolutionary War. Participants will then study the lives and ideals of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington at their respective homes, Monticello, Montpelier, and Mount Vernon.   In Washington D.C., participants will visit the National Archives and have time to visit the National Mall. Lastly participants will travel to Philadelphia where they will visit Independence Hall, the National Constitution Center, and the Museum of the American Revolution as well as important sites in the diverse religious history of this region. Participation in the field study will require rigorous physical activity.

MidAtlantic Founding Principles, Founding Generation:
Key Dates & Deadlines

Closing Seminar: Where do we go from Here?

Click to set custom HTML
Closing Seminar: Where Do We Go From Here?