The Class: U.S. History

This required course for 11th grade students examines historical dimensions of power in the United States from pre-Columbian times to the present day through the lens of social history. Through a hybrid chronological and thematic structure, students study people’s lived experiences and consider how conflict, ideas, structures, and resistance have shaped this nation. Students show their learning of the material through presentations, debates, seminar discussions, exams, essays, and a research paper. By tracing the evolution of the United States, students will develop a deeper understanding of history’s relevance to the challenges and opportunities in our society today. By illuminating a range of histories specific to students’ identities, the course facilitates students’ reflections on what those histories mean for who they are and how they will approach coalition-building work toward improving our present and futures.  

The Task: Write and Record a Podcast on the American Character

The previous unit dealt with the complexities of First Peoples identity, given the effects of colonization, removal, and the reservation. The American character unit started with the colonial period and the formation of a colonial identity. Students talked about the split between British Loyalists and American Patriots and debated if the colonists were justified in separating from Britain. The class studied Tom Paine’s “Common Sense,” Thomas Jefferson’s “Declaration of Independence,” and Frederick Douglass’s “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” and looked at the expansion of the U.S. westward and the conflict over admitting states that allowed enslavement. Students also discussed Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s women’s rights document, “The Declaration of Sentiments,” and Abraham Lincoln’s “Second Inaugural Address.” Along the way, students drew out comparisons and contrasts in the authors’ various views of the principles and history of the U.S. Finally, students considered Langston Hughes’s poem “Let America Be America Again,” a piece of writing that brings together the historical events we’ve studied to state what the American character ought to be. For the final project, students wrote an essay about the American character, with the option of writing about what the American character should be, and then record it as a podcast.

The Outcomes

American history has great ideals and wonderful figures who are pushing toward equality and for rights and opportunities for everyone, said History Teacher Aaron Sokoll. Throughout the unit, students start to understand the founders’ ideal alongside what actually happened. “This is not a history of a nation that was perfect; the founders didn’t make a perfect government that has degraded over time. We have an imperfect system created by imperfect people and now imperfect people are attempting to improve our process,” says Aaron. “The humanities, in general, is about humans—the world is always imperfect, and change comes from imperfection.”

Aaron wants students to understand the principles that brought our country into being, along with the reality of our history. “The principles of the people we read speak to the constant attempts we need to make ourselves a more perfect union,” he says. “For example, Langston Hughes’ poem “Let America Be America Again” speaks of the tremendous setbacks he’s experienced through racist policies, and he also calls forth our founders’ ideals. He’s saying these ideals are what America should be and we must bring it into being. In this poem and the readings from Frederick Douglass and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, students hear about people who experienced oppression within our society, yet they still act from hope.”

Below, four students from Aaron’s class talk about American character essays they wrote for their final project:

“An American is a hopeful, determined individual who values a better future and values change. The character represents everyone, but the ideals are not represented by everyone. After looking at [Abraham] Lincoln, you see that the original character had a lot of flaws. I didn’t realize the flaws of being an American. Now I think of American ideals are equality and freedom without tyranny. I think the American character has these beliefs and optimism as its main characteristic, along with individualism. Everyone has opportunity and possibility, but everyone has different barriers; some people have more barriers to overcome. This unit helped me discover my identity as an American.” –Ari F.

“The American character is different for everyone. America’s nickname is the melting pot. It was founded upon equality from the “Declaration of Independence,” but that equality only applied to White men. I also think the American character is persistent and resistant, as people have continuously fought for equality because America has never had equality. My viewpoint on the American character is relatively similar, but now I have more details. I really enjoyed reading all the material for this unit. I had never read Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s “Declaration of Sentiments” and Langston Hughes poem “Let America Be,” which both were about how equality was present for some but not for all Americans.” –Duncan B.

“I did my podcast on what America should be. I talked about how in our past, there was a lot of talk about equality and how we should all be equal, like in the “Declaration of Independence” and the “Declaration of Sentiment.” But I don’t see that equality now. For example, there is still a pay gap [with men being paid more for the same jobs that women do].  We don’t have racial equality or equality for women. The American character should resolve around equality. To do that, we need unity. In Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense,” he wrote that we need our greatest strength to be unity. Right now, we have political polarization. I think to have unity, people need to educate toddlers and young children that it’s OK to for someone to have different beliefs and it will take many generations to become united. Last year in the UPrep LEAD (Listen, Engage, Acknowledge, and Discuss) program, we talked about polarization; then, I didn’t mind being polarized because we all have such different morals. I thought, why would I want to be associated with someone who thinks so differently than me? Now I know that we can’t achieve anything without the sense of unity that comes from learning from others. We can’t assume that our way of thinking is the correct way of thinking. We can have friendships with people with different morals. The reading on unity helped me see that.” –Olivia C.

“I said the American character is pretty ignorant, that we chose to ignore a lot of sad stuff that we did in order to create America and that we have chosen to isolate ourselves. I also said the American character is pretty determined and vocal, which is reflected in social justice movements and how those movements affect our culture.  Before this unit, I didn’t realize how much America covers up what they did, especially when it comes to how we have treated Native Americans. I also didn’t realize what a complicated relationship we had with Britain. I couldn’t decide if America should have broken ties with Britain because they both helped us and were terrible to us. The “Declaration of Independence” freed America and the “Declaration of Sentiments” advocated for women’s rights—that was really powerful. I think America has to face the facts of how we treat people. Although it’s more work to face it, it’s so destructive to pretend otherwise.” –Nalin T.

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