CKHG Unit 10: American Reformers
NOTE: The resources for this unit are in the second part of Early Presidents and Social Reformers.
Focus:
This unit focuses on many efforts to improve American society from the early 1800s to the 1850s, including the temperance movement to decrease the consumption of alcohol; Dorothea Dix’s efforts to obtain better treatment for people with mental illnesses; Horace Mann’s campaign for free public education; the work of Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, William Lloyd Garrison, and other abolitionists in their crusade to abolish slavery; and, the early women’s rights movement led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. The unit also provides additional resources that explore the early reformers’ legacy in ongoing, present-day struggles for equality and civil rights. Some of the content of this unit is tied to the “Pathway to Citizenship,” an array of civics-focused knowledge, questions, and activities.
Number of Lessons: 6 (plus two additional resources)
Instruction Time:
45 minutes (Each lesson may be divided into shorter segments.)
Additional Search Terms:
social studies • map skills • nonfiction • informational text • primary sources • Seneca Falls Convention • “Ain’t I a woman?” • Amelia Bloomer • Elizabeth Blackwell • segregation • John Lewis • Martin Luther King, Jr. • March to Selma, Alabama • Sonia Sotomayor
