Making Evidence-Based Claims ELA/Literacy Units empower students with a critical reading and writing skill at the heart of the Common Core: making evidence-based claims about complex texts. These units are part of the Developing Core Proficiencies Program. This unit develops students' abilities to make evidence-based claims through activities based on a close reading of the Nobel Peace Prize Speeches of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and President Barack Obama.

Making Evidence-Based Claims ELA/Literacy Units empower students with a critical reading and writing skill at the heart of the Common Core: making evidence-based claims about complex texts. These units are part of the Developing Core Proficiencies Program. This unit develops students€' abilities to make evidence-based claims through activities based on a close reading of the first chapter of W.E.B. Du Bois€' The Souls of Black Folk.

In this lesson, students analyze similarities and differences among depictions of slavery in "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", Frederick Douglass' "Narrative", and nineteenth century photographs of slaves. Students formulate their analysis of the role of art and fiction, as they attempt to reliably reflect social ills, in a final essay.

A rare anti-North satire, probably dealing with either the Crittenden Compromise or the Douglas Compromise. Proposed in December 1860 in the form of several constitutional amendments, the former called for restoration of the Missouri Compromise line and prohibition of slavery north of it. Stephen Douglas's compromise, an alternative proposed immediately thereafter, offered two similar amendments but also advocated settlement of the slavery issue by popular sovereignty. "Congressional Surgery" reflects the viewpoint of the lower South, which rejected both compromises. "Doctor North" (Pennsylvania congressman Thaddeus Stevens) sits with hands folded in a chair at left, a young black crouching beside him. On the doctor's desk rests a wooden leg labeled "Constitutional Amendment." The Doctor says, "Help you! Of Course! We will first, with your assistance, take you off your legs, & then fix you up nicely on these Constitutional Amendments." His patient "South," a tall bearded man with his left arm in a sling, replies, "Can't see it." Behind the desk are several crutches and bookshelves holding a bottle of "Black Draught" and a skull.|Signed: A. Del.|Title appears as t is written on the item.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1860-44.

One of a number of highly racist posters issued as part of a smear campaign against Pennsylvania Republican gubernatorial nominee John White Geary by supporters of Democratic candidate Hiester Clymer. (See also nos. 1866-6, 1866-7, and 1866-8.) Indicative of Clymer's white-supremacy platform, the posters attack postwar Republican efforts to pass a constitutional amendment enfranchising blacks. In "The Constitutional Amendment" a group of black men are shown crowding ahead of two white veterans and other whites toward a door marked "Polls." One veterans complains, "Surely, we did not fight for this." Another remarks, "I thought we fought for the Union." A straggly bearded man encourages the blacks, "Come on, my brave boys, you saved the Nation." The black response is, "Dat's so Brudder Yank, and you need our votes now. De poor White Trash must stand back." At right two more white men complain, "Negroes rule us now," and "We have no chance here." On the left is a column of text: "Geary Is for Negro Suffrage. Stevens [Pennsylvania representative Thaddeus Stevens] Advocates it. Forney [Pennsylvania senator John W. Forney] Howls for it, McClure [Alexander K. McClure, Pennsylvania Republican chairman] Speaks for it. Cameron [Pennsylvania Republican boss Simon Cameron] Wants it. The League Sustains it. They are rich, and want to make The Negro the Equal of the Poor White Man, and then rule them both." At right are the names of candidates for Congress that supported black voting rights. Below is the commentary: "The Radical Platform--ˆ_ăˆ_Óegro Suffrage the only Issue!' Every man who votes for Geary or for a Radical Candidate for Congress, votes as surely for Negro Suffrage and Negro Equality, as if they were printed on his ballot."|Block signed: Reynolds N.Y.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1866-5.

Almost 1400 photographs, primarily studio portraits of people involved in the arts, including musicians; dancers; artists; literati; theatrical, film, and television actors and actresses. Includes black entertainers, particularly those associated with the Harlem Renaissance. Most are individual portraits, but also includes some group portraits. Sitters represented in ten or more photos are: Judith Anderson, Tallulah Bankhead, Anton Dolin, Ram Gopal, Hugh Laing, Alicia Markova, and Ethel Waters. A much smaller portion of the collection is an assortment of American landscapes.

Huckleberry Finn opens with a warning from its author that misinterpreting readers will be shot. Despite the danger, readers have been approaching the novel from such diverse critical perspectives for 120 years that it is both commonly taught and frequently banned, for a variety of reasons. Studying both the novel and its critics with an emphasis on cultural context will help students develop analytical tools essential for navigating this work and other American controversies. This lesson asks students to combine internet historical research with critical reading. Then students will produce several writing assignments exploring what readers see in Huckleberry Finn and why they see it that way.

When the news story broke that Virginia Governor Ralph Northam and other politicians wore blackface and Klan regalia while in school, institutions across the nation suddenly were confronted with their all too recent blackface past. Princeton Professor Rhae Lynn Barnes, the foremost expert on amateur blackface minstrelsy, has spent over a decade cataloging 10,000 minstrel plays and uncovered their prolific use on Broadway, in schools, the military, churches, political organizations, and even the White House. This webinar will help educators master the basic history of blackface in America, strategies to discuss this difficult topic with students, and ways to think about the incredible social, political, and economic power blackface held as America’s most pervasive entertainment form in the American North and West between the American Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement. By the end of this webinar, educators will be able to teach what a minstrel show was, how the genre developed, who participated in this form, how it was central to mass popular entertainment globally, they will be able to teach the construction of key stereotypes for minorities and women, and how it was pushed underground through a coordinated Civil Rights campaign after being openly celebrated for over a century.

Three men at left, one saying, "Verily friend Darg since we have returned thee thy money, I claim the reward of $1000 - Brother Barney Corse was merely my agent, verily!" Another "Yea verily I was but thy instrument Brother Hopper as Brother Ruggles here knoweth!" Man at right, brandishing chair and holding bag marked $6908, rails at their impudence and tells them to "get out of the house."|Copyright by H.R. Robinson.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)

The cartoonist mocks the opportunism evident in Winfield Scott's endorsement of both the abolitionist cause and the Missouri Compromise. Scott, in military uniform, is seated at a table with a plate of soup before him. He lifts his spoon from the plate and finds in it a kneeling black man, with arms outstretched saying, "Dis poor nigger am like Jonah, when de men would'nt let him stay in de Ship; and de whale would'nt let him stay in de water." Scott observes, "Here's a predicament! first I shall have to swallow this nigger to please the north & then take a compromise emetic and deliver him up to please the south. Faugh! what a dose of Ginger, but I am anxious to serve the country at $25,000 pr Annum so down he goes." Appearing from out of the steam is a Southern planter who remarks, "I should think from the flavor of the Generals last plate of Soup that my darkey had tumbled into it. I've heard of 'Green Turtle' and 'Mock Turtle' but that would be a pretty Strong dish of 'Black Turtle." For the origin of the perennial joke about Scott's "hasty plate of soup," see "Distinguished Military Operations" (no. 1846-15). The style of "A Dish of Black Turtle" is similar to that of John L. Magee's "A Magnificent Offer to a Magnificent Officer" (no. 1852-27), and is probably by the same artist.|For sale No. 2 Spruce St. N.Y.|Probably drawn by John L. Magee.|Pub. by P. Smith [i.e., Nathaniel Currier] N.Y.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 109.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1852-28.

How do you ensure students get the most out of black history and Black History Month? Here are some suggestions.

Another in the "bobalition" series of broadsides, parodying black manners, illiteracy, and dialect. (See no. 1819-2.) The text describes, in the words of a "letter from Phillis to her sister in the country," a nocturnal attack by white Bostonians on black freedmen and their homes. The letter is facetiously dated "Ulie 47th, 180027." The illustration shows a group of white men attacking and stoning a black woman and a man on crutches.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1827-1.

Two scenes showing the differing perceptions of Franklin Pierce's stand on the issue of slavery, as viewed by the North and South. The cartoon is divided vertically by "Mason & Dixon's Line." An arrow identifies the left panel as the North and the right as the South. On the left, a group of men look skyward, holding tinted panels of glass through which to see an image of Pierce eclipsed by a black man. First man (far left): "There, Sir, look! if that is not the true Free Soil touch, pray where will you find it?" Second man, an abolitionist: "Well, well, upon my conscience in looking through your glass, I see the true Abolition eclipse! verily Franklin is one of us." A man holding copy of the New York "Tribune" exclaims, "Ay, it is true Congo!" A fourth man points up at the eclipse, saying, "The eclipse is very marked, you will observe!" To the right, four southern men also view an eclipse through tinted glass, but an eclipse in which Pierce's head overshadows the black man's visage. One man (second from right) comments: "It may be only fancy Sir: but it does not seem as if I could see something the other side which looks a little SHADY." A second man, seizing the glass: "Come, come now! Oh! my dear Sir! A man of your sense! you didn't hold the glass right, I assure you!" Another, a stout man holding an umbrella, observes: "Ah! that looks well! how they belied him about the Speech at New Boston." A fourth: "Do you see, Sir. No eclipse there. Nothing but the true orthodox color!"|Pubd. by John Childs, 84 Nassau St. N.Y.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1852-24.

Consider the need for home education for Black and African-American families in Southern Maryland in the 1870s through 1920s, when public education was unavailable or inaccessible. This resource combines 3D models and 2D interaction to introduce students to Alphabet Wares/Alphabet Plates as found at Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum when excavating "Sukeek's Cabin," a late-19th century home by a newly-freed family on the park grounds. Themes include unjust limitations, archaeology as a primary source, and home life in the 1870s-1920s. The resource includes simple prompts and resources for hypothesizing about archaeological findings, researching them, drawing conclusions, and suggestions for further reflection.

This resource uses Genial.ly, an online-presentation service, with additional tools by S'CAPE to increase the interactivity. Public Genial.lys may be remixed into new presentations after signing up for an account with the service.

This resource is part of Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum’s open educational resources project to provide history, ecology, archaeology, and conservation resources related to our 560 acre public park. More of our content can be found on OER Commons, YouTube, and SketchFab. JPPM is a part of the Maryland Historical Trust under the Maryland Department of Planning.

An impassioned condemnation of the Fugitive Slave Act passed by Congress in September 1850, which increased federal and free-state responsibility for the recovery of fugitive slaves. The law provided for the appointment of federal commissioners empowered to issue warrants for the arrest of alleged fugitive slaves and to enlist the aid of posses and even civilian bystanders in their apprehension. The print shows a group of four black men--possibly freedmen--ambushed by a posse of six armed whites in a cornfield. One of the white men fires on them, while two of his companions reload their muskets. Two of the blacks have evidently been hit; one has fallen to the ground while the second staggers, clutching the back of his bleeding head. The two others react with horror. Below the picture are two texts, one from Deuteronomy: "Thou shalt not deliver unto the master his servant which has escaped from his master unto thee. He shall dwell with thee. Even among you in that place which he shall choose in one of thy gates where it liketh him best. Thou shalt not oppress him." The second text is from the Declaration of Independence: "We hold that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." The print is unusually well drawn and composed for a political print of the period. The handling of both the lithographic technique and the figures betray particular skill. |Entered . . . 1850 by Hoff & Bloede. |Publ. by Hoff & Bloede New York 180 William Str. Corner of Spruce Str. New York.|Signed in reverse: Th. Kaufmann (Theodor Kaufmann?).|The Library's impression of the print was deposited for copyright on October 30, 1850.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 101.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1850-5.

Nikki Giovanni's poem 'The Funeral of Martin Luther King, Jr.' is paired with Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech, taking students on a quest through time to the Civil Rights movement.

As part of their study of Richard Wright's "Black Boy", students research and reflect on the current black-white racial divide in America. By examining the work of literature in the context of contemporary events, students will deepen their understanding of the work and of what it means to be an American today.

A scornful look at the reception of German ballerina Fanny Elssler in Baltimore. The New York artist ridicules the adulation given the touring performer by the Baltimore public. During her July 1840 visit there, an enthusiastic group of young men removed the horses from Elssler's carriage and pulled it through the streets themselves. Here Elssler dances in an open carriage driven by a black coachman in livery and drawn by well-dressed men with asses' heads, who wave their hats in the air and shout "Eehow!" A bespectacled, pipe-smoking man with a violin prostrates himself before the dancer. Coachman: "By golly dis goes ahead of Jim Crow! I tink the New Yorkers cant beat dis unless dey gib Miss Fanny de freedom ob de City in gold snuff box!" Elssler: "My friends I tank you very! I understand you! I shall remember you for long "years!"" The print is very much in the style of Edward Williams Clay's "The Almighty Lever" (no. 1840-58). |Entered . . . 1840 by J. Childs.|Probably drawn by Edward Williams Clay.|Published by J. Childs 90 Nassau St. N.Y.|The Library's impression of the print was deposited for copyright on August 31, 1840.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|McCauley, no. E24.|Weitenkampf, p. 69.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1840-51.

A facetious, and somewhat racist, look at public opinion surrounding the controversy over American fishing rights in British-controlled waters off North America. (See also "John Bull's Fish Monopoly," no. 1852-4.) Four men, all stereotypes, debate the issue and agree on American claims to the rights. A Yankee (seated, far left) motions with his cigar and declares, "I go in for liberty to ketch all the fish I want--I've been in the fish bizness myself and sold porgies for two year on the Avenue." A knock-kneed black man in a wide-brimmed hat and patched trousers agrees, "Ah dat's it Boss! Den you knows all about it ob course. I neber sold porgies, but I hab opened clams and biled lobster. & I tink the freedom ob the seas belongs to us--I does for sartain." To emphasize the point, he stabs the palm of his hand with his forefinger. A Dutchman smoking a large meerschaum pipe adds, "Vell den vot shall I told der British? I shall said go to der duyvil mit your dreaties! Codfish shall pe more goot as de dreaties--I shall ketch de fish & you was ketch de dreaties, py Dam!" At far right stands a bewhiskered Irishman, his hand resting on what appears to be a butter-churn(?). He concludes, "Arrah be aisy now! Only put little Frank Pierce [i.e., Democratic presidential nominee Franklin Pierce] in the chair and he'll settle the question in a jiffy." The collection of character types as well as the drawing style in the print are recognizable as the work of Edward Williams Clay. Compare it, for instance, with his "Seven Stages of the Office-Seeker" and "Ultimatum on the Oregon Question (nos.&1 1852-8 and 1846-1). Reference to the candidacy of Franklin Pierce suggests that the cartoon appeared during the summer of 1852, when public concern over the issue peaked.|Probably drawn by Edward Williams Clay.|Pubd. by John Childs, 84 Nassau St. N.Y.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 106.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1852-5.

One of three anti-Lincoln satires published by Nichols in Boston at around the same time. (It was deposited for copyright on June 30, 1863, along with "Oppression!! Suppressing the Press" and "The Great American What Is It? Chased by Copper-heads" nos. 1863-6 and 1863-8). The present cartoon criticizes the Lincoln administration's mismanagement of the war, the "Four Years Contract" being the presidency. A barefoot Lincoln sits on a log labeled "Fredericksburg" (site of a major Union defeat under the leadership of Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside) and holds an ax between his legs, as he receives four members of the "Committee on War" at left, who also carry axes. He says to himself, "My axe is as dull as theirs so I hid it between my legs." The Committee on the Conduct of the War was formed in 1861 to investigate recent Union military failures. In front of them is a woodpile with logs inscribed with the names of Southern cities, such as "Richmond," "Mobile," and "Charleston." Ensconced in the pile is a tiny black man who cries out, "Massar.r.r." Beneath a nearby grindstone lurks a copperhead (nickname of the Peace Democrats, who opposed Lincoln's wartime policies). The members of the committee (from left to right) report: Man with top hat: "Mr. President. There is a nigger in the woodpile dont you here him holler. Old song." Second man: "Abe., We found Fremont [Union Officer John C. Fremont] all run out, but we have fixed him up as good as new and I invented the first lie about McClellan." In 1862 Gen. George B. McClellan was relieved from command of the Army of the Potomac (some said for political reasons) and later became the presidential candidate of the Peace Democrats. Bareheaded man: "Abe--I've been in Mac's Com-sary department and found the provisions good, as I stole a sheep that he left in Maryland and twas excellent." Man carrying a large book "Committee on War Full Report": Mr. Pres. We've got axes to grind, as they got dreadful dull in trying to cut up McClellan's character & by the way cant you do something for us now?" Lincoln addresses them: "Sirs; Your report is recieved with profound pleasure, and your shall be great; but ther's a blasted Copperhead under the grindstone so that if you grind here you'll get bit and that is sure death. 'Mac' is the only one that can handle 'em, so I dont see what I'm going to do. 'Mac' gave that Richmond log a good crack and if I hadn't stole his Wedge, he would have split it sure and if my heels want so long I'd go to Trenton and get him back. I am this moment getting a despatch from Fr so I must bid you all good day. 1st News Good, Good, Good. 2nd News Thunderation!" The term "Copperhead" referred to Peace Democrats and others who advocated a negotiated reconciliation with the South. A Union officer behind Lincoln cuts with his ax into the Fredericksburg log, on which lies another copperhead. He announces, "1st Despatch Copperhead cut off, his capture certain. 2nd Despatch He has escaped through the gap and threatened our positions." In the right background, "Stone-Man" a figure made of stones standing on a horse, comments, "Mr. Pres. I have been to the rear and owing to my great weight I have broken down a number of bridges." The figure no doubt represents Gen. John Stonemen, commander of Union cavalry during the recent defeat at Chancellorsville. At far left a two-headed man, "Wilke's Spirit by a Medium," observes, "Mac is a slow hoss but there's no use in trying to run him down." In November 1861 Union naval officer Charles Wilkes captured Southern diplomats James Murray Mason and John Slidell on the "Trent," a British merchant ship. Beside him is a sign "Lies told for cash." In the distance are a dog, a rooster, a horse, and a boxing match.|Entered . . . 1863 by E.W.T. Nichols . . . Mass.|The Library's impression of the work was deposited for copyright on June 30, 1863. |Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 139.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1863-7.