Students will be debating on election issues and looking at the Republican stance vs. the Democratic stance. Students will then vote on which side the stand on for each issue.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Explain the political ramifications of the Kansas-Nebraska ActDescribe the founding of the Republican Party

This inquiry takes students through an analysis and evaluation of the Compelling Question “Is protest important in a democracy?” using the Vietnam War as a lens to approach the topic. To accomplish this, students will become more media literate through evaluating sources, biases, perspectives, and the goals of creating media. Throughout the inquiry, students will engage in activities designed to promote and develop media literacy while analzying the Compelling Question and learning about the historical protests of the Vietnam Era.This inquiry is expected to take two weeks (10 periods) to complete: one 45-minute class period to stage the question, introduce the inquiry, and to review media literacy; two 45-minute class periods for each of the three supporting questions; and then three 45-minute class periods for students to write and research their argumentative thesis. If students are as of yet less familiar with media literacy, the instructor should add at least another class period, or more, introducing them more fully to this.The full unit, along with all materials and resources, is available as a PDF attachment.

This curriculum kit helps to teach about the role of media in 28 U.S. elections ranging from 1800-2008. Over 160 media documents are included for decoding, including slides of posters, handbills and political cartoons; audio clips of songs and radio programs; and video clips of speeches, debates, comedy TV and political commercials. Students will learn how to analyze historical documents, the history of presidential campaigns, the crafting and marketing of campaign messages, and the impact of new technologies and new media on presidential campaigns.

 U.S. History is designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of most introductory courses. The text provides a balanced approach to U.S. history, considering the people, events, and ideas that have shaped the United States from both the top down (politics, economics, diplomacy) and bottom up (eyewitness accounts, lived experience). U.S. History covers key forces that form the American experience, with particular attention to issues of race, class, and gender.Senior Contributing AuthorsP. Scott Corbett, Ventura CollegeVolker Janssen, California State University, FullertonJohn M. Lund, Keene State CollegeTodd Pfannestiel, Clarion UniversityPaul Vickery, Oral Roberts UniversitySylvie Waskiewicz

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Explain the political ramifications of the Kansas-Nebraska ActDescribe the founding of the Republican Party