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Development of this lesson is sponsored in part by the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Eastern Regional Program, coordinated by Waynesburg University. Delaware Recommended Curriculum Teaching Civics with Primary Sources Grant Project This lesson has been created as an exemplary model for teachers in (re)design of course curricula. An exemplary model lesson has undergone a rigorous peer review and jurying process to ensure alignment to selected Delaware Content Standards. **Lesson Title: Faction and Democracy Designed by: Michael Feldman Content Area: Social Studies Grade Level: Ninth Grade
Summary of Lesson:** The focus of this lesson is on understanding the inevitability of factions in a democracy and the extent to which they affect the competition for power in a democratic system of government. Students will explore three primary source documents available on the Library of Congress website to gain an understanding of the challenges factions presented for our founders during the infant stages of American constitutional democracy. A fundamental understanding of these issues leads to a deeper understanding of America’s two-party system and the extra-Constitutional role that parties have played in our nation’s political history. Estimated Time to Complete: Two 90-Minute Block Classes
Development of this lesson is sponsored in part by the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Eastern Regional Program, coordinated by Waynesburg University. Stage 1 – Desired Result s What students will know, do, and understand. ____________________________________________________________ Delaware Content Standards Civics Standard Two 9-12a: Students will examine and analyze the extra- Constitutional role that political parties play in American politics. Essential Questions:
- To what extent are political parties necessary to democracy? Why do two political parties dominate in America but other democracies have more?
- Under what conditions might political parties evolve or collapse? This benchmark requires an understanding of the functions of political parties in a democracy. Political parties wield tremendous influence on the political life of the United States, despite the fact that they are sometimes viewed as forces of divisiveness and no formal provision has been made for them in the U.S. Constitution. It is notable that the Framers of the Constitution viewed “factions” as dangers that needed to be controlled. Students should understand that the competition for power in a democracy needs to be organized or it would be utterly chaotic and unworkable. Constantly emerging and evolving conflicts between infinite numbers of competing interests might atomize or splinter society without the unifying functions that political parties provide by encouraging compromise, blunting tensions, and marginalizing extremism. This helps to explain why political parties developed in every democracy, despite a lack of a constitutional basis for their involvement and an often-active distrust of their inherent partisanship. Political parties are essentially interest groups with the difference that they field candidates for public office. Big Ideas
- Democracy
- Liberty
- Faction
- Self-Government Lesson Enduring Understandings
- Factions are inalienable to democratic governments rooted in the principles of self- government and the protection of civil liberties. Lesson Essential Questions
- To what extent are factions inevitable to democracy?
- How do factions affect the competition for power in a democracy? Knowledge and Skills Students will know…
- The attitudes and beliefs represented in Federalist No. 10 , Washington’s Farewell Address , and Jefferson’s First Inaugural Address regarding: o What is a faction? o What does the author want you to understand about faction and democracy? o To what extent are factions inevitable to democracy? o How do factions affect the competition for power in a democracy?
Development of this lesson is sponsored in part by the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Eastern Regional Program, coordinated by Waynesburg University. Stage 2 – Assessment Evidence Evidence that will be collected to determine whether or not Desired Results are achieved.
Transfer Task In recent years, there has been renewed debate about the increasing polarization of American politics. Factions of all shapes and sizes have seized upon the communication opportunities available through social media to incite and organize the passions of the electorate around opinions and interests outside of the accepted views of our nation’s two major political parties. This trend has accelerated the steady decline in party membership over the past decade and has caused great concern in both the Democratic and Republican Parties. (See graph below.) Threatened by the rise of factions, these parties have decided to act. In their efforts to organize public debate and save our democracy from the evils of faction, a bipartisan bill has been introduced in the United States Senate to eliminate factions outside of the two major parties. Outraged by this possibility, factions from around the country are organizing a group that will represent their concerns at the upcoming hearing of the Senate Select Committee on Faction and Democracy. You have been asked to write a multi-paragraph argumentative letter that will be presented at the Senate Select Committee hearing that argues in opposition to the proposed bill. You have been asked to base your letter on the ideas put forth by James Madison in Federalist No. 10 , George Washington in his Farewell Address , and Thomas Jefferson in his First Inaugural Address regarding the following questions:
- To what extent are factions inevitable to democracy?
- How do factions affect the competition for power in a democracy? Make sure to address potential counterclaims in your letter and support your view with information from these sources.
Development of this lesson is sponsored in part by the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Eastern Regional Program, coordinated by Waynesburg University. Argumentative Scoring Your letter will be scored using the following:
- Statement of claim and organization: How well did you state your claim, address opposing claims, and maintain your claim with a logical progression of ideas from beginning to end? How well did your ideas thoughtfully flow from beginning to end using effective transitions? How effective was your introduction and your conclusion?
- Elaboration/evidence: How well did you integrate relevant and specific information from the sources? How well did you elaborate your ideas? How well did you clearly state ideas using precise language that is appropriate for your audience and purpose?
- Conventions: How well did you follow the rules of grammar usage, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling? Rubric Argumentation/Opinion Text-Based Writing Rubric for Grades 9 – 10 (as of February 5, 2013) available at http://www.doe.k12.de.us/Page/508.
Development of this lesson is sponsored in part by the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Eastern Regional Program, coordinated by Waynesburg University.
- Pair: Students discuss their writing in pairs. Based on the conversation with their partner, students return to what they wrote and modify or enhance their responses.
- Share : For this activity sharing will take place in two phases: a. Document Groups: Pairs should regroup with the other students in the classroom who shared their document, discuss their thoughts, and modify or enhance their responses to the prompts. b. Whole Class: Once the individual document discussions have concluded, the teacher should have each document group share their thoughts about each document, noting and displaying their responses on the board.
- Prediction: Finally, have students respond to the prediction prompt at the bottom of the Think–Ink–Pair–Share Prediction Guide. Check for Understanding Students have a copy of this question at the bottom of the Think–Ink–Pair–Share Prediction Guide. Based on the thoughts shared about each document you will be reading in this lesson, make two predictions about the documents you will be reading in this lesson? Justify your answer with specific words used in each document. Rubric 2 – This response gives logical predictions with text-based justifications. 1 – This response gives a logical prediction with a text-based justification. Note to Teachers: The Think–Ink–Pair–Share activity is designed to cue students into key vocabulary, access background knowledge, and preview the upcoming, complex texts. This is an opportunity for teachers to assess the knowledge and skill their students are bringing to this lesson. Teachers should use the information they gather here to inform any ideas for differentiating this lesson to ensure students get the most out of reading these texts, while still developing an understanding of the lesson essential questions. In discussions, teachers should maintain an inquiry approach to analysis of words on the Wordle, probing students to explain or predict what the words mean and why and how they would be used in the upcoming texts while resisting the urge to answer all their questions. Additionally, pay particular attention to the words that inspire emotion or conflict (fire, ambition, danger, horrid, etc.) as these terms cue the readers into the author’s tone and their belief in the gravity of the issue of factions.
Development of this lesson is sponsored in part by the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Eastern Regional Program, coordinated by Waynesburg University. Phase II: Extending and Refining Faction Inquiry Chart (Resource #7) Provide students with the Faction Inquiry Chart. Students will use the graphic organizer throughout the lesson and as a pre-writing tool for the Performance Task. Note to Teachers: It goes without saying that Federalist No. 10 and the subsequent documents in this lesson are a challenge for any reader. The documents were chosen for their relevance to Civics Standard Two (9- 12 a) as well as their prominence among the founding documents in American history. Each document was abridged to allow students to focus on the most significant portions of the document for this lesson. The close reading techniques outlined for each document are designed to develop student understanding of the texts. Teachers should consider their own unique classroom situations when attempting this lesson and feel free to differentiate the methods proposed to best suit the needs of their students, while maintaining strict adherence to the learning goals for this lesson. Federalist No. 10
- First, provide students with the following context: The Federalist Papers were a series of 85 essays urging the citizens of New York to ratify the new United States Constitution. Written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, the essays originally appeared anonymously in New York newspapers in 1787 and 1788 under the pen name “Publius.” Federalist No. 10 , published on November 22, 1787, originally under the pseudonym Publius, was later determined to be authored by James Madison. It is the tenth essay in the Federalist Papers series and among the most highly regarded of all American political writings.
- Provide students with the abridged text of the Federalist No. 10 (Resource 8). Then, follow these steps:
- First, the teacher will read the text aloud.
- Then, the teacher will read the text aloud again and stop to discuss some of the key vocabulary.
- On the second reading, students should make notes on the vocabulary in the margin, and write any thoughts that they feel may be important. Emphasize that students are not expected to know all the words or understand everything in the text right away. The text will be read closely several times to uncover what it means.
- Following the first two readings, divide the class into seven groups and give each group one of the text passages. (Resource 9)
- Working in groups, students complete the graphic organizer for their passage.
- Upon completion of the passage analyses, ask each group share its work and record significant responses on the board.
- Faction Inquiry Chart: At the conclusion of class discussion, ask students to respond to the prompts on the Faction Inquiry Chart for Federalist No. 10.
Development of this lesson is sponsored in part by the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Eastern Regional Program, coordinated by Waynesburg University. Inquiry Chart for the Farewell Address will be very similar to what they wrote for Federalist No. 10. Teachers should call their attention to the way Washington uses “faction” and “party” interchangeably, perhaps representing an evolution in the definition of “faction.” Teachers should devote the remainder of their time emphasizing how Washington’s words could be used to answer Question 4 on the Faction Inquiry Chart. Thomas Jefferson’s First Inaugural Address
- First, provide students with the following context: Thomas Jefferson was inaugurated as the third president of the United States on March 4, 1801, after being elected in one of the nation's closest presidential contests. In this, his first inaugural address, Jefferson sought to reach out to his political opponents and heal the breach between Federalists and Republicans.
- Repeat the procedures used for with the previous documents using Jefferson’s First Inaugural Address (Resource 12) and the graphic organizers (Resource 13 ).
- Faction Inquiry Chart: At the conclusion of class discussion, ask students to respond to the prompts on the Faction Inquiry Chart for the First Inaugural. Points of emphasis: The election of 1800 was one of the most hard-fought, consequential elections in American history. Thomas Jefferson called his election “the Revolution of 1800” because it marked the first time that power in the United States passed peacefully from one party to another. Given the passion displayed in the previous two documents in this lesson, it should be no wonder that many looked upon this peaceful transfer of power with relief while remaining skeptical as to how the new party in power would conduct itself. Jefferson’s First Inaugural Address sought to allay those fears. Teachers should note that, perhaps because he was the victor, Jefferson’s views on faction and party are much milder than those expressed in the previous two documents. Jefferson comes across as a unifier, not a divider in his First Inaugural: “every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle,” “[w]e are all Republicans, we are all Federalists.” (The unofficial Federalist and Anti-Federalist parties that emerged in Washington’s administration operated under the official banners of Federalists and Republicans during the election of 1800.) Teachers should help students discover that where Madison and Washington saw faction as competing cabals that could bring down the government, Jefferson saw them as a source of strength. “We have called by different names brethren of the same principle.”
Development of this lesson is sponsored in part by the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Eastern Regional Program, coordinated by Waynesburg University. Phase III: Application Performance Task At the completion of Phase II, the Faction Inquiry Chart, and the integrated class discussions, students are prepared to apply what they have learned in completing the Performance Task (Resource 14 ). Common Core State Standards Reading:
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.6: Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.8: Assess the extent to which the reasoning and evidence in a text support the author’s claims.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.9: Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources. Writing:
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.1: Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.7: Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.8: Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the usefulness of each source in answering the research question; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.9: Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Development of this lesson is sponsored in part by the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Eastern Regional Program, coordinated by Waynesburg University. Resource #
Development of this lesson is sponsored in part by the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Eastern Regional Program, coordinated by Waynesburg University.
Think–Ink–Pair–Share Prediction Guide
Before attempting a difficult reading, it’s a good idea to take some time to preview the text and think about what you are about to experience. One way to do that is to use Wordles. Wordle is a tool for generating “word clouds” from a selected text. The larger the word in the Wordle, the more times you should expect to see that term in the original text. The size of the words and the vocabulary used by the author can give you a great preview of the text you will be reading. Directions : Once you have your partner and received your document Wordle, complete the following steps: Step 1: Think – Without the assistance of your partner, take a few moments to think about the words in your Wordle. Are they familiar? Unfamiliar? Do any of them stand out to you? Notice any trends or patterns in the kind of words used? Step 2: Ink – When the teacher gives you the signal to move on from Step 1, answer the following questions.
- Which words appear larger than the others in the Wordle?
- Identify other words that you think could be significant or clue you into the author’s tone in the document?
- List words that you find unfamiliar or have never seen before.
- Based on your answers to the previous questions, what can you infer about the subject and tone of the document? Explain. Step 3: Pair/Share – A. Pairs: Once you and your partner have finished responding to the questions in Step 1, discuss your answers. Feel free to change or modify your answers to questions 1– 3. Also, take time to discuss and, if necessary, look up and define words that each of you identified in Question 4. B. Group: At your teacher’s signal, find the other students in the class who analyzed the same Wordle. Form a new, larger group and share your thoughts and modify or enhance your responses to the prompt to represent the ideas of the group as a whole. C. Whole Class Discussion: Each group will now share their documents with the entire class. As your teacher notes the comments about each document, pay attention to any similarities and differences that may exist among the documents. Step 4: Prediction – Based on the thoughts shared, make two predictions about the documents you will be reading in this lesson. Justify your answer with specific words used in each document.
Resource
W a s h i n g t o n ’ s F a r e w e l l A d d r e s s
Resource #
F a c t i o n I n q u i r y C h a r t Faction Question 1: What is a faction? Question 2: What does the author what you to understand about faction and democracy? Question 3: How does this text help answer the question: To what extent are factions inevitable to democracy? Question 4: How does this text help answer the question: How do factions affect the competition for power in a democracy? Questions that came to mind as you read. Source: Federalist No. 10 , James Madison Source: Farewell Address , George Washington Resource #
Source: First Inaugural Address , Thomas Jefferson
Federalist 10 (abridged)
James Madison, November 1787 To the People of the State of New York: AMONG the numerous advantages promised by a well-constructed Union, none deserves to be more accurately developed than its tendency to break and control the violence of faction. The friend of popular governments never finds himself so much alarmed for their character and fate, as when he contemplates their propensity to this dangerous vice…. The instability, injustice, and confusion introduced into the public councils, have, in truth, been the mortal diseases under which popular governments have everywhere perished…. The valuable improvements made by the American constitutions on the popular models, both ancient and modern, cannot certainly be too much admired; but it would be an unwarrantable partiality, to contend that they have as effectually obviated the danger on this side, as was wished and expected. Complaints are everywhere heard from our most considerate and virtuous citizens… that our governments are too unstable, that the public good is disregarded in the conflicts of rival parties, and that measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority… It will be found… that some of the distresses under which we labor have been erroneously charged on the operation of our governments; but it will be found... These must be chiefly, if not wholly, effects of the unsteadiness and injustice with which a factious spirit has tainted our public administrations. Popular Government: The name that is given to the government that is controlled by the people by election of executives and legislators; democratic. Virtuous: Having or showing high moral standards. Erroneously: In a mistaken or inappropriate way. Aggregate: The combination of many separate units or items; total. Resource #
