Seeds of History

Hour 2

About the project:

On the TV show Chopped, contestants must overcome the obstacles they face- time, pressure and the four mystery ingredients in their baskets. They bring with them experience, talents and access to tools and a pantry of ingredients.

We envisioned our 8 characters from history as Chopped contestants to understand their challenges and opportunities.

Who needed a Revolution before the Civil War?

In this unit we learned that the challenges faced America before the Civil War were complex.

Americans were united by some common values.

Although Americans lived under the same representative democracy, not all Americans were protected by the Bill of Rights or had equal opportunities.

What we learned about collaborating from this project:

Our answers are better when we hear other perspectives. We also learned that working with a partner on a project is almost impossible if your partner doesn't contribute to the project.

Copy of Callie Morzy - 1850s Chopped Template

Lucy Larcom was a part of history because she was one of the many women who worked at the Lowell Cotton Mill, she fought for equality. She and many women all protested, rallied, and went on strike to get equal rights. She is a part of history because these women changed the future and now we have equal rights.

Bradley Forrest - 1850s Chopped Template

William Dever was one of many millions of Irish immigrants. Because of his letter written to his family (that was saved), he was able to tell us the story of the life of other Irish immigrants (Only reason he is part of history is because of his letter that was saved).

Miles and Tony - 1850s Chopped Template

She’s part of history because she shows us what the Trail of Tears was like for the natives and how they moved. She showed how they lived while moving and all the hardships on the trail.

Copy of Copy of Elizabeth Potkay - 1850s Chopped Template

He’s part of history because he kept a diary of what he did to his slaves. Which shows what it is like to own slaves. He also wrote the reasons that the owners beat the slaves. For example, in his diary he talked about why and how he would whip his slaves. This teaches people present the reasons for why slavery was abolished.

Elias Simonis - 1850s Chopped Template

She had lots of public speeches for no slavery and women's rights and she changed lots of peoples minds and she was a big part of non-slavery protests.

Ricky Wang - 1850s Chopped Slideshow

My person is part of history because she was a slave in very different circumstances than other enslaved people. She had a dead mother, and her slave owner was her father.

Solomon Northup

Solomon represents free black men in 1850 who could get captured at any time and get sold into slavery. He also shows us what it was like to be a slave in 1850. He is a really interesting person to research because we can compare and contrast what it was like to be free and enslaved.

If one of the historical characters is missing from this hour, please go to another hour.

About our class:

These character profiles were created by 8th grade student historians at Greendale Middle School. Working both independently and collaborating through Google Meet sessions.

Our big idea was: Who wanted a revolution for equality in 1850? and What obstacles and opportunities stood between them and equality?

My Students:

Showed curiosity about the 1850s, the antebellum era. They asked what life was like and found some general answers. This is inquiry.
They asked research questions and used quality primary and secondary sources to investigate.
They compared their findings with their team members and asked new questions. This is corroboration.
They looked closely at the foundations of democracy and interrogated the Constitution, Bill of Rights and Representative Democracy, etc. They asked - Did my historical person have full access to democracy in 1850?
Finally, on their own they interpreted what it means to need a revolution, or complete change, in order to achieve your American Dream. They thought critically and creatively to create these presentations together.