Unit 1- Biztown
Compelling Question:
How can I demonstrate ways to monitor how money is spent and saved?
SS.5.16. Demonstrate ways to monitor how money is spent and saved. (21st century skills)
SS.5.5. With teacher direction, construct responses to compelling questions supported by reasoning and evidence.
Primary Source #1
The Declaration of Independence:
On July 4th, 1776, the Thirteen Colonies declared themselves free of English rule in order to form the United States of America. In this document, they stated:
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"We hold these truths to be self-evident, 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."
-Preamble to the Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence is stored at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC.
Key Vocabulary:
Self-Evident- something that doesn't need to be explained
Endowed- to be given something
Unalienable- something that can't be given or taken away
Rights- privileges that are given to somebody
Liberty- the state of being free, the ability to act freely
Pursuit- to meaningfully go after something
Abolish- to end something, to stop a practice
Institute- to start something new, to organize
Usurpations- a wrongful or illegal act
Key Vocabulary:
Score- a group of twenty
Conceive- to form or build
Proposition- a plan of action
Dedicate- to commit time, effort, and resources to something
Devotion- a love, loyalty, and enthusiasm about something
Resolve- to settle or find a solution or answer
Perish- to end, to die off
Consecrate- to make something special or sacred
Hallowed- honored, revered, holy
Primary Source #2
The Gettysburg Address:
On November 19th, 1863, Abraham Lincoln gave a speech at the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetary. The Battle of Gettysburg led to over 51,000 casualties combined between the Union and the Confederacy. In his brief speech, President Abraham Lincoln said:
"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal... It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion, that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
-Gettysburg Address, President Abraham Lincoln
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There are five different copies of the Gettysburg Address. Two are stored at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. Another is stored at the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois.
Primary Source #3
I Have a Dream Speech:
On August 28th, 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave a speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial calling back to the Gettysburg Address and President Lincoln's hope:
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"Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation...Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children...I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
-I Have a Dream Speech, Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speech was part of a March on Washington event that was recorded and televised. A copy of his speech was given to George Raveling. It is now in the stewardship of Villanova University, which has an agreement to display the speech at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History in Washington, DC.
Key Vocabulary:
Emancipation Proclamation- a document signed by Abraham Lincoln declaring that all slaves should be freed
Democracy- a system of government where the people are represented by elected officials
Segregation- a set of laws and practices that separated people by race, color, and/or gender
Equal- having the same status, rights, and opportunities
Negroes- an older and often offensive word that meant relating to a person of Black African ancestry
Promissory Note- a signed document with a written promise
Civil Rights- the rights of citizens to political and social freedom and equality