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New Jersey Center for Civic Education
New Jersey Center for Civic Education
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NJ Lessons - Secondary
Democracy and Governance in Colonial New Jersey
Information
Students will be able to analyze several historical documents and identify and compare beliefs presented in them about equality, liberty and consent of the governed and how they relate to the historical foundation of New Jersey and the United States and draw conclusions about the extent and nature of religious and political liberties that were guaranteed by colonial governments to their citizens.
New Jersey and the American Revolution
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Students will be able to: explain why some colonists remained loyal to Britain and others supported independence; use documents to compare and contrast the backgrounds, views and actions of last Royal Governor William Franklin and first state Governor William Livingston; describe what happened to Loyalists and take and defend a position on whether the treatment of Loyalists was necessary and fair; explain why Washington choose Morristown as the site for two winter encampments; determine the effect of the war and the 1779-80 encampment at Jockey Hollow on the soldiers and the population of New Jersey; identify the impact of the Revolutionary War on the New Jersey and American economy.
New Jersey’s First Constitution, 1776
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Students will be able to explain the content and impact of the provisions of New Jersey’s 1776 Constitution regarding the electorate, the branches of government, and the protection of individual rights; compare its provisions with the United States Constitution; and articulate a point of view about the importance of individual rights, separation of powers and governmental structure in the two constitutions.
New Jersey and the Federal Convention, 1787
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Students will be able to: explain the background of the delegates from New Jersey to the Federal Convention in 1787; demonstrate the impact of the New Jersey and Virginia Plans at the Federal Convention; conduct a simulated Federal Convention; explain the value of compromise.
New Jersey and the War of 1812
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Students will be able to: analyze the causes of the War of 1812; identify specific ways in which the Embargo Act impacted the economy of New Jersey; evaluate articles from newspapers during the War of 1812 to determine whether New Jersey representatives should have supported or opposed the War of 1812; explain the perspective and role of New Jersey citizens during the War of 1812; describe how the Federalists ad Democrat-Republicans used national interests in their local campaigning in the 1812 election; determine if the War in 1812 was to the benefit or detriment of people in New Jersey; explain how New Jersey voters were impacted by national events when voting for President in 1812 and 1816.
Slavery and the Underground Railroad in New Jersey
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Explain the existence of slavery and the efforts to abolish it in New Jersey during the colonial and antebellum periods.
New Jersey and the Civil War
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Student will be able to: explain why many New Jerseyans did not support President Lincoln in the 1860 and 1864 presidential elections; analyze the fairness of a winner-takes-all or proportional presidential electoral vote system and determine which would be better for New Jersey; compare the speech president-elect Lincoln made to the New Jersey Senate in Feb. 1861 with his First Inaugural Address in March 1861; identify how New Jersey supported the Union in the Civil War; explain the views of “Copperheads” and the Copperhead press; analyze the arguments made by the New Jersey press in the 1864 presidential election and take a position about their strength; examine the potential opportunity offered by the assassination of a president to make difficult, controversial changes.
Standard Oil of New Jersey and the Effort to End Monopolies
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Students will be able to: explain the concept of monopolies; explain how Rockefeller created the Standard Oil Trust; explain the purpose and language of the Sherman Antitrust Act (1890); analyze and evaluate newspaper and magazine articles about Standard Oil; analyze political cartoons and political advertisements; analyze the U.S. Supreme Court decision, Standard Oil Co. of NJ v. The United States (1911); determine the impact of predatory monopolistic behavior on consumers; take and defend a position of whether the government should regulate private business in order to protect consumers from predatory monopolistic practices.
Paterson Silk Strike, 1913
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Student will be able to: examine the historical context, causes, progress and consequences of the Paterson Silk Strike in 1913; explain the late 19th century-early 20th century illegality of labor strikes or boycotts; examine the demands of the striking silk workers and the silk manufacturers in Paterson in 1913 by doing an historical role-playing activity; compare the context in which labor disputes were resolved before and after the 1930s; consider the roles of unions and government regarding American workers and the American economy today.
New Jersey and World War I
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Students will be able to: identify major sites in New Jersey related to military and industrial war efforts and explain their role in the war; analyze the impact of World War I on individual rights; evaluate how World War I opened economic opportunities in New Jersey; consider whether the war met its stated objective of making the world safe for democracy.
Alice Paul and the Suffragist Movement
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Develop a better understanding and appreciation of the women’s suffrage movement by understanding the goals of the mid-19th century and the early 20th century.
New Jersey in the 1930s: The Great Depression and the Media
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This lesson can be incorporated into any unit about the Great Depression. Several events took place in New Jersey during the 1930s that consumed the American public’s attention: the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, the Hindenburg disaster, and The War of the Worlds radio broadcast. For this lesson, students will use their historical thinking skills to examine a wide array of primary and secondary resources to draw conclusions about the events that took place in Depression era New Jersey. Students will ultimately analyze the overall impact of the media concurrently with the harsh economic conditions of the 1930s.
New Jersey Political Machines and Efforts to End Political Corruption
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Students will be able to: describe the structure of a political machine; explain the role and goals of a political boss; examine the importance of immigrants to political machines; identify how political corruption and illegal activities developed in many political machines; evaluate the impact that political machines and political bosses had on the growth of cities.
New Jersey and World War II: the Front and the Home Front
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Students will be able to: identify major sites in New Jersey related to military and industrial war efforts and explain their role in the war; analyze primary source documents showing women’s roles in New Jersey in the 1940s in order to evaluate social and economic opportunities before and after the war; analyze primary source documents showing African-Americans’ roles in New Jersey in the 1940s in order to evaluate social and economic opportunities before and after the war; compare and contrast the types of opportunities women and African-Americans received before, during, and after World War II; compare these social and economic opportunities in New Jersey with other states/regions.
Immigration Policy and its Impact on New Jersey
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Students will be able to explain why immigrants decided to leave their homelands and settle in New Jersey in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries and compare and contrast the immigration debate in the 1920s to today’s debate about immigration policy and identify current issues regarding immigration and their impact on New Jersey and analyze the historical impact of changing U.S. immigration policies on New Jersey.
Innovations from New Jersey
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Student will be able to: explain the scientific method and how it was used by New Jersey inventors; define what makes an entrepreneur and identify New Jersey inventors that fit this definition; explain how inventions from New Jersey ushered in the market revolution of the 1820s-60s with John Steven’s steam transportation; determine how Thomas Edison’s inventions pushed a revolution in communications at the turn of the 19th century.
Civil Rights and Urban Racial Riots in New Jersey
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The series of activities consider the causes and consequences of race riots in Newark, New Jersey, in the context of efforts by African-American to obtain civil rights during the 1960s, and today.
School Desegregation and School Funding in New Jersey
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Students will be able to: describe the difference between the de jure and de facto discrimination; explain why de facto discrimination might be harder to eliminate; explain how the Hedgepeth-Williams Trenton Board of Education decision reflected the fight to end segregation in NJ schools; explain how the Hedgepeth-Williams decision contributed to the watershed Brown v. Board of Education decision by the U.S. Supreme Court; investigate actions taken by New Jersey and at least one other state or city to eliminate segregation in public schools; explain how school funding works in New Jersey; explain how school consolidation might reduce segregation in the schools; determine the effectiveness of cases and laws in ending segregated schools; determine whether the primary issue is school desegregation or equal funding for schools; develop a plan to ensure a high quality education for all New Jersey students.
New Jersey’s Constitutional Framework, 1776-1947
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Students will be able to: compare and contrast the 1776, 1844 and 1947 New Jersey Constitution regarding who can vote, the legislature, the governor and individual rights; explain the impact of these changes on the functioning of state government; analyze why these changes were made.
New Jersey’s Powerful Governor
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Student will be able to: identify the role of the Governor; determine the qualifications for Governor of New Jersey; explain how the New Jersey governor changed from one of the weakest to one of the strongest positions in the country; use a graphic organizer to draw evidence from informational texts (the New Jersey Constitution and a video prepared by NJN-TV) about the scope of the New Jersey Governor’s authority; identify the sources of the New Jersey’s governor’s powers; compare the powers of the NJ governor with those of governors from other states; analyze potential benefits and problems with the current structure of New Jersey government; identify ways to make the NJ governor more accountable and his actions more transparent
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