Description

Overview:

In this lesson, students analyze primary source documents and engage in a Structured Academic Controversy in an effort to answer the central historical question: Was [Haymarket Riot defendant] Albert Parsons a dangerous man? First, the teacher uses a timeline to introduce Haymarket and the 8 men put on trial in its aftermath. Students are then given 6 documents‰ŰÓseveral by Parsons himself, but also a newspaper account of the trial, trial testimony, and a 2006 secondary source‰ŰÓand answer guiding questions. Students then divide into groups of 4 and into pairs within each group. Each pair presents the argument to the other that Parson was/was not “dangerous”; only at the end can students abandon their previous positions, reach consensus in writing as a group, and defend that view in a final class discussion.

Subject:

U.S. History

Level:

Middle School, High School

Material Type:

Lesson

Provider:

Stanford History Education Group

Provider Set:

Reading Like a Historian

Date Added:

10/14/2012