In this lesson, students analyze primary source documents from the case of a newspaper editor who published a broadside that was sharply critical of the Prseident and therefore violated the Alien and Sedition Acts. A set of discussion questions is provided. In a series of extension activities, students will list the items in the broadside document that could be considered seditious and then examine Cooper's defense. Students will also extrapolate this case to current events by evaluating current news media.

In this lesson, students analyze a primary source document from the case of a printer who printed an essay against the government and therefore violated the Alien and Sedition Acts. A set of discussion questions is provided. In a series of extension activities, students will consider other times when the rights of American citizens have been infringed upon by the government. Students will debate whether or not the curtailment of the Bill of Rights is ever justified. They will also search current media news reports for negative comments about the current President and determine if the comments could be considered seditious.

In this lesson, students explore the historical context of Walt Whitman's concept of "democratic poetry" by reading his poetry and prose and by examining daguerreotypes taken circa 1850. Next, students will compare the poetic concepts and techniques behind Whitman's "I Hear America Singing" and Langston Hughes' "Let America Be America Again," and have an opportunity to apply similar concepts and techniques in creating a poem from their own experience.

In this lesson, students will learn that enslaved people resisted their captivity constantly. Because they were living under the domination of their masters, slaves knew that direct, outright, overt resistance"”such as talking back, hitting their master or running away"“"“could result in being whipped, sold away from their families and friends, or even killed.