Immigration Then and Now: 1890-1920; 1964-2009

Description

From the National Humanities Center website:

"One of the most familiar truisms about the United States is that we are a 'nation of immigrants.' Indeed, immigration and immigrants inform nearly every narrative of progress and possibility that Americans have told about themselves for more than a century, from individual stories of rags to riches to generational accounts of upward mobility and becoming American. And yet, immigration today remains one of the most controversial political topics, generating intense conflicts over who or what is an American and who should have the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. In this seminar, we examine and compare two waves of immigration to the United States: the 'new' immigration between 1890 and 1920, composed mainly of immigrants from southern and eastern Europe and Japan; and contemporary immigration, post 1964, involving undocumented and legal migration from Southeast Asia, Mexico, Central America, and Africa. By exploring changes and continuities in immigration to the United States, we seek to historicize contemporary controversies and fears."

Registration Deadline
Sponsoring Organization
National Humanities Center
Target Audience
North Carolina high school U.S. history and American literature educators
Start Date
Cost
Free; $100 stipend
Course Credit
"Each seminar may yield one CEU credit. Because the seminars are conducted online, they may qualify for technology credit in districts that award it. The Center will supply documentation of participation."
Duration
Six hours

Zoot Suit Riots

Description

This iCue Mini-Documentary describes the Zoot Suit Riots, a confrontation between flashy young men who did not serve in the war and those soldiers returning from World War II.

This feature is no longer available.

Untold Stories: Baseball and the Multicultural Experience

Description

Many students are familiar with the legendary feats of Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and Mickey Mantle; but what about the accomplishments of baseball stars such as Minnie Minoso, Sam Jethroe, and Masanori Murakami? Their courage as Latino, African-American, and Asian athletes helped make baseball one of the first great melting pots in professional sports. As a result, diversity and athleticism remain time-tested teammates on the field of excellence. From the archives of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, NY, this video presents untold stories about Jackie Robinson, Larry Doby, Hank Greenberg, and Roberto Clemente, men who defied prejudice to challenge racial and ethnic barriers with a pride and passion that continues to inspire. This electronic field trip through the gallery and exhibits of America's greatest baseball shrine reveals surprising lessons in math and science, social studies and the fine arts—and an opportunity to learn how the character and leadership of these men shaped the future of baseball.

This feature is no longer available.

The Bracero Program

Description

This iCue Mini-Documentary describes how temporary workers from Mexico filled huge labor shortages created by World War II and became part of the continuing debate about immigration.

This feature is no longer available.

West Adams Heritage Association [CA]

Description

The West Adams Heritage Association, founded in 1983, is dedicated to the preservation of the historic West Adams section of Los Angeles which is "located just south and west of Downtown and contains the city's largest concentration of Victorian and Craftsman homes, five of the city's Historic Preservation Overlay Zones, and a concentration of Los Angeles Historic Cultual Monuments." Major projects of the association include the promotion of commercial development of the major streets, covering graffiti, cleaning the streets, and being a voice of advocacy for the West Adams area.

The site offers historical information regarding the West Adams neighborhood, and events calendar, seven photo galleries, three user videos, and a news section containing highlights from the press and an online newsletter.

This is a community revitalization association.

ABMC War Dead Database

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Annotation

This American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) Burials and Memorializations database features over 224,000 records of individuals buried or memorialized in ABMC cemeteries and memorials worldwide. Covering 24 cemeteries in 10 foreign countries and 3 additional memorials in the U.S., this database provides online access to burial information of those killed in action primarily during World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

Additional individuals include veterans, active duty military, and civilians. The database also provides information on individuals in the Corozal American Cemetery (Panama) and the Mexico City National Cemetery (Mexico), including civilians and veterans of the Spanish-American War and the Civil War.

The database interface allows students to search by name, war or conflict, service or serial number, branch of service, unit, service entry location, cemetery/memorial, date of death, and keyword. Users can also search for service members who are missing in action and Medal of Honor recipients who are buried or memorialized by ABMC.

This organization of the material allows the user to explore a wealth of information. Students can research the geographic distribution of burials or explore representation among military branches in individual cemeteries. The ABMC database allows users to focus on who is buried and memorialized and to explore the experiences of individual soldiers as well as patterns and commonalities.

Students, for example, could begin to explore the number of women who served as nurses during World War I and the Influenza epidemic of 1918, or the experiences of the 100th Infantry Battalion of the U.S. Army during World War II. Or they could chose to search for an individual from their home state or community and use the database’s information as a starting point to research the life of this individual. They can download search results and print, email, or share individual records.

This valuable research and teaching resource is accompanied by a robust “Education Resources” section featuring interactive timelines and campaign narratives, cemetery or memorial-specific mobile apps, publications, videos, lesson plans, and curriculum ideas. The “Flying Yanks: American Airmen in WWI” interactive, for example, provides historical background for students exploring the air war in WWI, a timeline and map with primary sources, as well as individual stories of airmen.

Students can use the database in conjunction with the learning materials to enrich their understanding of U.S. military history, memorialization, public history, and numerous other historical topics.

The Short-Handled Hoe

Teaser

History is imbedded in the smallest objects. In this lesson, students examine how a simple farming tool connects to the work done by United Farm Workers.

lesson_image
Description

Students view a variety of documents and artifacts related to the short-handled hoe, migrant labor, and the United Farm Workers. They then draw on these sources to develop an online museum exhibit for the hoe.

Article Body

This lesson uses a simple farming tool, the short-handled hoe, to introduce students to migrant labor in California and the farm worker labor movement.

After a brief introduction to the hoe and the bracero program that brought workers to California from Mexico, students explore a variety of artifacts to understand the context of the hoe’s use, as well as the United Farm Workers’ role in the 20th-century labor and civil rights movement. Students then draw from these varied sources to create an online museum exhibit centered on the hoe.

One of the great strengths of this lesson is that it starts with what seems a simple artifact, the short-handled hoe, but leads students towards more complex thinking, including grappling with the artifact’s larger symbolic and political meanings and its historical significance. The lesson also provides an excellent opportunity for teaching about historical context because placing the short-handled hoe in the context of the other artifacts and documents clarifies the meaning of this particular artifact (labeled a “barbaric instrument” by one doctor).

While the lesson provides only minimal structure, teachers will appreciate the wealth of companion resources, including historians’ commentary, images of other farming tools, and primary sources related to California farm labor, and the work of César Chavez and the United Farm Workers.

Topic
20th Century Labor
Time Estimate
1-2 Class Sessions
flexibility_scale
2
Rubric_Content_Accurate_Scholarship

Yes

Rubric_Content_Historical_Background

Yes
In addition to a brief introduction, teachers can find additional resources listed here.

Rubric_Content_Read_Write

Yes
While many of the primary sources are artifacts, others are written documents. In addition, in the final activity, students must give a written justification for items included in their exhibit.

Rubric_Analytical_Construct_Interpretations

Yes
Students create a thesis statement for their exhibit and have to explain why they chose each of the items in their exhibit. Ideally, this explanation should connect to the thesis.

Rubric_Analytical_Close_Reading_Sourcing

Yes

Rubric_Scaffolding_Appropriate

Yes

Rubric_Scaffolding_Supports_Historical_Thinking

No
Teachers may want to provide additional support for struggling readers and English Language Learners in understanding some of the historical documents.

Rubric_Structure_Assessment

No
While no specific assessment is provided, teachers may use the culminating activity as an assessment. Criteria for assessment would need to be established.

Rubric_Structure_Realistic

Yes

Rubric_Structure_Learning_Goals

Yes

Puerto Rico Encyclopedia/Enciclopedia de Puerto Rico

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Annotation

Visitors to this site will find more than 1,000 images and dozens of videos about the history and culture of Puerto Rico. The work of dozens of scholars and contributors, the Puerto Rico Encyclopedia reflects the diverse nature of the island: a U.S. territory, a key location for trade in the Caribbean, a Spanish-speaking entity with its own distinct culture, and a part of a larger Atlantic world. Funded by an endowment from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Fundación Angel Ramos, the site is a key product from the Fundación Puertorriqueña de las Humanidades. It provides users with all content in both English and Spanish. Educators will find the site easy to navigate and conveniently categorized by themes; within each topic, appropriate subtopics provide an in-depth examination of Puerto Rican culture and history. Of particular interest to U.S. History teachers are the images and information found under History and Archeology. Here, teachers and students can explore a chronological narrative of the island's history and role at specific moments in U.S. and Atlantic history. Other sections worth exploring are Archeology (for its focus on Native American culture), Puerto Rican Diaspora (for its look at Puerto Ricans in the U.S.), and Government (for a detailed history on Puerto Rico's unique status as a free and associated US territory). Educators in other social science courses will also find valuable information related to music, population, health, education, and local government. In all, 15 sections and 71 subsections provide a thorough examination of Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rico Encyclopedia's bilingual presentation also makes it a good site for integrating Hispanic culture into the U.S. History curriculum, as well as helping to bridge curriculum for English Language Learners (ELLs) in the classroom.

Divided Allegiance

field_image
Question

How can a person born in the U.S. to one U.S. citizen parent and one non-U.S. citizen parent (divided allegiance) be defined as a 'natural born citizen?'

Shouldn't a 'natural born citizen' be defined as being born with allegiance to the U.S. only?

Answer

Throughout the history of the United States, there has been a consistent evolution of who a citizen is and how a citizen is defined, as the United States Constitution has been both decided upon and modified on various occasions to expand the definition of who is a citizen and guarantee equal rights for all individuals. In the late 18th century, a citizen was defined as a white, male landowner, and African Americans could legally be held as slaves. The 1857 Dred Scott v Sandford Supreme Court case affirmed this definition. The Oyez Project (2005–2011) puts forth that in this case the Court found that "no person descended from an American slave had ever been a citizen." Six years subsequent to this decision, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared "that all persons held as slaves within the rebellious states are, and henceforward shall be free."

The 14th Amendment guarantees that a person born in the United States is thereby a citizen, even if both parents are illegal immigrants.

This change was reflected in the Constitution of the United States in the 14th Amendment (1868), which states "All persons born or naturalized in the United States . . . are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside," as well as the 15th Amendment (1870), which puts forth that "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." However, the next half century still saw roughly half of the country's population without full citizenship rights, as it was not until 1920 that the 19th Amendment was passed that granted women suffrage. To answer the particular question posed above, simply put, the 14th Amendment guarantees that a person born in the United States is thereby a citizen, even if both parents are illegal immigrants. However, this is not without controversy, and it has become a political issue, as citizens born to illegal immigrants have derisively been referred to as "anchor babies." For more on this issue, try searching the New York Times using the phrase "anchor babies." However, American children of foreign parents can be dual citizens depending in part on the rules of the other country. This status is conferred when "an individual is a citizen of two countries at the same time." The website newcitizen.us describes potential benefits to being a dual citizen; among them are "the privilege of voting in both countries, owning property in both countries, and having government health care in both countries." However, the U.S. Department of State puts forth that the U.S. government "does not encourage" dual citizenship "because of the problems it may cause," particularly that "claims of other countries on dual national U.S. citizens may conflict with U.S. law, and dual nationality may limit U.S. Government efforts to assist citizens abroad." To answer the initial question in regards to allegiance, allegiance may be more the way a person feels rather than actual law. On this topic the U.S. Department of State notes that "where a dual national is located [where the citizen resides] generally has a stronger claim to that person's allegiance."

Bibliography

Newcitizen.us. "Dual citizenship." 2011 (accessed on April 8, 2011).

U.S. Supreme Court Media. "Dred Scott v. Sandford," 60 U.S. 393 (1857). The Oyez Project (accessed on March 31, 2011).

U.S. Department of State. "US Department of State Services Dual Nationality" (accessed on April 8, 2011).

U.S. Immigration Support. "US Dual Citizenship." 2010 (accessed on April 8, 2011).