Education
The Washington State Educational Toolkit for America’s 250th is a curated set of databases, collections, primary and secondary source documents and ephemera, and classroom activities on four topics: the revolutionary war, the US constitution, the Washington State constitution, and Washington State treaties. In addition to the curated primary materials, the Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) has created quick-guides for each of these topics that highlight a few items from each set of materials with guiding questions, state standards, introductions to the sources, and areas for further research. This resource is perfect for educators who need to grab a source or activity for their lesson, or as inspiration for a whole unit of study. Students can also use this resource to conduct guided research, using curated content from reputable sources.
Please feel free reach out to WSHS education staff for support or more information.
Kevin Budrevich-Ryan, Senior Manager – K12 services
[email protected]
Declaration of Independence
SKILL: Close reading
The Declaration of Independence | Monticello
Organization
Summary
Links to resources including a digital exhibition, a timeline, explanatory essays, and a close-reading interactive.
The Declaration of Independence
Organization
Summary
Digital images of the Declaration of Independence, hosted at the National Archives. Sidebar links include a transcription, an explanatory essay, and more.
The Lee Resolution
Organization
Summary
Digital images of the Lee Resolution, a resolution introduced to the 2nd continental congress proposing independence for the American colonies. Includes summary and links to a transcription. Hosted at the National Archives.
Political Cartoon Criticizing the King
Organization
Summary
A 1775 political cartoon, published in London, criticizing King George III.
Letter to George Washington
Organization
Summary
A letter addressed to George Washington opposing the Declaration of Independence.
Articles of Confederation
Organization
Summary
Digital images of the Articles of Confederation, the first version of the constitution adopted after the Declaration of Independence. Includes explanatory essay and link to a transcription
Reading the Declaration
Organization
Summary
Digitally annotated copy of the declaration offering additional context & explanation.
The Declaration of Independence: Created Equal?
Organization
Summary
Lesson plan asking whether Jefferson’s words in the declaration were “hypocrisy, or compromise?” Sends students to a portal with selected sources for independent research.
Declare The Causes: The Declaration of Independence
Organization
Summary
Lesson plan designed for elementary students which views the declaration through the lens of complaint, and encourages students to see it as part of a larger protest movement.
Farming:
Discuss with students the idea of Independence. Ask them what they associate with the word “Independence”? What does that mean when applied to or used by a person, a community, or a nation? Why might a person or nation want independence? What might a person or nation do to get independence? What is a “declaration”? Why would a person or nation write a declaration of independence?
Use the selected resources to frame a discussion around a close reading of the Declaration of Independence, paying
attention to the various reasons why Americans wanted independence from Britain and how they expressed their
intent.
Relevant state standards:
Social Studies Skills, Strand 2: Uses inquiry- based research. | Civics, Strand 1: Understands key ideals and principles of the United States, including those in the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and other foundational documents. |
Resources:
Primary | Secondary | Lesson Plan | Visual |
The Declaration of Independence: Digital images of the Declaration of Independence, hosted at the National Archives. Sidebar links include a transcription, an explanatory essay, and more. | Reading the Declaration at Monticello: A digitally annotated copy providing additional context and explanation. | Declare The Causes: An elementary school lesson plan exploring the Declaration as a legacy of protest through its complaints, hosted by the National Endowment for the Humanities. | Political Cartoon Criticizing the King, May 1, 1775: From the Education collections of the Library of Virginia. |
Further research
The Declaration at Monticello: Links to resources on the declaration, including a digital exhibition, a timeline, explanatory essays, and a close-reading interactive.
Northwest Treaties
SKILL: Cause and effect
Farming:
Discuss with students how agreements are made between sovereign nations. What are the types of agreements that nations and their governments would make to their people or to other nations? How could you make sure both sides fulfill their promises? What happens when one side breaks those promises?
Prior to becoming Washington’s first Territorial Governor, Isaac Stevens was charged by the United States government with making treaties with Native Americans, who stewarded the land of what we now know as Washington State since time immemorial. The goal was to secure resources for building a railroad and to obtain land sought by the ever-increasing stream of settlers flowing into the region as the US expanded west as WA became a territory in 1853 and later a state in 1889. Use the selected resources to frame a discussion around the causes and effects of treaties between the US government and Native Americans in Washington state.
Relevant state standards:
Civics, Theme 1: Understands key ideals and principles of the United States, including those in the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and other foundational documents. | Social Studies Skills, Theme 2: Uses inquiry-based research. |
Resources:
Primary | Secondary | Lesson Plan | Visual |
Text of Washington State Treaties: Links to seven plain text versions of northwest treaties. From the WA State Governor’s Office of Indian Affairs. | Nation to Nation: A 5- minute video describing the history and importance of treaties between the United States and American Indians. From the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. | The Fish Wars | What Kinds of Actions Can Lead to Justice? This online lesson designed for high school includes video clips, explanatory essays, and interactives, as well as a teacher’s guide. From the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. | Native-Land interactive map: An interactive map of Native Land that is searchable by territory, language, and treaty. Includes links for further reading and research. |
Further learning:
Learning Activities | Center For The Study of the Pacific Northwest These suggested classroom activities also link to background essays and primary sources on the topic of Northwest treaties.
Database & Collections
Resource title | Organization | Hyperlink | Summary |
Treaty Trail: Background readings | WA State Historical Society | A collection of background readings on the 'Treaty Trail' in Washington State. | |
Treaty Trail: Collections | WA State Historical Society | A curated list of items from the society's collections related to the 'Treaty Trail.' | |
John McCoy (lulilaš) Since Time Immemorial Curriculum: Tribal Sovereignty in Washington state | WA Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction | This page links to curriculum leveled by grade, as well as 'ready to go' lessons, suggestions for integrating STI across the curriculum, and more. |
Documents & Ephemera
Resource title | Organization | Hyperlink | Summary |
Washington State treaties | WA State Governor's Office of Indian Affairs | Links to seven plain text versions of northwest treaties. | |
Map of Washington Territory Showing the Indian Nations and Tribes, 1854. | WA State Historical Society | Hand drawn and colored map depicting Washington Territory, dated 1854. Chart at top of map includes Indian census data and treaty ratification dates for various Northwest and Plateau Indian Tribes, 1855-57. Census data is based largely upon 1855 Indian tribal populations. The map was completed to document Indian tribes and treaties. Inscription reads: "This map is compiled from the incomplete data of the NPRR Ex. & S., which when complete, may show some slight differences....by permission of Gov. I. I. Stevens (signed) Jno. Lambert." |
Classroom Resources
Resource title | Organization | Hyperlink | Summary |
The Fish Wars: What Kinds of Actions Can Lead to Justice? | National Museum of the American Indian | This online lesson designed for high school includes video clips, explanatory essays, and interactives, as well as a teacher’s guide. | |
Boldt decision curriculum | Hibulb Cultural Center | Tulalip Tribe | This curriculum from the Hibulb Cultural Center is designed for elementary students and includes video clips, stories, and a focus on cross-curricular connections with ELA standards. | |
Learning Activities | Treaties | Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest (University of Washington) | These suggested classroom activities for secondary students from the University of Washington also link to additional background essays and primary sources on the topic of Northwest treaties. | |
Nation to Nation | National Museum of the American Indian | A 5-minute video describing the history and importance of treaties between the United States and American Indians. | |
Native Civics: The Medicine Creek Treaty, 1854 to Present | Teach With TVW | This video follows WA State Teacher of the Year '22 Jerad Koepp (Wukchumni) as he visits the traditional lands of the Nisqually people in search of the treaty tree. As he explores the history, Jerad also learns from Nisqually and other Native American leaders about the language, history, and importance of the Medicine Creek Treaty. | |
Salmon Boy | The Creative Advantage / Seattle Public Schools | This story, told by Roger Fernandes (a member of the Lower Elwha Band of the S’Klallam Indians), touches on the relationship between Northwest Native people and salmon, and the importance of Native stewardship of the land. |
Revolutionary War
SKILL: Formulating and asking questions
Farming:
Discuss with students: What was the American Revolution? What do they already know about this event? Show students the video, ‘What’s the Story With National Stories?,’ from the National Museum of the American Indian. Discuss with students: How does the video define a ‘national story’? Why does the video argue we should question such stories? Do students agree? Disagree?
What types of people were participating in the revolutionary war? For what reasons were these people participating? What were the stakes for different groups of people if America won? What questions can we ask to learn more about how different groups experienced the war? Use these questions and your own to frame a discussion using the resources curated in this document.
Standards:
SSS2.9-12.1 Create compelling and supporting questions that focus on an idea, issue, or event. | H3.11-12.4 Integrate evidence from multiple relevant historical sources and interpretations into a reasoned argument about the past to create claims and counterclaims |
Resources:
Primary | Secondary | Lesson Plan | Visual |
American Revolution and Early Republic | Journalism in Action, a gallery of primary sources designed for secondary classroom use. Includes suggested discussion questions, and links to further materials. From PBS Learning Media; requires a free account for full access. | Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Lands and the American Revolution, an informational website that asks, 'How did the American Revolution cost the Haudenosaunee Confederacy most of its land?' From the National Museum of the American Indian. | Finding Freedom, an interactive resource telling the stories of five African American men and women in war-torn revolutionary Virginia. From the Museum of the American Revolution. | Powder horn carved with the name of Revolutionary War soldier Prince Simbo: Prince Simbo was an African American soldier in the Continental Army. This powder horn is engraved with various symbols, as well as his name and the date November 17, 1777. |
Further Research:
Teacher Resource Guides from the Museum of the American Revolution: Modular materials, including lesson plans,
primary sources, and more, on various revolutionary topics.
Artifacts
Resource title | Organization | Hyperlink | Summary |
Pocket compass | National Museum of American History | This small mahogany compass has an inset paper card with 32 points that was probably made for a nautical use. The outer edge of the card is graduated every degree, and numbered every 10 degrees in quadrants from north and south. Joseph McClellan (d. 1834), a captain in the Continental Army, is said to have carried it during the Revolutionary War. | |
George Washington's dispatch case | National Museum of American History | George Washington's traveling dispatch case, used while he was the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. | |
Telescope [spyglass] | National Museum of American History | Cardboard draw-tube telescope (spyglass) that may date from the eighteenth century. Webster Full, the donor, believed it had been brought out of the Revolutionary War by William Powers, a resident of western Virginia (later West Virginia) who believed it had belonged to his Colonel. | |
Surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown Va. Oct. 19th 1781 | National Museum of American History | Color print of formal military surrounder ceremony. | |
Powder horn | National Museum of African American History | Prince Simbo was an African American soldier in the Continental Army. This powder horn is engraved with a number of symbols, as well as his name and the date November 17, 1777. | |
Boston Massacre lithograph | National Museum of African American History | A lithograph based on W. L. Champney's illustration of the Boston Massacre. The image focuses on Crispus Attucks, who appears in the center, club in hand, holding the barrel of a British soldier's musket. Behind him, a line of British soldiers fire into a crowd of club-wielding citizens. | |
Historioscope | American Revolution Institute | This toy, produced beginning in 1868, told a bright and colorful story of the American Revolution aimed at young children. This source is hosted at the American Revolution Institute; the page includes an explanatory essay, and a link to view the artifact in full. |
Database & Collections
Resource title | Organization | Hyperlink | Summary |
Revolutionary War Education Collections | George Washington's Mt Vernon | Links to selected primary sources with explanatory captions, transcription (when relevant), and suggestions for classroom use. | |
Places of the American Revolution | National Park Service | Exploration of the places of the American Revolution in the National Park system along with a link to a complete list. There is also a link to a list of the places of American Revolution battlefields. | |
American Revolution Institute Collections | American Revolution Institute | Extensive digital collections of materials, including maps, armaments, broadsides, manuscripts, newpapers, prints, photograhps, metalwork, etc. Some items include summary and description, such as manuscripts. | |
Curricula by topic and grade level | National Park Service | Lessons and activities relating to the American Revolution grouped by historical places within the National Park system. | |
Teacher Resoure Guides | Museum of the American Revolution | Modular units which include thematic units, images, interactives, pdfs, a virtual tour, and a virtual exhibit. | |
Mini Lesson Plans | Museum of the American Revolution | Pdfs, worksheets, and source cards for mini lesson plans on historical analysis, image analysis, object observation, disseting the revolution, Dunmore's revolution, leadership and Hamilton, the ongoing, revolution, people of the revolution, George v. George, and a pop-up museum |
Documents & Ephemera
Resource title | Organization | Hyperlink | Summary |
Commission to George Washington as Commander in Chief | Library of Virginia | This document officially named George Washington as the general and commander in chief of the Continental forces. | |
Articles of Capitulation, Yorktown | George Washington's Mt Vernon | On October 19, 1781, the British and Hessian forces under the command of Lord Charles Cornwallis surrendered to the French and American forces at Yorktown, Virginia. This link includes a digitally annotated version of the articles; a transcript of the original text; and suggestions for classroom discussion and analysis. |
Classroom Resources
Resource title | Organization | Hyperlink | Summary |
The American Revolution's Legacy of Protest | George Washington's Mt Vernon | DBQ format lesson designed for high school students; focus on using primary source analysis to support argument. | |
George Washington in Song | George Washington's Mt Vernon | Elementary lesson asking students to investigate and analyze the historical context of the Revolutionary War song, Yankee Doodle. As a culminating activity, students are asked to create their own additional verses about George Washington to the tune of the song. | |
Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Lands and the American Revolution | National Museum of the American Indian | An informational website that asks the question, 'How did the American Revolution cost the Haudenosaunee Confederacy most of its land?' Includes video explainers, transcripts, and a PDF teacher's guide. | |
What's the Story with National Stories? | National Museum of the American Indian | National stories about our past can help build group identity, a sense of belonging, and pride. However, who decides how a national story is told? What is included or not included? Should national stories change over time? Think about the importance of national stories and consider how they shape your understanding of our shared history. | |
Measuring Loyalism in America c. 1775-1785 | George Washington's Mt Vernon | An infograph created by the staff at the Washington Library that visually represents loyalists in America during the Revolutionary War, and where they migrated to following the war. | |
American Revolution and the Early Republic | PBS Learning Media | A gallery of primary sources designed for secondary classroom use and focused on attempts to sway public opinion during and immediately after the Revolutionary War. Includes suggested discussion questions, and links to further materials. From PBS Learning Media; requires a free account for full access. | |
Finding Freedom | Museum of the American Revolution | An interactive website telling the stories of five African American men and women in war-torn revolutionary Virginia. | |
Women and the American Revolution | PBS Learning Media | A digital interactive lesson designed for high school which explores the role of women on both sides of the war and asks the question, "In what ways did women contribute to the Revolutionary War effort, and why are their contributions important to fully understanding this period in history?" From PBS Learning Media; requires a free account for full access. |
WA Constitution
SKILL: Perspective in sources
Farming:
Talk with students about point of view, or perspective. What experience do they have of situations where there are multiple perspectives, or multiple versions of the story shared?
Multiple perspectives also inform the historical sources people create and the history we are taught. The Washington State Constitution is the plan for the operation of Washington State government, describing the three branches of government (executive, legislative, and judicial) and defining the rights of the people. Whose perspective might that document represent? Use the selected resources to frame a discussion around perspectives in the Washington State Constitution.
Relevant state standards:
Social Studies Skills, Strand 2: Uses inquiry-based research. | Civics, Strand 1: Understands key ideals and principles of the United States, including those in the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and other foundational documents. | History, Strand 3: Understands that there are multiple perspectives and interpretations of historical events. |
Resources:
Primary | Secondary | Lesson Plan | Visual |
Text version of the Washington State Constitution. From the website of the Washington State Legislature. | Statehood timeline. From the website of the Washington State Legislature. | Comparing Constitutions: A lesson from iCivics which facilitates side-by-side comparisons of the Washington State and U.S. constitutions. | Image of the members of the Washington State Constitutional Convention. From the collections of the Washington State Historical Society. |
Further Research:
Documents of Liberty | Washington Secretary of State: A digital exhibit from the Washington Secretary of State which places Washington’s constitution in national context.
Artifacts
Resource title | Organization | Hyperlink | Summary |
Image of the members of the Washington State Constitutional Convention | WA State Historical Society | ||
[inkwell used for signing the Washington State Constitution] | WA State Historical Society | Three-part inkwell that was used for signing the Washington State Constitution, ca. 1880-1889. Originally owned by Clarence Mulford Barton. Consists of iron base, glass inkwell, and metal top. Base and top are embossed with a geometric art noveau design. Base is footed with an attached rack or holder with space to rest two pens. Inkwell is made of molded, colorless glass, square in shape overall with straight sides and rounded slightly bulbous corners. It has a round neck and opening, with an ink reservoir that tapers down. Markers marks on bottom of glass inkwell are illegible. Metal lid for inkwell is dome-shaped with a nub handle. | |
[dip pen used to sign Washington State Constitution] | WA State Historical Society | Dip pen in original box that was used to sign the Washington State Constitution, ca. 1880-1889. Originally owned by Clarence Mulford Barton. Gold nib and grip section with mother of pearl handle. "Fairchild 6" engraved on grip section. Mabie Todd & Co. nib. Box is made of wood and covered in black leather. Very narrow with two clasps on front side and rounded ends. Distributors marking embossed on top of lid reading "Kurtz & Monaghan / Gold Pens / New York." Interior is lined with pale blue silk. | |
What Uncle Sam and Aunt Columbia think of their No.42 | WA State Historical Society | A political cartoon about Washington statehood. |
Database & Collections
Resource title | Organization | Hyperlink | Summary |
Constitutional Convention articles | WA Secretary of State | A collection of contemporaneous news articles about the writing and ratifying of the Washington State Constitution. |
Documents & Ephemera
Resource title | Organization | Hyperlink | Summary |
The Washington State Constitution | WA State Archives | Digital images of the Washington State Constitution. | |
The Washington State Constitution | WA State Legislature | Plain text version of the Washington State Constitution. | |
Statehood timeline. | WA State Legislature | Timeline of Washington's statehood. | |
List of the members of the Washington State Constitutional Convention. | WA State Historical Society | ||
Proclamation [Constitutional Convention] | WA State Historical Society | Single sheet (36 cm.) announcement of general election to ratify the Washington State Constitution.. Ephemera |
Classroom Resources
Resource title | Organization | Hyperlink | Summary |
The Washington State Constitution | Teach With TVW | A short video about some of the unique features of the Washington State Constitution, with suggested classroom discussion questions. | |
Comparing Constitutions | iCivics | A lesson plan from iCivics which facilitates side-by-side comparisons of the Washington State and U.S. constitutions. | |
Teaching Six Big Ideas in the Constitution | National Archives | This lesson from the National Archives is intended to guide study of the U.S. Constitution; however, some of the activities could be adapted to the Washington State Constitution. | |
Documents of Liberty | WA Secretary of State | A digital exhibit from the Washington Secretary of State which places Washington’s constitution in national context. |
