TEKS & TAKS
The Founding Fathers
Margery Petrovich Ed.D.
mjwp47@swbell.net
TAKS Objective 1, History
• 8.4 The student understands significant
political and economic issues of the
revolutionary era. The student is expected
to
(B) explain the roles played by significant
individuals during the American Revolution,
including Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin,
King George III, Thomas Jefferson,
Thomas Paine, and George Washington.
TAKS Objective 4, Government
• 8.18 The student understands the dynamic
nature of the powers of the national and
state governments in a federal system.
The student if expected to
(A) analyze the arguments of the
Federalists and Anti-Federalists, including
Alexander Hamilton, Patrick Henry, James
Madison, and George Mason.
Objective 5,
Critical Thinking Skills
• Sequencing
• Categorizing
• Identifying cause-andeffect relationships
• Comparing
• Contrasting
• Finding the main idea
• Summarizing
• Making generalizations
• Drawing inferences
• Drawing conclusions
• Interpreting
information from
maps, graphs, charts,
timelines
• Identifying points of
view
• Identifying bias
George Washington
Leadership Qualities
• Tall, commanding presence
• Symbol of American virtue
• Charismatic warrior and
politician
• Abigail Adams said, “He
has the dignity which
forbids familiarity mixed
with an easy affability
which creates love and
reverence.”
...continued
Public Life
• Land surveyor
• Early military experience
• Virginia House of
Burgesses
• Delegate to the Continental
Congress
• Commander in chief of
Continental Army
• Presiding officer of the
Constitutional Convention
• First US president and
“Father of His Country”
Thomas Paine
• Immigrated to colonies
shortly before Revolution
• Wrote Common Sense, a
call to revolution, in 1776
• Wrote ideas of revolution
in simple language for all to
understand
• His pamphlet, The Crisis,
inspired the army to fight
• Unsuccessful in a variety
of jobs, he died a penniless
drunkard
“These are the times that
try men’s souls.”
Thomas Jefferson
A Renaissance Man
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Political philosopher
Architect
Musician
Book collector
Scientist
Horticulturist
Diplomat & Linguist
Inventor
Politician
Referred to his years as
president as “splendid
misery.”
Author of the
Declaration of Independence
Jefferson’s Tombstone
Here was buried
Thomas Jefferson
Author of the Declaration of Independence
Of the Statute of Virginia for Religious
Freedom
And Father of the University of Virginia
“…and not one word more.”
Benjamin Franklin
• As a printer he established
the Pennsylvania Gazette
and wrote Poor Richard’s
Almanack
• Invented the lightning rod,
Franklin stove, and bifocal
glasses
• An accomplished musician,
he played the violin, harp,
and guitar
• As a scientist he was
interested in electricity
and the weather
…continued
• As a statesman and
diplomat he signed all four
important documents of
the Revolutionary era:
– Declaration of
Independence
– Alliance with France
– Treaty of Paris
– US Constitution
Samuel Adams
Major early leader of the
American Revolution:
• Led protest against Stamp
Act
• Founded the Sons of
Liberty
• Organized the Boston Tea
Party
• Served in the Continental
Congress
• Signed the Declaration of
Independence
Alexander Hamilton
• Aide-de-camp to
Washington
• Experience at Valley Forge
brought him to feel that a
strong central government
was needed
• At the Annapolis
Convention he drafted a
call for the Constitutional
Convention where he made
the longest speech
• Co-authored with Madison
the Federalist Papers
• States’ rights issue divided
Madison and Hamilton
…continued
• Dramatic orator with personal appeal
• As Secretary of the Treasury he was responsible for
establishing a policy of national credit and credibility
– Pay all foreign debts
– Pay domestic debts
– Assume state debts
• According to a contemporary, “The mighty mind of
Hamilton would at times bear down all opposition by its
comprehensive grasp and the strength of his reasoning
power.”
• As a Federalist, he supported a strong Central
government.
Patrick Henry
• A passionate and fiery orator
who proposed the Virginia
Stamp Act Resolutions
• As a lawyer he argued for
broader suffrage
• Served in the 1st Continental
Congress and as Governor of
Virginia
• As an anti-Federalist, he
strongly opposed the
Constitution, favoring strong
state governments and a weak
federal government.
James Madison
• Served in the Virginia House
of Delegates
• Served in the Continental
Congress
• “Father of the Constitution”
• Sponsor of the Bill of Rights
• A Federalist supporter, he
co-authored the Federalist
Papers
• Secretary of State under
Jefferson
• 4th president of the United
States
John Adams
• Harvard law graduate
• Led Massachusetts
movement for revolution
• Served in Continental
Congresses
• Diplomatic service in
Holland, France, Britain
• Negotiated Treaty of Paris
• 1st vice president and 2nd
president
Treaty 0f Paris, 1783
George Mason
• One of the wealthiest
Virginia planters
• Protested Stamp Act
• Protested Intolerable Acts
in the Fairfax County
Resolves
• US Bill of Rights based on
Mason’s Virginia
Declaration of Rights
• As a delegate to the
Constitutional Convention,
he refused to sign the final
document
• Supported Anti-Federalist
position
George III
• Known as the king who lost
the American colonies and
went mad
• Surrounded by poor
ministers whose primary
concern was their own
interests
• Strongly opposed the
colonists’ revolt
• Many of the colonists’
grievances were against
acts of Parliament not
actions of the king
…continued
• John Adams said of the British: “The pride and vanity
of that nation is a disease; it is a delirium; it has
been flattered and inflamed so long by themselves
and others that it perverts everything.”
• About the loss of America, George III said: “...that
knavery seems to be so much the striking feature of
its inhabitants that it may not be in the end an evil
that they become aliens to this Kingdom.”
Resources: Where to Look
• http://socialstudies.tea.state.tx.us/downloads/
downloads.htm, click on TAKS Review Activities
• www.pbs.org/jefferson/enlight/
• www.pbs.org/georgewashington/, Rediscovering
George Washington, 90 min.
• www.ushistory.org
• www.irqpa.org/lphs/1948/4th/FATHERS.htm
• www.mountvernon.org
• www.gunstonhall.org/georgemason
Compare and Contrast the
Founding Fathers below:
• Jefferson and Franklin
• Washington and Samuel Adams
• Patrick Henry and Thomas Paine
• Hamilton and Jefferson
Place the Founding Fathers into
the following categories:
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Southern Planters (Tidewater & Piedmont)
Lawyers
Journalists/Writers
Military Commanders
Politicians
Agitators/Radicals
Diplomats
Inferences, Conclusions, & Generalizations
• Inferences about social status of revolutionaries
• Conclusions about the characteristics of people
who bring about revolutions, those who carry out
revolutions, and those who finish revolutions
• Generalizations about personal qualities of
leaders of revolutions
What kind of test item???
• Think of a multiple choice stem and answer-– Use one of the critical thinking skills
– Example:
• In which of the following categories would the...
• Which of the following quotes best represents...
• Based on the information below, what inference...
Ideas for Sequencing Lessons
• Using a Chronological Approach
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Colonization
Independence
Early Republic
Westward Expansion
Industrialization
Sectionalism
Civil War
Or...
• Using a Conceptual Approach
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People who Made a Difference
Migration and Settlement
Conflict and Compromise
Economic Development
The Constitution and Politics
Wars and Treaties
Geographical Influences
Reformers and Change
Example: Chronological Organization
Westward Expansion
• Lesson Titles:
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Areas Acquired to Form the U.S.
Northwest Ordinance
Manifest Destiny
Mexican War
Impact of Geographical Factors
on Historical Events
Example: Conceptual Organization
People Who Made a Difference
• Lesson Titles:
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People of the American Revolution
Foundations of Representative Government
Leaders of the Abolitionist Movement
Technological and Scientific Innovators
Leaders of the Civil War