Annotated Resource Set (ARS)
Title / Content Area:
Character of a Place: Tunisia at the Turn of the 19th Century
Developed by:
LaTonya Amboree, Secondary Social Studies Helping Teacher, Fort Bend
Independent School District (TX)
Grade Level:
9th Grade World Geography
Essential Question:
How was the character of Tunisia at the turn of the 19th century related to its social,
political, economic, and cultural elements?
Contextual Paragraph:
The French occupied the city of Tunis, Tunisia from 1881 to 1956, having established
a protectorate system of administration that recognized the nominal authority of local
government. In those years there were a large number of European colonists (like the
Tunisian Italians) in Tunis. Europeans formed half the population. The city expanded
and created new boulevards and neighborhoods. The creation of the French
protectorate in 1881 was a turning point in Tunis's history, causing rapid
redevelopment of the city in the span of two or three decades. The city rapidly spread
out of its fortifications: it divided into a traditional Arab-populated old city, and a new
city populated by immigrants, with a different structure from that of the traditional
medina. Tunis also benefited from French construction of a water supply, natural gas
and electricity networks, public transport services, and other public infrastructure.
Teaching with Primary Sources - Annotated Resource Set
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Resource Set
An old water wheel in
the suburb of Tunis
Couscous Sellers and
an Arab Café, Tunis,
Tunisia
La Porte française
A Bedouin Woman
Railway Train of the
Italian line between
Tunis and the site of
ancient Carthage
leaving Marsa
Bab Suika-Suker
Square, Tunis, Tunisia
Image taken November
1894; shows an old
water wheel used to
generate power to
perform specific tasks,
such as milling flour,
hammering iron,
machining, paper
making, or pounding
fiber for cloth making.
Couscous is a staple
food in the Maghreb
(coastal plain of North
Africa), where Tunis is
located, because it
costs little and feeds a
lot of people. It is
thought to be a Berber
dish, not an Arab dish.
Translated: French
gate. This image
shows an entrance
into Tunis in the
native area of the
city.
Bedouins are a part of a
predominantly desert-dwelling
Arabian ethnic group traditionally
divided into tribes, or clans.
Women occupy a very important
position in Bedouin society. Not
only do they raise the children,
herd the sheep, milk the animals,
cook, spin yarn and make the
clothes, but they also weave the
cloth that constitutes the tent.
Infrastructure for
transportation was
provided under
French domination.
Photograph of people
crowding in the Bab
Suika-Suker Square in
Tunis, Tunisia, 1899.
http://www.loc.gov/pict
ures/item/2004707553/
http://www.loc.gov/pic
tures/item/200169940
3/resource/
http://www.loc.gov/
pictures/resource/p
pmsc.06032/
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/ite
m/2001699406/resource/
http://www.loc.gov/pi
ctures/resource/wtc.4
a02510/
http://www.loc.gov/pi
ctures/item/20016993
85/resource/
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General View from
Paris, Hotel in Tunis,
Tunisia
Sadiky Hospital
Kasbah Market
Bardo, the lion
staircase, Tunisia
Types of Arabs
Bedouin Beggars and
Children
Image shows a wide
scale view of the city of
Tunis in 1899. The
name of the hotel
shows the impact of
French colonial rule on
the country.
Image depicts an old
hospital in Tunis.
Photograph was taken
in 1899 after the French
colonization of the
country.
Image depicts people
trading at the Kasbah
Market in Tunis.
The use of lions as a
grisly form of
entertainment dates
back to Persian rule.
The image depicts
carved lions encasing a
stairway of a building in
Tunis.
There are a wide variety
of Arabs in Tunis.
The Bedouin population
is traditionally poor. As
Bedouins began to farm,
low crop yields could
cause a family to go
hungry.
http://www.loc.gov/pict
ures/item/2001699381/
resource/
http://www.loc.gov/pict
ures/item/2001699388/
resource/
http://www.loc.gov/pict
ures/item/2001699394/
resource/
http://www.loc.gov/pict
ures/item/2001699393/
http://www.loc.gov/pict
ures/item/2001699402/
http://www.loc.gov/pict
ures/item/2001699396/
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Arabs leaving a Mosque in Tunis, Tunisia
Islam is the predominant religion in Tunis.
Although the French influenced the country,
Christianity was not widespread.
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2001699400/
Foundations Annotations
Curriculum Connections
This could be taught in the Unit taught on Northern Africa. This skill-based lesson teaches students to analyze a variety of images in order to gain an
understanding of the character of a particular place. Whatever the location, there are certain things about a place that make it what it is. Every location has
certain physical and human characteristics that make it different from any other.
Curriculum Standards
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for World Geography
5A : Analyze how the character of a place is related to its political, economic, social and cultural elements.
17A: Describe…..patterns of culture such as ….religion, land use, ….and customs that make specific regions of the world distinctive.
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Content & Thinking Objectives
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for World Geography
21A: analyze and evaluate the validity and utility of multiple sources of geographic information such as primary and secondary sources, aerial photographs, and
maps.
21B: locate places of contemporary geopolitical significance on a map.
22B: generate summaries, generalizations, and thesis statements supported by evidence.
Inquiry Activities & Strategies
Objective: Use SPEC to analyze the character of Tunis, the largest city of Tunisia, at the turn of the 19th century.
Preview (Warm-up): Have students use an atlas to answer the following questions about Tunisia:
• Where is it? (location)
• What is it like? (physical and human characteristics)
Presentation of Information: (What the teacher does)
• Have students read a short background piece on Tunisia at the turn of the 19th century (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5439.htm) or show a video clip on
Tunisia.
• Instructional Strategy to be taught: SPEC – Teach students to analyze the human characteristics of a place through looking at the social, political, economic,
and cultural evidence present
Process: Image Analysis and Document Log - Have students identify the theme(s) and how the image portrays that particular theme in a document walk (full
sheet placards of images posted around the room), document pass (1/2 sheet placards of images passed around in student groups of 4–6), or electronic
document analysis (place images in a slide or use the digital resource set (students can work with a partner or individually in a computer lab). As students
analyze the images, they should record the following in a document log that should look like this:
Image #
Description of Image (What do you see?)
Teaching with Primary Sources - Annotated Resource Set
Social Evidence
Political
Evidence
Economic
Evidence
Cultural
Evidence
What conclusions can you
draw about Tunisia at the
Turn of the 19th century by
looking at this image?
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Teachers can also choose to have students sort the images into each of the four categories (social, political, economic, cultural), and try to make inferences
about the social hierarchy, government, economy, and customs of Tunis, Tunisia at the turn of the 19th century.
Post-Show: Answer the essential question in the form of a thesis proof (see resources at the bottom)L How was the character of Tunisia at the turn of the 19th
century related to its social, political, economic, and cultural elements?
Note to Teachers: You can extend this lesson by making connections to the impact of imperialism on the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia during the Arab Spring
of 2011.
Assessment Strategies
Have students write a free-response essay: How was the character of Tunisia at the turn of the 19th century related to its social, political, economic, and
cultural elements?
Teachers can use the generic-free response rubric provided:
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Other Resources
Web Resources
U.S. Department of State: Diplomacy in Action Country Profile: Tunisia: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5439.htm#history
Britannica Online Encyclopedia: History of Tunisia: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/609278/history-of-Tunisia
Women in World History: Imperialism in North Africa: http://chnm.gmu.edu/wwh/modules/lesson9/lesson9.php?s=0
Secondary Sources
Reading Quest.org Thesis Proof Chart: http://www.readingquest.org/pdf/thesis.pdf
Print and Other Media Resources
Africa in Focus: Tunisia. Prod. Shelburne Films. Shelburne Films, 1990. Discovery Education. Web. 3 August 2012. <http://www.discoveryeducation.com/>.
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