Teacher: John Tibbetts
Title: US Imperialism in the late 19th Century
Subject: US History
Topic: Spanish-American War
Grade: 9-12
Lesson Duration: 45 Minutes
School: Tift County High School
Education Designs Lesson/ Unit Plan
Executive Summary:
(A short 3-5 sentence
summary of the lesson
and how it will be
delivered)
National Standards
for History Era: Link
This lesson invites students to examine primary documents related to the
Spanish American War. Students collaboratively construct a historical timeline
by deciding if events and documents are related to the Sinking of the USS
Maine, either as a cause or an effect of the incident.
Standard(s):
Standard 4B
The student understands the roots and development of American expansionism
and the causes and outcomes of the Spanish-American War.
Conflict and cooperation
Comparative history of major developments
Analyze cause-and-effect relationships
Interrogate historical data
The changing role of America and the World (Theme 4 NAEP)
1. Why did US foreign policy change to imperialism at the end of the 19th
Century?
2. How did “yellow journalism” affect the US’s entry into the Spanish-American
War?
3. How did the US Congress react in order to encourage or control US territorial
expansionism?
4. How did the US’s victory in the Spanish-American War signal America’s entry
onto the world stage?
State, Local or National
Themes/Concept:
Essential questions
(2-5 questions)
(What you want the
students to know)
Elements (What you
want the students to
understand)
Launch Activity
(Hook)
Knowledge & Skills
(People, Places, times
and vocabulary-what
the student should be
able to do. What skills
will they use?)
US History Era 6
The Development of the Industrial United States (1870-1900)
Grade Level
5-12
Trace the acquisition of new territories.
[Reconstruct patterns of historical succession and duration]
Evaluate the causes, objectives, character, and outcome of the SpanishAmerican War.
[Interrogate historical data]
9-12 Describe how geopolitics, economic interests, racial ideology, missionary
zeal, nationalism, and domestic tensions combined to create an
expansionist foreign policy.
[Analyze cause-and-effect relationships]
Engage the students to explore prior knowledge of the Spanish American War by
having them identify people and events related to the war.
The first three slides of the PowerPoint presentation also provide information on
early US interest in Cuba.
William Randolph Hearst
Yellow Journalism
William McKinley
American expansionism
Alfred Thayer Mahan
Morgan Cameron Resolution
Jose Marti
De Lome Letter
Theodore Roosevelt
Annexation of Hawaii
Rough Riders
Teller Amendment
General Weyler
Platt amendment
Joseph Pulitzer
Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe
Sinking of the Maine
Doctrine
Admiral Dewey/USS Olympia
War in the Philippines
Education Designs
Skills
- Reconstruct patterns of historical succession and duration
- Analyze cause-and-effect relationships
- Interrogate historical data
- Assess the importance of the individual in history
Lesson Methodology (How will you conduct the lesson; activities…?)
Set up:
 Have four or five packets of photographs and documents, enough for each group in the classroom to
have a set.
 Use a strip of wide painter’s tape to establish a timeline at the front of the room
 One set of photographs and documents can already have tape applied to facilitate attaching the
document to the wall
As an introduction, if not covered during the hook activity, review the first three slides of the PowerPoint,
covering US activities during the 19th century prior to the Spanish American War as well as the
comments of the William Marcy and James Buchanan.
The teacher then provides a packet of primary source documents to the student groups. The groups will
use the “Sinking of the Maine” (photograph of the wreck of the USS Maine) on which to base the Cause
or Effect timeline. Put the Sinking of the Maine picture on the wall in the middle of the timeline.
Have the students, working in collaborative groups, place the documents in chronological order either as
a “cause” [before] or “effect” [after] of the Sinking of the Maine.
Once the students have collaborated within their group to determine the likely order of the timeline, the
class then constructs an overall timeline using the pre-taped documents.
Have each group in turn add a picture to the overall chronology. A member of the group takes one of
the remaining documents and places it on the timeline in the order they think it occurred with relation to
the Sinking of the Maine. The class can “vote” after each picture is added as to whether the event is in
the proper order (Deal or No Deal). It is not necessary for the timeline to be correct. The teacher will
reveal the correct order after the class has placed all the documents on the timeline.
Once the class has completed the timeline, review the remainder of the PowerPoint to reveal the proper
order and additional information on each document or picture.
Assessment Evidence: What evidence will show that students met the learning goal?
Traditional Assessment (Quizzes, Test, Selected Responses)
Multiple-choice test written in A, B, C, D choices with questions worded much like those used
on standardized tests or short answer questions regarding the people and documents.
Authentic Assessment (Performance Tasks, Rubrics, Projects, Dialogues, Portfolio, etc.,)
- Students will write a short biography on one of the individuals involved in the events related
to the Spanish-American War.
- The students will write a short essay outlining the causes of United States’ entry into the
Spanish American War
Student Self-Assessment
Differentiation Associated with this unit
- Assign a person or event associated with the Spanish American War to each student or in
pairs, to develop prior student knowledge of the event, person or document
- Following the lesson, assign a person or event and have students conduct research on the
Education Designs
issue.
Resources and instructional tools: (Including Video Sources, Text Resources, Research Strategy)
Tape for the timeline
1st, 2nd, and 3rd order Primary and secondary sources (see list):
Pictures/documents (in chronological order):
Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783
Jose Marti
William Randolph Hearst
Joseph Pulitzer
Annexation of Hawaii – Joint Resolution
Valeriano Weyler
Theodore Roosevelt
DeLome Letter
USS Maine wreck
NY Journal – 16 Feb 1898
USS Olympia
Rough Riders
Platt Amendment
Roosevelt Corollary
Internet resources:
•http://www.spanamwar.com
•http://www.ourdocuments.gov
•http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/
•http://www.historyofcuba.com/
•http://www.smplanet.com/imperialism/remember.html
•http://www.zpub.com/cpp/saw.html
•http://millercenter.org/scripps/archive/speeches
•http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/
•http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc
Textbook
Education Designs