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Summary and Objective
In 1789, George Washington was unanimously voted the nation's first president. By examining primary sources representing his success and growing influence during the American Revolution, students will understand that George Washington came to be seen as the kind of leader who was the obvious choice for the United States' first president and that this reputation was sustained even after his death.
Teaching Plan
Step 1.
For this activity, students will be split into groups of 3-4 people. The students already have a working knowledge of George Washington studying him through the American Revolution to the Constitutional Convention.
Step 2.
To introduce this lesson, the students will connect it to the present by answering the following questions: 1) Choose a public personality today. 2) What are his/her accomplishments? 3) How is he/she represented in the media? The students will answer in groups and have one student in each group report out.
Step 3.
Each group will get a different primary document focusing on George Washington during the American Revolution. The four primary documents are 1) Journal of Continental Congress, June 17, 1775 (Washington appointed as Commander of Continental Army), 2) “The Hero,” poem by Consider Dickinson 1797-1798, 3) “Washington Crossing the Delaware,” art by Emmanuel Leutze 1851 and 4)Quote from George Washington during the Revolution stated in "The Illustrated American Biography" by Abner Dumont Jones 1853. All of these primary documents can be accessed on this page.
Step 4.
Each group will answer the following questions about the primary document: 1) What accomplishment of George Washington’s is being described or depicted? 2) How is George Washington, himself, described or depicted? 3) What is the date of the primary document? Why is this important? Again, the students will answer in groups and have one student in each group report out.
Step 5.
After the class discusses the primary documents, each group will come up with a list of characteristics to describe how Washington was perceived during the American Revolution. These lists will be presented to the class.
Step 6.
As an assessment and summarizer, the class will discuss the following questions: 1) What characteristics did Washington have to become the first president of the United States? 2) How is Washington's reputation sustained through these primary documents? 3) If Washington was president today, how do you think he would be represented in the media? Compare today's representation to the primary sources we are using.
Step 7.
From here, the students will use this as an introduction to study what Washington accomplished under his presidency.
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