Four famous documents read closely: Douglass 1852, a fireside chat, the Declaration of Sentiments, a Birmingham letter summary
Grade 11 Social Studies Worksheet
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
Douglass asks why he was invited
Who made it: Frederick Douglass, a speaker against slavery. When: July 5, 1852. Where: Corinthian Hall, Rochester, New York. For whom: 500 to 600 people at a celebration run by the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society. Why: to say what the Fourth of July meant to enslaved people. Excerpt (Oration at Rochester; pamphlet, 1852, p. 14): "pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied [written] in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us?" Source card "The Rochester speech, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: Rochester, New York. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: The Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Sewing Society invited Frederick Douglass to speak. He agreed on one condition: that he speak on July 5, not July 4. About 500 to 600 people came to Corinthian Hall. Afterward the Society asked him for one hundred printed copies, and the speech came out as a pamphlet in 1852.
Jun reads Douglass's question about being called to speak on independence. What does it do in front of this audience?
- It flatters the audience to win its sympathy, before turning to criticize the holiday
- It shows that he opposes the independence of the United States from Britain
- It makes listeners ask whether the Declaration's principles reach enslaved people
- It asks the Society to cancel its celebration of the holiday before he speaks
Roosevelt on what a bank does with deposits
Who made it: Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States. When: March 12, 1933. Where: the White House, Washington, D.C.. For whom: radio listeners across the country. Why: to explain the bank holiday and ask people to trust the reopened banks. Excerpt (Radio address on the banking crisis; Public Papers, 1938, item 16, about p. 61): "First of all, let me state the simple fact that when you deposit money in a bank the bank does not put the money into a safe deposit vault. It invests your money in many different forms of credit — bonds, commercial paper [short loans to businesses], mortgages and many other kinds of loans. In other words, the bank puts your money to work to keep the wheels of industry and of agriculture turning around." Source card "Roosevelt opens the talk". Who made it: Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States. When: March 12, 1933. Where: the White House, Washington, D.C.. For whom: radio listeners across the country. Why: to explain the bank holiday and ask people to trust the reopened banks. Excerpt (Radio address on the banking crisis; Public Papers, 1938, item 16, about p. 61): "I want to talk for a few minutes with the people of the United States about banking — with the comparatively few who understand the mechanics of banking but more particularly with the overwhelming majority who use banks for the making of deposits and the drawing of checks." Context: The banks had been closed since March 6, 1933.
Pia notes the talk tells listeners their deposits are "put to work." Why might explaining that serve the talk's purpose better than only promising safety?
- It blames depositors for the crisis, so they will accept the bank holiday
- It gives a reason to trust banks: deposits keep industry and farms running
- It assures listeners that the government holds their deposits, so they need not worry about banks
- It shows that banks keep deposits in vaults, so no listener has anything to fear
The opening of the Declaration of Sentiments
Who made it: Elizabeth Cady Stanton with Mary Ann M'Clintock; signed by 100 women and men. When: July 1848. Where: Seneca Falls, New York. For whom: the convention and the public. Why: to list women's complaints and demand their rights. Excerpt (Declaration of Sentiments; History of Woman Suffrage, 1881, p. 70): "When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one portion of the family of man to assume among the people of the earth a position different from that which they have hitherto [until now] occupied … a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes that impel [drive] them to such a course."
Bo reads the 1848 opening beside the 1776 line saying a "decent respect to the opinions of mankind" requires declaring causes. What does it show about the purpose?
- They write for the delegates at the convention, so no outside reader is meant to see it
- They write for the public, justify their demands, and borrow the form of the 1776 text
- They hope to dissolve the Union, as the writers of the 1776 Declaration had done
- They ask the opinions of mankind for permission before they are allowed to speak
The Declaration of Sentiments on equality
Who made it: Elizabeth Cady Stanton with Mary Ann M'Clintock; signed by 100 women and men. When: July 1848. Where: Seneca Falls, New York. For whom: the convention and the public. Why: to list women's complaints and demand their rights. Excerpt (Declaration of Sentiments; History of Woman Suffrage, 1881, p. 70): "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable [that cannot be taken away] rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." Limits: This text was printed in 1881, 33 years after the convention, by leaders of the movement. Source card "Douglass asks why he was invited". Who made it: Frederick Douglass, a speaker against slavery. When: July 5, 1852. Where: Corinthian Hall, Rochester, New York. For whom: 500 to 600 people at a celebration run by the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society. Why: to say what the Fourth of July meant to enslaved people. Excerpt (Oration at Rochester; pamphlet, 1852, p. 14): "pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied [written] in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us?"
Milo puts the 1848 line on equality beside Douglass's question of 1852. Which claim do both passages support?
- Both were written by the same author for the same audience
- Both measure the nation against the promise of the Declaration of Independence
- Both argue that the Declaration's principles were already realized in American life
- Both ask for the vote in their first lines, as the Declaration of Sentiments does
Douglass on the nation's inheritance
Who made it: Frederick Douglass, a speaker against slavery. When: July 5, 1852. Where: Corinthian Hall, Rochester, New York. For whom: 500 to 600 people at a celebration run by the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society. Why: to say what the Fourth of July meant to enslaved people. Excerpt (Oration at Rochester; pamphlet, 1852, p. 15): "The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed [handed down] by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. … This Fourth July is yours, not mine." Source card "The Declaration of Sentiments makes its demand". Who made it: Elizabeth Cady Stanton with Mary Ann M'Clintock; signed by 100 women and men. When: July 1848. Where: Seneca Falls, New York. For whom: the convention and the public. Why: to list women's complaints and demand their rights. Excerpt (Declaration of Sentiments; History of Woman Suffrage, 1881, p. 71): "Now, in view of this entire disfranchisement [being kept from voting] of one-half the people of this country, … we insist that they have immediate admission to all the rights and privileges which belong to them as citizens of the United States." Context: History of Woman Suffrage, which prints this text, was compiled by Stanton, Susan B. Anthony and Matilda Joslyn Gage and printed in 1881. Limits: The 1881 printing and the text on the National Park Service's site differ slightly in punctuation and a few words.
Zee sets Douglass on the inheritance beside the 1848 demand on the vote. Which pattern do the two passages share?
- Each is written by people who already hold the power to change the law themselves
- Each asks for honor in memory of the past rather than for any new right or change
- Each is about slavery, since both passages name people who were held in bondage
- Each names people shut out of rights that others enjoy, and calls for change
Use this
Source card "Roosevelt asks for faith". Who made it: Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States. When: March 12, 1933. Where: the White House, Washington, D.C.. For whom: radio listeners across the country. Why: to explain the bank holiday and ask people to trust the reopened banks. Excerpt (Radio address on the banking crisis; Public Papers, 1938, item 16, about p. 65): "You people must have faith; you must not be stampeded [rushed into panic] by rumors or guesses. Let us unite in banishing fear. We have provided the machinery to restore our financial system; it is up to you to support and make it work. It is your problem no less than it is mine." Limits: A speech shows what the president said and asked; it does not show what listeners did next. Source card "After the radio talk, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: In the talk, Roosevelt said that the banks of the twelve cities with a Federal Reserve Bank would open again the next day, March 13, 1933. Banks in about 250 more cities reopened on March 14. By March 15, banks holding 90 percent of the country's banking resources were open again, and deposits far exceeded withdrawals. Some 4,000 banks never reopened.
Roosevelt asked listeners for faith in the reopened banks. Kira reads the two cards. Which statement do they support?
- Most banking resources reopened quickly, but some 4,000 banks never reopened
- Banks in the twelve Reserve cities reopened on the very day he spoke
- His talk restored the whole banking system within three days of his speech
- Depositors stayed away from the banks, so deposits fell below withdrawals that week
The Rochester speech, in brief
Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: Rochester, New York. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: The Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Sewing Society invited Frederick Douglass to speak. He agreed on one condition: that he speak on July 5, not July 4. About 500 to 600 people came to Corinthian Hall. Afterward the Society asked him for one hundred printed copies, and the speech came out as a pamphlet in 1852.
Noah reads that 500 to 600 people came to hear Douglass. What does that number leave out?
- That the hall held mostly members of the Society, since the Society ran the event
- Whether Douglass spoke on July 4 or July 5, since the count could fit either day
- How many in the hall supported the Society, since the count is of its members
- How many people later read the pamphlet, so it understates how far the speech reached
Seneca Falls, July 1848, in brief
Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: About 300 people attended the Seneca Falls convention on July 19 and 20, 1848. Elizabeth Cady Stanton drafted the Declaration of Sentiments with Mary Ann M'Clintock, and 100 of those present signed it. Source card "The Declaration of Sentiments on equality". Who made it: Elizabeth Cady Stanton with Mary Ann M'Clintock; signed by 100 women and men. When: July 1848. Where: Seneca Falls, New York. For whom: the convention and the public. Why: to list women's complaints and demand their rights. Excerpt (Declaration of Sentiments; History of Woman Suffrage, 1881, p. 70): "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable [that cannot be taken away] rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." Limits: This text was printed in 1881, 33 years after the convention, by leaders of the movement.
The Declaration of Sentiments was signed by 100 of about 300 people at the convention. What does that allow Ren to say?
- It shows what the whole convention believed, since the convention met in one place
- It shows what the signers endorsed, not what the other attendees or women generally thought
- It shows the signers were not the leaders, since most people at the convention did not sign
- It shows what most women across the country wanted for themselves in 1848
Use this
Source card "Birmingham, April and May 1963, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: On April 10, 1963, a state court ordered the Birmingham protests to stop. On April 12, a group of about 50 people led by King marched anyway and were arrested. King wrote his letter on April 16 and spent eight days in jail. The letter was printed as a pamphlet and in magazines from May 1963. On May 10, 1963, Birmingham businesses agreed to desegregate their stores. Context: King's letter is still under copyright, so this sheet gives its events in our words and does not quote the letter.
The stores agreed to desegregate on May 10, about three weeks after King wrote the letter. What can Esme conclude?
- The agreement followed the letter, but the card does not show the letter caused it
- The agreement came before the letter was written, since stores acted early
- The letter caused the agreement, since the letter came first and the stores followed
- The agreement shows that the letter's argument was accepted by the businesses that signed
Use this
Source card "The Declaration of Sentiments makes its demand". Who made it: Elizabeth Cady Stanton with Mary Ann M'Clintock; signed by 100 women and men. When: July 1848. Where: Seneca Falls, New York. For whom: the convention and the public. Why: to list women's complaints and demand their rights. Excerpt (Declaration of Sentiments; History of Woman Suffrage, 1881, p. 71): "Now, in view of this entire disfranchisement [being kept from voting] of one-half the people of this country, ... we insist that they have immediate admission to all the rights and privileges which belong to them as citizens of the United States." Context: History of Woman Suffrage, which prints this text, was compiled by Stanton, Susan B. Anthony and Matilda Joslyn Gage and printed in 1881. Limits: The 1881 printing and the text on the National Park Service's site differ slightly in punctuation and a few words.
The strip puts the 1848 demand for the vote at Seneca Falls and the 19th Amendment in 1920. What can Ari conclude about the 72 years?
- The slow progress shows the movement stayed split over the vote, as it was at Seneca Falls
- The demand took 72 years to become an amendment; the strip does not show why
- The 13th Amendment delayed the 19th, since it came between them
- The demand was ignored for 72 years, since no one acted on it in that time