Teacher: Becky Whittemore Title: Downfall of Boss Tweed Subject: U.S. History Topic: Tammany Hall Grade: 11th Grade

Lesson Duration: 2 days School: ACHS Education Designs Lesson/ Unit Plan Lesson Summary: Students will engage in research to examine the corruption of the political (A short 3-5 sentence machine, Tammany Hall. They will focus on one specific boss, Boss summary of the lesson Tweed. They will use primary sources, including photographs, articles, and how it will be and political cartoons, to examine the corrupt activities and downfall of delivered) Boss Tweed. National Standards Era 6 for History Era: Link The Development of the Industrial United States (1870-1900) Standard(s): 5. Analyze the civic contributions and responsibilities of Americans State, Local or National to the ongoing democratic process. (C, H)

Themes/Concept: Individuals, Groups, and Institutions

Essential questions 1. How did Thomas Nast play a role in breaking the power of Boss (2-5 questions) Tweed? (What you want the 2. Why was Tweed more disturbed by political cartoons about him, students to know) rather than newspaper articles? 3. What might have happened if citizens had not begun to speak out and criticize Tweed? Elements (What you The students will see that change can be begin with anyone, not just want the students to lawmakers. Also, they will understand the concept of rule of law – that is, understand) no one is above the law, no matter how wealthy or powerful he is.

Launch Activity Distribute various political cartoons dealing with Boss Tweed and (Hook) Tammany Hall. Have students attempt to determine the message of the cartoonists. At the end of this lesson, revisit the cartoons to see if the students now understand the purpose of the cartoons.

Knowledge & Skills Tammany Hall Political machine Skills: William Marcy Tweed Political cartoon *Use primary sources (People, Places, times Thomas Nast *Interpreting and vocabulary-what documents the student should be *Drawing conclusions able to do. What skills will they use?)

Lesson Methodology (How will you conduct the lesson; activities…?) *Distribute cartoons for students to analyze. *Begin the lesson by asking students if they think there is corruption in government (any level) today. *Define the terms, political machine and political boss. *Explain the role of William Marcy Tweed within the machine. Discuss what he did to become both powerful and wealthy and how his actions affected the taxpayers of New York City. * Have students locate newspaper articles and political cartoons dealing with Boss Tweed. These sources would be written/drawn by citizens who were fed up with Tweed’s activities. *Determine if these sources had an impact on the way Tweed was viewed by his constituents. *Explain how the work of these citizens caused law enforcement to take action against Tweed.

TEducation Designs At the conclusion of this lesson, the teacher can reinforce how change/action can begin with anyone.

Assessment Evidence: What evidence will show that students met the learning goal? Traditional Assessment (Quizzes, Test, Selected Responses) Chapter Test or Section Quiz, participation in class discussions Authentic Assessment (Performance Tasks, Rubrics, Projects, Dialogues, Portfolio, etc.,) Have students compile a folder containing political cartoons and newspaper articles which helped lead to the downfall of Boss Tweed. This folder could also contain articles covering the conviction of Boss Tweed. Student Self-Assessment After completion of this lesson, have students draw their own political cartoons on this lesson.

Differentiation Associated with this unit Extended time allowed to finish work, small group work

Resources and instructional tools: (Including Video Sources, Text Resources, Research Strategy) Textbook, computer/internet, primary source documents, cartoons

Cartoons: http://www.jatticus.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/031008_1... http://www.upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/B http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tweed-le-de-n-Tilden-dum.jpg http://www.printsoldandrare.com/thomasnast/216tnast.jpg

TEducation Designs