Illinois, From a Prairie to a State
Lucinda D. Miller & Kelly Wojcik
Thomas Metcalf Lab School
Summer 2005
Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division
This series of lessons is an exploration of the early history of Illinois in preparation for the Illinois Constitution Test.
Overview/ State Standards /Resources/Procedures/Evaluation
Overview Back to Navigation Bar Objectives Students will: Identify and locate the counties and rivers of Illinois. Analyze the settlement patterns in the context of geographic push and pull factors. Empathize with Illinois pioneers and their various hardships. Organize the events that led to Illinois becoming a state. Recognize the geographic and cultural factors that lead to political changes, such as the movement of the state capital.
Recommended time frame 4 days Grade level 8th Curriculum fit Illinois History Component Preparation for the Illinois Constitution Test
Resources Image table HR Document Notes HR40 Document Analysis Sheet HR53 Document Analysis Sheet Push v. Pull worksheet Letter from Illinois Rubric Directions for Timeline Timeline of Illinois Statehood Rubric
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Illinois State Learning Standards Back to Navigation Bar Social Science: GOAL 16: Understand events, trends, individuals and movements shaping the history of Illinois, the United States and other nations. 16.B. Understand the development of significant political events. 16.D. Understand Illinois, United States, and world social history.
GOAL 17: Understand world geography and the effects of geography on society, with an emphasis on the United States. 17.C. Understand relationships between geographic factors and society.
Procedures Back to Navigation Bar Day One: Geography of Illinois A. Students will begin with a geographic introduction to the state of Illinois by examining a map by John Melish(1818). http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r? ammem/gmd:@filreq(@field(NUMBER+@band(g4100+c t000892))+@field(COLLID+gnrlmap)) B. They will use the Primary Source Analysis Sheet Map Comparison and then discuss with the class what they can learn from the map. C. Students will then define and discuss push and pull factors in groups (using the Push v. Pull Worksheet), sharing their findings and developing a class list D. Students will then add information to transparencies that will be placed on top of the map to illustrate the other components. They will begin by looking at the settlement patterns http://www.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/athome/1800/maps/ index.html. Before drawing on transparency, this map should be analyzed using the same Primary Source Analysis Sheet Map Comparison. Students will discuss rationale for this type of settlement in small groups and then share with the class. They will draw these settlement patterns on an overhead transparency that fits over the 1818 map.
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E. Next students will look at a map of the counties of Illinois. This map should also be analyzed using the Primary Source Analysis Sheet Map Comparison. They will draw and label the counties onto a transparency that fits on top of the 1818 map. The class should discuss the reason for counties and their usefulness today. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/maps/illinois_map.html Students should also compare this modern map of counties with a 1861 map of the same content at http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r? ammem/gmd:@field(NUMBER+@band(g4100+rr002050) ) Before drawing on transparency, this map should be analyzed using the same Primary Source Analysis Sheet Map Comparison.
Day Two: Settlement of Illinois A. Students will read selections from Morris Birbeck’s letters about settlement in Illinois. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi- bin/query/r? ammem/fawbib:@field(DOCID+@lit(bbf0058)) B. Students will also read a letter Joseph Bowman wrote to George Brinker describing events that occurred in the first few weeks after the expedition to the Illinois country led by George Rogers Clark. Bowman supplies details of the capture at Kaskaskia of Commandant Philippe Rocheblave and the surrender of Cahokia. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi- bin/query/r? ammem/fawbib:@field(DOCID+@lit(cmc0018)) C. Students will review the concepts of push/pull factors by identifying the factors that Birbeck identifies in his letters, using the Push v. Pull worksheet. D. Students will hypothesize the location Birbeck settled based on his letters. E. Students will analyze the provisions for claims to land in the territory of Illinois, HR 40, January 18, 1816, using the HR Document Notes. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi- bin/ampage? collId=llhb&fileName=046/llhb046.db&recNum=82 F. Students will then write a brief letter home from the perspective of a settler to Illinois. See Push v. Pull worksheet for assignment details. G. Students will share their letters with the class.
Day Three: From a Territory to a State A. Students will analyze HR 53, January 23, 1818 An Adventure of the American Mind Illinois State University Illinois, From a Prairie to a State 4
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage? collId=llhb&fileName=047/llhb047.db&recNum=184, using the HR Document Notes. B. Using the list of resources below, students will create a timeline of the journey from a territory to a state. Timeline: From a Territory to a State a. A Home in the Heartland Online http://www.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/athome/ind ex.html b. The State of Illinois Website http://www100.state.il.us/facts/history.cfm
Day Four: Early Statehood A. Next students will mark the various capitals (Kaskaskia, Vandalia, and Springfield) of Illinois and the dates they became capitals on a new transparency over the map of 1818. Using the primary resources below, students should illustrate this transparency with unique features of each capital. Students will then develop a rationale for the movement of the capitals, using the previously developed maps and these sources. Photograph of the first Illinois state house at Kaskaskia, by Chicago Daily News, http://memory.loc.gov/cgi- bin/query/r? ammem/cdn:@field(NUMBER+@band(ichicdn+n063723) ) Letter to Lincoln, remembering time spent in Vandalia, http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage? collId=mal&fileName=mal1/397/3975600/malpage.db&re cNum=0 Springfield capitol building http://memory.loc.gov/cgi- bin/query/r? ammem/ncpsbib:@field(DOCID+@lit(ABS1821-0001- 115_bib))
Evaluation Back to Navigation Bar A. Settlement Pattern Transparency B. Illinois County Transparency C. Illinois Capital’s Transparency D. HR Document Notes E. Push v. Pull worksheet F. Letter from Illinois Rubric G. Timeline of Illinois Statehood Rubric H. Illinois History and Constitution test
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An Adventure of the American Mind Illinois State University