MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE LESSON PLAN WITH PRIMARY SOURCES By Dr. Jeffrey D. Nokes Associate Professor Department of History Brigham Young University (2017) 2 Mountain Meadows Massacre Lesson Background The Mountain Meadows Massacre is not only a significant event in the westward expansion of the United States, but it provides an interesting study of group psychology and on getting along with people of different cultures. In addition, the process of sifting through conflicting accounts can help students develop critical reading and historical thinking skills. Continued debates about the event provide students with space, within which to develop their own interpretations. Objectives 1. Students will use sourcing, corroboration, and contextualization to analyze evidence. 2. Students will use evidence to develop an interpretation of the causes of the Mountain Meadows Massacre. 3. Students will consider strategies for settling disagreements civilly. Time These materials are expected to take approximately 90 minutes of instructional time. Teachers could reduce the time required to teach this lesson by assigning students to read the background material outside of class or by using fewer documents than the 11 included. Materials 1. Student Background Information: This provides students with simplified background information needed to analyze the documents related to the Mountain Meadows Massacre. The information is presented as eight items that most historians would agree on and four competing interpretations of the causes and specific events of the massacre. 2. Student Graphic Organizer: This worksheet is designed for students to keep a record as they analyze documents, supporting their use of sourcing. 3. Document Packet for Students: A collection of eleven documents related to the Mountain Meadows Massacre, six written by LDS sources and five by non-LDS sources. These documents have all been translated into simpler language, written at the 7th grade level. 4. Teacher Background Materials: These materials mirror the Student Background Information, however the teacher materials are written in a more complex way and describe events and conditions in greater detail than the simple materials given to students so that teachers will have a deeper understanding of the event. 5. Original Documents: This is a collection of unedited excerpts of the eleven documents included in the students’ document packet. These are made available in case students or the teacher want to compare the modified documents given to the students to the original documents. 6. Teacher Materials for the Debriefing: These materials provide additional information about historians’ most recent interpretations of the causes of the massacre, used to guide students’ during their development of interpretations and during the debriefing. 3 Preparation • Review the teacher materials to build background knowledge on the massacre. • Make a classroom set of the Student Background Information papers and the Document Packet for Students. • Make a copy of the Student Graphic Organizer “What caused the Mountain Meadows Massacre?” for each student. • Consider appropriate groups of students that would allow those with greater skills in reading and historical thinking to help those with weaker skills. Also consider the sensitive nature of the topic in forming groups. Procedures 1. Provide students with background knowledge on the Mountain Meadows Massacre. This can be done through a brief lecture with the accompanying PowerPoint slides, or it can be accomplished by having students independently read and discuss their Student Background Information sheets. Be certain that students distinguish between (a) the eight things almost all historians agree on and (b) the four interpretations that historians debate. 2. Explain to students the instructions for completing the Student Graphic Organizer. These instructions are found in the paragraph directly above the graphic organizer. Model for students your thought processes as you analyze the source of the first document, showing them how to complete the graphic organizer as you do. For example, as you start by reading the source, you might say: “Let’s think about this statement that comes from Sarah Baker. She was one of the 17 survivors of the massacre. She was just 22 months old at the time of the massacre, and she did not give her account until she was 86. That is 84 years after the massacre occurred. This gives me some doubts about the source because I wonder about her memory of the event, especially because she was so young when it happened. Then again, this source has value because it is one of the few non-Mormon accounts of what happened from an eye witness. And I think an experience like that might stick in your memory forever.” 3. You might model completing the graphic organizer by projecting something like this for students to see: document source, strengths of the weaknesses of How does this How does this audience, evidence the evidence evidence support evidence purpose any of the weaken any of theories the theories Doc 1 Sarah Baker Eye witness 84 years later Mitchell, non-Mormon 22 months old surviving child, at the time. to a MA. Newspaper to tell her story before she died. 4. Continue reading the document, pausing to analyze it as you go. For example, you might make the following observations for students: 4 o When Mitchell talks about the history of Mormon persecution in Missouri and hardships crossing the plains these are events that she was not an eye-witness of so she is sharing things she has learned after the massacre took place. o Mitchell’s statement includes things that a two-year-old would not pay attention to or know about—things she would have learned about from others after the massacre. For these things, she is a secondary source rather than a primary source. o Mitchell is surprisingly sympathetic to the Mormon’s experience—she is not bitter toward them. This makes her account seem less biased. o She admits that some of what she talks about is “what she was told growing up.” o She encourages the reader to make up his/her own mind about what happened. 5. You might project this information to show how students can complete their graphic organizer. document source, strengths of the weaknesses of How does this How does this audience, evidence the evidence evidence support evidence purpose any of the weaken any of theories the theories Doc 1 Sarah Baker Eye witness 84 years later Rich wagon train It doesn’t Mitchell, non-Mormon. 22 months old theory surviving She doesn’t at the time. child, to a MA. appear bitter Much of her Newspaper to toward account is tell her story Mormons. “what she was before she told” died. 6. Depending on the students’ reaction to the first document and their understanding of the process of historical analysis, you can model the analysis of the second document as you did the first one. Or you might have students work with a partner to analyze the second document, then regroup as a class and discuss what they came up with. You might display the next line of the graphic organizer and see whether the students came up with the same ideas you did. document source, strengths of the weaknesses of How does this How does this audience, evidence the evidence evidence support evidence purpose any of the weaken any of theories the theories Doc 2 LDS historians Trained LDS Anger and Fear It doesn’t Turley, historians with employees Theory, Rich Walker, and access to more may not Wagon Train Leonard in evidence. Say criticize LDS Theory 2008. Give the Mormons did leaders. Not modern “terrible things” eye-witnesses. Mormon (less biased) perspective 7. Once you are confident the students understand the process you can give them time to work in teams on the remaining documents, circulating as they work to give support as needed. Give students time to answer the question at the bottom of their graphic organizer about what caused the massacre. 5 8. After all of the documents have been analyzed, bring the entire class back together for a debriefing session. Ask the students questions like the following and allow them to discuss and respectfully critique others’ responses. • Which theory do you agree with most, or do you have a different theory about what caused the Mountain Meadows Massacre? • Which documents did you trust the most? Which did you trust the least? (You could even have them rank the documents from 1 to 10 in trustworthiness). • What were some of the things that made documents seem more trustworthy to you? What made them see less trustworthy? • Why does so much controversy still surround the Mountain Meadows Massacre? What is it about the evidence that makes this event hard for historians to study? 9. At the conclusion of the debriefing, you might point out some of the findings of the most recent scholarship on the Mountain Meadows Massacre, included in the Teacher Materials for the Debriefing. 10. Conclude the activity with a discussion about the importance of getting along with people who differ from us in politics, culture, religion, race, etc., and the dangers of a mob mentality. Talk about possible solutions for the disagreements between the Mormon settlers and the emigrants, even when they both wanted the same grazing land or supplies. Talk about specific strategies that can be used in current situations where disagreements exist, such as building on common ground, being as vigilant in defending others rights as we are in defending our own, listening—really listening to others’ opinions, recognizing that smart and moral people sometimes disagree, avoiding “othering,” etc. Assessments 1. Use the first three columns of the graphic organizer to assess students’ sourcing—their ability to use source information to critically analyze the content of a document, and corroboration—their ability to cross check information across multiple sources 2.