Great Films and How They Shaped American Politics: Manifest Destiny in Texas Aurora Terry Lanier Middle School INTRODUCTION Manifest Destiny is the idea that the United States was destined to be a two-ocean country. U.S. presidents, including Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, and James K. Polk, helped bring this idea to fruition. These presidents went to great lengths to make the geography of the United States the size that it is today. The consequences of this westward push were very severe, including war and the near extermination of the Native American people. Over time, the American people have tried to justify these actions. They say that history is written by the victors, and this is definitely the case when we consider what “necessary evils” were committed in order to assimilate the lands of the United States of America. The justifications behind these aggressive actions have been portrayed historically in many different ways, especially in the movies. There are many different films that have shown both sides of the story of Manifest Destiny, and they are a great way for students to explore early American politics. The focus of the unit is Manifest Destiny in Texas. Although westward expansion was not limited to Texas, the state became a microcosm of the process between 1836 and 1895. I teach seventh-grade Texas History, so this unit will be perfect for teaching the broad subject of U.S. expansion while illustrating its effects on the state of Texas. By being presented through film specific examples and stories of the effects of Manifest Destiny on their home state, students will be inculcated with a greater sense of relevancy of the subject matter. They will be able to associate annexation, the treatment of the Native Americans, and the Mexican War with United States expansion. Students will analyze the role of Texas in the successful westward growth of the United States. My seventh-grade students at Lanier Middle School are vanguard/gifted and talented students who will benefit from being shown both sides of the story and forming their own conclusions about the justifications made by the United States. Students will be presented with Native American, Mexican, and U.S. versions of events and make deductions based on the different bias presented. Gifted and talented students prefer to analyze and make their own assumptions about history as opposed to being told how they should view a historical event. This is why I believe that presenting them with films that each show a different view of Manifest Destiny will allow them to evaluate both the biases of the contrasting viewpoints, and to decide if the end justified the means as it pertains to this era of history. OBJECTIVES TEKS: Social Studies 7 The students will: Social Studies Skills - Analyze information about Texas. - Identify cause and effect relationships. - Draw inferences and conclusions. 122 Houston Teachers Institute - Identify differing points of view on a given issue. - Support a point of view on a particular issue in Texas History. - Analyze written, oral, and visual material about events and issues to determine the presence of bias. - Establish possible criteria for determining the validity of a source. - Create written and visual presentations of social studies information. History - Identify the age of annexation/statehood. - Identify major eras in Texas History - Describe defining characteristics, events, and individuals from eras in Texas History. - Identify the importance of 1845. - Analyze the issues and problems facing the Republic of Texas. - Identify Manifest Destiny, Texas annexation and statehood, and border disputes as issues and events related to the outbreak of the Mexican War. - Analyze the significance of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. - Identify and describe factors that led to the expansion of the Texas frontier. - Summarize the effects of westward expansion on Native Americans. Geography - Interpret data about geographic distributions and patterns in historic Texas. - Analyze how human factors have affected events in Texas. - Analyze the effects of the changing population distribution in Texas. - Analyze how immigration has influenced Texas. - Analyze why immigrant groups came to Texas and where they settled. RATIONALE Middle school is a big change for students. Up to this point, their educational experiences have been centered more on lower-level thinking skills, or the bottom two to three cognitive levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Throughout elementary school students have been asked to recall, recognize, memorize, identify, discuss, and classify information (the knowledge and understanding levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy). On occasion they have reached the third level of cognitive skills, application, which has encouraged students to demonstrate, illustrate, write, etc. There has been very little opportunity for them, due to their developmental group, to apply the higher-level thinking skills that employ analysis, criticism, formulation, development, assessment, and defensive postures, that is analysis, synthesis, and evaluation on Bloom’s Taxonomy. The seventh grade is a key turning point in students’ developmental processes because they are encouraged to practice and use higher-level thinking skills. This curricular unit will give them a chance to apply their previous knowledge and to expand upon and challenge their critical thinking skills. By presenting students with multiple points of view and allowing them to draw their own conclusions about history, we encourage the development of their cognitive skills. Students in middle school are expected to have these skills refined and ready for them, so that they are able to perform and succeed at the high school level. Manifest Destiny is an abstract concept, and middle school students struggle with abstract concepts. Using specific examples, such as the treatment and removal of Native Americans, the annexation of Texas, and the Mexican War as concrete illustrations of the abstract concept of Manifest Destiny, we will foster the growth of the middle- school mind. By incorporating different aspects of history under the umbrella of Manifest Destiny, we broaden students’ understanding of history and allow them to comprehend the causes and effects of U.S. actions through history while encouraging higher-level thinking skills. The use of film in the lessons will be an effective way to attract the attention of students. The visuals and inconspicuous bias presented will allow the students to analyze and explore their own personal feelings about issues. Aurora Terry 123 UNIT BACKGROUND In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century a few people from the United States began to make their way to Texas. The people who moved to Texas were generally hard working citizens who were hoping to be able to build a new life in a place where land was abundant and relatively cheap. In 1820, Moses Austin came to San Antonio seeking an empresario contract from the Spanish government. This contract would allow him to recruit settlers, bring them to Texas, build a settlement, and divide out the land allotted in the contract (Richardson 57). He was granted permission to establish a colony of 300 families in Texas. Before Moses Austin was able to fulfill the contract, Mexico won its independence from Spain, and because Texas was now part of the Mexican nation, the validity of Austin’s contract was in question. Moses Austin died in 1821, before he was able to renegotiate a contract with the new Mexican government. His son Stephen Austin took over his father’s role as empresario, gained permission from the Mexican government, and brought The Old Three Hundred to Texas. Part of the empresario contract that Austin agreed to demanded that all settlers obey the laws of the newly established Mexican government in the form of the constitution of 1824. Texas became part of the state of Coahuila y Texas under this new constitution. A clause in the constitution established the Roman Catholic Church as the official church of the nation and prohibited slavery. Colonists were required by law to give satisfactory evidence of their Catholic faith, but were allowed to keep their slaves for a term of ten years (Richardson 68). Colonists largely ignored the demands of the Mexican government and continued to practice their Protestant religion and keep strong ties to the United States. Due to clashes between colonists and the government, the Law of April 6, 1830, was created as an attempt to prevent rebellion or independence movements among colonists in Texas. The law stated that no more citizens from the United States could move into Texas; it suspended all pending empresario contracts, provided for the establishment of military posts, prohibited any more slaves from entering the territory of Texas, and demanded that colonists become subject to all taxes. The people of Mexican Texas were very disgruntled by the new laws, especially taxation, because they had largely been exempt up until this point. Trouble began when the colonists in Texas started violating the Law of April 6, 1830. Many military disturbances occurred throughout Texas in 1832 as government officials tried to force colonists to pay taxes and obey the laws. In 1835, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna became the military dictator of Mexico and revoked the federal constitution of 1824 and replaced it with Siete Leyes, a centralized government. The activities of the new government alarmed and disgusted many Texans. Many people favored war and independence. The first violent action that led directly to revolution happened in Anahuac in 1835. A consultation was called together in November of 1835, and the delegates present drafted and voted on a declaration of independence (Richardson 106). This document officially started the Texas Revolution. There were many reasons for the revolution of Texas. Some of these reasons include the despotic government of Mexico, the close ties to the United States by Texan colonists, the issue of slavery, cultural and ethnic differences, and the failure of Mexico to establish a stable and democratic government (Richardson 100).