| Subject Areas |
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History and Social Studies
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U.S. History - Civics and U.S. Government |
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| Time Required |
| | Lesson 1: 1 class period or less
Lesson 2: 1 class period to introduce the challenge; 1-3 periods for group work
Lesson 3: 1 class period
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| Skills |
| | Primary document analysis
Research
Presentation skills
Collaboration |
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| Additional Data |
| | Date Created: 05/21/02 |
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| Date Posted |
| | 4/11/2002 |
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A Landmark Lesson: The United States Capitol Building
The United States Capitol is among the most architecturally impressive and symbolically
important buildings in the world. It has housed the meeting chambers of the Senate
and the House of Representatives for almost two centuries. Begun in 1793, the
Capitol has been built, burnt, rebuilt, extended, and restored; today, it stands
as a monument not only to its builders but also to the American people and their
government.
— The Architect
of the Capitol
Introduction
What makes the U.S. Capitol "symbolically important"?
Presented with a variety of archival documents, your students can answer that
question for themselves. Working in small groups, the students will uncover and
share the Capitol's story. The primary sources are presented to the students as
mysteries, with a challenge to tie together the information in the documents or
images through research.
Learning Objectives
After completing the lessons in this unit, students
will be able to: - List events in American history that have affected the
U.S. Capitol.
- Identify activities taking place in and around the Capitol.
Guiding Questions: What happens in and around the U.S. Capitol? What makes
it an important U.S. landmark?
Preparing to Teach this Lesson - Review each lesson in this unit and select appropriate
archival materials to use in class discussions. Bookmark them, if possible; download
and print out the selected documents and duplicate copies as necessary for student
viewing.
- Prepare the assignments for the student groups in Lesson
2. Make sure to include the picture captions and questions with the assignment.
- Establish your student groups with care. Groups of three students, if practical,
work well. Try to balance the talents of the students within the group, for example,
a strong reader, a computer person, and a good public speaker. If possible, assign
roles to the students such as secretary, researcher, and presenter — though
every student in the group should contribute to all phases of the assignment,
each student can be in charge of a specific area. The Group
5 assignment can be assigned to more than one group by selecting different
objects from The
Capitol Project of American Studies at the University of Virginia, a link
from the EDSITEment resource The
Center for Liberal Arts.
- Obtain background information on
the U.S. Capitol at Building
the Capitol for a New Nation, available on The
Library of Congress, a link from the EDSITEment resource American
Memory.
- The
Digital Classroom, available through EDSITEment, offers a series of worksheets
for analyzing primary source documents, including written documents and photographs,
that you may wish to use or adapt to help students in reviewing the materials
presented in this unit.
Suggested Activities
Lesson
1: Introducing...The U.S. Capitol
Lesson
2: Solving the Mystery: What Makes the Capitol So Important?
Lesson
3: Presenting ... The U.S. Capitol
Extending
the Lesson
Lesson 1 Introducing ... The U.S.
Capitol
Share with the class the vintage advertisement Quaker
Wheat Berries Advertisement, c. 1900, available on The
Library of Congress, a link from the EDSITEment resource American
Memory.
Ask the students to describe the advertisement. What is the
ad attempting to communicate about the product? What is the building in the ad?
What does it have to do with Quaker Wheat Berries?
What do the students
think about the idea of using the U.S. Capitol in an ad for breakfast cereal?
The Capitol is, after all, just a building. What is it about this building that
makes some people think it should be treated in a special way? Learning more about
what makes the Capitol special is the focus of this unit.
For a more
in-depth introduction to the U.S. Capitol, take your class on a U.S.
Capitol Virtual Tour — A "Capitol" Experience, available on The
Senate, a link from the EDSITEment resource Congresslink.
Lesson 2 Solving the Mystery: What
Makes the Capitol So Important?
Divide students into groups and
present each group with the challenges below. With the documents, distribute the
captions and questions as shown. If some groups finish earlier than others, you
may wish to add or subtract questions from the groups' assignments to create better
balance in their workloads.
Through the KidSpace of the EDSITEment-reviewed website Internet
Public Library, students can locate many relevant resources, including encyclopedias
and other reference materials. Other EDSITEment resources that contain background
information or documents that are potentially useful for specific challenges are
listed below with each assignment.
Group 1: What Has Happened In and Around the Capitol?
Explain to the
class what the following images of the Capitol have to do with important events
in U.S. history. Answer any question(s) accompanying an image. Make clear to the
class how these photographs show the Capitol is an important building. - Mural
in U.S. Capitol Building showing the burning of the Capitol in 1814. By Allyn
Cox, 1974, available on The
Digital Classroom
Why is the Capitol burning?
- The
Army of the Potomac Paraded Down Pennsylvania Avenue. By Matthew Brady, 1865,
available via a link from American
Memory
Why are these Union soldiers parading in 1865?
- Impeachment
ballot recording votes of senators in the trial of Andrew Johnson, May 1868,
available on The
Digital Classroom
This is a tally for a vote that took place in the Senate
in 1868. What was the vote about?
- U.S.
Capitol during blackout II. Horydczak, Theodor, ca. 1890-1971, photographer. March
1942, available on American
Memory
In this photo, taken after dark, there are no lights on in the
Capitol building. Why would all the lights be turned off in an important building
in 1942?
- President's
family leaves Capitol after ceremony., available on the JFK
Library, a link from The
Digital Classroom. Shown are Caroline Kennedy, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy,
John F. Kennedy, Jr. (2nd row) Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, Patricia Kennedy
Lawford (hidden) Jean Kennedy Smith (3rd Row) Peter Lawford. U.S. Capitol, East
Front, Washington, D.C.
What is the mood of the people shown in this photo?
What do you think was happening at the Capitol when this picture was taken? For
further information:
Group
2: What Happens in the U.S. Capitol?
Explain to the class what goes
on in the U.S. Capitol and what the following images have to do with the work
that takes place there. Make clear to the class how these photographs, all from
the EDSITEment resource American
Memory, demonstrate that the Capitol is an important building. For
further information:
Group 3: The U.S. Capitol and
Inaugurations
Show the class several of the following images of presidential
inaugurations that took place at the Capitol (all available from the EDSITEment
resource American Memory
unless otherwise noted). What clues can you find in each of the images to indicate
that a special event was taking place? What can you tell the class about the use
of the Capitol for Presidential inaugurations? - President
Lincoln's inauguration, available on the Library
of Congress, a link from American
Memory
- Inauguration
of President Wilson, second term, March 5, 1917
- President
Wilson, with top hat and speech in hand, delivering his inaugural address, March
5, 1917
- President
Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivering his inaugural address on the east portico
of the U.S. Capitol, January 20, 1941
- Chief
Justice Charles Evans Hughes administering the oath of office to Franklin Delano
Roosevelt on the east portico of the U.S. Capitol, January 20, 1941.
- Crowd
on Capitol grounds, attending inauguration of Lyndon B. Johnson, January 20, 1965.
- Lyndon
B. Johnson (left) being sworn in as President of the U.S. by Chief Justice Earl
Warren (right) as Lady Bird Johnson and Hubert Humphrey (center) look on, January
20, 1965
- Chief
Justice William Rehnquist administering the oath of office to Bill Clinton on
the west front of the U.S. Capitol, January 20, 1993.
- Bill
Clinton, standing between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton, taking the
oath of office of President of the U.S., January 20, 1993.
For further
information (all resources available on the EDSITEment resource American
Memory unless otherwise noted):
Group
4: The U.S. Capitol and Its Neighbors
Review the following images
from the EDSITEment resource American
Memory. What other important buildings are in the vicinity of the U.S. Capitol?
Tell a little bit about what happens in them. Create a diagram showing the location
of the Capitol and its neighbors and share it with the class. For further
information:
Group 5: What's Inside the U.S. Capitol?
The U.S. Capitol is said
to be one of the greatest museums of American art. Tell the class about some of
the art objects found there. Visit The
Capitol Project of American Studies at the University of Virginia, a link
from the EDSITEment resource The
Center for the Liberal Arts. Use the FIND function in the edit menu of your
browser to find an art object from your state.
Show the class the following
works of art, identify the subject, and explain why you think each object has
been placed in the Capitol. (Note: This assignment offers a representative list
of objects found in the Capitol. At The
Capitol Project Index, there is an exhaustive list of objects in the Capitol
with links to images of those objects. If desired, select objects that more closely
match your curriculum.) - Scene
at the Signing of the Constitution of the U.S. by Howard Chandler Christy (House
wing, east stairway)
See also the diagram
of the painting to identify the individuals depicted.
- Jefferson
Davis, Mississippi, statue by Augustus Lukewarm, Sc, 1928, 7'7" (Statuary Hall)
- Sam
Houston
- Andrew
Jackson
- Elizabeth
Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Lucretia Mott, statue by Adelaide Johnson, 1921,
(Crypt, first floor).
For further information:
Lesson 3 Presenting ... The U.S.
Capitol
After their investigations, have the student groups present
their findings to the class, using the archival materials as audio/visual aids.
If practical, allow groups to duplicate sufficient copies of a limited number
of images to make them available to class members to peruse. The purpose of the
presentations is to establish what makes the Capitol an American landmark. When
all the groups have completed their presentations, have the class discuss the
U.S. Capitol as a national symbol. What has made it such an important building?
Extending the Lesson - Do your students know that the first Congress
met in New York City in 1789? Some students might want to find out why the capital
(and therefore, the Capitol) of the U.S. is now located in Washington, D.C. To
research this, students can visit Washington
D.C. Became the Capital, or Locating
the U.S. Capital, both available via links from the EDSITEment-reviewed website
American Memory.
- Technically savvy students can create a "kid's guided tour" of the Capitol
(or any U.S. landmark) using Power Point, HyperCard or another similar program.
Many images of the Capitol are available on the EDSITEment
resources listed below.
- A 1792 contest determined the original
design of the U.S. Capitol. The winning entry was submitted by William Thornton,
an American doctor and amateur architect. Some of the designs entered in the original
competition are still in existence. Students can compare the alternate designs
to the capital as it now stands, using the following resources available on The
Library of Congress, a link from the EDSITEment resource American
Memory.
- This unit began with an image of
the Capitol in an advertisement. Have the students ever seen the Capitol represented
in an advertisement or used in a TV show or movie? Below are some vintage examples
from The Library of Congress,
a link from the EDSITEment resource American
Memory, which students can analyze. If possible, students should find additional
examples. Is such use of the Capitol appropriate? Should those who use the image
have to get permission? Should they have to pay for the right?
- Classes exploring the use of
national symbols in graphics may benefit from the activities in the complementary
EDSITEment lesson, The Statue
of Liberty: The Meaning and Use of a National Symbol
Selected EDSITEment Websites
-
American Memory
http://memory.loc.gov/
-
Library of Congress
http://lcweb.loc.gov/
-
The American President
http://www.americanpresident.org/
-
Center for the Liberal Arts
http://www.virginia.edu/cla/
-
The Capital Project of American Studies at the University of Virginia
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~CAP/cap_home.html
-
Congresslink
http://www.congresslink.org/
-
The Architect of the Capitol
http://www.aoc.gov/
-
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
http://bioguide.congress.gov/biosearch/biosearch.asp
- The House of Representatives
http://www.house.gov
-
The Senate
http://www.senate.gov
-
The Digital Classroom National Archives and Records Administration
http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/index.html
- The Internet Public
Library
http://www.ipl.org
-
Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids
http://bensguide.gpo.gov/3-5/symbols/capitol.html
- Biographical
Dictionary
http://www.s9.com/biography/
-
D.C. Pages
http://www.ipl.org/div/kidspace/stateknow/dc1.html
Other Resources
Recommended reading
from the Learning Page of American
Memory - Brill, Marlene Targ. Building
the Capital City. N.Y.: Children's Press, 1996.
- Fradin, Dennis
Brindell. From Sea to Shining Sea: Washington, D.C.
Chicago: Children's Press, 1992.
- Reynolds, Patrick M. A
Cartoon History of the District of Columbia. Willow Street, Pa.: The Red
Rose Studio, 1995.
Standards Alignment
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