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Shaping The World: Conversations on Democracy
produced in conjunction with
Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest
Teacher Resources and Lesson
Plans are available for each of the Conversations
programs to help students
http://www.poplarforest.org/democracy.html
"Indulge in Jefferson's
Favorite Pursuits...Reading, Studying, Thinking"
Links are listed for each program below. |
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Episode 1
(Jefferson/Adams) |
Episode 2 (Jefferson/Lafayette)
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Episode 3 (Jefferson/Lewis)
Episode 4 (1804 Debate)
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Episode 5 (Jefferson/Washington)
| Episode 6
(Jefferson/Napoleon) |
Episode 7 (Jefferson /Burr)
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Episode 1-A Conversation with Thomas Jefferson
and John Adams
Students and teachers
can join a conversation between two friends and past
presidents of the United States: John Adams, second
president, and Thomas Jefferson, third president.
In this interchange
between Jefferson and Adams students will have the
opportunity to learn more about the men, and their
differing opinions on a variety of democratic
issues, their work on the Declaration of
Independence, the election of 1800, their roles as
ambassadors abroad, their tenure as Presidents
residing in the White House, and their views and
concerns for the country.
Teacher Resources
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Episode 2-A Conversation with Thomas Jefferson
and Marquis de Lafayette
Students and teachers
can join a conversation between Thomas Jefferson and
the Marquis de Lafayette as students from Forest
Middle School engage the two men on the topics of
the American Revolution, Lafayette's role in that
revolution, Jefferson's years in France as the U.S.
Minister, the French Revolution, their military and
political careers, and their views on the meaning of
democracy and advice for the future.
In this interchange
between Jefferson and Lafayette, students will have
the opportunity to learn more about the men and
their opinions on a variety of democratic issues,
their work on the American Declaration of
Independence and the French Declaration of the
Rights of Man and of the Citizen and their views and
concerns for their respective countries.
Teacher Resources
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Episode 3-The Object of Our Mission:
Thomas Jefferson Confers with Meriwether Lewis
In this interchange with
President Jefferson and Captain Lewis, students have
the opportunity to learn more about the
extraordinary journey into what Jefferson called the
"Mysterious West." Seventh graders from Central
Academy Middle School query Jefferson and Lewis on
the reasons for the expedition, the secret message
to Congress, the instructions and preparation for
the journey, the members of the Corps of Discovery,
the Native Americans encountered, the plants and
animals of the west, and the day to day life of
being in uncharted territory.
Teacher Resources
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Episode 4-The Presidential
Debate 1804
The
presidential election of 1804 would be the first
conducted under the 12th Amendment which
was ratified in June 1804. Previously whichever
presidential candidate received the second highest
electoral vote became vice president. The new
amendment mandated separate ballots for the office
of president and vice president.
In this program students will have the opportunity to
learn more about the 1804 candidates, the political
issues of the time, the events of the day and other
concern of the country as Thomas Jefferson, Charles
Cotesworth Pinckney and their vice presidential
running mates present their credentials and platform
for consideration for the highest offices in the
United States. The candidates are interviewed by
students from Altavista High School.
Teacher Resources
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Episode 5-Thomas
Jefferson Talks with George Washington
In answering a semi-official questionnaire circulated in 1780
by Francois Marbois, secretary of the French
legation at Philadelphia (a document that would
become Jefferson's first and only published book,
Notes on the State of Virginia), Jefferson wrote
about George Washington:
"In war we have produced a Washington, whose memory will be
adored while liberty shall have votaries, whose name
will triumph over time, and will in future ages
assume its just station among the most celebrated
worthies of the world..."
Students and teachers can join a conversation
between Thomas Jefferson and George Washington as
fifth grade students from GO Center at Robert S.
Payne Elementary interview the two men on a variety
of topics that include the American Revolution,
their military and political careers, and their
views on the meaning of democracy. In this
interchange between Jefferson and Washington,
students have the opportunity to learn more about
the men, their opinions on a variety of democratic
issues, their views on women and slavery,
Washington's Presidency and their innovative farming
practices on their plantations.
Jefferson thought highly of Washington and would
later reference him in his first Inaugural Address
(1801) as "Our first and greatest revolutionary
character, whose preeminent services have entitled
him to the first place in his country's love, and
destined for him the fairest page in the volume of
faithful history."
Teacher Resources
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Episode 6-Thomas
Jefferson In Conversation With Napoleon Bonaparte
Jefferson writing about Napoleon
and his activities abroad stated, "After
destroying the liberties of his country, he has
exhausted all its resources, physical and moral, to
indulge his own maniac ambition, his own tyrannical
and overbearing spirit..."
Napoleon on the other hand would refute such notions
exclaiming that, "Such work as mine is not done
twice in a century. I saved the Revolution as it lay
dying, I have cleansed it of its crimes and have
held it up to the people shining with fame. I
inspired France and Europe with new ideas which will
never be forgotten."
Thomas Jefferson and Napoleon Bonaparte are
interviewed by students from Amherst Middle School.
Among other things, their answers explore the roles
of democratic principles and dictatorship. Students
and teachers can join this conversation and learn
more about these two men, their early years,
education, careers, the American and French
Revolutions, their thoughts on democracy and
dictatorship, and their views on their country's
future.
Teacher Resources
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Episode 7- NEW FOR 2007
President Thomas Jefferson And Former Vice President
Aaron Burr: People, Places and Politics
They were both
Democratic-Republicans -- Thomas Jefferson, born in
Virginia; Aaron Burr, in New Jersey. They both were
men of brilliant intelligence. They both played
roles in the American Revolution, one yielding the
pen, the other fighting the war. Both were lawyers
turned politicians to better serve their nation.
Both were controversial.
In the presidential election of 1800, Jefferson and
Burr would tie at 73 electoral votes. On the 36th
ballot in the House of Representatives Jefferson was
elected President and Burr Vice President. Aaron
Burr would serve as Vice President from 1801 - 1805.
Believing Alexander Hamilton responsible for a
smear-campaign and ferocious assassination on his
character, Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel. On
July 11, 1804 Burr's shot proved fatal and he was
charged with the crime of murder in New York and New
Jersey. Following his tenure as Jefferson's Vice
President, Burr visits the American West and finds
himself the center of an accusation of treason. In
January 1807, President Jefferson issued a
proclamation calling for Burr's arrest. Burr is
acquitted on September 1, 1807 of the treason charge
and in December on the misdemeanor charge.
Students from Appomattox Middle School will confront
these two men, seeking to find answers that give us
insight into their lives, their roles in the
American Revolution and the new government, and into
those dark days known as The Burr Conspiracy.
Students and teachers can join this conversation and
learn more about these two men, their early years,
education, careers, their roles in the American
Revolution and the American Government, their
thoughts on democracy, and their views on their
country's future.
Teacher Resources
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