Manifest Destiny and Its Critics.pdf - Mr. Mermelstein's classes

Part 3: Analyzing the Secondary SourcesThe Secondary SourcesNote to the teacher: This next section includes passages from two secondary source accounts dealingwith Manifest Destiny, along with two activities on these sources. We suggest you first discuss the briefcomment “Analyzing Secondary Sources” just above the first of the two secondary sources. Discuss thefour criteria the first activity asks students to use in analyzing each secondary source. These criteria focusstudents on the nature of historical accounts as 1) problem-centered, 2) based on evidence, 3) influencedby point of view and not purely neutral, and 4) tentative or aware of alternative explanations.Specifically, this section includes the following:• Two secondary source passagesGive copies of these passages to students to read, either in class or as homework. The twopassages are from Throes of Democracy: The American Civil War Era, 1829–1877, by WalterA. McDougall (New York: HarperCollins, 2008), and Manifest Destiny, by David S. Heidler andJeanne T. Heidler (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2003).• Two student activitiesActivity 1Students analyze the two passage taking notes on the following questions:• How clearly does the account focus on a problem or question?• Does it reveal a position or express a point of view?• How well does it base its case on primary source evidence?• How aware is it of alternative explanations or points of view?Activity 2In pairs, students select two of the primary sources for the lesson that best support eachauthor’s claims in the secondary source passages. Students discuss their choices withthe class.Manifest Destiny and Its Critics | The Historian’s Apprentice 29