- Imagine the Stamp Act was just passed and you have to write an op-ed supporting or disagreeing with it. What might you tell others to persuade them to join the Revolutionaries or support the Loyalists?
- Revolutionaries
- Loyalists/England
- Imagine that you are witness to the Boston Massacre, and you have to write an op-ed supporting the Revolutionaries, or the Loyalists. What might you tell others to persuade them to join your cause?
- Revolutionaries
- England/Loyalist
- Imagine you are a citizen of Boston, the day after the Boston Tea Party. Write an op-ed, taking a Loyalist or a Revolutionary perspective. Address how their opinions influence their views on the Boston Tea Party.
- Patriots:
- Colonial/Loyalist
- Write about the Declaration of Independence from a journalistic point of view. Keep in mind the time period. In your reading write from a Loyalist or a Revolutionaries point of view.
- Imagine that the south has just seceded, and you have to write an op-ed from the point of view of someone in the Union or the Confederacy. Keep in mind each side’s beliefs and what they would say to persuade an audience.
- Union
- Confederacy
- A Broadside Announcing South Carolina’s Secession from the Union
- A letter from a Georgian to the Former Governor of Massachusetts, Sharing Southern Reaction to Lincoln’s Election
- A Pamphlet with the Official Justification for South Carolina’s Secession
- South Carolina Declaration of Secession
- Image of Southern Politicians who Secede the United States, After Abraham Lincon is Elected President. As well as a description of the image.
- This Journalist Depicts Lincoln in a Negative Way Based off of his Physical Appearance, Which was Common from his Political Opponents.
- Imagine that the Emancipation Proclamation was just passed, and you have to write an op-ed agreeing with the Emancipation Proclamation or voicing your dissent. Keep in mind what you would say to persuade someone to join the Union or the Confederacy.
- Union
- Confederacy
- Imagine that you were in attendance at the Gettysburg Address. Write about the Gettysburg Address from a journalistic view that supports the Union or the Confederacy. Keep in mind the writers’ biases and how it can come into the writing.
- Union
- Confederacy/Not supporting of Abolition, or the Union
- The Pennsvania Patriot and Union Newspapers the Day After the Gettysburg Address
- Examiner wrote, “Lincoln had not really spoken but had acted the clown; the badinage which had passed between him and a member of the crowd was like the coarse jokes that might be indulged in by a Hunnish leader and his followers.” Also found in this article.
- A correspondent for the Times of London called the speech “dull and commonplace.” The Chicago Times claimed Lincoln insulted the fallen soldiers the ceremony was supposed to honor. Another critic, a Harrisburg newspaper, had harsher comments
- Imagine that President Lincoln was assassinated, and you have to write an op-ed voicing your opinion. Keep in mind the civil unrest at the time and the divided nation, and write from the perspective of either the Union or the Confederacy.
- Pro Lincoln
- Anti Lincoln
- Description Of Event
- Write an article from a journalistic point of view about how the Spanish Flu impacted everyday life. Keep in mind the time period and how drastic the pandemic was.
- Write an op-ed what citizens should during the pandemic. What might you tell others to persuade them to agree with you.
- Imagine that the Influenza epidemic is currently going on, and you have to write an article describing it impact on your life.
Sources:
Citizens of Alabama on the Spanish Flu
‘You Must Wash Properly.’ Newspaper Ads From the 1918 Flu Pandemic
Audio Report From Philadelphia On the Spanish Flu
Audio Report From Coal Miner From Kentucky On the Influenza Epidemic of 1918
11 Accounts on the Influenza Epidemic
Service Members on how the Influenza Epidemic Impacted them
How Influenza Impacted Immigrants from Entering the USA
Reports on how people tried to stop the Virus
Young women wear masks on shopping expeditions during Influenza Epidemic
Memorandum Regarding Sanitary Precautions
Spraying the Throat Against Influenza in Dallas, Texas
Traffic Cop in New York City- Wearing a Gauze Mask
Cincinnati barbers are wearing masks due to spread of Influenza
Physics class held outdoors during Influenza Epidemic
- Imagine that you are a soldier on the Western Front, and you are writing an op-ed on the war. Write from the perspective of either an Ally soldier or a soldier from the Central powers. Keep in mind their biases, and the conditions on the front.
- Allies
- Central Powers
- Both
- Imagine that you are a soldier on the Eastern front, and you are writing an op-ed on the war. Write from the perspective of either an Ally soldier or a soldier from the Central powers. Keep in mind their biases, and the conditions on the front.
- Imagine that the Treaty of Versailles was just signed and you have to write an op-ed agreeing or disagreeing with it. Keep in mind the 14 Points and what might you tell others to try and persuade them to agree with you.
- 14 Points
- Treaty of Versailles
- Imagine that you are living during the Stock Market Crash of 1929, and you have to write about your daily life after the crash. Keep in mind your life before the crash and how it has changed afterward.
- Write about the Dust Bowl from a journalistic point of view. Keep in mind the time period, and the condition of the nation.
- Image of “Heavy Black Clouds of Dust Rising over the Texas Panhandle”
- Letter from a Dust Bowl Survivor
- Dust Bowl Oral History
- Image of Family that had to Relocate due to the Dust Bowl, Along with a more in Depth Description of the Image
- Song Written at Firebaugh FSA Camp, on August 17, 1940, that Depicts the Hardships that People went Through During the Dust Bowl
- So Long, Its Been Good To Know Yuh (Dusty Old Dust) Words and Music by Woody Guthrie
- Write an op-ed agreeing or disagreeing with the use of atomic bombs from the point of view of a scientist working on the Manhattan project.
- Imagine that the United States just dropped “Little Boy” and “Fat Man,” and you have to write an op-ed agreeing or disagreeing with the use of atomic weapons on Japan. Keep in mind the hostile state of the world and foreign relations with Japan.
- United States/Pro-Bomb
- Japan/Anti-Bomb
- Write about the Nuremberg Trials from a historical perspective, and focus on how people from a different time period can learn from it, or its importance to the time period you are writing about.
- Imagine that the Nuremberg Trials have recently ended and you have to write an op-ed. Write about the punishments given and if they were justified or not. Keep in mind the horrific crimes committed in WWII.
- Allies
- Axis Power Leaders
- General Information
- Imagine that you are a US citizen during the Berlin Blockade, and you are writing an op-ed about the United States involvement in eastern Europe. Keep in mind the time period and what you would say to try and persuade others to agree.
- Russia
- USA
- Neither Side but Useful Political Cartoon
- Imagine that you are in the middle of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and you have to write an op-ed about what country you think is more in the wrong. What might you tell others to persuade them?
- Russia
- USA
- Imagine that the March on Washington is happening, and you have to write an op-ed agreeing or disagreeing with the March on Washington. What might you tell others to persuade them to join the Civil Rights movement or to reject it?
- Anti March on Washington
- Pro March on Washington
- March on Washington-Martin Luther King Jr
- MLK Addresses the Crowd at March on Washington
- Image of March on Washington
- I Have a Dream Speech Transcript
- Resolution from Massachuessts
- JFK Speech
- Transcript of JFK on the March on Washington
- Imagine that you were on the bus with Rosa Parks, and afterward, you have to write an op-ed supporting or disagreeing with Rosa Parks’ actions. Keep in mind the time period, what you would say to make others agree with you.
- Pro Civil Rights
- Pro Segregation
- Imagine that you are a student in the midst of Brown v. Board of Education, and you have to write an op-ed agreeing or disagreeing with the verdict. Keep in mind the time period and what you would say to persuade others.
- Pro
- Con
- Overall Cover; Neither Side
- Image that Captures 15-year-old Hazel Bryan’s Reaction to Elizabeth Eckford During the Desegregation of Central High in Little Rock
- Collection Of Newspapers Relating to the Little Rock Nine and Brown v. Board Of Education
- Nine from Little Rock, 1964 – Restored (Not a primary source, but could be useful to write about)
- Imagine that the Selma-Montgomery protests are going on, and you have to write an op-ed agreeing with the protests or disagreeing with them. What might you tell others to persuade them to join the civil rights movement, or to voice their dissent against the movements?