The ultimate challenge in teaching American History is that the revolutionary ideals at the heart of our founding documents were hypocritical and flawed. The Constitution’s inspirational rhetoric stands at direct odds to what my African American students see as their forefathers’ own lived experiences. That “all men are created equal” really meant all white landowning, males is a bitter pill to swallow. The flaws and inconsistencies of the Constitution are not just roadblocks to student understanding, but opportunities to live out our creed and shape the nation in their own mold.


The Constitution sets forth a noble goal: “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union…” This bold proclamation firmly entrenches two beliefs: First, that the government is created by the people of this nation, and second, that our democracy is fluid as we aim to perfect our nation. These two guiding principals illustrate the importance of studying the Constitution and guide how I teach history. The Constitution serves as the backbone for my students’ exploration of American History.


Beginning in the seventh grade, my class explores colonial life and the rallying cry of “no taxation without representation”, through the formation of our nation. Indeed, the first year of my two-year course centers on civics and how the Constitution was interpreted and implemented through the end of the 19th Century. From investigating the Constitution, my students understand the framework of how our American democracy works. But they also, through explorations of the slave trade and the Civil War, understand the shortcomings of the application of these ideals and rights to the broader citizenry.


My eighth grade students spend an entire term investigating the Civil Rights Movement. In tackling these modern issues, students begin to realize how we have progressed towards the ideal of “a more perfect union.” In fact, we recently debated whether or not the 14th amendment should be revered as the most important component of the Constitution. Stemming from our historical investigations, a few astute students brought up how the current gay rights issue coming before the Supreme Court is not unlike the struggle of the Civil Rights Movement. They posited that since the 14th Amendment was previously used to extend rights to African Americans and women, why not apply it more broadly to homosexual or transgender individuals. Their insightful interpretation of the Constitution speaks directly to the culture I foster in my class and the importance of teaching the Constitution in middle school.


President Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.” This incredibly poignant maxim is at the root of my students’ exploration of American History. Through all its flaws and hypocrisies the United States Constitution still stands as a beacon for freedom in this nation.


Understanding the past and instilling a sense of civic pride and responsibility is how you achieve a better democracy, and indeed a better nation. It will be up to my students to take up the mantle for freedom and use their historical and Constitutional knowledge to shape this nation in their own image, to make this nation one in which they are proud to live, and one in which we continue our march towards a more perfect union.

As we wind our way closer to Thanksgiving break and the end of the first trimester at Harlem Academy, my seventh and eighth grade Junior Historians are hard at work on their final assessment of the term. Next week we will be taking final exams, covering all material since September, but today we focus on the American Revolutionary War and the Civil Rights movement in the early 1960s. Both assessments challenge the students to defend a given thesis both by rote and in utilizing a given source document. 

Try your hand at a Junior Historians' assessment. 

The hardest part in selecting a primary source is finding one that is engaging, clear, and historically relevant. It's also the most important part of a primary source for the students. A document that can shed light on a perspective that might be hard for students to understand or explain is an invaluable tool in the Senior Historians' arsenal. Today's document is one of my favorites, if not one of the most difficult. 

A few years ago I participated in a summer seminar through the Gilder-Lehrman Institute that took me to Kansas to study the role of presidential politics in the Civil Rights movement. On one of the days, we were able to visit the Eisenhower Presidential Library and comb through the archives. It was here that I encountered a vitriolic letter written to President Eisenhower in reaction to his handling of the Little Rock Nine crisis in 1957. The blind rage and ignorance is softened by a clear and logical explanation of the author's beliefs. To my knowledge this letter has never been publicly shared outside of my classroom but its potential usefulness in creating dialogue around reactions to Brown and the Little Rock Crisis implore me to share it with the wider historical community.

As we read and discuss this in my 8th grade class today, we welcome your reflections, thoughts, and or comments. I will share some of the responses with my students in our wrap-up discussion tomorrow.

Without further ado, A Letter to President Eisenhower from a "A.B. Nimitz", 10/1/1957:

It's Friday, which means that it is ASSESSMENT DAY in Mr. Robertson's U.S. History class at Harlem Academy. In the 8th grade we have been examining the legal roots of segregation and its impact on the African American population (particularly in the South) and the nation as a whole. A big focus in this unit was the unequal treatment of African Americans in the armed services and the role of President Truman in sparking the modern civil rights movement. I've attached a copy of today's assessment. Try your luck and see how you stack up against my 8th graders. You can submit your answers to sean@juniorhistorians.com.