Foundation Unit: What Does It Mean to Be an American?
What does it mean to be an American? Since the founding of the United States, the cultural and political significance of being an American has been discussed and contested. Who is and who isn’t an American? Are there American characteristics? Are there things that are uniquely American? In this unit, we will analyze founding American documents, speeches, and essays to establish as a class a basic understanding of these questions. We will then form research teams to investigate various aspects of society to deepen our understanding of the issues. Our work will culminate in presentations from each research team to enrich our community understanding what it might mean to be an American.