This inquiry leads students through an investigation of Isabel Wilkerson’s 2020 book, Caste: The Origins of our Discontents. The central thesis of her work is that American racism is built on a caste system. She builds her argument by highlighting Nazis Germany and the Indian caste system as she defines the central pillars of caste. Ultimately, she argues America exhibits each of the pillars by noting historical and modern examples of each. This argument caused a stir when the book was released and elicited conversation and disagreement. This inquiry asks students to engage with the conversations around this book by arguing why it “hit a nerve” as they learn to engage and evaluate secondary sources.
US History
The Heart of Social Studies
Inquiries
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This inquiry leads students through an investigation of Isabel Wilkerson’s 2020 book, Caste: The Origins of our Discontents. The central thesis of her work is that American racism is built on a caste system. She builds her argument by highlighting Nazis Germany and the Indian caste system as she defines the central pillars of caste….
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This 4th and 5th grade inquiry expands students’ understandings of Indian removal in the early 1800s by centering Cherokee resistance to removal policies. The compelling question—“How did the Cherokee resist removal?”—engages students in an examination of the Cherokee, whose ancestral homelands include parts of present day Tennessee, and the efforts they took to resist removal…
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This inquiry leads students through an investigation of the three waves of feminism. The first wave (1848 to 1920) focused on inequalities like gaining women’s suffrage (the right to vote) and economic, civil, and political rights. In the second wave (1963 to the 1980s), women addressed a wide range of issues, including unofficial inequalities, official…
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This inquiry leads students through an investigation of questions around Indigenous People’s land rights. Focusing on the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), students explore how disputes over treaties and historical land bases complicate the already contentious issue of resource extraction. Students are progressively introduced to land rights issues centering on the experiences of…
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This inquiry leads students through an investigation of what parks do for us and where they may fall short. The compelling question asks something we may not have thought much about. “Should parks make us better people?” For Fredrick Law Olmsted, the father of the American public park, the answer was very clear. Parks restore…
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This inquiry leads students through the roles of three women during the abolitionists and suffrage movements. Through examining the lives of Harriett Tubman, Sojourner Truth, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton students will understand the struggle for equality through all races and genders. Students will share their points of view on equality, and answer the compelling question…
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This inquiry focuses on the concept of equality as defined by the Declaration of Independence and the rights enumerated within. The questions, tasks, and sources in this inquiry asks students to examine the evolution of our notion of “all men are created equal” and how we have lived up to (or not lived up to)…
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This inquiry focuses on the ways in which African Americans have been able to construct their own freedom in the face of injustice, violence, and white backlash following emancipation and in the era of Reconstruction and beyond. The questions, tasks, and sources in this inquiry ask students to examine the political, social, and economic successes…
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This inquiry focuses on why enslaved people resisted slavery, the ways in which enslaved people showed resistance despite risks and the results of resistance. The questions, tasks, and sources in this inquiry asks students to examine the cultural, economic and political impacts of resistance to slavery. The first supporting question asks, “What about the daily…
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This inquiry focuses on the uneven impacts of the New Deal policies with a focus on the experiences of everyday Americans living in the South. It is intended to expand students’ existing understanding of the New Deal by engaging in analysis around issues of equity and perspective. The questions, tasks, and sources in this inquiry…