This annotated inquiry leads students through an investigation of the civil rights movement using the lens of nonviolent direct-action protest. The content of this inquiry relates to Key Idea 11.10, Social and Economic Change/Domestic Issues (1945 – Present). The compelling question “What made nonviolent protest effective during the civil rights movement?” asks students to grapple with the means of achieving the various ends of the civil rights movement—an end to segregation as well as the achievement of voting rights and true equality as citizens. This investigation is situated in the unique time of the civil rights movement in which a large number of individuals and organizations strategically chose to use tactics that on the surface may have seemed counterintuitive and yet yielded effective results.
US History
The Heart of Social Studies
Inquiries
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This annotated inquiry leads students through an investigation of the civil rights movement using the lens of nonviolent direct-action protest. The content of this inquiry relates to Key Idea 11.10, Social and Economic Change/Domestic Issues (1945 – Present). The compelling question “What made nonviolent protest effective during the civil rights movement?” asks students to grapple…
The goal of this inquiry is help students understand the central debate about the government’s role in fostering economic opportunity over the past half century. As this is a historical inquiry, it focuses on the motivations, actions, and impacts of two particular US presidents: Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan. Their economic programs stand in for…
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The goal of this inquiry is to help students understand the various factors that caused the United States to be on the winning side in World War II. The compelling question “Why was the US on the winning side of World War II?” engages students with both the economic and military factors that contributed to…
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This inquiry leads students through an investigation of the perennial power struggle between federal and state governments to legislate. By investigating the compelling question “Who has the power?” students will consider the role of state government in initiating the best legislation for its citizens, even in cases where state law conflicts with federal law. In…
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Nobel Prize–winning economist Milton Friedman once said, “There is a standard cliché which I am sure you have all heard, that if you have two economists in one room, you are bound to have at least three opinions.” Drawing on disciplinary experts who disagree on a fundamental free-market economic tenet, this inquiry asks students to…
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The goal of this inquiry is to introduce students to historiography as they wrestle with historical significance within the context of a historical controversy. The common narrative about the end of slavery has given credit to President Abraham Lincoln, who earned the nickname “The Great Emancipator.” However, over the past 30 years, many scholars have…
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This inquiry examines the emergence of the women’s suffrage movement in the 19th century as an effort to expand women’s political and economic rights, and it extends that investigation into the present. The compelling question “What does it mean to be equal?” provides students with an opportunity to examine the nature of equality and the…
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This inquiry is an exploration into the concepts of time, continuity, and change in a community with the dual purpose of establishing students’ understandings of the passage of time and explaining why the past matters today. The inquiry taps into a common student assumption about the authority of the present and its existence independent of…
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This inquiry leads students through an investigation of the Industrial Revolution in the United States by examining the manufacturing industry as a proxy for industrialization. In weighing the opportunities and costs afforded to New Yorkers as a result of the shift from an agrarian society to an industrial one, students will be able to develop…
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This inquiry focuses on the emergence, growth, and collapse of the New France colony in North America. French explorers, missionaries, traders, and settlers established an important presence in North America, beginning with Jacques Cartier’s explorations in 1534 and continuing through the 19th century. The development of the fur-trading industry, along with a relatively stable relationship…