Instructor Manual
Chapter 1: American Political Stories: Claiming Rights, Demanding to be
Heard
CHAPTER SUMMARY
Chapter 1 begins by laying out the basic structure of the book, namely the use of in-depth
narratives from individuals to illustrate the main features of American politics. In this
chapter, the stories both deal with students attempting to form groups on campus, one for
Bible study and one for protecting and promoting the rights of gay and lesbian students. In
both cases, the students were initially prevented by school administrators and felt their
rights were violated and referred to federal law and the Constitution to defend their
positions.
These stories link to American political culture, namely the shared values of equality,
inalienable rights, liberty, and the ability to pursue the American dream. American political
culture has been shaped by critical events such as The Declaration of Independence, the
nature of the colonies’ experience with Great Britain, and the fight for independence during
the Revolutionary War. These critical events culminated in the creation of America’s
modern political institutions including representative democracy and a capitalist economy.
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
After reading and reviewing the chapter, the student should be able to:
1.1 Explain how diverse Americans have been able to use the same political tools to
achieve their own distinct visions of good government.
2.1 Define the key elements of American political culture.
3.1 Identify the political, social, and economic events and institutions that gave rise to
the American Revolution and reflect upon what was and was not achieved.
4.1 Describe the core features of American political institutions.
5.1 Consider the ways in which the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” draws upon core
American ideals.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. In both stories at the beginning of the chapter, school officials initially prevented the
formation of the student groups. What reasons or arguments did they offer? How
convincing do you find these arguments?
,2. Think about your own discussions with your classmates. What rights do students believe
they have? In what situations do they come up? How might each of these rights be limited?
3. Imagine you are describing American political culture to a person with little familiarity
with the country. How would you describe it? What examples would you use to illustrate
your view?
4. What do the words “equality,” “liberty,” and the “American dream” mean to you? How do
other people see them? In what context or situations do Americans expect equality, liberty,
and the American dream? How might they be limited and why do some Americans think
they have become more difficult to attain in recent years?
5. What is American exceptionalism? Does this concept still hold? Why or why not? How
does this view fit with some of the arguments in Common Sense?
6. The colonial reaction to the Stamp Act was very strong. Why might the colonial response
have been so assertive? Is an opposition to taxes part of our political culture or was it
something specific about these taxes?
7. The phrase “political propaganda” generally has a negative connotation but remind the
class of Abernathy’s definition. In this view, is propaganda necessarily a negative thing?
What might make it negative at times but not always?
8. Given that General Washington and the colonists lost most of their battles, how did the
Revolution succeed? What advantages did the colonists have? Disadvantages?
9. The text uses Lemuel Haynes, a minister from Massachusetts, as an example of an author
who viewed American democracy as incomplete. In what other areas might American
democracy be seen as incomplete or, at least, incompletely realized?
10. Recall the definitions of communist, socialist, and capitalist systems. Make an argument
that the United States is purely or primarily one of those systems. What argument is there
for it being more of a mixture of systems?
11. Explain the ways in which the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” drew on core American
ideals.
DISCUSSION IDEAS
1. On the first substantive day in class, have students attempt to define politics by writing
definitions on their own. Select a student to write on the board and try to synthesize the
common points from the class’s answers. Then compare them to the definition from
Abernathy. How are they similar? Different?
2. On the first or second substantive day in class, remind students of the definitions of
politics and government from the beginning of Chapter 1. Then show the class a variety of
,pictures broadly drawn from the web and ask them if each one is political and how it might
relate to government. Alternatively, the instructor could select a current newspaper and
similarly use the headlines from the paper to begin a comparable discussion. In each case
encourage students to look for not only the obvious political features (elections, voting, etc.)
but also the more subtle political features (political socialization, economic regulations,
etc.).
3. Ask each student to take out a sheet of paper and try to define liberty as specifically as
possible. Use these responses as a springboard for a discussion of liberty. How and when
might liberty be limited?
4. Ask each student to take out a sheet of paper and try to define equality as specifically as
possible. Use these responses as a springboard for a discussion of equality. How and when
might equality be limited?
5. Ask each student to take out a sheet of paper and try to define the American dream and
the pursuit of happiness as specifically as possible. Use these responses to discuss whether
these ideas are inherently economic or if there are other elements involved. Encourage the
class to think about how the founders might have answered and whether this answer has
changed over time.
6. At the end of presenting on Chapter 1, have the class together try to synthesize the
American colonial experience. In other words, taken altogether, how might it be described?
Have the class brainstorm ways in which the nature of the experience helped form
America’s future government.
7. Remind the class that religious liberty was not expressly part of the fundamental rights
described in The Declaration of Independence. Open a discussion about why that might have
been the case. How does that fit with the protection of religious exercise in the First
Amendment and the view of the United States as a Christian nation?
8. Use the board to get students thinking about ways in which The Declaration of
Independence was a particularly revolutionary document for its time period. Push them to
think about topics such as democracy, natural rights, social contract, and imperialism.
, CLASS ACTIVITIES
1. Divide the class up into two roughly, evenly sized groups. Assign one of the groups to be
school administrators in a rural school district. Assign the other group to be a student group
advocating for rights for transgendered students. The school administrators group will
prevent the group from forming and must come up with their best argument for denying the
group. The student group must come up with their best argument for allowing their group
to form. The instructor will serve as a federal judge and attempt to adjudicate between the
two positions.
2. After presenting on Chapter 1, have the students recall the main ideas behind The
Declaration of Independence. Specifically, get them to think about the goals of the document.
What did the founders want to achieve? Now lead the class in assessing or “grading” how
successful the country has been at achieving those ideas.
3. Divide the class up into three small groups and assign each group either social, political,`
or economic liberty. Have each group start by defining the concept and then have them
assess how equal modern America is in that area. Encourage the class to be as specific as
possible. If computers are available, encourage them to use the web to add sources to their
work. After each group presents the results of their discussion to the class, lead the class in
discussion about each group’s conclusions.
4. Start by having the class discuss the definition of “American exceptionalism,” specifically
what it means and why it is so often part of American political discussions. Then encourage
the class to think about how this idea is seen internationally. Show the class the following
article about Donald Trump’s view of the term
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-american-
exceptionalism_us_57597293e4b0e39a28aca7db). Encourage the class to examine his view.
What is he saying exactly? Why does this view seem unlikely coming from a Republican?
5. Martin Luther King Jr. makes an argument in Letter from Birmingham Jail that an “An
unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the natural law” and that men of moral
character need to break such laws. Further he argues that the real audience for civil rights
protests are not the segregationists but moderates. Encourage the class to look at the Black
Lives Matter website (http://blacklivesmatter.com/) and to read some of their Twitter
posts included on the website. Get the class to discuss how King’s rhetoric differs from and
is similar to the Black Lives Matters movement.
6. Have the class read The Declaration of Independence and Letter from Birmingham Jail
(https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/letter-birmingham-jail). Get
the class to discuss whether Jefferson would agree with King. Would he view King as
utilizing his political ideas or subverting them? How much of Letter from Birmingham Jail
comes from The Declaration of Independence?
Chapter 1: American Political Stories: Claiming Rights, Demanding to be
Heard
CHAPTER SUMMARY
Chapter 1 begins by laying out the basic structure of the book, namely the use of in-depth
narratives from individuals to illustrate the main features of American politics. In this
chapter, the stories both deal with students attempting to form groups on campus, one for
Bible study and one for protecting and promoting the rights of gay and lesbian students. In
both cases, the students were initially prevented by school administrators and felt their
rights were violated and referred to federal law and the Constitution to defend their
positions.
These stories link to American political culture, namely the shared values of equality,
inalienable rights, liberty, and the ability to pursue the American dream. American political
culture has been shaped by critical events such as The Declaration of Independence, the
nature of the colonies’ experience with Great Britain, and the fight for independence during
the Revolutionary War. These critical events culminated in the creation of America’s
modern political institutions including representative democracy and a capitalist economy.
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
After reading and reviewing the chapter, the student should be able to:
1.1 Explain how diverse Americans have been able to use the same political tools to
achieve their own distinct visions of good government.
2.1 Define the key elements of American political culture.
3.1 Identify the political, social, and economic events and institutions that gave rise to
the American Revolution and reflect upon what was and was not achieved.
4.1 Describe the core features of American political institutions.
5.1 Consider the ways in which the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” draws upon core
American ideals.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. In both stories at the beginning of the chapter, school officials initially prevented the
formation of the student groups. What reasons or arguments did they offer? How
convincing do you find these arguments?
,2. Think about your own discussions with your classmates. What rights do students believe
they have? In what situations do they come up? How might each of these rights be limited?
3. Imagine you are describing American political culture to a person with little familiarity
with the country. How would you describe it? What examples would you use to illustrate
your view?
4. What do the words “equality,” “liberty,” and the “American dream” mean to you? How do
other people see them? In what context or situations do Americans expect equality, liberty,
and the American dream? How might they be limited and why do some Americans think
they have become more difficult to attain in recent years?
5. What is American exceptionalism? Does this concept still hold? Why or why not? How
does this view fit with some of the arguments in Common Sense?
6. The colonial reaction to the Stamp Act was very strong. Why might the colonial response
have been so assertive? Is an opposition to taxes part of our political culture or was it
something specific about these taxes?
7. The phrase “political propaganda” generally has a negative connotation but remind the
class of Abernathy’s definition. In this view, is propaganda necessarily a negative thing?
What might make it negative at times but not always?
8. Given that General Washington and the colonists lost most of their battles, how did the
Revolution succeed? What advantages did the colonists have? Disadvantages?
9. The text uses Lemuel Haynes, a minister from Massachusetts, as an example of an author
who viewed American democracy as incomplete. In what other areas might American
democracy be seen as incomplete or, at least, incompletely realized?
10. Recall the definitions of communist, socialist, and capitalist systems. Make an argument
that the United States is purely or primarily one of those systems. What argument is there
for it being more of a mixture of systems?
11. Explain the ways in which the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” drew on core American
ideals.
DISCUSSION IDEAS
1. On the first substantive day in class, have students attempt to define politics by writing
definitions on their own. Select a student to write on the board and try to synthesize the
common points from the class’s answers. Then compare them to the definition from
Abernathy. How are they similar? Different?
2. On the first or second substantive day in class, remind students of the definitions of
politics and government from the beginning of Chapter 1. Then show the class a variety of
,pictures broadly drawn from the web and ask them if each one is political and how it might
relate to government. Alternatively, the instructor could select a current newspaper and
similarly use the headlines from the paper to begin a comparable discussion. In each case
encourage students to look for not only the obvious political features (elections, voting, etc.)
but also the more subtle political features (political socialization, economic regulations,
etc.).
3. Ask each student to take out a sheet of paper and try to define liberty as specifically as
possible. Use these responses as a springboard for a discussion of liberty. How and when
might liberty be limited?
4. Ask each student to take out a sheet of paper and try to define equality as specifically as
possible. Use these responses as a springboard for a discussion of equality. How and when
might equality be limited?
5. Ask each student to take out a sheet of paper and try to define the American dream and
the pursuit of happiness as specifically as possible. Use these responses to discuss whether
these ideas are inherently economic or if there are other elements involved. Encourage the
class to think about how the founders might have answered and whether this answer has
changed over time.
6. At the end of presenting on Chapter 1, have the class together try to synthesize the
American colonial experience. In other words, taken altogether, how might it be described?
Have the class brainstorm ways in which the nature of the experience helped form
America’s future government.
7. Remind the class that religious liberty was not expressly part of the fundamental rights
described in The Declaration of Independence. Open a discussion about why that might have
been the case. How does that fit with the protection of religious exercise in the First
Amendment and the view of the United States as a Christian nation?
8. Use the board to get students thinking about ways in which The Declaration of
Independence was a particularly revolutionary document for its time period. Push them to
think about topics such as democracy, natural rights, social contract, and imperialism.
, CLASS ACTIVITIES
1. Divide the class up into two roughly, evenly sized groups. Assign one of the groups to be
school administrators in a rural school district. Assign the other group to be a student group
advocating for rights for transgendered students. The school administrators group will
prevent the group from forming and must come up with their best argument for denying the
group. The student group must come up with their best argument for allowing their group
to form. The instructor will serve as a federal judge and attempt to adjudicate between the
two positions.
2. After presenting on Chapter 1, have the students recall the main ideas behind The
Declaration of Independence. Specifically, get them to think about the goals of the document.
What did the founders want to achieve? Now lead the class in assessing or “grading” how
successful the country has been at achieving those ideas.
3. Divide the class up into three small groups and assign each group either social, political,`
or economic liberty. Have each group start by defining the concept and then have them
assess how equal modern America is in that area. Encourage the class to be as specific as
possible. If computers are available, encourage them to use the web to add sources to their
work. After each group presents the results of their discussion to the class, lead the class in
discussion about each group’s conclusions.
4. Start by having the class discuss the definition of “American exceptionalism,” specifically
what it means and why it is so often part of American political discussions. Then encourage
the class to think about how this idea is seen internationally. Show the class the following
article about Donald Trump’s view of the term
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-american-
exceptionalism_us_57597293e4b0e39a28aca7db). Encourage the class to examine his view.
What is he saying exactly? Why does this view seem unlikely coming from a Republican?
5. Martin Luther King Jr. makes an argument in Letter from Birmingham Jail that an “An
unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the natural law” and that men of moral
character need to break such laws. Further he argues that the real audience for civil rights
protests are not the segregationists but moderates. Encourage the class to look at the Black
Lives Matter website (http://blacklivesmatter.com/) and to read some of their Twitter
posts included on the website. Get the class to discuss how King’s rhetoric differs from and
is similar to the Black Lives Matters movement.
6. Have the class read The Declaration of Independence and Letter from Birmingham Jail
(https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/letter-birmingham-jail). Get
the class to discuss whether Jefferson would agree with King. Would he view King as
utilizing his political ideas or subverting them? How much of Letter from Birmingham Jail
comes from The Declaration of Independence?
