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Social Studies – Electing a President & On Wisconsin!

Students will begin the year by learning about the functions of American politics during a Presidential Election.
"The principle of free speech is no new doctrine born of the Constitution of the United States. It is a heritage of English-speaking peoples, which has been won by incalculable sacrifice, and which they must preserve so long as they hope to live as free men." Robert M. Lafollette Sr.

Early Wisconsin

We begin with a trip through time to the wilds of forested Wisconsin. Immigrants came to this state - a beautiful, dangerous and untamed land - from the crowded cities and towns of Eastern America and Europe. Survival depended on the ability to find and make use of abundant natural resources, on hard physical labor, and often times on pure luck, yet native Americans had long lived successfully in this beautiful wilderness. Our first task will be to compare these two very different ways of life and learn how they effected one another and eventually changed the world.

Home in the Wood Thomas Cole 1847

Trapping & Logging

Moving on through time, our next stop will look at the early settlers - furtraders and loggers who found riches in Wisconsin's plentiful natural resources:

How did people survive in the Wisconisin wilderness?
How did the area change as more Europeans arrived?
What effect did the population have on the natural resources?

Meeting explorers like Marquette and Jolliet and early citizens like Elizabeth Fisher will help us understand our state ’s roots.

Civil War

Less than 100 years after declaring independence from European rule, America was ripped apart by disagreements over how people envisioned life should be in this new country. It was a time when the whole country, including Wisconsin and its families were engaged in a great civil war testing “whether this nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated could long endure.” (from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address)

The People of the Great State of Wisconsin

The year will end with an examination of some of the people who make Wisconsin the wonderful place it is. The biographies of Ho-Chunk native, Mountain Wolf Woman, Settlement Cookbook author, Lizzie Kander, Green Bay Packer founder, Curly Lambeau, and recent immigrant, Mai Ya will complete the picture of Wisconsin and it's diverse population. Using the lens of th Elements of Culture* will give students a framework to better understand their state and its people.

Questions to Think About

How does who we were influence who we are?
How does " place" influence individuals and society?
How can personal beliefs influence a society?
How can it be that the more things change, the more they stay the same?

*Elements of Culture

Social

Scientific

Economic

Religious/Philosophical/Cultural

Political

Environmental

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