Purpose
To use primary and secondary sources to explore one aspect of mid-19th century religion in America using Abraham Lincoln's fatalism as the lens.
Objective
Given this website, students will explore one example of Lincoln's fatalism and compare his or her findings to those of a peer(s) to complete the associated handout.
Activity
- Ensure students have access to the website via computer, tablet, or phone.
- Either hand out a paper copy of the worksheet or allow students to open the google doc and make a copy to their drive. Links to both are provided below.
- Have a brief whole class discussion to review the Second Great Awakening and allow students the opportunity answer the question on the handout.
- Discuss what fatalism is. Allow students to look up definition and/or examples if necessary. Followup with concepts such as providence and predestination and how they fit into the context of the 19th century.
- Form groups of 2-4 students depending on how many of the documents will be used. Assign each student in the group a different document from the four. An alternative for students who may struggle would be to allow a group or pairing of students to complete a single document together working as a team.
- Keep in mind the first two documents (Meditation on the Divine Will & Proclamation of Thanksgiving) have written close readings while the final two (Second Inaugural Address & Reply to Eliza Gurney) have video close readings. Use all or mix and match within this activity.
- Allow the students to watch the video (time permitting) or read the summary to complete the summary of "Carwardine's Take" on their handouts. This can be done whole class in a popcorn read, in the groups, individually, or even as a flipped activity before students arrive for the lesson.
- Allow students 20-30 minutes to complete the rest of the handout, except the last section.
- To conclude, have students work with another person from the group to finish the last box on the handout. As some teachers have longer classes than others, it may be possible to have students complete this step for each member of the group.
- Please alter this activity as needed for the level of the students as well as the time allotted for the lesson. Additionally, use all or portions of this website to create meaningful activities for students beyond what is provided here.