Compare Robert H. Clancy and David A. Reed. How does each define what is “American” and who belongs? What values or assumptions underpin their opposing positions?
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In “Children of the Crucible,” how does Theodore Roosevelt define “Americanism”? What, specifically, must immigrants give up, and what happens if they refuse? How does the wartime context shape the urgency and tone of his argument?
How do Mary Roberts Rinehart and/or David A. Reed translate eugenic ideas into arguments about immigration restriction? Focus on specific language or assumptions about race, heredity, or national fitness.
Across today’s readings, how is the “melting pot” reimagined—as promise, problem, or threat? Compare at least two authors (for example, Theodore Roosevelt and Mary Roberts Rinehart or David A. Reed) and explain what each believes should happen to immigrants—and why.
How does Julia G. Young explain the persistence of nativism across different historical periods? Identify one specific continuity (e.g., language, race, labor, or national security), and show how it appears both in her essay and in one primary source from today’s readings.
Included on the front page of the National Archives’ Charters of Freedom exhibit is this statement:
These documents… represented a monumental achievement to the nation’s Founders who believed their experiment in self-government held the promise of liberty for all mankind. The principles established in the Charters have bound the nation together through more than two centuries of growth and turmoil. American patriots of every generation have paid in blood to defend these principles.
The documents on display in this gallery chronicle the creation of the Charters and their impact on events in this country and around the world. They reveal the story of earlier generations of Americans who had both the vision to see a better world and the audacity to build it.
How does the statement echo Commager’s reverence for the achievements of American Revolutionary leaders?
How does it reinforce American exceptionalism?
Where do you see versions of the frontier myth operating today (politics, culture, technology, borders, etc.)? Give one contemporary example and briefly explain the connection.
What example or passage from the reading stood out to you most — and why?
According to Grandin, what does Trump’s shift from building walls to talking about territorial expansion reveal about the frontier myth?
After watching “An Asylum for Mankind (May 1775 – July 1776),” does the Declaration feel more like a fixed moral foundation or a risky political gamble? How does that framing matter for how we remember 1776 today?
