TOPIC 4.4: america on the World Stage

Turing Point: Freedom, Race, and the War of 1812

KC-4.3.I. and i.A: The U.S. government sought influence and control over the Western Hemisphere through…military actions

“The War of 1812 represented a major dividing line in the history of American race relations…By the early nineteenth century it appeared that slavery as an institution was fragile…The War of 1812 halted all progress…Black dreams of freedom and equality in the United States virtually disappeared after the War of 1812…the Deep South was born.” - Historian Dr. Gene Allen Smith

Objectives:

1. Students will evaluate the extent that the War of 1812 transformed race relations in the United States

2. Students will analyze why some Black American chose to support the British, while others decided to support the United States in the conflict

3. Students will analyze the different origins of Black and White American identities

This Key Concept in an Antiracist classroom:

As the War of 1812 began to develop, there was some reason to believe that the war might lead to a new burst of freedom in a similar way that the Revolution had led many northern states to abolish slavery. Clinging to this hope, many free Black men took up arms to defend the Constitution of the United States. Sadly, the War of 1812 led to an opposite outcome. It created the Deep South, emboldened enslavers, and led to a large expansion of human trafficking within the United States. However, during the conflict, about 5,000 Black Americans were able to use British protection and the chaos of the war to seize freedom.

Notes

I assign the slides and handout as homework for the night after we cover the War of 1812. The assignment should take students 15 mins. Then I start the next day with 10 minutes on the material with a brief overview and discussion based on the “key questions.” After the discussion, I share a synopsis of Historian Dr. Gene Allen Smith research and end with a brief note/story about the extra verses of the Star-Spangled Banner that pertain to this content. This is always a powerful and memorable moment for my students.

That being said, this material can be used in a variety of ways. There is enough content here to use this as a full class lesson with options for a short jigsaw activity. As always, its all Google forms/slides so make a copy and edit/delete however works best for you and your students!

(The final discussion question on “American Identity” will work very well for discussion surrounding the 2022 APUSH DBQ if you plan to use that for practice for your students.)