Name: Claret, Mary

E-mail: Von1953@Yahoo.com

Topic: STATEHOOD

Grade: Fourth

Time: One Class Period

Ark. Hist. Framework: 5.1.9, 5.1.10

Objective: Students will learn about the issues and events that led to Arkansas' becoming a state, and to understand the relation of demographics (population statistics) to Arkansas history through the use of left and right

brain illustrations.

Set: Read Aloud:

I was born in a Kingdom / Raised in an Empire / [Reached] Manhood in a Territory / Am now citizen of a State/ And have never been 100 miles from where I live.

     These words were written by John Patterson, the first non-Indian child to be born in what is now Arkansas.  As he said, he was born in the "Kingdom" of Spain, raised in the French "Empire," and lived the rest of his life in the "Territory" and
"State" of Arkansas.  In this lesson you will learn of these periods in our state's history.

Materials: Copies of Statehood, pages 15 and 32 (stapled)  for each student .

Eraseable Board and markers.

Party supplies:  Cake with the following letterings:  Arkansas, 25th State, June 15, 1836. 
Drinks, cups, plates, forks, napkins.

Folk Music on casettes, CDs, or LPs.

Key Terms: legislature, Union, statehood, Ambrose Sevier, constitution, William Woodruff

Key Facts: In 1819, Congress created the Arkansas Territory.  Our territorial capital was in Arkansas Post.  During this same year, Arkansas's first newspaper was created by a young man from New York, William Woodruff.  The Arkansas Gazette is that popular newspaper.

    The first meeting of the territorial legislature in Arkansas Post led to a decision to move the state's capital closer to the center of  Arkansas.  The site chosen by the legislature is the present day city of Little Rock.

    Throughout the territorial period, more and more settlers arrived from eastern states, and some Arkansans believed that Arkansas was ready for statehood.  In 1833 Ambrose Sevier, Arkansas's delegate to Congress, asked Congress to allow  Arkansas to become a state.

     As a first step toward statehood, every territory needed to write its own constitution.  A constitution is a plan of government.   A conflicting part of Arkansas's constitution included the continuation of slavery in the state. Congress felt that the United States did not need any more slave states. To bring a balance between the number of free states and slave states, Congress admitted Michigan to the Union as a free state and Arkansas as a slave state (on the same day).

     On June 15, 1833, Arkansas became the twenty - fifth state to join the United States.

Activities: 1.  Allow student the opportunity to brainstorm definitions to the Key Terms.

2.  Then have then to  look - up the correct definitions.

3. Read aloud the quotation for the "Set".  Do pre-reading activities about  the hand - outs.

      - What do you think this material is about?

      - When does this story appear to take place?

4.  Give background information and read / discuss each aspect of the cartoon story, page 15.

5.  After lesson on statehood, have students to participate in reading the graph on Arkansas's population.

Closure: Ask:  Who can tell me why there is a birthday cake for Arkansas on the back table?

    Ans.  The cake represents when Arkansas became a state.

Assessment: Students will be asked the following questions, with 80 % accuracy.

  1.  When did Arkansas become a state?

  2.  Did Arkansas enter the Union as a free or slave state?

  3.  What is the difference between a territory and a state?

Resources: Adventure Tales of Arkansas:  A Guidebook for Students, Jody Potts, Signal
Media Corporation / K - LITE 94 Radio, 1988.

Adventure Tales  of Arkansas:  A Cartoon History of a Spirited People,

C. Fred Williams, Signal Media Corporation / K - LITE 94 Radio, 1988.

ARKANSAS. The World Around Us, MACMILLAN / McGraw - Hill, 1991.

-----------------