Alabama Social Studies SS24.6.12c
The Standard
- SS24.6.12
- Explain how forms of governments established prior to the founding of the United States influenced the formation of the new nation’s system of government.
Develop an argument supporting the idea that the Iroquois Confederacy’s form of representative government influenced attempts of the colonies to unite as one nation.
2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students explain how the Haudenosaunee nations kept their own governments while making shared decisions through a council. They use Franklin's 1751 letter and the Albany Plan to argue that this example may have shaped a colonial plan for union.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student points to Franklin's reference to the Six Nations and identifies the proposed colonial Grand Council. They explain the connection without claiming the colonists copied the Haudenosaunee system exactly.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think the confederacy had one ruler or that its council worked just like an elected colonial assembly. Others assume the Albany Plan was adopted or that the U.S. Constitution copied Haudenosaunee rules word for word.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: How does Franklin's 1751 letter help explain the Grand Council proposed in the Albany Plan? Give one detail from each source.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Place six nation cards around a paper council circle; have students mark decisions each nation could make alone and decisions needing joint agreement.
Read a short summary of Franklin's 1751 letter; ask students why a union of separate nations might appeal to divided colonies.
Give pairs evidence cards from Franklin's letter and the Albany Plan; have them match related ideas and explain each match.
Print a local city council district map; ask who speaks for each area, then compare how Haudenosaunee council leaders were selected.
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- SS24.6.12
Explain how forms of governments established prior to the founding of the United States influenced the formation of the new nation’s system of government.
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