Oklahoma Social Studies USH.C.4.1.D
The Standard
- USH.C.4
- Analyze the cycles of economic boom and bust of the 1920s and 1930s on the transformation of the United States of America’s government and society.
- USH.C.4.1
- Examine the transformations between the World Wars.
Describe Calvin Coolidge’s reflections in his 1926 address on the 150th anniversary of the United States of America’s independence regarding the principles of the Declaration of Independence, natural rights, equality, and the moral foundations of American self-government.
Oklahoma Academic Standards for Social Studies (2026) · USH.C.4.1
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students explain how Coolidge read the Declaration as a statement of lasting rights, equality, and government by consent. They explain why he linked those ideas to religious belief and moral responsibility.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Given a passage from the address, students identify Coolidge's claim and point to words that support it. They distinguish his claim about equal rights from the unequal treatment many Americans faced in 1926.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think Coolidge said government gives people their rights, rather than recognizing rights they already have. They may think equality means equal wealth, or that his words described how all Americans were treated in 1926.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: In three sentences, explain where Coolidge thought rights came from, what he meant by equality, and why he thought self-government needed moral beliefs.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs printed excerpts from the address to cut out and sort under rights, equality, consent, or moral beliefs.
Ask: How did Jim Crow laws in 1926 conflict with Coolidge's claim that equality is a lasting truth?
Read short lines from the address and have students match each one to rights, equality, consent, or moral beliefs.
Show a town council agenda with public comment and ask how residents' input relates to Coolidge's idea of government by consent.
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Related Standards
- 8.C.1.5
Analyze the significance of the Declaration of Independence as a founding statement of American thought on the constitutional republic and the purpose of govern...
- USH.C.4.1.C
Examine the presidency of President Calvin Coolidge and his philosophy of limited government and debates over immigration policy, including the impact of the Im...
- 4.C.1.1.E
Explain basic principles expressed in the Declaration of Independence.
- USG.C.2.1.E
Examine the Declaration of Independence and its grievances to explain the principle of self-rule as based on the consent of the governed and as exercised throug...
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