Empire Building: Imperialism at the World’s Fair

Christine Adrian

Summer Fellowship 2010

To download this lesson in PDF format, click here.

Abstract: The 1904 World’s Fair was a glorious demonstration of imperialism and nationalism; many of the technological advancements demonstrated were from the United States. Another demonstration, The Human Exhibits through the Anthropology Department and Government Department, displayed nationalism and imperialism in a less glorious fashion-through racism. Indeed, the 1904 Human Exhibit demonstrated that many times, nationalism, imperialism and racism go hand in hand.

Essential questions/enduring understandings:

· What is the difference between patriotism and nationalism?

· Why is marketing important in politics?

· Is an imperialistic democratic republic hypocrisy?

· Can nationalism and imperialism exist without racism?

Assessment: The teacher will utilize answers from both the Ideology Worksheet, Imperialism/Nationalism Worksheet and Final Project Rubric and Guidelines as well as classroom discussion to discern student learning from this lesson.

Setting the Purpose: Students will analyze the writings of both George Orwell and Howard Zinn to understand the concepts of nationalism and imperialism. From this gained knowledge, they will read newspaper articles written from the time of the World’s Fair to demonstrate their understanding of the terms nationalism, imperialism and racism. Finally, students will understand how the three ideologies work to support each other.

Duration: Part 1: 1 class period; Part 2: 1-2 class periods; Part 3: About 5 class periods

Procedure:

Part 1:

· As a starter, have the students write one statement using the words, “race”, “government” and “science” based on the last lesson covered. Review student connections.

· Tell the class that today they will examine two important concepts related to the two exhibits discussed in Lesson 2: nationalism and imperialism.

· Distribute the Imperialism/Nationalism Worksheet. In the first part of the worksheet, they will be reading George Orwell’s “Notes on Nationalism”. In the second part, they will watch a short clip from Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of American Empire”.

· Once they have completed this activity sheet, students will move on to part 2.

Part 2:

· The teacher may choose to review the term imperialism, specifically Philippine occupation after the Spanish American war using this clip by Tom Brokaw.

· Distribute the following articles:

1. Evolution of the Philippinos

2. Model Indian School 1 and 2

3. The Curtis Letter 1, 2 and 3

4. Filipinos (Conquest of America) 1 and 2

5. Geronimo 1 and 2

6. What the Government will Do 1, 2 and 3

7. How the Human Exhibits Do the Pike 1, 2, 3, and 4

8. Indians at St. Louis

9. The “Pike” at the Fair 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

10. United States Indian Exhibit

11. Alaskan Exhibit

12. Feathered Indian as Exhibit

13. Indian Tribes at Fair

14. Judge Parker Shows Republican Inconsistency

15. Great Pageantry to Mark the 6th Anniversary of the Fall of Manila

16. Philippine Exhibit in St. Louis

· Distribute the Ideology Worksheet. Explain to students that they are to read and examine each article. If they find evidence of any of the ideologies listed in the chart, they should document it into their table. The teacher may choose to have students work in pairs for this activity, as it would be better for critical thought discussion.

· As a closing, distribute sticky notes. Each student should write their thoughts on how the three ideologies: racism, nationalism, and imperialism might relate to each other. The teacher might have them stick these items onto the front whiteboard or smart board. The teacher can then compile a list of statements for the class to look at the next time they meet to spur classroom discussion.

Part 3:

· In order to demonstrate their knowledge on what they have learned, they will complete a final project using the Final Project Rubric and Guidelines. The total points column has been left blank in order to be left to separate teacher discretion. Teachers may find it useful to work in pairs.

· Distribute the Project Planning Worksheet. This worksheet covers the main components of the rubric and will help students plan out how they will communicate their thoughts in the project of their choice.

· The teacher can set up projects as display stations that students can view and leave comments for the authors, or the teacher may choose to do class presentations as the audience gives feedback and can ask questions about their respective projects.

Analysis of local primary sources:

Students will analyze sources pulled from the Missouri History Museum Library and Research Center and “Chronicling America” from NARA.

1. Evolution of the Philippinos

2. Model Indian School 1 and 2

3. The Curtis Letter 1, 2 and 3

4. Filipinos (Conquest of America) 1 and 2

5. Geronimo 1 and 2

6. What the Government will Do (GovInd) 1, 2 and 3

7. How the Human Exhibits Do the Pike (humanzoo) 1, 2, 3, and 4

8. Indians at St. Louis

9. The “Pike” at the Fair 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

10. United States Indian Exhibit

11. Alaskan Exhibit

12. Feathered Indian as Exhibit

13. Indian Tribes at Fair

14. Judge Parker Shows Republican Inconsistency

15. Great Pageantry to Mark the 6th Anniversary of the Fall of Manila

16. Philippine Exhibit in St. Louis

Ties to National primary source or sources:

All of the primary sources listed in this lesson are of both local and national significance. The 1904 World’s Fair was one of the biggest and reflected national thinking towards national and world politics as well as world cultures at the time.

Attachments:

· Imperialism/Nationalism Worksheet.

· Ideology Worksheet

· Final Project Rubric and Guidelines

· Project Planning Worksheet