Alexandra Kennedy Edwards, Social Studies, Bailey Middle School
Final Unit (pdf) Implementing Teaching Standards (pdf)
The very reasons most immigrants came to America, whether freedom from religious or political persecution, played a significant role in the essence of America becoming America. I believe it defines us as a nation. Being denied the basic freedoms of owning your own land, educating your children, voting for the candidate of your choice, feeding your family, and fighting off a variety of corrupt or authoritarian governments while trying to eke out a basic existence drove the Irish out of Ireland, the El Salvadoran, Honduran, and many other Latin American people out of their homelands. The current mass exodus from Syria will forever change the face of the Mid-East and Europe. Whether in one generation or three, how did and will these people change the political, economic, and cultural face of America (and briefly Europe) over the years? How will they continue to change America? This unit looks at how one specific but very large group – the Irish – became American. Their journey to citizenship was and is still being repeated by thousands who continue to make the US home.
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