A RAFT is a tool that helps you organize a writing piece. A RAFT has 4 parts: ROLE, AUDIENCE, FORMAT, and TOPIC. Each piece tells you what and how to write. When you get a writing

prompt a RAFT can help you organize your thoughts.

ROLE= WHO are you writing as? Yourself? A historical person?

AUDIENCE= who are you writing TO? A classmate? A teacher?

FORMAT= what TYPE of writing are you doing? Is it a letter? An essay?

TOPIC: what are you writing ABOUT?

To help you become familiar with a RAFT, as you go through this history advisory, you will be asked to write a RAFT for each piece of historical literature that you read.

DAY ONE:

STANDARD 6.4.3

State the key differences between Athenian,

or direct democracy,

and representative democracy

Background on Pericles, from Discovering Our Past: Ancient Civilizations, pg 361

Pericles (c. 495-429 BC) was born just outside Athens to a wealthy and powerful family. He received his education from philosophers. As a young man, he was known for his skill with words. Later, when he became a political leader, he strongly supported democracy.

Although he was from a wealthy family himself, he believed that citizenship should not be limited to the wealthy and powerful. He made changes to take power from the few and give it to the many. However, in describing Pericles’ rule over Athens, Greek Historian Thucydides wrote “In the name of democracy, but in the rule of one man.

The “Age of Pericles” was Athen’s Golden Age, and the cityblossomed under his leadership. Pericles wanted Athens to be a model for the world. He made it a centerpiece of art, philosophy and democracy.

Pericles’ goal was to make Athens a city the Greeks could be proud of. He hired hundreds of workers to construct public buildings inAthens. The most well knownis the Parthenon. Based on the value of money today, it cost about $3 billion to build. Workers hauled 20,000 tons of marble from a nearby mountain and spent almost 15 years completing it.

Excerpt from Pericles’ Funeral Oration as recorded by Thucydides, given during the Peloponnesian War between Athens & Sparta. In it, Pericles describes democracy, the importance of the individual and citizenship.

“Our constitution is called a democracy because power is in the hands not of a minority, but of the whole people.

When it is a question of settling disputes, everyone is equal before the law;

when it is a question of putting one person before another in positions of public

responsibility, what counts is not membership of a particular class, but

the actual ability which the man

possesses. No one… is kept [out of the government] because of poverty. And, just as our political life is free and open, so is our day-to-day life in our relations with each other.”

Athenian DemocracyType of Democracy Direct: people gather at

mass meetings to decide government matters

Right to vote ONLY adult males born in Athens

Laws Proposed by the council, must be approved by a majority in the assembly

Citizen Involvement Citizens with voting rights can vote for or against any law

RAFT• ROLE: Athenian Citizen• AUDIENCE: Pericles’ family• FORMAT: Sympathy Card• TOPIC: Your appreciation for Pericles’

leadership of Athens. Tell his family what you, as a citizen of Athens, will do to actively contribute to the Athenian lifestyle he established(i.e. art, public service, etc.)

DAY TWO:

STANDARD 6.3.1

Describe the origins and significance of Judaism as

the first monotheistic religion based on the concept of one

God who sets down moral laws for humanity

What are the Ten Commandments? from Discovering Our Past: Ancient Civilizations, Pg: 202-203

On their way back to Canaan, the Israelites had to travel through the Sinai desert. The Bible says that during this journey, Moses went to the top of Mount Sinai. There he received laws from God. These laws were known as the Torah. They later became a part of the Hebrew Bible. The Torah described a covenant, or agreement, with God. In the agreement, God promised to return the Israelites to Canaan if they followed his laws.

The Torah explained what God considered to be right and wrong. The most important part of the Torah is the Ten Commandments… [They] told the Israelites to be loyal only to God, whose name was never to be misused. They must never worship any other gods or images. The belief that there should be only one God became the foundation of both Christianity and Islam.

The Ten Commandments helped shape the basic moral laws of many nations. The Tem Commandments told people not to steal, murder, or tell lies about others. They told people to avoid jealousy and to honor their parents. The Ten Commandments also helped develop a belief that laws should apply to everyone equally.

The Ten Commandments

According to the Bible, Moses received the Ten Commandments and other laws from

God on Mount Sinai. Moses and the other Israelites promised to follow these laws:

1. Do not worship any God except me.

2. Do not…bow down and worship idols.

3. Do not misuse my name.

4. Remember that the Sabbath Day belongs to me.

5. Respect your father and your mother.

6. Do not murder.

7. Be faithful in marriage.

8. Do not steal.

9. Do not tell lies about others.

10.Do not want anything that belongs to someone else

-From Exodus Chapter 20, Verses 3-17

RAFT

• ROLE: FMS Students

• AUDIENCE: Incoming 6th Graders

• FORMAT: Top Ten Commandments

• TOPIC: How to make a contribution to FMS (i.e. avoid referrals, help others, make friends, be a role model, etc.)

DAY THREE: STANDARD 7.1.2

Discuss the geographic borders of the Roman Empire at its height, and the factors that threatened its territorial

cohesion

Rome Expands

While Rome developed its government, it also faced challenges abroad. The Romans had completed their conquest of Italy. However, they now faced a powerful rival in Mediterranean area. The enemy was the state of Carthage on the coast of North Africa. It had been founded around 800 BC by the Phoenicians. As you learned earlier, the Phoenicians were sea traders from the middle east.

Carthage ruled a great trading empire that included parts of northern Africa and southern Europe. By controlling the movements of goods in this region, Carthage made itself the largest and richest city in the Mediterranean.

The First Punic War

Both Carthage and Rome wanted to control the island of Sicily. In 264 BC the dispute led to war. The war that began in 263 BC is called the First Punic War. Punicus is the Latin word for “Phoenician.” The war started when the Romans sent an army to Sicily to prevent a Carthaginian takeover. The Carthaginians who already had colonies on the island, were determined to stop this invasion.

Up until then, the Romans had fought their wars on land. They soon realized they could not defeat a sea power like Carthage without a navy. They quickly built a large fleet of ships and confronted their enemy at sea. The war dragged on for more than

twenty years. Finally in 241 BC, Rome crushed Carthage’s navy off the coast of Sicily. Carthage was forced to leave Sicily and pay a huge fine to the Romans. The island then came under Roman rule.

The Second Punic War

To make up for its loss of Sicily Carthage expanded its empire into southern Spain. Roman leaders were not happy about Carthage gaining land near Rome’s northern border. They helped the people living in Spain rebel against Carthage. Of course, Carthaginians

were angry. To punish Rome, Carthage sent its greatest general, Hannibal to attack Rome in 218 BC. This started the Second Punic War.

Hannibal’s strategy was to take the fighting into Italy itself. To do this, Hannibal gathered an army of about 46,000 men, many horses and 37 elephants. He landed his forces in Spain and then marched east to attack Italy. Even before reaching Italy, Hannibal’s forces suffered severe losses crossing the steep, snowy Alps into Italy. The brutal cold, gnawing hunger, and attack by mountain tribes killed almost half of the soldiers and most of elephants. The remaining army, however, was still a powerful fighting force when it reached Italy.

The Romans suffered at severe loss in 216 BC at the Battle of Cannae in southern Italy. Even though Hannibal’s army was outnumbered, it overpowered the Roman force and began raiding much of Italy.

The Romans, however, raised another arm. In 202 BC, a Roman force led by a general named Scipio invaded Carthage. Almost all of Carthage’s troops were with Hannibal. Scipio’s invasion forced Hannibal to head home to defend his city.

At the Battle of Zama, Scipio’s troops defeated the Carthaginians. Carthage gave up Spain to Rome. It also had to give up its navy and pay a large fine. Rome now ruled the western Mediterranean.

The Punic Wars, 264-146 BC

RAFT• ROLE: Tour coordinator

• AUDIENCE: Wealthy Romans celebrating the victory over Carthage

• FORMAT: Cruise itinerary

• TOPIC: Plan a 4 day cruise with stops in the newly acquired lands from Carthage, with specific activities to do in each of the locations. Suggested stops: Sicily, North Africa, Southern Spain, Sardinia, Corsica, Rome

DAY ONE STANDARD 7.5.3

Describe the values, social customs, and traditions

prescribed by the lord-vassal system consisting of shogun, daimyo and samurai and the

lasting influence of the warrior code in the twentieth century

Who Were the Samurai?

To protect their lands and enforce the law, nobles formed private armies. To create

their armies, they gave land to the warriors who agreed to fight for them. These warriors

became known as samurai.

In battle, samurai fought on horseback with swords, daggers, and bows and arrows. They wore armor made of leather or steel scales laced together with silk cords. Their helmets had horns or crests, and they wore masks designed to be terrifying.

The word samurai means “to serve.” The samurai lived by a strict code of conduct. It was called Bushido, or “the way of the warrior.” This code demanded that a samurai be devoted to his master as well as courageous, loyal and honorable. Samurai were not supposed to care for wealth. They regarded merchants as lacking in honor.

Pledged to these principles, a samurai would rather die in battle than betray his lord. He also did not want to suffer the dishonor of being captured in battle. The district sense of loyalty that set apart the samurai continued into modern times. During World War II, many Japanese soldiers fought to the death rather than accept

defeat or capture. Since that conflict, the Japanese have turned away from the military beliefs of the samurai.

Bushido Code This passage describes the samurai’s bushido

“It is further good fortune if…[a servant] had wisdom and talent and can use them appropriately. But even a person who is good for nothing…will be a reliable retainer only if he has the determination to think earnestly of [respect and admire] his master. Having only wisdom and talent is the lowest tier of usefulness.” –from Yamamoto Tsunetomo,

Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai

RAFTROLE: Japanese nobles & landownersAUDIENCE: young, patriotic JapaneseFORMAT: My Space BulletinTOPIC: Create a recruitment announcement for Samurai for your estate. Include specific expectations for conduct and character traits.

DAY TWO:STANDARD 7.7.1

Study the locations, landforms and climates of Mexico, Central America and South America and

their effects on Mayan, Aztec, and Incan economies, trade and development of urban societies

MAP QUESTIONS:

1.Which civilization occupied the Yucatan Peninsula?

2. Which cities developed near Lake Texcoco?

What do these cities suggest about the area?

Lake Texcoco

Moche

MAP QUESTIONS:

1.Describe the location of the Moche Civilization.

2.Estimate in km the length of the Inca Empire

RAFTROLE: European ExplorerAUDIENCE: European rulersFORMAT: Letter of adviceTOPIC: Give the ruler your recommendation on which Meso American civilization has the best location to build a summer palace.

DAY THREE:

STANDARD 7.11.5

Describe how democratic thought and institutions were influenced by enlightenment

thinkers (e.g. John Locke, Charles-Louis Montesquieu, Founding

Fathers)

John Locke (1632-1704)

John Locke was born in Somerset, England. His father was a lawyer but also served as a cavalry soldier. Using his military connections, he arranged for this son John to get a good education. Locke studied classical languages, grammar, philosophy and geometry at Oxford University. To Locke, the courses were not exciting- so he turned to his true interests- science and medicine.

After graduating, Locke went to work for governments in Europe. He continued to study science and philosophy. He particularly liked the work of Descartes. In 1671 Locke began recording his own ideas about how people know things.

Nineteen years later, he published his ideas in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. In this book, Locke argued that people’s minds are blank when they are born and that society shapes what people think and believe. This idea meant that if people could make society better, it would also make people better. Locke used natural law to affirm basic democratic ideas such as citizens’ rights and the need for governments to be answerable to the people.

In 1683 Locke fled to Holland after the English government began to think that his political ideas were dangerous. During that time, he was declared a traitor and was not able to return until after the Glorious Revolution of 1688. It was at that time that he wrote his famous Two Treatises of

Government, which states, “Law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom.”

–John Locke, Two Treatises of Government

Locke argues against the absolute rule of one person. He stated that government should be based on natural law. This law, said Locke, gave all people from their birth certain natural rights. Among them were the [right to life, liberty and to own property.] Locke believed that the purpose of government is to protect these rights. All governments, he said, were based on a social contract, or an agreement between rulers and the people. If a ruler took away the people’s rights, the people had the right to revolt and set up a new government.

RAFTROLE: Teen living in a democracyAUDIENCE: Teen living under a

dictatorshipFORMAT: Friendly letterTOPIC: Tell your friend why living in a

democracy is better than living in a dictatorship.

DAY ONE

STANDARD 8.3.4: Understand how the conflict between Thomas

Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton resulted in the emergence of two

political parties (e.g. view of foreign policy, Alien & Sedition Acts,

economic policy, National Bank, funding and assumption of the

revolutionary debt.)

Like Hamilton and Jefferson, Congress and the nation at large also had differences. By the mid-1790’s, two

distinct political parties had taken shape. The name Federalist had first described someone who supported and ratified the Constitution. By the 1790’s, the word was applied to the group of people who supported the policies of the Washington administration.

The followers of Jefferson and Madison called their party the Republicans, or the Democratic-Republicans. The Republicans wanted to limit government. They feared that a strong government would endanger people’s liberties…Republican policies appealed to farmers and urban workers, especially in the Middle Atlantic states and the South.

One difference between Federalists and Republicans concerned the basis of government power. In the [Federalist] view, the federal government had implied powers, powers that were not directly stated in the Constitution. Hamilton used the idea of implied powers to justify a national bank. He argued that the Constitution gave Congress the power to issue money and regulate trade, and a national bank would clearly help the government carry out those responsibilities. Therefore, he believed that creating a bank was within the constitutional power of Congress.

Jefferson and Madison, however, believed in a strict interpretation of the Constitution. They accepted the idea ofimplied powers, but in a much more limited sense than Hamilton did. They believed that implied powers are those powers that are “absolutely necessary” for Congress to exercise its stated powers.

The differences between the parties, however, went even deeper. Both parties had sharply differing views on the role ordinary people should play in government. Federalists supported representative government, in which elected officials ruled in the people’s name. They did not believe that it was wise to let the public become too involved in politics. Public office, Federalists thought, should be held by honest and educated men who own property and would protect everyone’s rights. Hamilton said, “The people are turbulent and changing…They seldom judge or determine right.” – Alexander Hamilton, Speech on the Constitutional Convention

In contrast, the Republicans feared a strong central government controlled by a few people. The Republicans believed that liberty would be safe only if ordinary people participated in government. As Jefferson explained, “I am not among those who fear the people. They, and not the rich, are our dependence [what we depend on] for continued freedom.” – Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Samuel Kercheval

FEDERALISTS REPUBLICANS

Leader: Hamilton Leader: Jefferson

FAVORED: FAVORED:

•Rule by the wealthy class •Rule by the people

•Strong Federal government •Strong state government

•Emphasis on manufacturing •Emphasis on agriculture

•Loose interpretation of the Constitution

•Strict interpretation of the Constitution

•British alliance •French alliance

•National Bank •State banks

•Protective tariffs •Free trade

RAFTROLE: farmerAUDIENCE: Other small farmers, who

share your concernsFORMAT: Persuasive email listing at

least two reasonsTOPIC: Tell your fellow farmers who

they should vote for in the upcoming election between Hamilton & Jefferson.

DAY TWO

STANDARD 8.4.2: Explain the policy significance of famous speeches (e.g. Washington’s Farewell Address, Jefferson’s 1801 Inaugural Address, John Q. Adams Fourth of July 1821 Address)

In September 1796, after serving two four-year terms as president, Washington announced he would not seek a third term. By choosing to serve only two terms, Washington had set a precedent that later presidents would follow. Plagued with a variety of ailments, the 64-year old president looked forward to retirement. He also felt troubled over the divisions that had developed in American politics and with what he considered a grace danger to the new nation- the growth of political parties.

Washington’s “Farewell Address” was published in a Philadelphia newspaper. In it he attacked the evils of political parties and entanglement in foreign affairs. Washington’s “Farewell Address” included his explanation for not seeking a third term as president. Even more important, he gave the young republic his best advice on the conduct of politics and foreign affairs. He urged citizens to:

“Observe good faith and justice toward all nations…Tis our policy to steer clear of permanent alliances.” –George Washington

Excerpt from Washington’s “Farewell Address”

…In contemplating the causes which may disturb our Union it occurs as a matter of serious concern that any ground should have been furnished for characterizing parties by geographical discriminations… No alliances, however strict between the parts, can be an adequate substitute. They must inevitably experience the infractions and interruptions which all alliances in all times have experienced… The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations is, in extending our commercial relations to have as little political connection as possible…

RAFTROLE: News Anchor AUDIENCE: American citizensFORMAT: “Breaking News” reportTOPIC: Pretend you are a news reporter on

the evening news and write a summary of the keys points of Washington’s

“Farewell Address” that begins with the sentence starter, “We interrupt this program to bring you the highlights from Washington’s Farewell Address.” Include at least 2 points from Washington’s speech.

DAY THREESTANDARD 8.8.2: Describe the

purpose, challenges, and economic incentives associated

with westward expansion, including the concept of Manifest

Destiny and the territorial acquisitions that spanned

numerous decades.

What is Manifest Destiny?

Many Americans thought their nation had a special role to fulfill. In the 1800’s, many believed that the United State’s mission was to occupy the entire continent. In 1819, John Quincy Adams expressed what many Americans were thinking when he said expansion to the Pacific was as inevitable “as that the Mississippi should flow to the sea.”

In the 1800’s, newspaper editor John O’Sullivan put the idea of a national mission in more specific words. O’Sullivan declared it was America’s …“Manifest Destiny to overspread and possess the

whole of the Continent which Providence has given us.” O’Sullivan meant that the United States was clearly set apart for a special purpose- to extend its boundaries all the way to the Pacific.

RAFTROLE: StudentAUDIENCE: SelfFORMAT: Acrostic poem to remember

key ideasTOPIC: Manifest Destiny

SAMPLE:

Monroe Demonstrates

On December 2, 1823 Our

Needed to state our position Consecrated

Realizing the U.S. ambition True

Overruling European interests Right to Rule

Europe warned to stay out! In the Western Hemisphere

NOT

Europe’s