Students will warm up in this beginning of unit lesson with an image analysis of a famous painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence before reading the document itself for important concepts or ideas. Students will then engage in whole‐​class civil discourse that will allow them to question their understanding of the Declaration of Independence, evaluate the importance of its ideals today, and assess the level to which the current country lives up to its founding principles. In this lesson, students will practice rhetorical listening skills and fairminded critical thinking through civil discourse.

• Students will apply visual literacy skills to identify and analyze visual representation of concepts related to the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
• Students will analyze the principles of liberty outlined in the Declaration of Independence.
• Students will evaluate and discuss the effect of the document on United States history, tradition, and politics.

• Equality
• Liberty
• Natural rights
• Consent of the governed
• Right to revolution

• Warm‐​up painting of John Trumbull
• Note cards (2 per student)
• Civil discourse tracking form
• Declaration of Independence Self‐​reflection exit ticket

This lesson assumes that students have some familiarity with the Declaration of Independence, so for students who have little experience with the Declaration, it may be best taught as the culmination of other lessons about the document. If students do not have familiarity with the document, this lesson will build understanding, but students may feel overwhelmed by the length and complexity of the piece. Therefore, it is recommend students review our explainers on the principles and grievances in the Declaration. Additionally, in order to engage in productive discourse about the Declaration, we recommend students learn about fair‐​minded critical thinking and active listening through the following lessons:

• Fair‐​Minded Critical Thinking and Listening
• Rhetorical Listening 

• Have students view the John Trumbull painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and answer the questions below.
• What do you notice about the people in the picture?
  • Students usually notice the clothing and the wigs before they notice anything else. When they are reporting out, you can ask what these things indicate about the period or about the social class of the people in the room.
  • Sometimes students notice that the people are all men or that they are all white or that they are all middle‐​aged or older. (The white wigs don’t necessarily indicate age. They were in fashion and were a means of preventing lice, as men shaved their heads and then put wigs over their bald heads.)
• The document forged and signed by the people in the picture features a statement that “all men are created equal.” Do you think the people in the picture think about equality the same way you do?
  • Answers will vary, depending on experiences and perspectives.
  • Many students might conclude that the people of the 1770s did not have the same concept of equality as people in 2025 do.
  • Many students might conclude that the room lacks the kind of diversity that has become commonplace in the United States and that helps shape our concept of equality.
• As students report out, challenge their conceptions by digging into what kind of equality might be meant here.
  • Equality of basic rights, equality of opportunity, equality of condition? There are many ways to think about equality. Do you think the people in the picture think about liberty the same way you do?
• Discuss these concepts with students and let them know that you will be digging into the concepts in the Declaration of Independence and trying to determine how the Declaration has shaped America’s history and modern experience.

IDENTIFYING THEMES/VOCABULARY PREVIEW

• Distribute lined notecards.
  • Liberty and equality
    • Ask half of the class to write a definition for “equality” on the lined side of the notecard.
    • Ask the other half of the class to write a definition for the word “liberty” on the lined side of the note card.
    • After a couple of minutes, have students pair with someone who defined the same word and compare their definitions.
    • Ask pairs if their definitions matched exactly. This is unlikely. If it happens, ask students to find someone whose definition does not match exactly.
    • Have pairs develop a compromise definition.
    • Have pairs report out their compromise definitions.
    • Note nuances of difference in the reported definitions.
    • Ask students why their definitions did not match exactly.
    • We use different words to capture the same concepts.
    • Sometimes our personal definitions of big concepts differ from individual to individual. This is going to be important as we interact with Founding documents.
  • Consent of the governed/​right to revolution
    • Repeat process above.
    • Results should be reasonably the same.
    • Ask students to identify which rights they were born with. Which rights are inherent or natural human rights?
    • Note these on the board if possible.
    • Students often come up with a pretty exhaustive list. Often, this list can be categorized any way. You can do this on the board by creating symbols for each category.
    • Inform students that Locke, like Jefferson, discusses these rights (but not exhaustively) as some of those belonging to people by nature.
    • Jefferson changed “the pursuit of property” to “the pursuit of happiness,” which was a classical concept about becoming a better person. Ask students what they think the change in framing means. To support discussion, please visit the Sphere 250th Collection for more information on the principles and argument of the American Founding.

TEXT ANALYSIS

• Distribute the Declaration of Independence.
• First read: Give students about 5 minutes to read through the Declaration and circle any words that are important for understanding the text. Second read: Underline important ideas or concepts in the text.
• Make sure that students are reading through the complaints as well as the prose text. There will be specific questions about the complaints during the civil discourse session.

Whole‐​class civil discourse session

• Place desks in a circle or rectangle that includes all students in the room.
• Distribute all four excerpts and have students quickly scan them and underline or circle words they think are important to understanding of the text in full.
• While students are reading, construct a diagram of the students in the room so that you can map the conversation that follows. A blank rectangle map with a key has been provided for you.
• Map the location of students around the room. Use student initials to mark their locations. When a student speaks, place a mark next to the student’s initials. If the student (R)estates another student’s argument, references the (T)ext, (D)isagrees respectfully, asks a (Q)uestion, uses another student’s (N)ame, or provides e(X)ternal evidence, note these instances as well.
• Draw a line from the first student who spoke to the next student to speak. This will give you a heat map of the conversation and allow you to encourage civility by recognizing positive civil behaviors.
• Establish norms.
• Have a brief discussion with students to establish the standards for civil discourse. This is a good time to review general classroom rules, but it is also an opportunity to ask students for guidance on what a civil conversation looks and sounds like.
• Some sample norms for civil discourse include the following:
  • One person speaks at a time.
  • Restate what the previous person has said before responding.
  • Use each other’s names and disagree respectfully.
  • Assume positive intent.
  • Recognize that people have different experiences and perspectives.
  • Disagree respectfully.
  • Expect nonclosure.
  • Let students know that you will be modeling active listening skills and facilitating the discussion. The goal will be to create space for students to build the speaking and listening skills inherent to fair minded critical thinking through experience in class discussion.
• Have a sample round.
  • Ask students to choose one word from the Declaration that they think is the most important. They do not have to explain why. Students may choose the same word as previous students.
  • Patiently and respectfully have each student state only the word they have chosen. You may move around the circle in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction, but make the pattern simple and the expectation that every student will speak clear.
  • This is an important step in the process, because each student will have spoken once and will have had an answer accepted by the rest of the students in the circle.
• First round
  • Ask questions that are grounded in the text and allow students to take positions. These questions should be aimed at measuring student understanding of the text and allowing student collaboration in order to deepen and broaden understanding of the text.
  • After each question, recognize students who want to answer and keep a list of students in the order that they offer responses. Moderate the conversation and attempt to refrain from intervening other than to enforce the norms. When conversation seems to have stopped, make a request for any final thoughts before moving on to the next question.
    • Sample questions:
    • Which grievance was the most surprising? Why? (This allows for a range of answers and for students to disagree about which is most important.)
    • Which grievance was the most relevant to today? Why? (This should generate a range of answers that are grounded in the text.)
    • Which concepts have been most important to American history? Why? (This should provide a range of answers, depending on student understanding of history.)
• Second round
  • Ask questions that challenge the text. This allows students opportunities for healthy disagreement. Acknowledge that they are reading only excerpts of a longer piece and that the full piece may have more information to address their concerns.
  • Use the same norms you employed in the first round to keep the conversation moving appropriately.
    • Sample questions:
  • How does the Declaration of Independence define equality? Is this today’s understood definition? (There is a lot of room for healthy and respectful disagreement here.)
  • How does the Declaration of Independence define liberty? Is this today’s understood definition? (The Declaration doesn’t give a definition per se but does provide examples of the destruction of liberty. These shape our understanding, but many people disagree on the appropriate boundaries of liberty.)
  • What do you think the “consent of the governed” meant to the Founding Fathers? In what ways was their definition similar to or different from a contemporary perspective? (This might require some historical knowledge, but students familiar with colonial models of government or of the Progressive Era will add richly to this question.)

• Third round
  • Ask questions that are intended to allow students to dig into their own values while keeping conversation related to the text. This will allow diversity of thought in the approaches students take in addressing the questions. It will also allow for thoughtful disagreement and nuance.
  • Use the same norms you employed in the first round to keep the conversation moving appropriately.
    • Sample questions:
    • Do you think the American government upholds the principles of the Declaration of Independence? Why or why not?
    • Does the right of revolution necessarily involve violent, armed revolt, or can revolution be peaceful?

• Distribute exit tickets as follows. Answers to all questions will vary with the experience in your specific civil discourse session.
  • Did you reference the text during the civil discourse session? Why or why not?
  • Did you learn anything new about the Declaration from the civil discourse session that you did not learn from the reading? Why or why not?
  • Were multiple points of view represented in the civil discourse session? Why or why not?
  • Did you learn anything new about your classmates from the civil discourse session? Why or why not?
  • Invite students to share their experiences.