Students will warm up by analyzing two images of revolutions that occurred within 30 years of the American Revolution and discussing how the images relate to a quote from Thomas Jefferson. As a class, students will analyze and mark up an excerpt from the Declaration of Independence. Next, students will read one of two revolutionary documents from another country, either France or Haiti. Students will then participate in guided civil discourse before forming pairs to complete an exit ticket. Through this lesson, students will identify the role rhetoric plays in inspiring and influencing individuals as well as whole communities throughout history. In particular, note the role of Enlightenment rhetoric by using Francis Bacon’s definition of rhetoric as a guiding framework for how individuals in that era approached discourse.

• Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

• A letter from Thomas Jefferson to William Smith, November 13, 1787

• Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, August 26, 1789

• “Liberty or Death” Proclamation by J. J. Dessalines on January 1, 1804 (considered the Haitian Declaration of Independence)

• Students will apply visual literacy skills and discuss how they relate to a quote from Thomas Jefferson.

• Students will analyze the use of rhetoric through primary source documents from two democratic revolutions.

• Students will evaluate the impact of the Declaration of Independence on democratic revolutions around the world.

• Equality

• Liberty

• Declaration excerpt markup

• The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

• “Liberty or Death”

• Pyramid summary

• Venn diagram

• Exit ticket

This lesson includes whole‐​class work, a short fishbowl activity, and pairs work, so we recommend keeping the seating flexible. For recommendations on class setup, refer to our Civil Discourse Primer. The time limit for the fishbowl activity will be based on the length of your class period. If necessary, you may cut a previous step in order to provide more civil dialogue time. All documents are designed to be single‐​sided when you make copies. We also recommend teaching “What is Rhetoric” prior to beginning this lesson so students have foundational knowledge on the definition of rhetoric and its impact.

• Distribute warm‐​up and give students a few minutes to look at the images and note what they see, think, and wonder. As students report out or ask questions, note the following in class discussion:
  • The French Revolution cartoon shows women leading the charge. Students who understand French might be able to read the caption and understand that the concept revolves around market women participating in the rebellion. The women in the drawing are armed. Students might wonder why this is the case. In fact, women played more open and direct roles in the French Revolution than they did in the American.
  • The Haitian image shows the burning of Cap‐​Français. Students may notice the smoke and the enslaved people chasing the ruling class into the sea. In the image, the targets of the violence include women and children. The Haitian revolution was a rebellion of the enslaved population of Haiti against French colonizers and did involve direct violence against the French colonists as well as the French government.
• Have students answer the following question: How do you think these two images are related to the Declaration of Independence?
  • Some students may think that these images are from the American Revolution. Remind them to always read captions and header information.
  • Some students may notice the French language and correctly identify that these are revolutions involving the French.
  • Some students may think these are simply all revolutions, which is an accurate inference.

Distribute the excerpt of the Declaration of Independence.

• If you can, project your own copy to model appropriate annotating techniques.
• Ask students to read the excerpt out loud once. This is a fun opportunity for choral reading in your best 18th‐​century voices.
• Have students identify which words are important to the understanding of the document. Circle these on your copy and have students circle them.
• Ask students to define these terms from the context and note the definitions in the righthand column.
• Ask students for important phrases in the document. Underline these on your copy and have students underline them as well on their own copies.
• Ask students to identify any important themes in the document and note them in the right‐​hand column.
• Ask students to read one final time and make their own connections to their prior knowledge and understanding. Note them in the left‐​hand column.
• Have students share some of these out and/​or circulate around the room to check for understanding.

Excerpt analysis

• Distribute the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen to half of the students in the room and “Liberty or Death” to the other half.
• Give students a few minutes to annotate the document using the same method as for the Declaration of Independence.
  • Identify important words and circle them. Define them from context in the margin if possible.
  • Underline important phrases.
  • Identify key themes.
  • Make connections to prior knowledge.
• Distribute the pyramid summary and clarify the instructions. You may want to model the first few lines. You can use the Declaration excerpt to do this. Allow students several minutes to complete the following:
  • Independence
  • Equality
  • Consent
  • Life, liberty, happiness
  • Government protects rights
• Distribute the Venn diagram and give students a few minutes to complete it.
  • Students should note similarities between the two documents in the center.
  • Students should note at least two unique features of each document in the outer portions of the circles.

• Have students form pairs in which one student has read each document.

• Students will work together to answer the following questions. Answers will vary on the basis of perspective and should be scored according to use of relevant evidence from the documents.

• Consider this quote from Francis Bacon: “The duty and office of Rhetoric is to apply Reason to Imagination for the better moving of the will.” How did the language of the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution that followed help people globally to apply “reason to imagination for the better moving of the will”? Provide evidence from both documents.

• How did the French and Haitian revolutions build on or add to the ideas of the Declaration of Independence? Provide evidence from both documents.

• Which ideals in the Declaration of Independence were not embraced by France and Haiti? Why might this have happened?

• Do you agree or disagree with Jefferson’s statement that liberty has to be defended with war? What arguments from the readings influenced your conclusion?