Half Of America Has No Rights

Summary

1. Subject(s): Ethical and Philosophical Discussions surrounding Women obtaining the write to vote. USH.2.1.D
2. Topic or Unit of Study: Social Studies, United States History
3. Grade/Level: 9-12th Grade
4. Objective: Facilitate a classroom debate on granting women the right to vote. This debate will be framed as taking place in 1875 (or so.) As much of the arguments at the time were Biblically based so to will this debate.
5. Time Allotment: 2+ Class Periods

Pro Educator Tip: As with everything you read for your class, but, likely more so with this passage you need to make sure you are proficient with reading this passage. It is confusing and has several proper nouns that are difficult to pronounce. That said, something to keep in mind when you read this story is that some of the events don’t make any sense. We will be looking at these in the themes section later. Also, of note, the provided text is from the most current version of the Updated New Revised Standard Version of the Christian Bible. Many scholars consider this version to be the most accurate translation. If your learners ask that is why this text was included. It is abbreviated “NRSVue.” Some of your learners may be more familiar with other versions and you can tell them that is great, but for this class, the NRSVue will be the version that you intend to use.

Implementation

Learning Context:

Women’s suffrage was a hotly debated issue for the second half of the 19th century. One of the most cited texts to reinforce women’s second class status was The Bible.

Pro Educator Tip: At first it may appear that such a debate will be contentious, however, this lesson is constructed in such a way as to minimize conflict and facilitate healthy debate.

Procedure:

1. Anticipatory Set:

   Tell your learners that you are going to be prepping for a debate tomorrow. (And possibly the next day, depending on your class size.) To that end, you are going to divide them into teams of 4. (It is HIGHLY unlikely that your class is equally divisible by 8, and, as such, you may have to have either a smaller team where some learners take multiple roles, or have one student on multiple teams.)

Pro Educator Tip: You know your learners. Ensure that the teams are assembled fairly and that none of your learners feel left out, however you decide to assemble the teams.

Class Period 1:

2. Direct Instruction:

   Tell your learners that this will be a historic debate over women’s suffrage (the women’s right to vote.) Today they will be assembling resources to construct their arguments for the debate. Tomorrow they will engage in a formal debate, on teams. The twist here is that they won’t know if they going to argue for or against women’s suffrage. Tell them that, as The Bible was such an influential book during the time (let them know you are setting the debate around 1875 as Congress was initially drafting the 19th amendment) their arguments for this debate will be pulled from that source, and that you will be providing the majority of the quotes to drive the discussion, however, if your learners wish to pull other verses they are welcome to.

   Let them know that the teams will have the following members:

   Speaker 1: They present the main argument. They speak for 3 minutes. They will be followed by Speaker 1 from the opposing team.

   Counter: After both Speaker 1s present, they will have 2 minutes to rebut their opponent’s positions.

   Cross-examiners: After both Counters present they will speak for 3 minutes directly on the rebuttals and relate them back to their own position.

   Speaker 2: They will speak after the Cross-examiners and have 2 minutes each to make a final statement.

   To set up and frame this argument this lesson has included a quote from Abigail Adams to her husband John in 1776, well before the drafting of the US Constitution. Denying women their rights has always been a choice.

3. Guided Practice:

   Now, you can present your learners with the rest of the quotes as well and allow them to choose roles on their teams and form their arguments. Remind them that, tomorrow, they will need to be able to take either the “for” or the “against” side so they need to be prepared for both situations.

Pro Educator Tip: Ensure that your learners are working together well. It may be necessary to rearrange some of your teams if you choose poorly, but, hopefully, you should be able to “referee” any disagreements.

Class Period 2:

4. Direct Instruction:

   It is debate day. Facilitate the debates and ensure that everyone is respectful. You are not grading “winners” or “losers” in these debates. You are grading the students by how prepared their team is, and how well they present their case. You can perform this entire lesson and not designate winning and losing teams if you wish.

5. Closing:

   If you have time solicit feedback on what your learners thought of the exercise. Questions can be like: “Do you think you have a better understanding of this time period?” or “Does this debate make you think any differently about what life may have been before women could vote?” or “Do you think that it is more important to vote now that you have seen people fight for the right?”
   Finally, close with the Susan B. Anthony Quote. Tell your class that you will soon learn a bit more about her, but that she was one of the loudest voices in promoting Women’s suffrage.

Pro Educator Tip: The debates can take multiple days. Each debate requires 20 minutes and the setup in between requires a few minutes. One class period is, generally, enough for 4 teams (16 students) to debate.

Differentiated Instructions

Pro Educator Tip:Recognize that learners exhibit diverse learning modalities. You can employ a range of pedagogical strategies to effectively engage and instruct a heterogeneous student body by deliberately considering this variability.

1. Visual Learners
2. Auditory Learners – Tend to enjoy the debate portion of this lesson because of the various voices they get to hear.
3. Kinesthetic Learners – This is an excellent lesson to engage Kinesthetic learners.
4. ESL Students – It should be easy to obtain the Biblical text in whatever language you may need, however, the other quotes will need to be translated before the lesson.
5. At-risk Students
6. Advanced Learners – Generally excel at this lesson.

Materials and Resources

Pro Educator Tip:Choose supplementary materials that will enhance your lesson (books, videos, etc.), YOU KNOW YOUR LEARNERS! Find resources that ENHANCE this lesson and make your instruction an engaging learning experience for all of your learners!

1. Instructional Materials:

   see the included text.

2. Suggested Resources:

   ❑ Letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams, 31 March – 5 April 1776

Provided Text

Adams and Anthony Quotes:

Abigail Adams 1776

– “I long to hear that you have declared an independency — and by the way in the new Code of Laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If perticuliar care and attention is not paid to the Laidies we are determined to foment a Rebelion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation. That your Sex are Naturally Tyrannical is a Truth so thoroughly established as to admit of no dispute, but such of you as wish to be happy willingly give up the harsh title of Master for the more tender and endearing one of Friend. Why then, not put it out of the power of the vicious and the Lawless to use us with cruelty and indignity with impunity. Men of Sense in all Ages abhor those customs which treat us only as the vassals of your Sex. Regard us then as Beings placed by providence under your protection and in immitation of the Supreem Being make use of that power only for our happiness.” (Original spelling is preserved)

Susan B. Anthony

– “I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.”

Pro-Suffrage Verses:

Galatians 3:28

– “There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus..” Judges 4:4-5 – “At that time Deborah, a prophet, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. 5 She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites came up to her for judgment..”

Proverbs 31:10-31 – Ode to a Woman of Strength

(Verse numbers have been removed)
10 A woman of strength who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not harm all the days of her life. She seeks wool and flax and works with willing hands. She is like the ships of the merchant; she brings her food from far away. She rises while it is still night and provides food for her household and tasks for her female servants. She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. She girds herself with strength and makes her arms strong. She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night. She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle. She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy. She is not afraid for her household when it snows, for all her household are clothed in crimson. She makes herself coverings; her clothing is fine linen and purple. Her husband is known in the city gates, taking his seat among the elders of the land. She makes linen garments and sells them; she supplies the merchant with sashes. Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her happy; her husband, too, and he praises her: “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.” Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her a share in the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the city gates.

Romans 16:1-2

– “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon* of the church at Cenchreae (pronunciation), 2 so that you may welcome her in the Lord, as is fitting for the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a benefactor of many and of myself as well.”
*This word can also be translated as “minister.”

Acts 2:17-18

– “In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. 18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.”

Anti-Suffrage Verses:

1 Timothy 2:11-12

– “11 Let a woman learn in silence with full submission. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she is to keep silent.”*
*The words “woman” and “man” in this passage can be translated as “wife” and “husband.”

1 Corinthians 14:34-35

– “34 Women should be silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak but should be subordinate, as the law also says. 35 If there is something they want to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.”

Ephesians 5:22-24

– “22 Wives, be subject to your husbands as to the Lord, 23 for the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Just as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be, in everything, to their husbands.”

Genesis 3:16

– “To the woman he said, “I will make your pangs in childbirth exceedingly great; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”

1 Peter 3:1

– “3 Wives, in the same way, be subject to your husbands, so that, even if some of them do not obey the word, they may be won over without a word by their wives’ conduct,”

Facts and Faith:

Biblically Responsible Lessons For Diverse Classrooms

Crafted by a dedicated team of expert educators and
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lesson plans by Defense of Democracy are designed to meet
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directive. Our mission is to promote inclusivity and ensure
emotional and physical safety for all students. These
rigorous, Bible-based lessons reflect our commitment to
historically and scientifically accurate education, fostering
shared experiences across all backgrounds.

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