After sharing the letters between George Washington and the Hebrew congregation of Newport, RI with your students, you may want to ask your class to reflect on religion and freedom in America today by writing their own letters. See examples of letters written by Facing History students.
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On-Demand Webinar
Race in US History
Teaching Farewell to Manzanar: A Memoir of Japanese Internment
Watch this webinar to explore teaching Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston’s powerful memoir of her family’s internment at Manzanar Internment Camp in California.
Teaching Idea
Race in US History
Civil Rights Movement
The 1963 Chicago Public School Boycott
Teach about the 1963 Chicago Public Schools Boycott as an entry point as entry point for discussing the history of segregation in US northern cities.
Teaching Idea
Democracy & Civic Engagement
The Day After the Midterms
This teaching idea was created in anticipation of the 2018 midterm elections, before the election results were known. The discussion questions and strategies can be used to help your students unpack the results the day after the election and beyond.
Teaching Idea
Race in US History
Democracy & Civic Engagement
Justice & Human Rights
The Debate over Reparations for Racial Injustice
With reparations in the news, this Teaching Idea helps students define the term, learn what forms reparations can take, and consider what reparations should be offered for slavery and other racist policies.
Teaching Idea
Democracy & Civic Engagement
Justice & Human Rights
The Equal Rights Amendment: A 97-Year Struggle
This teaching idea provides an overview of the ERA and a look at the history behind the struggle to ratify the amendment that would formally guarantee women equal rights to men under the US Constitution.
Page
Race in US History
The Reconstruction Era
The Facing History Approach
At the heart of Facing History's project on the Reconstruction era is our belief that the lifeblood of democracy is the ability of every rising generation to be active, responsible decision-makers. This website features a video series with accompanying lessons and primary source documen
Teaching Idea
Race in US History
The History of Slave Patrols, Black Codes, and Vagrancy Laws
This Teaching Idea provides a brief overview of the history of policing in the early United States and then examines how laws, and biased enforcement of those laws, were used to control the lives of Black Americans in the South following the Civil War.
Teaching Idea
Democracy & Civic Engagement
Race in US History
The Hope and Fragility of Democracy in the United States
In this Teaching Idea, students learn about the history of democratic and anti-democratic efforts in the United States and examine sources that illuminate this tension from Reconstruction through today.
Teaching Idea
Democracy & Civic Engagement
The Kavanaugh Hearings
Provide students with a chance to process, reflect, and deliberate with others about the US Senate hearings in the confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court.
Teaching Idea
Race in US History
The Legacies of Chinese Exclusion
Teach students about the Chinese Exclusions Act, an immigration law passed in 1882, and its lasting impact on attitudes toward citizenship and national identity in the United States today.
Page
Democracy & Civic Engagement
The Letters
In 1790, before the adoption of the First Amendment to the Constitution, President George Washington visited Newport, Rhode Island. Moses Seixas, an official of the Hebrew congregation of Newport, was among the representatives of the Newport community invited to welcome the President by reading a letter. This letter expressed hope that the newly formed government would accord respect and tolerance to all of its citizens, regardless of background and religious beliefs. Moved by Seixas’ letter, Washington penned a declarative and assertive reply in which he promised the new government would ensure not just tolerance, but full liberty of conscience to all.
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