Lesson 3: Who was Abel Harwood?

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Essential Questions/Enduring Understandings:

How can we use primary sources to discover answers to questions we have about history?

Annotated List of Materials, Resources:

· Picture of Abel Harwood

· Death notice of Abel Harwood (newspaper clipping)

· Memorial booklet for Abel Harwood

· Abel Harwood Biography website

http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilchampa/biographies/bio0201.html

· Isabella Boyd/Abel Harwood Biography Website

http://clanboyd.info/state/illinois/famhist/isabella/

· Abel Harwood, from History of Champaign County

· Abel Harwood, from Early History and Pioneers of Champaign Co.

· Harwood Subdivision, Illustrated Atlas 1893, Combined Atlases of Champaign Co., Il. 1893, 1913, 1929. pp 18-19. Unigraphic, Inc. Evansville, In. 1978

· Champaign County Inventory of Historically and Architecturally significant properties-Solon House

Setting the Purpose:

Students will pose and answer the question: Who was Abel Harwood? This will allow them to make predictions and draw conclusions from primary sources.

Procedure:

1. Write the question on the board: Who was Abel Harwood?

Have students take a few minutes to consider who he was and write down guesses on the Prediction Chart.

2. Distribute the primary sources to the students and the analysis worksheets. Have students get into pairs and each complete the sheets. Students should be discussing their findings.

3. Get together as a group and discuss what they have found. Students should have comments about what his physical presentation may have revealed about his station in life and personality. Students should comment on his life.

4. Have students go to the two biography websites listed above. Students will use the Sequence chain chart to take notes about the information they find. They can also use these sites to finish the Prediction chart answers.

They should find that he was our district representative at the drawing up of the Illinois Constitution in 1869 (one we use today). They should note his occupations, his wives, where he moved to and why, and viewpoints on slavery (for emanicipation).

5. Discuss findings. Have students check notebook to see if any previous questions were answered and document.

Time frame for lesson:

2 to 3 class periods

Analysis of Local Primary Sources:

Students will use photo and written document analysis sheets to examine documents.

Ties to National Primary Source or Sources:

Illinois State Constitution (1869)

Website about the Illinois Constitution

Assessment:

Check notebooks for completion of written analysis, photo analysis, prediction sheet and sequence chain sheet