Civic Learning

Mount Vernon is excited to share these nine teacher-created lessons that use our historical resources to support integrating civic learning into history instruction.

Path to Patriot

Students explore primary sources to analyze Washington’s decision to fight the British and then decide what they would do to solve problems that affect them and their communities.

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Civic Friendship and Compromise: The First Cabinet

Students analyze George Washington’s decision-making process and his use of varying opinions of the people in his cabinet during the Presidency. Students have the opportunity to see how civil disagreement can advance compromise and governing.

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Leadership: Sorting it Out

During George Washington’s lifetime, people described his contributions to public life in a variety of ways. In sorting these quotes, students create transferrable categories to describe public service leadership today.

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George Washington, The Farewell Address, and Challenge of National Unity

In analyzing this landmark nation-defining document, students follow George Washington’s lead and are asked to take responsibility for their own influence in their community as civic participants.

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Washington’s Complex Views on Slavery

Students examine two timelines in dialogue to get to the heart of Washington’s relationship to slavery and the context and personal experience that shaped his decisions and determined the fates of hundreds of enslaved people at Mount Vernon.

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George Washington, Public Space, and National Identity

Washington has been a symbol of the United States since the moment of its founding. Students explore the value of civic conversations about historic symbols in monuments of George Washington in our world today.

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Washington and Mount Vernon as National Symbols of Liberty and Enslavement

Two leading 19th-century African-American orators provide different perspectives on George Washington’s legacy in the century after his death. Students build on their analysis to explore the ways history impacts the ways they engage in civic life.

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The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association: The Possibilities and Debates in a Civil Society

Just like Ann Pamela Cunningham, the founder of the Mount Vernon ladies’ association and defender of George Washington’s legacy, students can use persuasive language to motivate others to care about an important civic challenge they hope to address.

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U.S. Policy with Indian Nations

This integrated lesson explores how the United States government, American citizens, and Indian nations asserted rights to their lands during Washington’s presidency. Students will study the changing landscape of our nation and analyze who benefited from and who was harmed by these changes.

See the lesson plan Explore the Student Timeline

Civic Learning

Path to Patriot

Civic Friendship and Compromise: The First Cabinet

Leadership: Sorting it Out

George Washington, The Farewell Address, and Challenge of National Unity

Washington’s Complex Views on Slavery

George Washington, Public Space, and National Identity

Washington and Mount Vernon as National Symbols of Liberty and Enslavement

The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association: The Possibilities and Debates in a Civil Society

U.S. Policy with Indian Nations

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