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VIDEO PROGRAM
Volume 276: Episode I: Neighbors and Strangers
OBJECTIVE
Students will be able to explain how the different histories and cultures of the United States and Mexico affected relations between the two countries.
CLASS QUESTIONS
Identify and discuss the similarities and differences between the United States and Mexico during the first half of the 19th century. In what ways were the two countries neighbors? In what ways were they strangers?
PRIOR TO CLASS VIEWING
Review the CLASSROOM TIPS FOR USING ANY VIDEO CHAPTER . Use THE U.S.-MEXICAN WAR MAP (without boundaries) to locate your state and town. What was your area like in 1846? Which country and/or native peoples owned or controlled that land? Compare the amount of land that made up the United States' original 13 colonies with the additional land acquisitions of Florida and the Louisiana Purchase. Compare the territories and regions owned by Mexico after its War for Independence. What conditions made it difficult to populate Mexico's northern regions? How did geography influence immigration to Texas?
CONNECTIONS TO SEMESTER STUDIES
Review the events that led to the United States' independence from Britain and Mexico's independence from Spain.
Discuss the expansion of the U.S. through revolution, the acquisition of Florida and the Louisiana Purchase.
Review Manifest Destiny, westward expansion and the United State's expansion plans to include Texas, and the California and Oregon territories.
STUDENT ACTIVITIES
Ongoing ProjectDivide the class into focus groups of journalists - one group reporting for the United States and the other reporting for Mexico. Have each group create a newscast, multimedia presentation or newspaper that reports on their country's international tensions, political news, economic news, entertainment news and lifestyles in the 1840s. Include editorials and political cartoons illustrating points of view.
Web Search and Analysis
Research and report on commemorations and holidays in Mexico and the United States. Which national observances commemorate events that occurred during the war between the U.S. and Mexico?
Awesome Library-Social Studies
http://www.awesomelibrary.org/Classroom/Social_Studies/Holidays/Holidays.html
Mexico Connect - Current Issue and Site Access
http://www.mexconnect.com
Vexillology is the study of flags and emblems. Have students research the Web for information about the national flags of Mexico and the United States. What symbols and colors are on each flag and what do they represent?
Analyzing for Understanding
Analyze images from the video that show what life was like in the U.S. and in Mexico during the 1840s. Compare the similarities and differences. Select a visual from each country and have students compose an original story describing the action from an eyewitness point of view.
Small Group Problem Solving
Ask groups to select a Mexican and U.S. quote from the VIEWING CHECKLIST and defend that person's point of view.
| NCSS Standards | United States | Mexico
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II
| Population: 20 million
| Population: 7.5 million
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VI, X
| The U.S. won its independence from Britain in 1783 and formed a democratic republic governed under the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights.
| Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821. Civilian attempts to establish a political system inspired by the U.S. republic model were destabilized by the interests of various groups, such as large land owners, leaders of the Catholic Church and army generals. Mexico underwent 22 changes of administration between 1821 and 1848.
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I, II, V
| Society was influenced by the industrial revolution.
| Society operated under Spanish institutions rooted in the 1500s.
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II
| European-Americans settled along the Atlantic seaboard, then fanned out in westerly directions.
| European-Mexicans first settled Mexico City, then spread out in concentric directions.
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II, IX
| The U.S. began a rapid expansion by purchasing the Louisiana territory from France in 1803 and Florida from Spain with the Adams-Onis Treaty in 1819.
| Mexico claimed 1.5 million square miles of land from Spain, but the war for independence devastated its economy and population. The country had difficulty colonizing its drier northern regions but resisted attempts by the U.S. to purchase parts of the land.
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