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This Primary Source Worksheet: Thomas Jefferson, Message to Congress on the Embargo worksheet also includes:
Zounds! Image an American president closing all ports and prohibiting exports. As part of an exercise designed to strengthen primary source comprehension skills, readers examine Thomas Jefferson's 1808 message to Congress urging such an embargo.
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Instructional Ideas
- Ask young historians to research the Embargo Act of 1807
- Ask readers to consider what the message reveals about Jefferson's attitudes and his presidency
- Collect the entire set of worksheets and use periodically as skill-building exercises
- Sort the worksheets by subject and incorporate into appropriate units
Pros
- The worksheet questions encourage a close reading of the document
- The text provides an example of the inconsistent grammar and usage of the time
Cons
- The resource assumes readers have background knowledge of the Napoleonic Wars, as well as the Embargo Act of 1807, and the rationale behind this unpopular mandate
- Only one of the six questions on the worksheet asks readers analyze the text