The American Reader: Words That Moved a Nation

The American Reader: Words That Moved a Nation
Ed. Diane Ravitch

A different type of literature which builds character is this collection of primary source documents which includes famous speeches, quote, anecdotes, and letters in American history. It was compiled by a national leader in the drive to educate today's students to know, understand, and value democratic ideals as they have evolved in their country. (Ravitch is an education historian.)

I have used this with 7th and 8th grade students since it was first published in 1990 and have found it an excellent resource for a variety of purposes. It is organized in chronological order so a walk through the table of contents is a fascinating overview of American history and culture. Some examples from the first section entitled "The Colonial Days and Revolution" are:

• Seventh graders love reading the funny and witty sayings of Benjamin Franklin from Poor Richard's Almanack. From his Autobiography his list of virtues was the spark for our own leadership program. Since he intentionally studied how to cultivate these virtues in himself, students are inspired to set goals and be reflective about their own growth into strong human beings. 
• Such a simple document as the Mayflower Compact lays out the principles of shared government and common consent that were set as founding principles before the Pilgrims even stepped off the boat! Students enjoy that. The idea transmitted to them is huge.
• This rich section reveals that many seeds of liberty and justice were present from the earliest days including Alexander Hamilton's Freedom of the Press, James Otis's Demand to Limit Search and Seizure, Thomas Jefferson's Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom, John Adam's Liberty and Knowledge, The Slaves Appeal to the Royal Governor of Massachusetts, Chief Logan's Lament, Abigail Adam's Letter to John in which she tells him to "remember the ladies," the compelling essays by Thomas Paine, and the stirring speech by Patrick Henry. A little here and little there and these seeds get planted in our children.

The students love to go through the book singing the songs: Yankee Doodle, The Star Spangled Banner, America, Oh Susannah!, Old Folks at Home, Dixie, The Battle Hymn of the Republic, On Top of Old Smoky, Go Down Moses, The John Brown Song,The Ballad of John Henry, Home on the Range, I've Been Working on the Railroad,Clementine, Take Me Out to the Ballgame, This Land is Your Land, We Shall Overcome and on and on. I see it over and over again: children absolutely love to sing! And while they may sing a little more self-consciously, students in seventh and eighth grade are no exception.

We also use the book as a resource of the great American poets and poetry: Emerson, Whitman, Longfellow, Whittier, Dickinson, Dunbar, Hughes, Frost. They memorize Barbara Frietche, The Concord Hymn, Casey at the Bat, The Road Not Taken, and several by L. Hughes (to name a few!). Also touching are the poems of the Issei. The selections span and reflect the diversity of American society.

The book is an excellent resource for our yearly speech contest in which students select a famous speech in history in order to analyze it and prepare a dramatic reading of it to an audience. The Gettysburg Address, Lincoln's 2nd Inaugural, addresses by Frederick Douglass, M.L. King's I Have a Dream, Lucy Stone or Elizabeth Cady Stanton's speeches on women's rights, FDR's Four Freedoms, JFK's "ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country" - too many to list here. 

Finally, we also find a few essays to study deeply. E.B.White's essay on freedom written in the face of Hitler's assault on the dignity and rights of all human beings penetrates our minds and our hearts.

Our copies at school are well-worn so I recently ordered fresh copies and found that the book continues to be reprinted (last copyright 2010) and is available as an e-book and for e-readers. On Amazon you can view the table of contents to see the full scope of what I've tried to highlight. I highly recommend reading the introduction by the author which is also available via the "look inside" feature. Her review of the value to be found in sharing these selections with young people is outstanding - and better than mine.

Here is the publisher's review found on the back of the book:
The American Reader is a stirring and memorable anthology that captures the many facets of American culture and history in prose and verse. The 200 poems, speeches, songs, essays, letters, and documents were chosen both for their readability and for their significance. These are the words that have inspired, enraged, delighted, chastened, and comforted Americans in days gone by. Gathered here are the writings that illuminate—with wit, eloquence, and sometimes sharp words—significant aspects of national consciousness. They reflect the part that all Americans—black and white, native born and immigrant, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American, poor and wealthy—have played in creating the nation's character.