A Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving

from BigThink, Bob Duggan, Nov. 22, 2011

You can have your Martha Stewart Thanksgiving(tm) with theAleppo pepper-rubbed roast turkey if you wish, but give me the good, old-fashioned, Norman Rockwell version any day. Rockwell’s classic painting (detail above, full picture here) of Grandma lugging in the gigantic bird on a platter as the patriarch awaits his carving duties and the surrounding adults and kids drool in anticipation will always be the quintessential image of Thanksgiving to me. And, yet, when Rockwell painted that iconic scene, it was March 1943—months away from Thanksgiving. The painting, titled Freedom from Want belongs to a series of works Rockwell titled the Four Freedoms after President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union address in which FDR outlined what he saw as the four essential freedoms that all people in the world should enjoy. When you look for the roots of the Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving, you won’t find it in the stuffing or the cranberries (and certainly not in an Aleppo pepper rub)—they’re in the simple idea of human, not just American, freedom.

In that State of the Union address FDR gave seventy years ago, he announced the following:

In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.

The first is freedom of speech and expression—everywhere in the world.

The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way—everywhere in the world.

The third is freedom from want, which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants—everywhere in the world.

The fourth is freedom from fear, which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor—anywhere in the world.

That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation. That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called “new order” of tyranny....READ MORE

Democracy Kids

“Democracy Kids” is a nice series of interactives designed to teach young people about how the United States government operates. It provides audio support for the text, which makes it particularly accessible to English Language Learners. It’s sponsored by several respected civic organizations, including the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The Facts of Congress section has 10 short videos with information about representative democracy in the US.

Representative democracy is a form of government founded on the principle of elected individuals representing the people.

The Mayflower Compact

Written in 1620 by the Mayflower passengers (who later were called Pilgrims), the Mayflower Compact was the first document of self-government in the colonies of the New World. Signed by all the adult male passengers of the Mayflower, it was based on the Covenant they lived by in Leyden, England before setting sail. It is hailed as the first democratic government created by voluntary agreement among men of equal rights. There was, of course, room for improvement. The Compact was signed by all the men on board - including the indentured servants - promising to abide by laws that would be drawn up and agreed upon by all male members of the community. The women were not allowed to participate in the governing process. However, according to the Mayflower Compact, a self-governing body rules for the greater good; and that principle of government has had great iimpact on the North American continent to this day.

 ...do

by this presence solemnly & mutually in the presence of God, and 

one of another, covenant, & combine our selves together into a 

civil body politick; for our better ordering, & preservation & 

furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof, to enact, 

constitute, and frame such just & equal laws, ordinances, 

Acts, constitutions, & offices, from time to time, as shall be thought 

most meet & convenient for the general good of the colony:  unto 

which we promise all due submission and obedience. 

If you look at a transcription of the Mayflower Compact, without changes to spelling or punctuation, you can appreciate how much English has changed since 1620. In general, the MayflowerHistory site is an excellent place to learn more about the Mayflower settlers, their first Thanksgiving and what they found when they arrived in the New World.

Veterans' Day

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, was declared between the Allied nations and Germany in the First World War, then known as "the Great War." Commemorated as Armistice Day beginning the following year, November 11th became a legal federal holiday in the United States in 1938. In the aftermath of World War II and the Korean War, Armistice Day became Veterans Day, a holiday dedicated to American veterans of all wars.
Bagpipes, parades, American flags and marching veterans are all part of Veterans' Day celebrations in big cities and small towns across the country. It would be hard to find a family, much less a community, without a veteran to remember and honor. 
The United States of America will never forget that Freedom is not free.

The History Channel has several Veterans' Day videos available, including the  History of Veterans' Day.

I Have a Dream

Excerpts from one of the most famous American speeches. Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream Speech, given in Washington D.C. on August 28th, 1963. Hardly any U.S. citizen can hear the words "I have a dream." and not think of this speech. It has become part of the national culture.

Find more videos like this on EFL CLASSROOM 2.0

The 19th Amendment

The Nineteenth Amendment (Amendment XIX) to the United States Constitution prohibits each state and the federal government from denying any citizen the right to vote because of that citizen's sex. It was ratified on August 18, 1920.


One of the major forces in the suffragist movement was the lNational Women's Party, and Alice Paul was one of the party's important activists.


Throughout the winter of 1917, Alice Paul and her followers in the National Women's Party picketed the White House. They stood silently at the gates, holding signs that said "Mr. president, how long must women wait for liberty?" The picketers were suffragists. They wanted President Woodrow Wilson to support a Constitutional amendment giving all American women suffrage, or the right to vote.

At first, the suffragists were politely ignored. But on April 6, 1917, the United States entered World War I. The suffragists' signs became more pointed. They taunted Wilson, accusing him of being a hypocrite. How could he send American men to die in a war for democracy when he denied voting rights to women at home? The suffragists became an embarrassment to President Wilson. It was decided the picketing in front of the White House must stop....

... Read more

You Be the Judge

This interactive threaded storybook teaches core democratic values such as Pursuit of Happiness, Private Property Rights, and other Constitutional Rights. Help decide how best to keep a treasured tree that is in danger of being cut down. You can make several decisions throughout the story which will effect the final outcome.

You Be the Judge