Lesson plan

Lesson Plan: 1912 Republican Convention – TR Starts the Bull Moose Party

Grade Level Grades 8-12

The presidential election of 1912 was a rare climactic political contest: one that challenged the nation’s voters to reflect on the effectiveness of American democracy, the role of the federal government in addressing the nation’s problems, and their constitutional rights, quality of life, and standard of living. This election took place amid the emergence of profound changes and challenges in American society, posed by growing industrialization, immigration and urbanization in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

It’s one thing for a presidential candidate to win a lot of primaries. It’s another to win the nomination. Theodore Roosevelt learned that lesson in 1912 when a string of victories in the first presidential primaries gave him a clear shot at the Republican nomination and the White House. Roosevelt had decided not to pursue a third term in 1908, and turned the party over to his vice president, William Howard Taft. By 1912, it seemed clear to Roosevelt that Taft had shed his progressive ideology and was bowing to big business: Roosevelt was determined to unseat him. Taft was backed by the party bosses, so Roosevelt’s only chance to pick up delegates was in the presidential primaries, which were being held for the first time in the nation’s history. After a slow start, Roosevelt wound up trouncing Taft by sweeping 9 of the 13 states that held primaries that year. He arrived at the convention just 50 votes short of the nomination. But the party bosses stuck with Taft, and after he won the nomination, Roosevelt and his progressive followers walked out to form the Bull Moose Progressive Party. Its platform of progressive initiatives, including social security, national healthcare and an end to child labor, would later become the central tenets of the Democratic Party. Roosevelt soundly trounced Taft in the 1912 presidential election, but lost to Woodrow Wilson, the Democratic candidate who controlled the White House until 1920.

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Related Subjects
Civics and Government U.S. History
Related Topics
U.S. Presidents Voting and Elections
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Resources
Lessons from the 1912 Republican Convention: Birth of the Modern Primary Play video
Video
Lessons from the 1912 Republican Convention: Birth of the Modern Primary
Student activity
1912 Republican Convention – TR Starts the Bull Moose Party
Lesson Resource
Political Parties & Conventions

Subjects:

Social Studies – U.S. History, Government/Civics

Grade Level:

8-12

Lesson Duration:

Two 55-minute class periods (and suggested extensions for additional periods)

Lesson Objectives:

Students will:

  • Analyze and assess the causes and consequences of the division within the Republican Party over the issues of Progressive reform, presidential power, and the meaning of “the general welfare”.
  • Summarize, compare and contrast, and draw logical inferences from primary source documents regarding the 1912 election.
  • Collaborate with peers in pairs and/or small groups to discuss, analyze, and assess text and visual primary source documents.
  • Develop a position and present a viewpoint based on historical evidence.

Materials:

Procedure:

  1. The teacher will select and display one of the suggested essential questions as a thought-provoking framework for the lesson’s development and the student’s critical analysis and assessment.
  2. As a class, have students view the film “1912 Republican Convention: TR Starts the Bull Moose Party” (duration: 4:57) and answer the questions that have been prepared regarding the film.
  3. Individually or in pairs, have students examine Theodore Roosevelt’s campaign speech, the “Confession of Faith,” with its corresponding Document Analysis portion of the graphic organizer.
    1. Decide if the text is at a level that is manageable for your students to read independently. If it is, let them do a close reading of the text and fill out the graphic organizer for the platform. If the text level is too challenging, then “share read” the document with the students by having the students follow along silently while the teacher begins reading aloud. The teacher then asks the class to join in with the reading after a few sentences while the teacher continues to read aloud. This technique will support struggling readers and English language learners (ELL).
  4. Students will do the same with the edited William Taft campaign speech, “On Popular Unrest,” and complete the Document Analysis portion of the graphic organizer.
  5. Have students choose one of the 1912 Republican Convention political cartoons. The teacher can decide to use at least two or more of the cartoons depending on the time that the teacher wants to use for the topic. Students will complete the Details, Description, and Decision portion of the organizer. Ask the students to complete all four quadrants of the chart for each cartoon. One or two students from each small group should share their findings with the class.
  6. Using information from the textual and visual primary sources, students will develop a viewpoint on the lesson’s essential question. The teacher may assign this in pairs or small groups, and can then ask groups to present their viewpoint to the class.
  7. Show students the Election of 1912 map from 270 to Win. Have the students use the graphic organizer from the Student Activity to guide their analysis of the election’s outcome.

Extension Activity:

  1. Teachers can also have their students explore and enhance their comprehension and analysis of the 1912 presidential campaign through music. Both the Roosevelt and Taft campaigns produced songs to encourage voters to cast a ballot for their candidate. The musical selections and links are listed in the materials section of this lesson.
  2. Teachers might also have the students explore the campaign of the Democratic candidate, Woodrow Wilson. A text of his speech “The Old Order Changeth” (excerpts) is included as a resource.
  3. Teachers can also use political cartoons related to Woodrow Wilson and follow the same procedures for the Roosevelt and Taft cartoons. They can also use the Details, Description, and Decision organizer.
    1. For political cartoons on Woodrow Wilson in the 1912 presidential election, please see below:
      1. And the Waters were Divided | Library of Congress
      2. On Uncle Sam’s Farm | Library of Congress
      3. The Good Samaritan | Library of Congress
      4. The Dope Fiends | Library of Congress
      5. In the Political Woods | Library of Congress
      6. The Professor | Indiana University Bloomington
      7. Race to the White House | Theodore Roosevelt Center

About the Authors:

John McNamara and Ron Nash are veteran classroom teachers, curriculum developers and Senior Education Fellows at the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

Standards

Common Core Literacy Standards

  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.9: Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.7: Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies

  • D1.4.9-12. Explain how supporting questions contribute to an inquiry and how, through engaging source work, new compelling and supporting questions emerge.
  • D2.His.1.9-12. Evaluate how historical events and developments were shaped by unique circumstances of time and place as well as broader historical contexts.
  • D2.His.5.9-12. Analyze how historical contexts shaped and continue to shape people’s perspectives.
  • D3.1.6-8. Gather relevant information from multiple sources while using the origin, authority, structure, context, and corroborative value of the sources to guide the selection.
  • D4.1.6-8. Construct arguments using claims and evidence from multiple sources, while acknowledging the strengths and limitations of the arguments.

AP U.S. History

  • Period 7: 1890-1945

AP Government and Politics

  • Unit 5: Political Participation
Download lesson plan Download lesson plan Download student activity Download student activity
Related Subjects
Civics and Government U.S. History
Related Topics
U.S. Presidents Voting and Elections

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