December 13-19, 2012, Current Events Lesson Plan
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Current Event:
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley chose Republican Representative Tim Scott to replace outgoing Senator Jim DeMint. Scott will be the first African American from the South to serve in the Senate since 1881. When Scott takes office in January, he will be the only African American in the Senate and the first African American to serve in the Senate since 2010. Scott had previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives, the South Carolina House, and the Charleston County Council.
Hiram R. Revels was the first African American to serve in the United States Senate. Revels, a Republican, represented Mississippi in 1870 and 1871. (Library of Congress)
Objective:
Prior to Tim Scott, only six African Americans have served in the U.S. Senate. The first African American senator, Hiram Revels, represented Mississippi from February 1870 to March 1871. Blanche Bruce, also from Mississippi, served from 1875 to 1881. After Bruce, there were no African American senators until Edward Brooke was elected to represent Massachusetts from 1967 to 1979. Carol Moseley Braun, the first African American woman senator, represented Illinois from 1993 to 1999. President Barack Obama served in the Senate from 2005 to 2008. Roland Burris was appointed to fill the vacancy after Obama was elected president in 2008. Burris served in 2009 and 2010. The Behind the Headlines news story and related World Book articles explore Scott’s historic appointment and the lives of the previous African American senators.
Words to Know:
- African Americans
- Carol Moseley Braun
- Edward William Brooke
- Blanche Kelso Bruce
- Roland Burris
- Congress of the United States
- James Warren DeMint
- Nikki Haley
- Barack Obama
- Reconstruction
- Hiram Rhodes Revels
- Tim Scott
- Senate
- South Carolina
- Tea party movement
Discussion Topics:
1. Tim Scott will be representing South Carolina in the U.S. Senate. What do your students know about South Carolina? (They might say that Columbia is the state capital and the largest city; South Carolina is nicknamed “The Palmetto State”; South Carolina was one of the original 13 colonies; South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union; Fort Sumter, the site where the Civil War began, is in South Carolina.) What do your students know about the U.S. Senate? (They might say that the Senate has 100 senators, 2 from each state; the Senate is one of the two houses of Congress, the other being the House of Representatives; senators serve six-year terms.)
2. The first African American senator, Hiram Revels, represented Mississippi during the Reconstruction Era. Ask your students what they know about the Reconstruction Era. (They might say it followed the Civil War; it was during the Reconstruction Era that the Union was restored and the South started rebuilding; during the Reconstruction Era the 14th Amendment, giving citizenship to African Americans, and the 15th Amendment, which made it illegal to deny someone the right to vote because of race, were passed; Reconstruction ultimately failed to bring racial harmony to the South.)
3. Have your students debate the topic, “When a senator leaves office before his or her term is over, is it better if the governor appoints a replacement or if the people vote for a replacement?”
4. Tim Scott will be the first African American senator from the South since Reconstruction and its aftermath. Ask your students to use the World Book’s Timelines feature to create a timeline of other notable African American firsts.
