A Guide to Primary Resources for U.S. History : Executive Order 9981 Truman Presidential Museum and Library: "Multimedia Digital Archives" On July 26, 1948, President Truman issued Executive Order 9981 establishing equality of treatment and opportunity in the Armed Services. This project website, produced for the 50th anniversary of the Executive Order, presents the historic document as well as interesting background materials organized in an interactive format. This resource enables students to explore an important outcome of African American military service in World War II. The students can read the order and jot down ideas about how people might have responded to Truman's words (for example, from the perspective of an African-American WWII veteran, an American general, a NAACP lawyer, a white farmer, and a Soviet leader). This could be the beginning of a discussion on how the ideologies of the Cold War played out in the daily lives of Americans. Students can write a reactionary historical journal entry from the perspective of a former WWII African-American soldier (perhaps a Tuskegee Airman) to Truman's order. The teacher can prompt students to think about the emotions of an African-American who fought for a country in which his place is marginalized in society, especially when he was supposedly fighting to promote democracy. In the context of the increasingly threatening Cold War, what might such a person question about his country? The teacher should be sure to return to this document when the class begins to discuss the roots of the Civil Rights Movement.

(a) analyzing how the political ideas of John Locke and those expressed in Common Sense helped shape the Declaration of Independence;

Biography of John Locke and transcripts of his major writing
Stanford University: Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Painting of John Locke
University of Wisconsin

Declaration of Independence
United States Archives: America's Historical Documents

Description: John Locke was a political and religious philosopher in England during the later years of the 17th Century. His political writings have been extremely influential during the Age of Enlightenment. In his works, The First and Second Treatise of Government, Locke states his opposition to the idea of absolute monarchies based on heredity. Locke utilizes Christian scriptures to debunk the philosophy that Kings were granted power from God. Also, Locke expounds on the natural rights of humans and how, as humans, people are part of a social contract where one is willing to forfeit some rights to a central government while keeping other rights in order to promote stability and safety for the greater good.
Included in these links are a biography of John Locke and a full transcript of his major works with links to the individual chapters. Also, there is a portrait painting of Locke.

Teaching Tips:

"Do Now" Suggestions

Locke uses Christian scripture to debunk absolute monarchies. Discuss why this was an appropriate rebuttal to that philosophy.
Pretend people inhabit a new planet and form a fictional new society. Discuss what people would need in terms of government in order to ensure their survival. Extend this activity by comparing this experience to the Mayflower Compact or to the political order of the Jamestown settlement.

Suggestions for Using this Resource as Part of a Lesson

Create an ideological outline of John Locke’s work. Compare with a similar outline of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense. Then in small groups, highlight ideas or wording from the Declaration of Independence that mirror Paine’s and Locke’s ideas.
Create a metaphor of the social contract and the natural rights of man by using your school or classroom policies. What rights do students forfeit? What rights do they keep? Then, examine the Bill of Rights. If those are the rights we keep, what are the rights we give up to the central government in order to be part of our social contract?