Directions: After reading the chapter from the text on the Roman Republic, students will
1. Read and discuss the articles about Cornelia and about the Gracchi brothers (Day 1)
2. Answer questions about the articles by using the pictures and accompanying questions in the section called “Gracchi pictures”. (Day 2)
3. Read the article about the New Deal and then analyze the political cartoons about FDR’s reforms and answer questions. (Day 3)
4. Choose 2 of the three assessment choices and do them together in class. Assign their completion for homework. (Day 4)
5. Share assessment choices with the class and discuss the similarities among the reformers and their time periods. (Day 5)
6. Make a bulletin board of the assessment projects. (Day 6)
Directions for “Ancient and Modern Reformers: Comparing the Gracchi Brothers to Franklin Delano Roosevelt”
Summary of FDR’s New Deal
From The Library of Congress
In the summer of 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Governor of New York, was nominated as the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party. In his acceptance speech, Roosevelt addressed the problems of the depression by telling the American people that, “I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people.” In the election that took place in the fall of 1932, Roosevelt won by a landslide.
The New Deal Roosevelt had promised the American people began to take shape immediately after his inauguration in March 1933. Based on the assumption that the power of the federal government was needed to get the country out of the depression, the first days of Roosevelt’s administration saw the passage of banking reform laws, emergency relief programs, work relief programs, and agricultural programs. Later, a second New Deal was to evolve; it included union protection programs, the Social Security Act, and programs to aid tenant farmers and migrant workers. Many of the New Deal acts or agencies came to be known by their acronyms. For example, the Works Progress Administration was known as the WPA, while the Civilian Conservation Corps was known as the CCC. Many people remarked that the New Deal programs reminded them of alphabet soup.
By 1939, the New Deal had run its course. In the short term, New Deal programs helped improve the lives of people suffering from the events of the depression. In the long run, New Deal programs set a precedent for the federal government to play a key role in the economic and social affairs of the nation.
To search for more documents in American Memory related to New Deal programs and agencies, use such terms as Works Progress Administration, Civilian Conservation Corps, Public Works Administration, Farm Security Administration, and the National Recovery Administration.
More About Cornelia…
Cornelia Africana
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cornelia Scipionis Africana (born ca. 190 BC – died 100 BC) was the second daughter of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, the hero of the Second Punic War, and Aemilia Paulla. She is remembered as the perfect example of a virtuous Roman woman.
Cornelia married Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus or Tiberius Gracchus Major when he was already in an advanced age. The union proved to be a happy one and together they had 12 children, very unusual for Roman standards. From these only three survived childhood: Sempronia, married to her cousin Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus, and the brothers Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus, who would defy the political institutions of Rome, with their attempts at popular reforms. After her husband’s death, she chose to remain a widow, even when the suitor was King Ptolemy VIII Physcon, and set herself to educate her children. Later in her life, Cornelia studied Latin and Greek language and literature. Cornelia always supported Tiberius and Gaius, even when their actions outraged the conservative patrician families in which she was born. After their violent deaths she retired from Rome to a villa in Misenum, but continued to receive guests.
An anecdote, likely invented, demonstrates Cornelia’s devotion to and admiration for her sons. When women friends questioned Cornelia about her mode of dress and personal adornment, which was far more simple and understated than was usual for a wealthy Roman woman of her rank and station, Cornelia indicated her two sons and said, “These are my jewels.” A large statue on the grounds of the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, entitled “These Are My Jewels,” makes allusion to this story. It is surmounted by a figure of Cornelia, personifying the state of Ohio, with arms wide spread, and arrayed before her are the state’s “jewels” – military and political leaders who contributed to the Union Cause during the American Civil War.
Rome worshipped her immaculate virtues and when she died at an advanced age, the city voted for a statue in her honour.
Read about the Gracchus brothers…
From History Alive! The Ancient World online resources
Investigating Biographies: Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus
You read about how Roman power grew through four main periods of expansion. In the end, Rome ruled over an empire that lasted 500 years. Yet the costs of expansion were great. Below is a biography of two men who lived during the beginning stages of Rome’s expansion. They both served in the Roman military, aiding Rome in its conquests. They also served in politics, witnessing firsthand the effects of those conquests on Rome’s people. As you read, think about how each man tried to help the people of Rome as they experienced the results of conquest.
Tiberius Gracchus was born in 163 b.c.e. into a well-to-do plebeian family. Growing up, he enjoyed a traditional Greek education-which included the study of philosophy, mathematics, and the Greek language. This gave him an open-minded view of the world. As a young man in the Roman army, he distinguished himself during the last Puni War in Carthage and later in Spain. During his service in the army, Tiberius traveled throughout the Italian peninsula. He noted that many of the people who worked the land were foreign slaves, because small property owners had to serve in the army. When he returned to Rome, he discovered many people in the city living in poverty. Tiberius felt that these two situations could lead to the end of the Republic. To find solutions to these problems, he decided to enter politics.
In 133 b.c.e. he was elected tribune. He immediately began to campaign for land reform. He wanted to pass a law that would divide huge estates belonging to the rich into smaller farms and distribute them among the poor. Many small farm owners had been drafted to fight in the Roman army. Some never returned to their farms. Those who did discovered that the constant warfare had severely damaged the Italian farmland. These small farmers lacked the money to repair the damage. So, they were forced to sell their land to rich landlords. These new larger farms owned by the rich were called latifundias. The latifundias used slave labor, and the few remaining small farmers found they could not produce crops as cheaply as the larger farms. Eventually these small farmers also sold their property to the rich and moved to the cities in search of work.
Tiberius’s idea proved quite popular with the common people but was strongly opposed by large landowners. Tiberius wanted to ensure the passage of land-reform laws. So, he announced that he would run for a second term as tribune, an unusual action at the time. This enraged the members of the Senate, and they organized a plot against him. His enemies stirred up a mob of rioters who seized Tiberius and many of his followers and killed them.
Tiberius’s dreams of reform were left to his younger brother, Gaius. Gaius Gracchus was born around 153 b.c.e. Like his older brother, Gaius received a traditional Greek education and distinguished himself in military service. Gaius was a flamboyant person, and a passionate and skilled speaker. After his brother was murdered in 133 b.c.e., he took up his brother’s cause of helping the poor. Committed to political reform, he proved to be an even stronger opponent to the wealthy than his brother had been.
Gaius was elected tribune in 124 b.c.e. and was reelected the following year. As tribune, he passed programs that benefited many groups in Roman society. For example, he supported a measure that divided state lands from conquests into smaller holdings and redistributed them to the lower classes. Another law he passed created corn allowances, or subsidies, for the poor living in the city. Under the law, the government provided produce and money for food to guarantee that these people would not starve. This reform was important to many people in Rome. After the years of conquest, very few people could afford to continue operating farms. Farmers who lost or sold their property left the land and drifted toward the cities, particularly Rome. Unemployment was high. Rome did not have many factories, and slaves held most of the few available jobs.
Gaius developed programs that built better roads and harbors, thus helping the business community. He also reformed the system for taxing the provinces and administering the law. All of Gauis’s reforms weakened the power of the Senate. Although Gaius became popular with many citizens, most senators hated and feared him. Therefore, when Gaius ran for a third term as tribune in 121 b.c.e., the Senate supported its own candidate. Gaius lost the election, and his enemies in the Senate went after him. A mob of soldiers and citizens attacked Gaius and his supporters, claiming they threatened the stability of the Republic. Recognizing that resistance was hopeless, Gaius ordered his personal slave to kill him.
Though both met tragic ends, Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus introduced a number of reforms that made a dramatic impact on the quality of life for many people in Rome.
Investigating Biographies
Historians examine the past very carefully. Certainly, they want to record an accurate record of historical events. But more than that, they want to explain the importance of the past. These terms help historians do just that:
Cause: Reason for an action, event, or behavior
Effect: Result of an action, event, or behavior
Short-term effect: Effect seen shortly after an event, action, or behavior hasoccurred
Long-term effect: Effect seen long after an event, action, or behavior has occurred
Use the terms above to help you answer these questions:
1. What caused Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus to become reformers?
2. What were the short-term effects of their reforms? Identify at least three examples.
3. Were there any long-term effects of their reforms? Explain.
Assessment Choices
Assessment choices:
1. In ancient Rome there were no political cartoons, but there was quite a bit of graffit on the walls, often about politics. Write and illustrate 2 bits of graffiti that express an opinion on two of the reforms suggested by the Gracchi brothers.
“Fortune is like glass; it shatters as much as it shines” is what this graffiti states.
Here is a cartoon about graffiti vs. history.
2. Make a Venn diagram comparing the reforms of FDR through the New Deal to those of the Gracchi brothers. To get more information abouyt the New Deal, click on this web page
http://www.cyberlearning-world.com/lessons/ushistory/newdealagencies.htm
3. Draw a political cartoon giving an opinion about one of the Grachhi’s suggested reforms. Be sure to have a caption and/or title.
