Teaching Theodore Roosevelt: High School & AP Resources (Grades 9-12)

Core Topics for Advanced Study

• Executive Power and Constitutional Authority: Roosevelt asserted unprecedented executive authority, particularly through the Antiquities Act and conservation proclamations. AP students can examine whether his expansion of presidential power was constitutionally justified and what precedents it set.
• Progressive Reform and Trust-Busting: Roosevelt's trust-busting campaign, labor mediation, and regulatory initiatives exemplified Progressive Era reform. Students can analyze whether his regulatory approach successfully addressed the problems it intended to solve.
• Imperialism and American Foreign Policy: Roosevelt's defense of American imperialism, his role in Philippine conquest and the Philippine-American War, his support for Panamanian independence, and the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine shaped American foreign policy. Students can examine the long-term consequences of these decisions.
• Conservation and Environmental History: Roosevelt created the national parks system and protected millions of acres. Students can examine his conservation philosophy, its impacts on Native Americans, and how his legacy has been interpreted by subsequent generations.
• Race, Eugenics, and Progressive Ideology: Roosevelt's racial views and support for eugenics were mainstream in his era. AP students can examine how progressive intellectuals embraced ideas now regarded as dangerous, and how moral standards shift over time.
• Historical Judgment and Historiography: How do historians evaluate complex figures? How do moral standards change? Roosevelt presents an excellent case study for discussing methodology in historical analysis.

Primary Source Analysis: The "Man in the Arena" Speech (1910)

Overview: Roosevelt's 1910 speech at the Sorbonne in Paris articulated his philosophy of engaged citizenship and willingness to take risks. The "Man in the Arena" passage is frequently quoted and can be analyzed for its assumptions about power, courage, and responsibility.

Key Passage for Analysis:

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither victory nor defeat."

Analysis Questions:

• What is Roosevelt's argument about the relationship between action and criticism? Is he right?
• Who are the "cold and timid souls"? Does this characterization seem fair to critics?
• How might this philosophy justify controversial actions? How could it be used to silence legitimate criticism?
• What assumptions about masculinity, courage, and leadership underlie this passage?
• How does this philosophy connect to Roosevelt's foreign policy decisions?
• How might a historian use this speech to understand Roosevelt's character and decision-making?

Document Analysis: The Brownsville Order (Special Order 266, 1906)

Overview: Roosevelt's discharge of 167 soldiers without court-martial reveals the darker dimensions of executive power. AP students can analyze the order itself, contemporary reactions, and modern historical judgments about Roosevelt's decision.

Documents to Analyze:

1. Special Order 266 itself (available in Roosevelt archives)
2. Roosevelt's justification in messages to Congress
3. Senate Military Affairs Committee investigation (especially Senator Foraker's criticisms)
4. Contemporary newspaper reactions (both supportive and critical)
5. Later historical evaluations of the decision

Essay Prompt: Evaluate Roosevelt's handling of the Brownsville affair. What constitutional and ethical problems does it raise? How does this decision affect your overall judgment of Roosevelt's presidency? How should historians balance this decision against other aspects of his legacy?

Primary Source Analysis: The Antiquities Act and Executive Authority

Overview: The Antiquities Act of 1906 gave presidents authority to designate national monuments. Roosevelt used this authority extensively, creating 18 national monuments. AP students can examine the legal authority, the extent of Roosevelt's use, and constitutional questions about executive power.

Documents to Analyze:

• The text of the Antiquities Act
• Roosevelt's proclamations designating specific monuments
• Congressional response and concerns about executive overreach
• Legal challenges or disputes over Roosevelt's use of the authority

Research Question: Was Roosevelt's use of the Antiquities Act consistent with the act's intent? Did he exceed his constitutional authority? How have subsequent presidents used the Antiquities Act? What does this tell us about the balance of power between executive and legislative branches?

Historiographical Essay: Evaluating Roosevelt's Imperialism

Overview: Historians have debated the causes, justifications, and consequences of American imperialism. Students can examine how different historians have evaluated Roosevelt's role in imperial expansion.

Historiographical Sources to Research:

• Works by historians who emphasize strategic necessity (e.g., naval power, Pacific dominance)
• Works by historians who critique American imperialism (e.g., anti-imperialist perspectives)
• Works examining effects on colonized peoples (e.g., Filipino perspectives on American rule)
• Works analyzing the relationship between domestic progressivism and foreign imperialism

Essay Assignment: Write an essay that examines different historical interpretations of Roosevelt's imperialism. What factors have led historians to different conclusions? What evidence supports each interpretation? What is your own assessment of Roosevelt's imperial policies and their consequences?

Research Seminar: Race, Eugenics, and Progressive Ideology

Overview: Roosevelt's racial views and support for eugenics were mainstream in his era but are now regarded with horror. Students can research how Progressive Era intellectuals embraced eugenic ideas, what changed their thinking, and what this teaches us about the relationship between intellectual fashion and moral truth.

Research Topics:

• The eugenics movement in Progressive Era America: scientific claims and social policy
• Roosevelt's specific eugenic beliefs and statements
• How the eugenics movement was discredited (particularly after WWII and Nazi atrocities)
• The relationship between Roosevelt's meritocratic beliefs and his eugenic views
• How we should judge historical figures who held ideas now regarded as immoral

Seminar Question: How can we explain how intelligent, progressive people embraced eugenic ideology? What does this tell us about the relationship between intelligence and moral judgment? How should we judge historical figures who held views we now regard as abhorrent?

Comparative Analysis: Roosevelt, Wilson, and Progressivism

Overview: Roosevelt and Wilson were both Progressive Era presidents with different approaches to reform. AP students can compare their visions of progressivism, their methods, and their legacies.

Comparison Questions:

• How did Roosevelt and Wilson differ in their understanding of federal power?
• How did their approaches to trust-busting differ? To labor relations? To conservation?
• How did their foreign policies compare? (Roosevelt's imperialism vs. Wilson's idealism)
• How did their views on race compare?
• Which one better deserves the label "progressive"? Why?
• How have historians' evaluations of their presidencies changed over time?

Essay Prompts for AP-Level Assessment

Prompt 1: Presidential Power Examine Roosevelt's expansion of executive authority through the Antiquities Act, conservation proclamations, and executive orders. Did he exceed his constitutional authority? What precedents did he set for future presidents? How should we evaluate the balance between executive effectiveness and constitutional limits?

Prompt 2: The Meanings of Progressivism Roosevelt called himself a Progressive and championed reform of monopolies, labor relations, and conservation. Yet he also supported imperialism, endorsed eugenics, and accepted racial hierarchy. What does this contradiction tell us about the meaning of "progressivism" in the early 20th century? Can someone be progressive in some areas and regressive in others?

Prompt 3: American Foreign Policy Analyze Roosevelt's foreign policy (particularly Philippine conquest, Panamanian independence, and the Roosevelt Corollary) as examples of American imperialism. What were his justifications? What were the consequences? How should historians evaluate his policies?

Prompt 4: Historical Judgment How should historians evaluate complex figures like Roosevelt who made significant contributions in some areas while causing harm in others? What criteria should we use to balance achievements and failures? How do changing moral standards affect historical judgment?