Teaching Collection: Roots and Revolution—U.S. History Through Oak Trees (1776–1877)

This collection of primary sources reveals cycles of growth, conflict, and renewal as the country formed, expanded, and struggled with its ideals of equality and freedom from 1776 to 1877.

Named the National Tree of the United States by Congress in 2004, oak trees (right) can live hundreds of years and serve as living witnesses to history, such as the signing of the Declaration of Independence (left). Photos by The Huntington staff and Max Tepper. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.

Introduction

Like the rings of an oak tree, early United States history reveals cycles of growth, conflict, and renewal as the country formed, expanded, and struggled with its ideals of equality and freedom from 1776 to 1877.

The Declaration of Independence (1776) states that “all men are created equal” and possess fundamental rights, including “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” More than a statement announcing the 13 colonies’ separation from Great Britain, the declaration expressed the ideals of equality, freedom, and self-governance that would shape the nation’s identity. These principles influenced the development of democracy in the United States and inspired movements for freedom and self-government around the world. Yet from the nation’s founding, the United States continually struggled to determine who was included in the promise of equality and freedom and how those ideals should be applied.

As the nation expanded across the continent, acquiring land, freedom, and opportunity also meant the displacement and dispossession of diverse Indigenous peoples with deep connections to the land. At the same time, territorial expansion forced Northern and Southern states to reckon with whether slavery would be allowed to spread into new territories. These growing tensions led to the Civil War, a conflict that resulted in the destruction of both human and nonhuman life. Eventually, the Emancipation Proclamation and the Constitution’s 13th Amendment abolished slavery in 1865. Efforts to secure liberty and equal citizenship during Reconstruction led to the 14th and 15th Amendments, which expanded citizenship and voting rights for formerly enslaved people.

Like the burn scars left by forest fires in the rings of an oak tree, the nation carried lasting reminders of inequality beyond the end of Reconstruction in 1877, including segregation and discrimination. Still, oak trees continue adding new rings, carrying marks of the past while continuing to grow, reminding us that history is not only a story of conflict, but one of endurance and renewal. The trees’ long lives encourage us to reflect on the past while continuing to build a future that truly lives up to the nation’s ideals of equality and freedom.

Collection-Wide Project Ideas and Prompts

What Have You Witnessed?

Think about events in history that you have experienced or witnessed.
Create a list of them. Why are these important? What did you experience or witness? Were you an observer, participant, or both?
Compile your list of events to create a timeline or zine that shows what historical events you have witnessed in your life.

The United States in 250 Years

Think about what the United States will be like in the next 250 years. What questions do you have about the future of the country? Use the prompts below as a starting point.
- How will the country change? How might people live differently?
- How could climate change reshape the land, weather, and daily life?
- How might future generations value oak trees compared to people today?
Imagine what the future of the country might be like.
Write about your thoughts, create a work of art, or design a model to showcase your prediction for the United States in 250 years.

Roots of Movement

Select a primary source from the Teaching Collection as inspiration for a short scene, dance, or movement sequence.
Think about what story you might tell with this primary source.
- What is the focus of your scene or movement?
- What details from the primary source are you using to guide your movement?
- How will you show emotion, action, and meaning?
- How does your scene or movement help explain the importance of the primary source?
Create your movement story. Use your body to bring the primary source to life.
Perform your short scene, dance, or movement sequence. Focus on clear expression, purposeful movement, and showing the importance of the primary source.

Branching Evidence

Print and cut out images of the primary sources or add them to a blank slide deck.
Look for connections and map out how the primary sources connect to each other.
Which primary source caused or influenced another event or idea?
Which primary sources show oak trees or natural themes?
Which primary sources include similar themes (such as freedom or equality)?
Draw lines or arrows and add notes between primary sources to show their relationships.
Add more primary sources to expand the map and explain why and how they connect to the other primary sources.

Standards

California History–Social Science Standards

5.3 Students describe the cooperation and conflict that existed among the American Indians and between the Indian nations and the new settlers.
5.5 Students explain the causes of the American Revolution.
5.6 Students understand the course and consequences of the American Revolution.
8.1 Students understand the major events preceding the founding of the nation and relate their significance to the development of American constitutional democracy.
8.4 Students analyze the aspirations and ideals of the people of the new nation.
8.6 Students analyze the divergent paths of the American people from 1800 to the mid-1800s and the challenges they faced, with emphasis on the Northeast.
8.8 Students analyze the divergent paths of the American people in the West from 1800 to the mid-1800s and the challenges they faced.
8.9 Students analyze the early and steady attempts to abolish slavery and to realize the ideals of the Declaration of Independence.
8.10 Students analyze the multiple causes, key events, and complex consequences of the Civil War.
11.1 Students analyze the significant events in the founding of the nation and its attempts to realize the philosophy of government described in the Declaration of Independence.
12.1 Students explain the fundamental principles and moral values of American democracy as expressed in the U.S. Constitution and other essential documents of American democracy.
12.3 Students evaluate and take and defend positions on what the fundamental values and principles of civil society are (i.e., the autonomous sphere of voluntary personal, social, and economic relations that are not part of government), their interdependence, and the meaning and importance of those values and principles for a free society.

Next Generation Science Standards

3-LS4-3. Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
3-LS4-4. Make a claim about the merit of a solution to a problem caused when the environment changes and the types of plants and animals that live there may change.
4-ESS2-2. Analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns of Earth’s features.
MS-LS2-1. Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.

California Arts Anchor Standards–Visual Arts

Creating - Anchor Standard 2: Organize and develop artistic ideas and work
Responding – Anchor Standard 7: Perceive and analyze artistic work
Connecting – Anchor Standard 11: Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical context to deepen understanding

ELA/Writing Standards

Writing – Research to Build and Present Knowledge

W.3.7 / W.4.7 Conduct short research projects.
W.3.8 / W.4.8 Recall and gather information from sources.
WHST.9-10.7 / WHST.11-12.7 Conduct short research projects.
WHST.9-10.8 / WHST.11-12.8 Recall and gather information from sources.

Teaching Collection: Roots and Revolution—U.S. History Through Oak Trees (1776–1877)

On this page

Introduction

Opening Hours

Admission Info and Tickets

Guiding Questions

How To Use This Resource

Cross-section of Pasadena oak tree (Engelmann oak)

1993. San Marino, California

Video: What Tree Rings Reveal

Video: How Do Oak Trees Adapt?

Audio: The Coast Live Oak

Nicholas Scull map of the fork of the Delaware River

1735

Declaration of Independence

1776

Video: The "Long S" in the Declaration of Independence

Audio: An Annotated Declaration of Independence

The “gnarled oak” of California…

Apr. 6, 1850

U.S. Congress resolution to amend constitution, 13th Amendment

Dec. 5, 1864

Monument honoring the 90th Pennsylvania Infantry, 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, 1st Corps

ca. 1885

‘YOU ARE HERE’ by Sandy Rodriguez

2021

Video: Artist Sandy Rodriguez Dives into 'YOU ARE HERE'

Collection-Wide Project Ideas and Prompts

Standards

Contributors and Reviewers