Seward House Museum
And
New York State Common Core Social Studies Framework
Grade 7
Key Ideas
Content Understanding
 Seward House Museum Application
7.5 THE CONSTITUTION IN PRACTICE: 7.5c While the Constitution provides a formal
The United States Constitution serves as the process for change through amendments, the
foundation of the United States Government Constitution can respond to change in other
ways. The New York State Constitution
and outlines the rights of citizens. The
Constitution is considered a living document changed over time with changes in the early
19th century making it more democratic.
that can respond to political and social
Through the perspective of Mr. Seward’s
changes. The New York State Constitution
career, students learn about the political and
also has changed over time.
social events: the abolition movement, the
Underground Railroad, Compromise of 1850,
publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, sectional
crisis, Emancipation Proclamation. Through
guided questioning, students reflect on how
these events led to the 13th Amendment to the
Constitution and the abolition of slavery.
7.6 WESTWARD EXPANSION: Driven by
political and economic motives, the United
States expanded its physical boundaries to
the Pacific Ocean between 1800 and 1860.
This settlement displaced Native Americans
as the frontier was pushed westward.
7.6a Conflict and compromise with foreign
nations occurred regarding the physical
expansion of the United States during the 19th
century. American values and beliefs such as
Manifest Destiny and the need for resources
increased westward expansion and settlement.
 Students are introduced to the concept
of westward expansion through
Jefferson’s purchase of the Louisiana
Territory, and how Mr. Seward
continues the momentum of Manifest
Destiny through purchasing the
Alaskan territory from Russia.
7.6b Westward expansion provided
opportunities for some groups while harming
others.
 Students learn about the sectional crisis
that developed as slavery extended into
the western territories and the struggle
to maintain the balance of power
between the slave and Free states via
Mr. Seward’s role in the Compromise
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7.7 REFORM MOVEMENTS: Social,
political, and economic inequalities sparked
various reform movements and resistance
efforts. Influenced by the Second Great
Awakening, New York played a key role in
major reform movements.
of 1850.
Students learn about Mr. Seward’s
endorsement and subsequent travels on
the Transcontinental Railroad via a ring
melted down from a commemorative
golden spike used to dedicate the
completion of the project.
Students learn of Mr. Seward’s support
of the Erie Canal as governor, and his
initiative to build railways through
disparate parts of New York State to
connect them to the canal. Through
examining the details in a reproduction
of Thomas Cole’s landscape painting
Portage Falls on the Genesee River,
students observe and recall details from
the painting to describe what the
natural landscape was like before the
railways were put through.
7.7b Enslaved African Americans resisted
slavery in various ways in the 19th century. The
abolitionist movement also worked to raise
awareness and generate resistance to the
institution of slavery.
 Students visit the basement kitchen of
the Seward’s that was a Underground
Railroad. Students. Students observe
and recall details of their surroundings
to make inferences on what the fugitive
slave experience at the Seward House
was like.
 Through a roleplaying activity, students
assume the roles of pro-slavery,
abolitionists and those seeking
compromise. In character, students
react to questions about political,
economic and social impacts of slavery.
 Students are introduced to Uncle Tom’s
Cabin though Fanny Seward’s personal
copy in the home’s library and contrast
the popularity and impact of that novel
to works they are familiar with.
7.7c Women joined the movements for
abolition and temperance and organized to
advocate for women’s property rights, fair
wages, education and political equality.
 Frances Seward was peripherally
connected to the women’s rights
movement through acquaintances with
Lucretia Mott, Martha Coffin Wright,
and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Students
are asked to compare the rights they
have now, with the rights Frances, her
daughter Fanny, and sister Lazette had,
or did not have. Students learn how the
Seward women leveraged their
resources and relationships to have a
voice without having the vote.
 Students assess the risks that Mrs.
Seward took to use her home as a
station on the Underground Railroad
and place her anti-slavery activities in
the spectrum of activism for that time
period.
7.8 A NATION DIVIDED: Westward
expansion, the industrialization of the
North, and the increase in slavery in the
South contributed to the growth of
sectionalism. Constitutional conflicts
between the advocates of States rights and
supporters of federal power increased
tensions in the nation; attempts at
compromise ultimately failed to keep the
nation together, leading to the Civil War.
7.8a Early United States industrialization
affected different parts of the country in
different ways. Regional economic differences
and values, as well as different conceptions of
the Constitution, laid the basis for tensions
between states’ rights advocates and supporters
of a strong federal government.
 Students compare and contrast the
industrial economy and paid labor of
the northern states with the agrarian
economy and slave labor of the
southern states through Mr. Seward’s
concerns in his Irrepressible Conflict
speech of 1858. In this speech, Seward
cautioned that the different economic
systems were in conflict with one
another and ultimately only one could
exist.
 Students learn about Mr. Seward’s
High Law speech as part of the
Compromise of 1850. Seward posits
that although the Constitution was
nebulous on the issue of slavery and
could be interpreted either way, there
was a higher philosophical law than the
Constitution that was in direct conflict
with slavery, thus settling the question.
7.8b As the nation expanded geographically,
the question of slavery in the new territories
and states led to increased sectional tensions.
Attempts at compromise failed all together.
 Students learn about Mr. Seward’s
Higher Law speech as part of the
Compromise of 1850 that tried to halt
slavery’s expansion into the western
territories and the success in having
California enter as a free state.
7.8c Perspectives on the causes of the Civil
War varied based on the geographic region, but
the election of a republican president was one
of the immediate causes for the secession of
the Southern states.
 Students learn how Abraham Lincoln
and Mr. Seward vied for the
Republican presidential nomination in
1859, and how Lincoln won because
Mr. Seward’s stance on slavery was
considered too progressive. Lincoln
wins the presidency and appoints Mr.
Seward as Secretary of State.
 Students utilize a timeline activity in
the Resource Kit to reflect on key
political and social events occurring
during Mr. Seward’s lifetime (Fugitive
Slave Law, publication of Uncle Tom’s
Cabin, Irrepressible Conflict Speech,
etc.) and their effect on the nation as
the Civil War approaches.
 Students learn about New York’s
contribution to the war effort, via Mr.
Seward’s son, William Jr., who led the
9th New York Heavy Artillery
Regiment.
7.8d The course and outcome of the Civil War
were influenced by strategic leaders from both
the North and South, decisive battles, and
military strategy and technology that utilized
the region’s geography.
 Students learn about Mr. Seward’s role
behind the strategy of delaying the
Emancipation Proclamation until after a
string of Union victories to avoid losing
some of the Border States.
7.8e The Civil War impacted human lives,
physical infrastructure, economic capacity,
governance of the United States.
 Students learn about the effect of the
war on the Seward family via the roles
played by Mr. Seward (Secretary of
State), and his sons: Fred (Assistant
Secretary of State), Will Jr. (Brigadier
General, NY Heavy Artillery
Regiment), and Augustus (Paymaster in
the Pay Corps) during the war.
 Students learn about how John Wilkes
Booth’s dissatisfaction with the Union
victory led to his assassination plot
targeting President Lincoln, Vice
President Johnson and Secretary
Seward, as an attempt to topple the
Northern government.
 Students learn about opportunities for
African American soldiers during the
war through the son of Mr. Seward’s
servants, Willis Bogart, who joined
Company B, 29th Regiment, U.S.
Colored Infantry during the Civil War.