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United States Symbols of Liberty
America has many symbols that represent her ideas, independence, and
freedom.
Sample some of the following activities to learn more about symbols of
liberty.
Places To Go | People To See | Things To Do | Teacher Resources | Bibliography
Places To Go
The following are places to go (some real and some virtual) to find out
about symbols of liberty.
Statue of
Liberty
Virtually visit the Statue of Liberty, one of the most recognizable statues
in the word and a worldwide symbol of freedom. She is also known as “Liberty
Enlightening the World”. The statue is 152 feet high and weighs 225
tons. It sits on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. Before 1956, Liberty
Island was called Bedloe's Island. The tablet
which the statue holds in her left hand reads (in Roman numerals) "July
4th, 1776".
US
History : Liberty Bell
Travel to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and see the Liberty Bell. Find out
everything you ever wanted to know about its famous crack.
People To See
Frédéric-Auguste
Bartholdi
Meet Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi. He began constructing the
statue in 1875 and finished in 1884. His mother, Charlotte, may have been
the model for the Statue of Liberty. The statue was shipped in 350 individual boxes
and pieces on the French frigate Isere in 1885.
Uncle
Sam
Meet Uncle Sam and find out who he is and how he came to be one of our
nation's symbols. It's possible that Uncle
Sam was a man named Samuel
Wilson.
Emma
Lazarus
Get to know Emma Lazarus. She wrote the poem "The New Colossus" which
is inscribed on a plaque on the base of the Statue of Liberty. The poem
contains the famous lines: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled
masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the
golden door!” Emma Lazarus was good friends with Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Find out more (http://www2.soros.org/emma/) about Emma Lazarus. Her famous
poem was not added to the Statue of Liberty until 1901 which was after
Emma's death.
American
Bald Eagle
Meet a bald eagle. Find out about the endangered history of this national
symbol. Bald eagle populations were devastated in the 1950s and 60s from
use of the pesticide DDT. Learn how these grand birds have made a comeback.
(Did you know that Ben Franklin felt that the turkey--not
the bald eagle--should be our national symbol?)
Betsy
Ross and the American Flag
Spend some time with Betsy Ross and find out if she really sewed the first
U.S. flag.
The
Pledge of Allegiance
Meet Francis Bellamy. He wrote the Pledge of Allegiance. It was originally
published in the September 8, 1892, issue of The Youth's Companion magazine
in Boston. For many years, the author of the pledge was highly disputed.
Many felt that James B. Upham, another member of the magazine staff had
written it. In 1939, the United States Flag Association decided that Mr.
Bellamy was the author.
Red
Skelton's Commentary on the Pledge of Allegiance
Meet Red Skelton. He was a radio and TV comedian of the 1950s and 60s.
Read his commentary on the Pledge of Allegiance.
Julia
Ward Howe
Spend time with Julia Ward Howe. She was the author of The
Battle Hymn of the Republic. She wrote it in November of 1861 after
watching Union troops going off to battle. It was first published in the
Atlantic Monthly in February of 1862. Julia Ward Howe was also an accomplished
writer, poet, reformer, and lecturer. She was the first woman elected
to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She was the editor of the
abolitionist newspaper, the Commonwealth, and was president of the New
England Women's Suffrage Association.
Things To Do
The
Star-Spangled Banner
See actual images of the REAL star-spangled banner--the one that waved
over Fort McHenry when Francis Scott Key wrote the song.
Statue
of Liberty Photo Tour
Look at unique perspectives of this famous statue. See the original torch
which was replaced during the statue's major renovation in the 1980s and
images of the spiral staircase which visitors can climb to the top. Visitors
must climb 354 steps to reach the crown of the statue. Once in the crown,
there are 25 windows which symbolize 25 gemstones found in the earth.
The seven rays of the statue's crown represent the seven seas and the
seven continents of the world.
The Pledge of Allegiance
Find out how to say the Pledge of Allegiance in Spanish, French, Dutch,
and Hindi.
LibertyCam
Check out this live, web cam photo of the Statue of Liberty. Check back
often and see if you can see views of the statue at sunrise or sunset.
This web cam is located on the 27th floor of an office building about
two miles from Liberty Island. The bridge in the distance is the Bayonne
Bridge. Those tall, metal
structures in the distance beyond the statue are cranes used to unload
containerized freight.
The
Pledge of Allegiance : A Centennial History, 1892 - 1992
Find out about the origins of the Pledge of Allegiance.
Liberty Bell
Virtual Museum
Learn all about this famous bell. It is about 70% copper and it weighs
2080 pounds. John Pass and John Stow were the founders who made the bell,
and they are basically responsible for the crack. The bell cracked the
very first time it was rung! In 1996, there was a Liberty
Bell hoax associated with a fast food chain. Did you realize that
every state has an official
replica of the Liberty Bell? Find out where Utah's replica is located.
The Flag of
the United States
Learn about historic and current flags of America.
Flag
Etiquette
Find out if it's okay to fly the flag at night.
Library
of Congress - John Bull and Uncle Sam
Learn about the British character, John Bull and compare him to our Uncle
Sam. Uncle Sam's origins go back to the War of 1812!
Old
Glory
Discover how the U.S. flag got the nickname of Old Glory.
Flag
Trivia
Try your luck at flag trivia. What is a person who studies flags called?
America's
Tallest Flagpole
Isn't technology grand? Via webcam, whenever the mood strikes, see a live
photo of the world's tallest flagpole. Click on "Live Video Cam" from
the menu. While you're at it, check out the world's
largest flag, too. It's in California.
The
Democratic Donkey
Learn how the donkey became the symbol of the Democratic party. It has
to do with Andrew Jackson and Thomas Nast. Have students research how
the elephant became the symbol of the Republican party.
Teacher Resources
Online activities are a listing of internet
sites with fun, interesting, and educational tasks attached to each one.
(You can learn how to use this WWW
Activities tool created by UEN for Utah educators).
Virtual Field Trips are teacher and student-created
tours of curricular topics. (You can learn how to use this UEN Virtual
Field Trip tool created by UEN for Utah educators).
Lesson Plans/Webquests
Bibliography
- Curlee, Lynn. Liberty. New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers,
c2000.
- Doherty, Craig A. The Statue of Liberty. Woodbridge, Conn. : Blackbirch
Press, 1997.
- Fisher, Leonard Everett. Stars & Stripes : Our National Flag.
New York : Holiday House, c1993.
- Herman, John. Red, White, and Blue : The Story of the American Flag.
New York : Grosset & Dunlap, c1998.
- Kent, Deborah. The Star-Spangled Banner. Chicago : Childrens Press,
c1995.
- Penner, Lucille Recht. The Statue of Liberty. New York : Random House,
c1996.
- Quiri, Patricia Ryon. The American Flag. New York : Children's Press,
c1998.
- Quiri, Patricia Ryon. The National Anthem. New York : Children's Press,
c1998.
- Sakurai, Gail. The Liberty Bell. Chicago : Childrens Press, 1996.
- Sorensen, Lynda. The American Eagle. Vero Beach, FL. : Rourke Book
Co., c1994.
- Sorensen, Lynda. The American Flag. Vero Beach, FL : Rourke Book Co.,
c1994.
- Stone, Tanya Lee. America's Top Ten National Monuments. Woodbridge,
Conn. : Blackbirch Press, c1998.
- Swanson, June. I Pledge Allegiance. Minneapolis, MN : Carolrhoda Books,
c1990.
- Wilson, Jon. The American Eagle : The Symbol of America. Chanhassen,
MN : Child's World, c1999.
- Wilson, Jon. The Liberty Bell : The Sounds of Freedom. Chanhassen,
MN : Child's World, c1999.
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