The Mountain Meadows Massacre Lesson Suggestions
Essential Questions: How did tensions from the Utah War lead to the Mountain Meadows Massacre? How do you treat primary sources that are collected after the event? How do you deal with biases in primary sources? How do secondary accounts show bias?
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Essential Learning Outcomes: Students will be able to understand the lead up of events that led to the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Students will be able to recognize biases and inaccuracies in primary and secondary accounts.
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Students will read the summary of the Mountain Meadows Massacre on the website. They will compare and contrast with the account in the textbook and other websites. Students will then explore the Mountain Meadows Massacre website https://mountainmeadowsmassacre.com/.
On this website, students will be able to find primary and secondary sources related to the Massacre. Students should fill out primary sources analysis tool on the major primary sources found. Students should also read the following article https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94509868 to understand why different secondary sources portray the Massacre differently.
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For a follow-up lesson, students can explore the trial of John D. Lee. The website has the transcript from Lee’s trial. The following article can also provide context for Lee’s trial https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-aftermath-of-mountain-meadows-110735627/.
Utah Core Standards for Social Studies:
UT Standard 2.1: Students will explain the causes and lasting effects of the Mormon migration to Utah.
UT Standard 2.4: Students will research multiple perspectives to explain one or more of the political, social, cultural, religious conflicts of this period, including the U.S. Civil War and more localized conflicts such as the Utah War, the Mountain Meadows Massacre, the Bear River Massacre, the Black Hawk War, or other Federal-Mormon conflicts.
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Reading for Literacy in Social Studies Grades 6-8:
Reading for Literacy Standard 1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.
Reading for Literacy Standard 2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.
Reading for Literacy Standard 6: Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author’s point of view or purpose (e.g., loaded language, inclusion or avoidance of particular facts).
C3 Inquiry Arc History:
D2.His.10.6-8. Detect possible limitations in the historical record based on evidence collected from different kinds of historical sources
D2.His.12.6-8. Use questions generated about multiple historical sources to identify further areas of inquiry and additional sources.