Supporting Question 2: The Nonpartisan League (NPL)

The second supporting question, “what was the Nonpartisan League (NPL)?” helps students use secondary and primary sources to unwrap the context of the time and topic being examined. While the NPL was more focused on political and economic reforms, they did support changing the state constitution to include women’s suffrage and reducing the hours of labor for working women. Complete the following task using the sources provided to build a context of the time period and topic being examined.

Formative Performance Task 2

Study sources A-E. What was the Nonpartisan League? What do these sources tell us about the political and social reforms in the early twentieth century? How do we know? What else can you find? Create a graphic organizer of key Nonpartisan League (NPL) reforms, including the creation of referendum, recall, initiatives, ballot measures, and petitions

Featured Sources 2

The sources featured below are a combination of primary and secondary sources. Primary sources are the raw materials of history—original documents, personal records, photographs, maps, and other materials. Primary sources the first evidence of what happened, what was thought, and what was said by people living through a moment in time. These sources are the evidence by which historians and other researchers build and defend their historical arguments, or thesis statements. When using primary sources in your lessons, invite students to use all their senses to observe, describe, and analyze the materials. What can they see, hear, feel, smell, and even taste? Draw on students’ knowledge to classify the sources into groups, to make connections between what they observe and what they already know, and to help them make logical claims about the materials that can be supported by evidence. Further research of materials and sources can either prove or disprove the students’ argument.

Secondary sources are accounts or interpretations of historical events, people, places, and ideas by someone who does not necessarily have firsthand experience of the subject. This is the material that historians and other researchers have written about primary sources and the events, ideas, and people of history. These are the products of historical work including exhibits, websites, documentaries, performances, books, and other publications. When students read or view secondary sources, they should pay careful attention to the bibliography. What sources did the author use? Are they reliable evidence to support their claims? When students read or view secondary sources, they should also explore additional sources, including primary sources, to get an accurate understanding of the context and if the author wrote a valid, accurate, and thoughtful interpretation. What is the author’s historical argument, or thesis statement? Are their claims logical and supported by evidence? Further research of materials and sources can either prove or disprove the students’ argument.