As state legislatures increasingly mandate the inclusion of foundational American documents in general education courses on American politics, instructors face both a challenge and an opportunity: how to teach these texts not only for their historical importance but also for their rhetorical structure, argumentative strength, and communicative lessons. One approach is to view primary texts as strong pieces of writing to be examined conceptually with an internal logic that must be unlocked. The analytical tool of concept mapping helps students break texts down into discrete and scaffolded analytical parts. Through concept mapping, students identify major themes of political rhetoric. When these themes (power, freedom, equality, justice, etc.) recur across texts, concept maps help students recognize and unpack the contours of a larger dialogue about the American experiment.

This teaching resource provides instructors with clear student learning objectives for content and communication, specific instructions for a concept mapping assignment, guiding questions for establishing context, and overarching reflection questions.