In this lesson plan, students will examine a copy of the Adams- Onís Treaty of 1819, and will then work in groups to rewrite the treaty in modern day language. 

Created by Angelia Greiner, December 2007

Reading: Students will read the following nonfiction text in order to comprehend the details of the treaty and its influence on America’s history.  Students will interpret the overall organization and choice of words used in writing the treaty.
TEKS §110.44. English III, (b)(6)(F) 7, 8, 11. 

Writing: Students will rewrite the treaty in their own words paying close attention to the intended audience of the treaty by using an appropriate style and collaborating with their peers to proofread and present their writing with publishable quality.
TEKS §110.44. English III, (b) 1, 2, 3, 4. 

The purpose of the Adams-Onís Treaty of 1819 was to clarify the territorial boundaries to the west and south acquired through the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The treaty between the United States and Spain also allowed for the acquisition of both East and West Florida by the United States, and determined the territory of Texas (west of the Sabine River) to be Spanish territory. The United States secured rights to the Oregon territory (north of the 42˚ parallel) not claimed by Russia. In return, Spain secured territorial rights to present day California, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and Wyoming.  The United States agreed to pay claims by United States citizens against the Spanish government up to 5 million dollars.  The treaty was important in that it settled heated disputes between Spain and the United States regarding the actual territorial sovereignty of Spain within the North American continent. In particular, it set the United States and Mexico border.

1. Show students the map showing the boundary lines of the treaty. Look at the original Adams-Onís Treaty of 1819, located on TIDES at http://tides.sfasu.edu/ME18/SHHVII_8.php?culture=3&chrono=5&index=0. Next, carefully read the English translation on the worksheet, and answer the questions after each section.
2. Divide the class into small groups of three. Explain to students that the Adams-Onís Treaty was written nearly two hundred years ago, and that the English language has gone through quite a few changes over the years. Each group’s task will be to make the treaty easier to understand by rewriting the treaty in a language that students will understand, and to then present their treaty to the class.
3. Each group will be given three articles of the treaty to rewrite. Be sure to assign one group the introduction. If class sizes are small, assign articles to partners. If class sizes are large, lessen the number of articles each group rewrites.
4. After the articles have been rewritten in today’s language, the students will need to create a new treaty to be displayed in class. Each group should designate a writer to contribute their portion of the articles to the display.
5. The treaty should then be displayed in the classroom as a study aid. A photocopy of the original treaty displayed alongside the newly written one would be a nice touch!

Adams-Onís Treaty of 1819 Adams-Onís worksheet Adams-Onís Treaty map