Welcome back to school, fellow history educators! As you're stocking up on hand sanitizer and wondering if this is the year you'll finally remember all your students' names by October, you face that perennial challenge of transforming a collection of disparate young minds into a community of engaged learners.

But that’s not new. In fact, it’s been the same story for 200 years.

Students often think persuasion and political activism started with hashtags. But Ohio in 1818? That was peak reform energy. The Philanthropist newspaper out of Mount Pleasant, OH, was basically the group chat where everyone aired their grievances about society - except instead of "ur wrong" they wrote things like "thy position lacks moral fortitude." This was the reformers doing the 1818 version of subtweeting societal problems. It turns out, people have always been mad about stuff:

• That debate about capital punishment? Still happening.
• Racial justice concerns? Still relevant.
• Charity and poverty? Check your local news.
• Concerns about societal addictions? Yup, still here.
• Using moral arguments to advocate for social change? Have you been on the Internet?

But remember when you tried to explain the temperance movement and got blank stares? Have you struggled explaining the differences between radical abolitionists like John Brown and William Lloyd Garrison? Do you like connecting modern debates to past history? Our lesson plan takes these gloriously verbose primary sources and asks students to do something radical: translate 200-year-old hot takes into modern PSAs. Because if there's one thing middle schoolers understand, it's the art of the persuasive video.

The PSA project transforms what could be a dry primary source analysis into collaborative meaning-making. Students must negotiate different interpretations of challenging texts, listening and understanding multiple perspectives. They wrestle with how reformers used religious and moral arguments, learning to apply honesty, respect and compassion to the decision-making process as they craft their own persuasive messages.

Perhaps most powerfully, they discover that civic engagement has always required courage. The publishers of The Philanthropist faced real opposition for their views. This historical example provides a framework for students to understand that active participation in social and civic groups can lead to the attainment of individual and public goals – a lesson that extends far beyond the history classroom.

A few tips before you begin:

• Yes, someone will ask if they can make a TikTok instead. (The answer is... maybe? Use your own judgment, but don’t forget to take credit if it goes viral.)
• Pre-highlight the articles for different reading levels - 19th century writers never met a subordinate clause they didn't love.
• Have a backup plan for the group that finishes in 10 minutes and the group that's still debating their opening line after 30.

Check out the PSA Project Lesson here.

Blog Image Citation: Ohio History Connection. The PSA Project. Columbus, 2025.