]
Debate Ideas
- Have students debate (link for formal debate guidelines below) whether young people of today could do what the pioneer children were expected to do. Pioneer children learned to take on responsibilities early in life. They began to help around the homestead as soon as they were old enough to follow instructions. Small children were expected to feed the chickens, gather the eggs, weed the vegetable garden, and collect buffalo or cow chips for fuel. As they grew older, they joined in the heavier work of picking rocks, plowing and planting, tending livestock, hauling water, pitching hay, building cabins and fences, hunting and trapping, babysitting, cooking, sewing, mending, washing, and cleaning. In fact, by the age of 10, young children were considered capable of taking on many adult responsibilities.
- Have students debate which of the following buildings was the most important to the settlers when starting a new town: train depot, post office, livery stable, blacksmith shop, general store, school, or church.
- Have students debate the topic of immigration. Almost all North Dakotans who immigrated here came from other parts of the world. They were enticed by free land and a chance to build something that would be their own. Do we give new immigrants from other countries the same chance of success that our ancestors had when they moved from their homelands and settled on the prairies of North Dakota?
Formal Debate Guidlines
