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Social studies activity

New York's Story: Immigration, the Erie Canal & Lady Liberty

The Statue of Liberty is coated in copper — and when she was brand new in 1886, she was shiny ORANGE, not green! She turned green slowly over 30 years. She's so big that 354 steps take you from her feet to the top of her crown. Let's make our own little Statue of Liberty!

Hands OnAbout 25 minutesScreen-freeParent help expected

Materials and setup

How this changes by age

Pre-K (ages 3–4)

The Statue of Liberty is coated in copper — and when she was brand new in 1886, she was shiny ORANGE, not green! She turned green slowly over 30 years. She's so big that 354 steps take you from her feet to the top of her crown. Let's make our own little Statue of Liberty!

Difficulty 1 of 3

Steps

  1. Look at a picture of the Statue of Liberty. Can you find her torch? Her crown with seven points? The tablet she's holding?
  2. Draw a tall figure on green paper and cut it out.
  3. Add a crown with seven points using a yellow crayon — each point stands for one of the seven seas and seven continents.
  4. Tape a small piece of yellow paper as the torch — the light that says 'Welcome!'
  5. Hold up your statue and say: 'She used to be orange! She turned green in the rain and sun.'

Learning objectives

  • Wonder at the fact that the Statue of Liberty was originally orange, not green
  • Notice her specific parts: torch, crown, tablet
  • Ask why a giant statue stands in a harbor to welcome people

Kindergarten (ages 5–6)

Here's something most people don't know: the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) people had a democratic government — with a written constitution — for over 300 years BEFORE the United States was founded. Benjamin Franklin studied their government and borrowed ideas from it! Millions of immigrants also came to New York to start new lives. The Statue of Liberty arrived from France in 350 separate pieces and had to be put together like an enormous puzzle. Let's draw two groups who shaped New York!

Difficulty 2 of 3

Steps

  1. Fold paper in half. Label one side 'Haudenosaunee Nation' and one side 'Ellis Island Arrivals.'
  2. On the Haudenosaunee side, draw a longhouse and five nations coming together in a circle. These five nations had been governing themselves as a democracy for centuries.
  3. On the Ellis Island side, draw a ship full of families from different countries, with the Statue of Liberty in the background.
  4. Write or dictate one sentence for each side about what they contributed to New York.
  5. Ask a grown-up: 'Did you know Native Americans had democracy before the United States did?'

Learning objectives

  • Retell that the Haudenosaunee had a democratic constitution long before the United States
  • Identify Ellis Island as the entry point for millions of immigrants
  • Compare two groups who shaped New York's identity

Early elementary (ages 6–8)

The Haudenosaunee Confederacy — six nations governing themselves democratically — had been operating for over 300 years when Benjamin Franklin attended their councils in the 1750s. He wrote admiringly about their system and proposed elements of it for the US Constitution. Meanwhile, the Erie Canal (opened 1825) made New York City the trade capital of America. And the Empire State Building was built in just 410 days — one of the fastest construction feats in history. Map these contributions and explain how they connected to the rest of the country.

Difficulty 2 of 3

Steps

  1. Draw an outline map of New York State. Label New York City, Albany, Buffalo, and Lake Erie.
  2. Draw the Erie Canal as a blue line from Albany to Buffalo. Add tiny cargo boats loaded with wheat, lumber, and goods.
  3. In the northern part of the map, mark the territory of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy with the six nations' names: Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Tuscarora.
  4. Create a split timeline: on top, Haudenosaunee Great Law of Peace (1450s) → Franklin studies Iroquois government (1750s) → US Constitution written (1787). On bottom, Erie Canal opens (1825) → Statue of Liberty dedicated (1886) → Ellis Island opens (1892).
  5. Write 2–3 sentences: how did something that started in New York affect the entire country? Use one example from each timeline.

Learning objectives

  • Explain that the Haudenosaunee's Great Law of Peace influenced the US Constitution
  • Locate the Erie Canal and explain how it connected New York to national trade
  • Sequence New York events on a timeline and analyze how each had national impact
  • Write evidence-based sentences connecting state history to national outcomes

Upper elementary (ages 8–10)

Benjamin Franklin specifically cited the Haudenosaunee Confederacy's government as a model when proposing the Albany Plan of Union in 1754. The Haudenosaunee had governed five — later six — nations democratically for 300+ years under the Great Law of Peace, with a bicameral structure, checks on power, and ways to remove leaders. The US Founding Fathers borrowed this architecture. Yet within decades of the Revolution, the US government had reduced the Haudenosaunee's territory dramatically through a series of treaties. How do you build a democracy on the ideas of a people whose land you then take?

Difficulty 3 of 3

Steps

  1. Research the Haudenosaunee Great Law of Peace: its key features (council structure, clan mothers' power to remove chiefs, unanimous decision-making, protection of individual rights).
  2. Research the Albany Plan of Union (1754) and Franklin's letters about the Iroquois Confederacy. Find at least one specific quote where he praised their system.
  3. Create a side-by-side comparison: Great Law of Peace features vs. US Constitution features. Circle the ones that are similar.
  4. Research what happened to Haudenosaunee lands after the Revolution — particularly the 1784 Treaty of Paris, which gave away their territory without their consent.
  5. Write a 4-paragraph essay: paragraph 1 introduces the influence, paragraph 2 describes specific similarities between the two systems, paragraph 3 examines the contradiction (borrowed democracy, then land loss), paragraph 4 asks: what does this contradiction reveal about the Founding Fathers?
  6. Share your essay and invite one counterargument. Then write two sentences responding to it.
  7. The Erie Canal (opened 1825) cut the cost of shipping a ton of goods from Buffalo to NYC from about $100 to $10. If a merchant shipped 50 tons of wheat, how much did they save per trip? Design a one-page pitch to convince an 1820s investor to fund a canal boat, including your expected profit per trip.
  8. Brooklyn Bridge cables (1883) are made of thousands of thin steel wires twisted together because a bundle is stronger than one thick rod. Twist 20 pieces of thread into a cable and hang a cup of coins from it; compare to a single thread. Draw the bridge and label the main cable, towers, and deck.

Learning objectives

  • Evaluate specific structural parallels between the Haudenosaunee Great Law of Peace and the US Constitution
  • Find and cite historical evidence (Franklin's writings) for the influence of Indigenous democracy
  • Analyze the historical contradiction between borrowing democratic principles and reducing the land of their originators
  • Construct a multi-paragraph essay that identifies and addresses counterarguments

Safety and evidence note

Read the full activity before beginning. An adult should supervise tools, heat, food, outdoor work, movement, and experiments as appropriate. Completion records that the activity was done; the child’s explanation, work sample, photo, or demonstration is stronger evidence of learning than a completion check alone.

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