David Lucas’ Beachfront Property and Integrity

In this lesson, students will learn how David Lucas acted with integrity when a new law deprived him of the right to use his property. Lucas boldly challenged what he believed to be an unconstitutional taking of his property.

Walk-In-The-Shoes Questions
As you read, imagine you are the protagonist.

• What challenges are you facing?
• What fears or concerns might you have?
• What may prevent you from acting in the way you ought?

Observation Questions

• Integrity may be defined as the power and capacity that we use to adhere to the truth of things, to what is right and good. In what ways did David Lucas demonstrate integrity to seek to enhance life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for himself and others?
• What did David Lucas understand his identity to be and how did that affect his contribution to his neighborhood?
• What did David Lucas understand his purpose to be in the controversy related to the new law intended to protect the coastal environment?

Discussion Questions
Discuss the following questions with your students.

• What is the historical context of the narrative?
• What historical circumstances presented a challenge to the protagonist?
• How and why did the individual exhibit a moral and/or civic virtue in facing and overcoming the challenge?
• How did the exercise of the virtue benefit civil society?
• How might exercise of the virtue benefit the protagonist?
• What might the exercise of the virtue cost the protagonist?
• Would you react the same under similar circumstances? Why or why not?
• How can you act similarly in your own life? What obstacles must you overcome in order to do so?

• Students will analyze David Lucas’s character as a businessman and community member.
• Students will examine Lucas’s demonstration of integrity and commitment to truth.
• Students will understand why integrity is an essential virtue in their own lives.
• Students will act with integrity even when they face a tough struggle.