Thursday, November 4, 2010

Constitution Center Webcast

1. Why is learning about the Founders, and studying the Constitution and Bill of Rights important?
2. What did you like about participating in a webcast?

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists

Who had better ideas, the Federalists or the Anti-Federalists? Write a well written paragraph expressing your opinion, and have at least 3 supporting reasons.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Reflection: Articles of Confederation


1. Write down 3 things you learned about the Articles of Confederation
2. Why did it fail?
3. How could it have been changed to make it more successful?
4. If you made it easier to pass laws, how would you protect against a law taking away people's liberties?

Monday, October 4, 2010

Revolutionary Women


Women played a key role in helping America win the Revolutionary War. Women boycotted British goods, made bullets and uniforms for the army, became spies for General Washington, and even fought in battles, besides keeping farms and homes running.

Four of the most famous revolutionary women are Abigail Adams, Deborah Sampson, Mercy Otis Warren, and Phyllis Wheatly.

Your assignment is to write a persuasive paragraph about the woman assigned to you and your partner, telling:
1. What contributions did she make to the cause of American independence?
2. Why is it important that 8th graders study her? What can they learn from her life and deeds?

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

What do Americans believe in?

Among all the nations of the world, the United States is unique. Americans have many different skins colors, worship many different religions, and speak many different languages. Thinking of it another way, if you or I moved to China or France, we would probably not become Chinese or French, but if someone moved from China or France to the US, they would become an American.

So, talk to your partner, and list 4 things that you think Americans believe in, and explain your answers (tell why you think that).

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Happy 223rd Birthday, Constitution!

Today, the Constitution is 223 years old. It is the oldest Constitution in the world. Think about two of the rights we studied today: habeas corpus and trial by jury.

What might things be like in the United States if we didn't have those rights?


Sunday, May 16, 2010

Lowell Mills

Was working at Lowell Mills a positive or negative experience for the "mills girls" of the 1840s? Be sure to cite at least 3 primary sources in your answer.


Monday, May 3, 2010

Lincoln's Second Inaugural

For each of the three quotes from Lincoln's Second Inaugural, do the following:
1. Copy the quote
2. Put the quote in your own words
3. Give an example of how following Lincoln's advice might still be a good idea today in your own life

a. People were "wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces"
b. "Let us judge not, that we be not judged"
c. "With malice toward none, with charity for all"

Friday, April 30, 2010

Andersonville


Andersonville was built in 1864 to hold 10,000 Union prisoners of war. By the time the camp was closed 14 months later, over 45,000 prisoners were living there in squalid conditions, without enough food, water, shelter or medical attention. Over 13,000 Union prisoners died at Andersonville. Captain Henry Wirz, the commander at Andersonville, was hanged as a war criminal. The site is now a memorial to all prisoners of war from all US wars.

Although Captain Wirz was punished for what happened, there are those who think that he was a victim as well. So now it's your turn. Think about what it means to take responsibility. Who was really responsible for what happened at Andersonville?

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Gettysburg Cemetery: Paying Honor to Fallen Soldiers


After the battle, the people of Gettysburg were left with the task of burying thousands of war dead. Eventually, over 3500 Union soldiers were buried at the Gettysburg National Cemetery.

Paying honor to fallen soldiers is an ancient tradition, and many rules and procedures govern military funerals. Go to the link Union Soldiers and Burial Practices to learn more about how these procedures developed during and after the Civil War. Use these primary source materials from the National Park Service to answer these three prompts:

1. In General Order No. 75, "headboards" are provided for each soldier. What do you think a headboard is? What problem does Capt. Moore find with the headboards?
2. What change does Secretary of War Stanton suggest in 1866?
3. Why do you think that the US government felt the need to bury soldiers' remains in centralized national cemeteries instead of allowing them to be scattered around the country?





Monday, April 19, 2010

Civil War Letters

One of the reasons that we know so much about the Civil War is due to the letters, diaries and journals that soldiers on both sides wrote and kept. More common people than ever before were educated, and they wrote about their experiences and feelings, hopes and fears.

The Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) was fought on July 21, 1861. Sullivan Ballou of Rhode Island, a major in the Union army wrote this letter to his wife one week before the fighting. He died in the first few minutes of the battle. J.W. Reid was a Confederate soldier from South Carolina. He survived the war.

1. What was Sullivan Ballou's motivation to volunteer and fight from the Union? Cite two quotes from the letter to back up your response.
2. After Ballou's death, his widow, Sarah, was left to raise two sons by herself. If you were in her position, would you support or oppose continuing the war? Why or why not?
3. In your opinion, which of the two letters was closer to that of a typical Civil War soldier? Why?

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Using Math in History class?

Use your resource page to answer these questions about the Civil War:
1. What was the difference in the free population of the North and the South in 1860? Why do you think that the enslaved population was not included in this count?
2. Of the four categories, in which one did the Union have the biggest advantage? How do you think the South could make up for their disadvantage in that category?
3. Which of these categories do you think would have the biggest effect on the war? Why?
4. Despite the overwhelming Northern economic advantages, Southerners were generally optimistic about their chances of achieving their war goals. Explain why you think that was true.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Border States: Which side would you choose?


Kentucky was one of the border states that had divided loyalties for both the Union and Confederate causes. Although Kentucky eventually sided with the Union, many Kentuckians fought on the Rebel side.

What follows are proclamations made by the commanders of the Union and Confederate forces in Kentucky. Read both quotes, and then summarize at least two main ideas from each quote. Which one do you think is more persuasive, and why?

[The flag of the United States] has streamed in triumph at the mast-head of our ships, and in many a bloody field has cheered the American armies on to victory. It has waved in every breeze on land and upon the sea, and in the strong hands of our fathers who bore it aloft, it has never, lo, never dishonored. Around it have clustered the dearest hopes of every friend of human liberty in every clime, and who doubts the last shriek of freedom will rend the skies, if it shall fall forever....[t]hough others may hate and curse the land that gave them birth, the brave and loyal sons of Kentucky will never strike with parricidal hands the State that has nutured them.
--Colonel Curren Pope, Commander, 7th Kentucky Infantry

To the People of Southeastern Kentucky:
The brigade I have the honor to command is here for no purpose of war upon Kentuckians, but to repel those Northern hordes who, with arms in their hands, are attempting the subjugation of a sister Southern State.... Their government has laid heavy taxes on you to carry on this unnatural war, one object of which is openly avowed to be to set at liberty your slaves, and the ensuing steps in which will be to put arms in their hands and give them political and social equality with yourselves.

The honor of your wives and daughters, your past renown, and the fair name of your posterity forbid that you should strike for Lincoln and the abolition of slavery against those struggling for the rights and independence of your kindred race.

Strike with us for independence and the preservation of your property, and those Northern invaders of your soil will soon be driven across the Ohio.

--General Felix Zollicoffer, Confederate Army


Friday, April 2, 2010

Lincoln-Douglas Debates and the Senate Campaign


Lincoln campaigned against Stephen Douglas for the US Senate seat from Illinois in 1858. Although he lost the election, Lincoln became a national figure in the fight against slavery. Here are three of his most famous quotes from that campaign. Put the quotes in your own words:
1. "Slavery is found in the selfishness of man's nature -- opposition to it, in his love of justice."
2. "The doctrine [idea] of self government is right -- [However,] when the white man governs himself, that is self-government. When he governs himself and also governs another man .... that is despotism."

3. "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe that this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be desolved -- I do not expect the house to fall -- but I do expect that it will cease [to end] to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other."
4. "Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it."

(Special Note: The old Illinois state Capitol building, pictured to the right, is where Lincoln made his "house divided" speech in 1858. It is also where Barack Obama announced his candidacy for President, 149 years later in 2007)

Friday, March 5, 2010

Horace Mann and American Education

1. Why is Horace Mann sometimes called the "Father of American Education"?
2. If Mann were alive today, what three things (and why) would he change about our schools to make them better?

Friday, February 26, 2010

Soldier Letter from the Mexico-USA War

Click on the link to a letter  from a soldier in the Mexico-USA War published in the periodical "Yankee Doodle."  As you read the letter, respond to these 4 questions:

1. In the first paragraph, what did the writer expect from going to war?
2. In the second paragraph, what did the writer find instead?
3. In the third paragraph, what advice would the writer expect from his mother, and what did he think of that advice?
4. In the forth paragraph, what was going to happen next?
5. What was in the letter that surprised you? Was anything missing from the letter that you expected to be there?


Sunday, February 7, 2010

Health and Illness in Early Factories


According to the text, many workers in the mills got sick and were injured on the job or in inadequate housing provided by the mill owners. Was that true? We can use a primary source document, a page from the hospital log at Lowell, Massachusetts, to find out. Click on a transcript of the hospital log to answer the question:

1. What were the diseases and illnesses that afflicted the workers on the hospital log? In simple terms, what kind of disease or illness was it? How many people were suffering from each disease or illness? Were the diseases or illnesses related to work or life at the mill? Why or why not?

Monday, January 25, 2010

Slavery in America


Click on the link to see four readings on slavery in the United States. Work with your partners to answer the following questions:

1. For the first reading, paraphrase Thomas Jefferson's comments about slavery.
2. Read the second and third readings. Which do you think is a more accurate description of slave life? Explain your answer with specific examples from the texts.
3. In the forth reading, the author says slavery is actually good for the slave. What are two reasons the author gives?

Extra Credit: In the forth reading, the author says that slaves are better off than people working for wages. In your own words, what are the author's reasons?

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Trail of Tears

Read the account of the Trail of Tears from the National Park Service website. Answer these questions:
1. What happened to the Cherokees in the period of May to October 1838? What was life like for the Cherokees during that time?
2. What do you think was the worst part of the relocation? Why?
3. Andrew Jackson believed that "the majority rules." It is true that Indian removal was a very popular policy with voters over many years in the 1830s. Should the majority of voters be able to do anything they want? Why or why not? Should a minority of voters be able to stop the will of the majority? Why or why not?
4. Reread Professor Thomas' story? Do you think it is really happened that way?  Was the woman really Professor Thomas' grandmother? Is it important if she is not really his grandmother? Do you think the story was intended as factual history, or had another purpose? Explain (tell why or why not) your answers.