Wordless: FOUR

Hmmmm….Why is that hunk of wood placed next to the bed? What is it for?


Other bloggers post wordless images on Wednesday , too. Visit the main page HERE to find them.

Last week's mystery explanation can be found here.

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The Importance of Silver

At some point in every young girl’s life she realizes the importance of silver.

Perhaps it is when she has a female relative who is getting married, and she overhears other female relatives and friends inquiring about the silver pattern she has registered for. Perhaps it is when she is old enough…..finally……to attend a wedding or baby shower with her mother and sees the array of silver trays, silver flatware, and silver coffee and tea services on display making the perfect refreshment table.

In my case…….it was when I was old enough to help my grandmother prepare the dining table for a family dinner…..more than likely Thanksgiving or Christmas. I can remember going to the drawer in the kitchen where the knives and forks were stored. My grandmother shooed me away and directed me in that constantly out-of-breath tone she had, “No, no…..go in the dining room and get the forks out of the box.”

The box? As I walked into the dining room I thought, “What box?

Then I saw the box where she had placed it on the buffet….a rectangular, wooden box with a hinged lid. As I got closer I saw it was pretty old and fairly beat up. There were scratches across the top and sides, but instead of repelling me the poor condition of the box made me want to open it all the more.

That was my first foray into someone’s silver box, and like many a young girl it made quite an impression on me. I walked over to the buffet and placed my hands on the wood feeling the uneven surface.

I was intrigued.

What would I find inside?

I lifted the top and discovered lovely and fairly heavy silver utensils encased in deep Columbia blue velvet. The knives were standing up along the inside cover of the box while the spoons and forks were stacked up and laying flat inside the box.

Now that I know better I realize the silver was not expensive, but for my hardworking farming and at one time mill employed grandmother the silver was her best, and she wanted to use it for a holiday dinner.

I thought it was simply lovely. I loved how it felt in my fingers and how the light reflected off it.  During dinner I refrained from using my knife because I just couldn't bear sullying it with food.  It was THAT beautiful to me.

Later I questioned my mom about the box and discovered she had a silver box as well. My mother was not prone to using her best items for meals, so realizing we had silver was quite a surprise for me. My sister and I finally convinced Mother to start using her silver for family dinners, and eventually she bought more of it to complete her set.  Today the silver is a treasure for my sister and I.

Silver is special…..silver is family history…….silver is spectacular.

Silver had its heyday in the United States between 1870 and 1920 though silver was in existence in our earliest days dating back to Paul Revere and the Dutch colonies. No matter the time period in history though silver was a luxury item and only the wealthiest homes had silver.

It was during the Victorian Age where silver flatware was its most decadent with some flatware lines having over 100 different types of pieces from a regular spoon, demitasse spoon, and a bouillon spoon. Then there’s the regular fork. Don’t get it confused with the pastry fork. Knives were in multiples as well with each flatware line having a knife for “place”, “dinner”, and one for “fruit” as well.

No wonder Victorian dining tables were so long.

This was also the time period where formal dinners went from three or four courses to ten or more including a course just for fruit and one for cheese.

Last week I posted a picture of a mahogany box and asked readers to identify what it was. I had no takers here but someone on Facebook correctly identified the box as a silver chest…..and that is exactly correct.

Here is a picture showing the box with a couple of silver pieces inside it. Notice this box is a little different from the silver box your family might own. The silver is stored upright in the little holes. It does not lay flat.

You can find out all sorts of information at the Silver Chatter blog…..a site headquartered in my neck of the woods…..Atlanta, Georgia with Silver Jim at the helm.

Odds and Ends From My InBox

I have several things I want to share this morning, so……….hang on.

First is The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era…….it’s published quarterly and the website advises each issue is packed with original essays, including on-line projects and reviews of scholarly books. The focus, of course, is all aspects of U.S. History from 1865-1920. I have a few articles here at History Is Elementary regarding the Gilded Age. You can access all of them here…..Just scroll through to find them all. 

Then there’s the website, Mission U.S. This is a site for for older elementary and middle school students and provides an innovative way for sharing social studies content. The first game, “For Crown or Colony?” has already launched. The setting for the game is Boston in 1770 and students actually role-play taking on the identity of a publisher’s apprentice. Students will interact with such real figures in history as Phillis Wheatley and Paul Revere. I've included an image from the game below.....

The development team for Mission U.S. includes historians from the American Social History Project and Center for Children and Technology. The game developers on the project are from Electric Funstuff.

…..and then there’s PhillyHistory.org……a geographic photo search website.   There are over 87,000 images and maps from five Philadelphia organizations you can search, research, share with friends or purchase.   Some of the images you can view include the one below of Civil War soldiers camping outside of Independence Hall.  It can be accessed here at the website.

History Is Elementary has been included in a Top 50 List for blogs with teaching tips, ideas and inspiration over at Masters in Teaching…..you can find the list here.

The Senate Chamber....A Playground for Children

I’m not happy with Congress these days…..I don’t know many of my fellow Americans that are. My title says it all. They play using my tax dollars as their kick balls and monkey bars.

However, before I go off on a rant that would cause my blood pressure to rise I want to go in a different direction with children….in particular “little boys.”

The other day I posted a drawing as one of my mystery images for Wordless Wednesday.  I’ve reposted it below:

The setting for the drawing is the United States Senate Chambers and the event being portrayed is the impeachment proceedings for President Andrew Johnson.

The drawing was included in a book titled The Story of a Great Nation (1886) by  John Gilmary Shea a writer, historian, and editor.

You can read my background article here regarding President Johnson’s impeachment over at American Presidents Blog.


I included this drawing on my Facebook profile and the page I have there for History Is Elementary. One of my visitors there…..my sister, to be exact…..noticed something about the drawing I had missed.


Look at the drawing again…..notice the two little boys in the lower right corner. They appear to be passing the time as best they could, don’t they?


Hmmm…..why are little boys in the Senate chamber during such an important event?


I never found a definitive answer, but I’ve made an assumption I can live with.


Now, observe another drawing of the events.   This drawing is from Harper’s Weekly and the artist is Theodore Davis.  All of his drawings detailing the impeachment hearings can be seen here.

Now, notice in the Davis drawing there are no little boys.


This spurred me on even further to research the matter to discover why the young men were playing on the floor of the Senate chambers during the Johnson Impeachment hearings.Young boys (girls didn’t serve until later) began serving as Congressional pages as early as 1827.   Members of Congress would sponsor orphaned or destitute boys taking a paternal interest them per page program history. Just like today during sessions pages sit close to the dais in case they are needed.   It makes sense the young men in the drawing I used for my mystery image were passing their time waiting until they were summoned.


The drawing with the little boys would be a terrific teaser to use with students in order to introduce them to the Congressional Page Program.

....and don't forget to become a fan of History Is Elementary on Facebook.  See the "like" button in the right sidebar.

Wordless: THREE

I toured some old plantation buildings over the weekend and snapped this picture. I thought it might make a good puzzle picture.


What is this????? What was it used for????

Here’s a hint….it was a very important box and even though it sat next to the fireplace it didn’t have anything to do with it.

Other bloggers post wordless images on Wednesday , too. Visit the main page HERE to find them.

A Little Desk History....

There are many types of desks. Messy ones, clean ones, ones to work at and ones just for show. There are fancy desks referred to as secretaries, computer desks, executive desks and roll top desks. Ernest Hemmingway and Winston Churchill preferred a stand-up desk. United States presidents have used the Resolute Desk, and then there is Thomas Jefferson’s lap desk.

Of course, students have desks as well. They generally have gum stuck underneath or inside them, and the tops are adorned with identifying tags left behind by precious owners extolling what they hate or who they love.

The desk I featured in my Wordless Wednesday is a U.S. Senate desk, and they have quite a history.

The desks date back to 1819 when 48 desks were commissioned following the destruction of the previous desks by the British during the War of 1812. There are only four of the original desks…..two are in private collections, one desk is in the Senate collection and another was housed at Beauvoir, Jefferson Davis’ plantation. It was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. It is hard to determine which desks are original or were commissioned later.

Some of the desks are distinguishable by their trapezoid shape. This enabled the desks to be arranged in a semi-circle. Today, the desks are arranged according to political party. In the 1950s, Senator Wayne Morse switched parties from Republican to Democrat. He actually placed his desk in the middle between each party compromising the normal arrangement.

The Cherokee Strip is an area of the Senate chamber that when used compromises the original arrangement. The area gets its name from an section of Oklahoma that was part of a dispute between the United States and the Cherokees dating back to the Kansas Nebraska Act in 1854. Today the section of the Senate chamber is used when one party has a significant majority and desks are included on the side of the other party.

Just like the desks belonging to my fourth and fifth graders some of the Senate desks contain graffiti. The earliest names and dates go back to the early 1900s and unfortunately, some of the names like Daniel Webster are deemed forgeries. It is not known if some of the desks contain the words, “For a good time call…..”

One desk drawer has more than just a signature, however. Desk number 86 has a notation that reads, “Spoke 24 hours, 18 minutes from this desk in 1957….Senator Strom Thurmond (SC) in opposition to the Civil Rights Act.” Back then Senator Thurmond had to rely on his own voice to be heard, but today, each desk is equipped with an amplification box and a microphone…

Today Senators choose their desk based on seniority except for the Daniel Webster desk which the senior senator from New Hampshire uses. Jefferson Davis’ desk is used by the senior senator from Mississippi, and the Henry Clay desk is used by the senior senator from Kentucky.

When Senators leave the Senate they have to leave their desk behind, but can tote their chair with them New chairs are made to replace them.

During each legislative session the Senate pages are responsible for making sure each desk is equipped with items that will be needed such as the Congressional Record, Executive Calendar, Calendar of Business, the day’s legislation, any legislative notices or bulletins and just like my students……two pencils.

It’s a wonder the Jefferson Davis’ desk is still intact. During the Civil War soldiers camped out in the Senate chamber. They identified the desk Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy, had used and began to tear it apart. One of the Capital employees stopped them.

If a senator happens to pass away during a legislative session his or her desk is draped in black crepe and flowers are placed on the desk. The flag at the U.S. Capital is flown at half staff. In past years actual funerals were held in the Senate chambers, but that hasn’t happened since 1959.

The best desk of all is the candy desk. Ever since 1965 when George Murphy began to keep a supply of candy in his desk The candy desk currently sits on the back row of the Republican side.

Hmmm…..seating arrangements, two pencil requirements, candy, desks defaced with graffiti……it would seem the Senate isn’t too different from fourth or fifth grade….

Wordless: TWO

What historical event in going on here?
 
Other bloggers post wordless images on Wednesday , too. Visit the main page HERE to find them.

Wordless: TWO

What is this?

Other bloggers post wordless images on Wednesday , too. Visit the main page HERE to find them.

The Copper King and the 17th Amendment

Last week I posted my first wordless puzzler here in quite some time.


The following post provides the rest of the story:

The vernacular of history can at times be quite confusing to students, so I’m always in search of ways to help them connect to vocabulary. Sometimes I can make the best connections using simple, inexpensive objects like picture frames.

Yes, picture frames.

I have this one frame that contains a picture of my children. The frame looks as if it is gilt……a very expensive looking gold frame. However, if you turn the frame over you see it is really brown plastic resin covered with gold paint.

Scratch the gold surface a little bit and you see there are some real issues with the frame. It simply isn’t what it appears to be.

The frame illustration helps me explain the Gilded Age – that time period from 1865 to 1901 - that at first glance seemed to be a wonderful period in the United States when many people were making money hand over fist, but scratch the surface a little bit and the time period had major problems.

The Gilded Age was coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in the book, The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today. The modern industrial economy was born during the Gilded Age, cities grew, corporations were born, and transportation routes improved. During this time period technology grew in leaps and bounds, however, the average American worker and the American farmer had problems. Immigration was on the rise and cities were having problems due to the influx of people. You just can’t have growth like American was experiencing and not have some major growing pains.

…..and certain men like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller were making enormous amounts of money, and sometimes these men weren’t always using honest tactics. It was the age of the robber barons.

William Andrew Clark was one of them.

One thing that be said of William Andrew Clark was he recognized an opportunity when it was in front of him, and he never hesitated to change his actions in midstream especially if it would make him a buck.

Clark was originally from Pennsylvania, but at the outbreak of the Civil War he decided to fight for the Confederacy. This only happened for a year before Clark deserted his post and hightailed it to Montana when gold was found there in 1862.

Instead of finding his fortune in the gold fields of Montana, Clark saw opportunities to make money working in the industry surrounding the gold miners. He drove wagons carrying supplies back and forth between Salt Lake City and Montana. These supply wagons were basically rolling stores…..some of the first of their kind.

Clark went on into banking and became involved in the railroad business. As a banker he often repossessed miners who were down on their luck.

Other businesses Clark had a finger in included smelters, electric power companies, and newpapers.

He tried his hand with the mining business for a second time when he got involved with the copper mining industry and is remembered as one of the Copper Kings of Montana along with F. Augustus Heinz.

The city of Las Vegas has Clark to thank for its early history. The town was created as way station along the rail line from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles. Clark’s brother controlled the railroad and suggested it would help his business. Clark promoted the area so a town could be built around it.

He also utilized his newspaper, the Butte Miner to leverage his career into politics, and once elected as Montana’s senator it appeared he was well on the way to Washington D.C., but he was refused entry by the Senate when it came to light Clark had paid Montana state legislators for their votes. In fact, the Clark scandal is just one of the reasons why Congress eventually passed the 17th Amendment giving citizen’s a direct vote for U.S. Senators instead of depending on state legislators to appoint Senators.

Clark did serve in the US Senate from 1901 to 1907 during a subsequent term where he was elected by the people, but even then he used the office to line his pockets. When the Panama Canal was being discussed Clark argued for a site in Nicaragua because it was actually a better location for his business concerns and would improve his bottom line.

Getting back to Mark Twain…. he wrote an essay in 1907 titled, Senator Clark of Montana where he said:

"He is as rotten a human being as can be found anywhere under the flag; he is a shame to the American nation, and no one has helped to send him to the Senate who did not know that his proper place was the penitentiary, with a ball and chain on his legs. To my mind he is the most disgusting creature that the republic has produced since Tweed's time.”

A more detailed article regarding Clark can be found here.

Recently Clark’s daughter, Huguette, has been in the news since she hasn’t been seen in several years…..hasn’t visited many of her properties in years….and there are suggestions her lawyer and other employees are taking advantage of her.

See the links here and here.

I’d call her a poor little rich girl, but she’s currently 104 years old so…..calling her a girl doesn’t seem appropriate. :)

Wordless: ONE

With some of the changes around here I’ve decided to bring back my little guessing game for Wednesdays. Here’s how it goes…..I post a picture and you need to guess regarding who or what it is and perhaps explain how the picture fits into history. Later, I’ll post the answer and identify the person who guesses correctly.

Who is this man? Can you tell me something he did?

Interesting face and mustache, huh? His daughter has been in the news lately.

Other bloggers post wordless images on Wednesday , too. Visit the main page HERE to find them.

....and you can now follow History Is Elementary on Facebook. Click on the badge to the right to add me. :)

Seriously? Seriously.....

The television show Grey’s Anatomy has made the word seriously a go to word when shocked, surprised, angry, etc. as seen in this video:




I’ve even been known to use it myself, so when a friend sent me the following pictures I started thinking about the concept of the word serious and its connotations regarding the field of education.





These pictures show a different kind of airline, don’t they? The labeling on the plane reminds me of primary elementary classrooms where the teacher labels everything,and the classroom itself becomes a functional word wall…..desk, chair, television, computer, etc.

These are photos of a South African plane belonging to Kulula Airlines….

To say they do things different at Kulula is an understatement. Here are a few statements you might hear if you are a Kulula passenger:

On a Kulula flight, (there is no assigned seating, you just sit where you want) passengers were apparently having a hard time choosing, when a flight attendant announced, "People, people we're not picking out furniture here, find a seat and get in it!"

From a Kulula employee: " Welcome aboard Kulula 271 to Port Elizabeth. To operate your seat belt, insert the metal tab into the buckle, and pull tight. It works just like every other seat belt; and, if you don't know how to operate one, you probably shouldn't be out in public unsupervised."

"As you exit the plane, make sure to gather all of your belongings. Anything left behind will be distributed evenly among the flight attendants. Please do not leave children or spouses."

So….where am I going with this?

Flying planes……delivering people where they need to on time and safely is very serious business. Yet, Kulula has decided to go about their serious business in a non-serious way.

It seems to me that you can be involved in a serious field of work such as education, but you should never lose your joy…..your passion……because understanding the humorous side of your profession is what helps you to communicate, and communication is key when attempting to deliver content.

Teaching should be fun, and if it is……then learning will be as well.
Looking at things in an entertaining and fun way motivates and builds a love for learning and teaching.

It just seems that THAT should be the primary strategy used by educators.

Northwest Possible

The search for the Northwest Passage, a route that was eventually mapped and traveled through the Arctic Ocean connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, is one of those ongoing events in history that teaches what real desire, real guts, and real determination is all about. In fact, many historians point to Sir Humphrey Gilbert as the person who coined the name Northwest Passage as early as 1576 when control of trade was the inspiration that spurred the explorers attempt to find a passage. It took nearly 300 hundred years of continuous searching before the passage was found.

Yes…yes….I know….there was an element of greed, power, and thirst for adulation but the men who kept going out time and time again weren’t just power or attention hungry. These were men who kept going out time and time again even after the growing body of evidence pointed to the fact that all that awaited them was another dead end and possibly death.

When it became evident after many years of searching that there was no water route across the United States the explorers began to head north in their search. If you travel far enough the Northwest Passage does exist. Unfortunately, the waters are frozen for most of the year and the quest to finally make it through from the Atlantic side to the Pacific claimed many a life.

Look at the painting I’ve posted below:

The painting is titled The North-West Passage by John Everett Millais and it hangs in the Tate Gallery in London. Notice the maps and other mementos of the sea that surround the old man and the younger girl. Notice the man’s clenched fist. Millais meant for this painting to elicit public sentiment and represents British frustration at their failure to conquer the passage.

Millais completed his painting in 1874. Twenty-nine years earlier Sir John Franklin had gone missing along with the crews of the HMS Erebus and Terror during a Northwest Passage expedition. In 1850, Robert McClure and the crew of the HMS Investigator were sent out to search for Franklin. McClure and his men overwintered in the Arctic three different times before they finally circumnavigated the Americas by discovering and traversing the Northwest Passage over ice and via ship. McClure and his men had to abandon their ship when it became caught in the ice during their second journey and just recently the ship was discovered in 36 feet of water in relatively good shape.

See the article here.

The find reminds me of the fictional move National Treasure and the location of the Charlotte……a ship that held important clues for Nicholas Cage and is a wonderful connection for kids to make between history in a book and history in real life.

Sex in the Elementary Classroom????

Even in an elementary classroom the subject of sex comes up –

*Sexual slang is overheard constantly coming out of the mouths of nine and ten year olds. F-this, F-that, she’s a B, he’s a D and so forth. They hear it on television, they hear it from older siblings, and they hear it from parents. Early on in my teaching career I advised a parent his son was using the F-word in my classroom. The father’s response…….”Don’t you have other things to worry about other than my child’s vocabulary?”

Sigh…..

*Sometimes historical content can lead down a path to sex. Once when instructing students about the Lewis and Clark expedition I decided to show a video from United Streaming. I previewed various sections. It appeared the video was full of visual images ( which I needed), and the content was safe for students to watch. When I showed the video to my first group of students the next day I was appalled to discover a few minutes of the tape discussed the fact that when the explorers met up with certain Native American tribes the women clamored for the white men to sleep with them because they thought it might be good to infuse their “stock” with some different genes. Upon hearing this there were giggles and smiles back and forth between some of the kids. I knew they weren’t going to let it go, so following the end of the video I asked for questions and comments and THAT part of the video was a popular topic. Somehow I moved them away from the subject of humans procreating and we got back to the subject at hand…..the expedition.

Another time the word “sectionalism” got me into hot water as well. See that post here.

*Then there is always the fourth and fifth grade curriculum for health which always ends up being called “sex ed” by parents and students. Basically the content just covers body changes, etc. and the classes are gender oriented. For some reason I always taught the boys, and I learned early on NOT to entertain open question sessions. I had students write questions on index cards and turn them into me each day. I would open each lesson with discussing the answers to two or three “safe” questions. I was often amazed at some of the things they would ask me.

So, with sex in mind here are a few sex facts I located recently……I almost feel vindicated about the fact regarding sock in bed…..which I feel is tacky.

Go on….peruse the facts….you know you want to. :)


Via: Medical Coding

This and That

Ah…..a lazy Sunday doing bloggy things like checking out new sites and reading a post here and there.

Check out these new additions to the blogroll:

Education Insights – all about online education

The Selvedge Yard – a very good friend of mine turned me on to this site and I’m glad they did….JP’s ABOUT page states, “The Selvedge Yard is about all the things that interest me– a menswear product, presentation & branding guy with a passion for people, places things & ideas of enduring heritage, quality, authenticity & character. But I’m not all old school all the time– I appreciate innovation & technology in all things.” the most recent posting discusses when country was C-O-U-N-T-R-Y and a few wonderful images from Henry Horenstein is exhibited.

Constituting America – this site’s mission is to reach, educate and inform America’s youth and her citizens about the importance of the U.S. Constitution and the foundation it sets forth regarding our freedom and rights. Check out the postings for the The Federalist #56 and #60 that were written by James D. Best, author of Tempest at Dawn, and where I made a comment on each and my own post regarding The Federalist here One of the founders of Constituting America is Janine Turner….yes, Hollywood’s Janine Turner.

The American Association for State and Local History – Yep, they are blogging now as well at their site. Go visit, join and receive their publication.

While clicking through reading postings by some of my friends on the blogroll I found this post sharing 50 great tips for using Facebook as a professional tool rather than something to be feared. Say what you want to about Facebook….there are some good tips here…..

and finally from the American Historical Association blog they are discussing the recent 18th-century boat unearthed at the World Trade Center site. The post states that it is believed the ship’s hull was used as fill to extend Manhattan into the Hudson River. The AHA also links to an additional article concerning the excavation of a 19th-century river wall at the same site and how current plans require developers to tunnel through it.

Say it ain’t so!!!!

The linked article states, “For the next few days — but not much longer — a 40-foot-long section will be visible of the massive bulkhead that marked Lower Manhattan’s edge until the creation of Battery Park City. What can be seen are several courses of granite blocks, each about two feet high, two feet deep and four feet long. They are arranged in a kind of monumental Flemish bond, with the blocks’ long and short sides laid in an alternating pattern.”

….and on a heavy note I’m overrun with spammy comments all over this site. I guess I’m going to have to resort to comment moderation at some point. I’ve spent a good 30 minutes removing some comments, and I haven’t even scratched the surface.

Sigh………………

Happy Sunday!

A Brand New ME!!!!!!

Well, it's sorta a brand new me.......the image used here is new. Hot off the drawing board from Dear Sister to me. I'm thrilled with it because a family member drew it, and together she and I own the rights to it.....you might just see it on the cover somewhere of that book I'm still working on, and some upcoming curriculum I'm going to offer up for sale as well.

How do you like the new EHT? Just one of the little changes going on here History Is Elementary.

So, is anybody still out there reading my meager offerings? Are you just getting that occasional email from Feedblitz or some other source and just deleting it?

Let me know.....I'd love to hear from you :).

.....and be patient with me. I'm trying to make the changes around here as painless as possible. There is still some tweaking to do on the right sidebar........and I hope to have a fan page up and running on Facebook this very week.

What the Heck....?

Yep, we are under major construction here at History Is Elementary. It was time I converted to the new Blogger that came down the pike many months ago. I never did and it has kept me from enjoying various things that would make my life a whole lot easier.

So, dear reader.....for the next few days you may find it a little difficult to move around here at ye olde blog, but never fear....I think you will like the changes.

I know I will.

Thanks for continuing to visit, thanks for the emails and comments, and most of all.....thanks for the links. :)

Book Review: A Nation Rising

Several weeks ago the book A Nation Rising by Kenneth C. Davis was sent to me for review. If you don’t recognize the name you should…..Mr. Davis writes the Don’t Know Much About® series and other works such as America’s Hidden History: Untold Tales of the First Pilgrims.

The complete title of A Nation Rising includes the sub-title Untold Tales of Flawed Founders, Fallen Heroes and Forgotten Fighters from America’s Hidden History. Hmmm…the flawed, the forgotten, and the fallen – sounds like MY kind of history. Curing the myths, making connections that are rarely taught in the classroom and giving credit….the good and bad…where it is due – that’s MY style!

Mr. Davis certainly comes through on his promises and more….

The premise of the book seeks to explore the ideals that birthed our nation – All men are created equal and life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness - and parallel them with the knowledge that so many Founders owned slaves and condoned the systematic removal and murder of Native Americans from their homelands. Mr. Davis contends his book examines…..”the stunning gap between America’s ideals and its realities….For all the distance that America has traveled as a nation since 1776, the country still needs to reconcile the glorious dream with the dark nightmare that haunts America’s past.”

The time period A Nation Rising examines is one of my favorites – the fifty year span from 1800 to 1850. During this time America became a nation ‘ from sea to shining sea’. The population increased from 5.3 million with nearly 900,000 of that number in slavery in 1800 to over 3.2 million slaves based on a 23 million population number in 1850. Kenneth C. Davis takes those figures and uses them along with little taught history to show how a nation went from the ideals of their forefathers and in less than one hundred years was in the midst of the Civil War.

How on earth did that happen?

He advises, and I agree that to truly understand how our nation was shaped we need to take a serious look at the fifty year period from 1800-1850. Unfortunately, those years are often rushed through and not taught as well as they could be in a mad dash to get all those standards in leaving events like the election of 1800, the War of 1812, and the Seminole Indian Wars on the curriculum cutting room floor.

If you are clueless concerning William Weatherford, Francis Dade, or Madison Washington you need to read this book. Ever hear of the ‘Bible Riots’? Sounds like something that took place in the Bible Belt of the South, but actually they occurred in the City of Brotherly Love – Philadelphia. The Massacre of Fort Mims is discussed as the most popular couple of the time period – John Charles Fremont and Jessie Benton Fremont.

If you are a little sketchy regarding the Seminole Wars and the role runaway slaves and free blacks played in the process you need to read this book. Many of the chapters also deal with events surrounding the role Andrew Jackson played prior to becoming president. While lionized as the quintessential American hero there are Americans to this day who refuse to buy or sell using twenty dollar bills because they contain his image. Why is this?

Kenneth C. Davis ends his introduction piece to the book with this quote from JFK that hits home with me and reminds me why I do what do as an educator and writer who focuses on history:

“For the great enemy of truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived, and dishonest – but the myth – persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Too often we hold to the clichés of our forebears….We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”

Education should do both…..provide opportunities for the comfort of opinion and the discomfort of thought.

Kenneth C. Davis’ book, A Nation Rising, opens the dialogue.

The Constitution: A Living Breathing Document

This post first appeared here at History Is Elementary in June, 2006. I’m currently attending a seminar on educational law, so it seems appropriate to re-run this today.

Enjoy.

Earlier this month we sidestepped another effort to amend our Constitution. That’s not surprising since there have been approximately 10,000 proposed amendments since 1789. Most of them never got out committee while some amendments, the Equal Rights Amendment, for example, gained great notoriety but expired while waiting on ratification.

If it’s possible to love a document then Elementaryhistoryteacher absolutely adores the United States Constitution. My American identity rests in the stability and continuity of the United States Constitution. I really get into teaching my government unit even though some of the more intricate workings of our government I’m required to cover in fourth grade are a bit too lofty for the students to grasp. However, I try. I lay seeds that I hope will sprout later.

I teach students that our Constitution was the first of its kind for a recognized nation. It is so important that it has been copied many times by other fledgling democracies. We spiral back in our content to recall events we studied earlier in the year that began a chain ending with the Constitutional Convention. We remember the Iroquois League, the Mayflower Compact, and the Fundamental Orders. I remind students the colonist were Europeans---men who had governmental roots based in monarchies---men whose ancestors were the majority yet lived at the pleasure of a few leaders or in most cases one decision maker. We remember the Declaration of Independence whose author had the audacity to give a divine monarch his comeuppance. The beauty of it, I tell students, is that our plan of government works. It worked during times of crisis like the Civil War, Watergate, and during the presidential election of 1876 when the voting results were disputed in three states.

We discuss the events during the actual Constitutional Convention including the various compromises, and we learn about the three branches of government. We discuss ratification. At this point I usually depart from my colleagues because I feel it is important to teach students how our Constitution provides for amendments, but they should understand that any effort to change one of our most previous documents should be approached soberly and gingerly.

We discuss the first ten amendments known as the Bill of Rights because they concern our individual rights and were necessary in order to obtain ratification of the document. Future amendments are not usually discussed at my grade level unless the time period is taught when the amendments were added. There is nothing wrong with this in my eyes but teachers are loosing a fantastic opportunity to give the amendment process the proper examination it requires. Teachers are usually required to teach citizenship responsibilities to contrast with the Bill of Rights. Lessons are presented that indicate certain rights citizens have contrasting activities citizens should engage in to keep the Republic healthy such as voting and educating ourselves regarding important issues. While we are teaching citizen responsibilities we should also focus on the appropriateness of amending the Constitution.

The originality of our government is that it gives something very precious to ‘we the people’---not entitlement programs, porkbelly special projects, or low interest student/home loans---but freedom. Citizens are given freedom of choice, freedom of action, and freedom to live as we wish as long as our freedom does not interfere with the freedom of someone else.

It should be remembered that the Constitution doesn’t hand rights over to us; our plan of government only guarantees them. The philosophy that many of our Forefathers operated under taught that citizens are born with certain rights and liberties. The Constitution simply secures these rights for the populace.

The framers of the Constitution were highly suspicious of government. They had just gotten rid of what they considered to be tyrannical control. They were all about protecting individual rights not restricting liberty. Amendments to the Constitution involving personal liberty should always grant liberty not take it away.

Whether I agree with the premise or not, a proposed Constitutional amendment should never be used to serve as a smokescreen for Congress in anticipation of midterm elections. Our nation faces major problems with illegal immigration and the war in Iraq, yet proposed amendments regarding flag burning and same-sex marriage have been discussed repeatedly. This has been a poor use of the amendment process and is a poor use of emotional issues to detour voters from the real issues at hand.

Some Americans are going to engage in behaviors that others will have a problem with . Does this mean we are going to propose amendments for what some perceive to be bad choices and bad behavior? If this is allowed I'm afraid we will be opening doors that will be very hard to close in the future.

A Tale of Two Summers

This post was written in June, 2006 and since Vacation Bible School season is fast upon us I thought I would re-run it.

Go back in time with me to the olden days when summer was June, July, and August, kids caught fire flies while the adults talked ‘big talk’ on the porch, and my sister and I would find ourselves in our pajamas at the Dairy Queen on the whim of our parents as dusk overtook the day.

Each summer morning I would awaken to an already fiery sun around nine a.m. I would lie there awake and listen to the sounds around me. Sometimes I would identify the sounds of the washing machine, the slam of our wooden screen door, or my mother speaking on the telephone. I never dressed immediately. Instead I would get up and wander about the house looking out the front door and then moving towards the back of the house to check out what was going on. I’d say good morning to mom and then fix my breakfast. Sometimes it would be cinnamon toast or my personal favorite back then….Saltines spread with just a hint of butter and placed under the broiler. “Not too long or they’ll burn,” my mother would remind me.

Breakfast would be served in front of television that would blare The Price is Right, The $25,000 Dollar Pyramid, and Match Game (cartoons only played on Saturday morning back then). By the end of Match Game I knew it was 10:30.

What?!?

You didn’t tell time by what was on television?

It was easier back then, you know. We only had three channels---four or five if the coat hanger with oddly formed clumps of aluminum foil attached to it was turned just right.

By 11:00 I was finally dressed and mounting my bike to survey my outside world to see if anything was amiss. My Dad ran a lumberyard and our house was positioned right in the middle of the grounds. I had a large wonderful world to play in, imagine in and with all that extra lumber lying around I could concoct some hellacious ramps to take jumps on. I popped a pretty mean wheelie, too, with my monkey handlebars, banana shaped bike seat (white with psychedelic flowers) and optional sissy bar.

By late afternoon it would be H---O---T, hot, and my Sheltie dog, Lady, and I would opt for porch play. The house I grew up in was built in 1929 and had a very wide front porch that spanned the length of the front of the house. It was a wonderful outside room we used when it rained. Sometimes we used it late into the evening on summer nights. I’d play ‘house’ or ‘school’ for hours with Lady dutifully playing the role of ‘the baby’ or ‘the student’. Sometimes Lady would want her belly rubbed, so I’d read aloud to her from books like Henry and Ribsey, Ramona Quimby, Stuart Little, or Homer Price. Lady would lay there sprawled out listening to me and occasionally she wagged her tail in amusement.

Then the week would finally arrive for Vacation Bible School. I’d spend each morning for one week with my Sunday people. You know, all the folks I usually only saw on Sundays---the preacher, the choir director, my Sunday school teachers, and all the other people who benefited from my hugs. I was a huge hugger as a child and I made my rounds every Sunday. Vacation Bible School meant more time for hugs.

Vacation Bible School also meant learning more about Jesus, singing songs like Deep and Wide and crafts. There would be lots of glue, Popsicle sticks, Bible verses and of course, pictures of Jesus that would be glued to construction paper, taken home, and placed on the fridge.

Well, things have changed though I’m not so sure for the better. It seems Vacation Bible School has become a frantic string of activities packed into four hours where kids are told, “Hurry up we need to get to devotional.” “You don’t have time to finish the craft----we’ll be late for music.”

Not only has education become scripted in many areas so has Vacation Bible School. There was a time when you could go to your home church and experience their Bible school during June and in July attend the bible school for the church down the road. It would be entirely different. Most churches today (at least the Baptist ones I am most familiar with) purchase their Vacation Bible School materials from one vendor such as Lifeway. The program is theme-based with terrific materials for volunteers but……

……wasn’t it working well the way it was?

Does Vacation Bible School need a theme?\

Isn’t the Bible the only script we need?

I'm not dissing the concept or the wonderful volunteers...just the PROGRESS.

Every year at the beginning of the school year I know who has attended Bible school. They wear their t-shirts proudly as well they should. This year the Lifeway theme is ‘Artic Edge’. The shirts are cute but in my day (and I’m borrowing from the movie “The Three Amigos” here) we didn’t need no stinkin’ t-shirts.”

I fear most of my students won’t have the same summer experiences I did. Most kids these days get up early, get dressed, and get carted off to daycare where they have no bikes to ride and play in an overused play yard surrounded by a fence. Imagination is almost non-existent and very few students return to school in August with a tan. Most can’t stand the heat. They beg to go in from recess after a full five minutes because, “It’s hot!” Most students are simply overwhelmed by too much technology and can’t quite figure out how to entertain each other when given the opportunity with the simple outdoors.

My daughter has been helping out along with other members of her youth group at Vacation Bible School this week. She reports her group of second graders is awfully clingy. They want to hug her all the time or constantly take up their time wanting to share little vignettes of their life. They move together as a group from activity to activity and are having problems staying together as a group. Each group has a banner that identifies their grade level that they carry around from station to station. It’s a cute idea but Daughter Dear says the kids fight over who gets to carry it. When someone is chosen the rest complain. I spoke to Daughter Dear about group management, but she told me that was left up to the group’s adult leader.

Yesterday the second grade group received two newbies. Yes, it seems even Vacation Bible School receives “transfers”. Anyway, these two newbies are apparently the Devil’s spawn. Daughter Dear reports one little Damien sd GD out loud for all to hear.
Second grade, mind you.

I reminded Daughter Dear that the type of behavior she described is the premier reason why I don’t volunteer to help with Vacation Bible School. I’d end up disciplining some fellow church member’s sweet cherub and cause some type of major incident.

I know my limitations.

Daughter Dear ended our conversation by properly surmising, “Well, if I was their mom I’d try to get away from them for four hours, too.... if I could. All I can do is try to love them while I have them.”

Well…apparently she does listen to me sometimes.

That’s all we can do……love them.

Balloon Bombs....a Reprise

This post first appeared here at History Is Elementary in May,2007.

Enjoy!

Look at my title.

Balloon.

Bomb.

Separated each word means something very different and the concepts they represent are on opposite ends of the desirable and undesirable spectrum depending on the situation.

Of course, when you place the words together the concept they represent (water balloons) can also reside on opposite ends of the desirable and undesirable spectrum. Having a balloon bomb fall on you when you least expect it is not a desirable situation. Watching a water balloon drench someone you are upset with can be a great thing. Playing with water balloons on a hot summer day is a very desirable situation for many, however, believe me when I state being appointed as the adult who gets the honor of filling 200 water balloons for a field day event is not a desirable situation

Today’s 13 list doesn’t deal with just bombs, or just balloons, or even balloon bombs filled with water. The balloon bombs that are my subject today were meant to be weapons of war.

1. Balloon bombs were also known as fire bombs and were weapons used by the Japanese during World War II.

2. The balloons were filled with hydrogen and launched from the east coast of the Japanese island of Honshu. Some records indicate over 9,000 balloons were launched.

3. It was hoped that air currents would carry the balloon bombs across the Pacific to North America.

4. The Japanese were not the only country to use balloon bombs. The British used them against Germany for a time.

5. The bombs were found all over the western United States including Arizona, Idaho, and Iowa. Some even found their way to Mexico.

6. A balloon bomb was located as late as 1955 and it was still combustible. In 1992, a balloon was located, but it was no longer able to explode.

7. America had no prior warning that balloon bombs had been launched against them. Citizens did begin to notice the balloons and explosions were heard from California to Alaska.

8. Eventually more and more evidence mounted that proved something was going on. People witnessed something strange sailing to the ground in Wyoming. When it exploded shrapnel was left behind.

9. Scraps of “Washi” paper (made from mulberry bushes) were found in Los Angeles and in other places. The paper was used to construct the balloons.

10. The U.S. Navy found a balloon floating in the ocean. Later, an Army fighter plane managed to push a balloon towards the ground where it landed intact. Finally, officials could examine what had been launched against us more closely.

11. The American public finally learned about the balloons. The Newsweek issue dated January 1, 1945 contained an article regarding the balloons which the Office of Censorship asked to be removed from public view. The government’s strategy was if there was no information in the press the Japanese would have no information regarding how successful their balloon launch had been.

12. Authorities were really concerned, however, and feared that more balloons might eventually reach American soil. There was some thought that the Japanese had been working on a biological weapon and officials were afraid the balloon bombs might be a first step towards a biological launch.

13. Te event which resulted in the balloon bombs being launched against the United States was the Jimmy Doolittle raid against Tokyo. Doolittle’s raid, of course, was in reaction to Pearl Harbor.

Sadly, a balloon bomb did kill four people. You can find the story here.

A great informational article can be found here.