"Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide. "
- John Adams
Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories.
- Thomas Jefferson
Hey guys... 233 Years and Counting...I recently received an email from a US History teacher in Hawaii, who inquired about a text book that accurately portrays "the other side" as it deals with America's dealings with the American Indian and the annexation of Hawaii.
At a loss, I figured I'd post his request to see if anyone out there can give him some guidance. Please comment below or email me directly at USHistorySite at gmail dot com.
This also begs the question, What makes a good American History textbook?
His request below. Thanks in advance for your help.
Aloha,
I teach in a small (only 40 students grades K-12) Public Charter School in Hawai'i whose students are all Hawaiian and who all come from families from the privately-owned island of Ni'ihau. Most of our students speak Hawaiian as their first language, and those who don't have chosen our school because part of the mission of the school is to help strengthen and perpetuate the Ni'ihau dialect among this small community who are the only speakers of this dialect in the entire world.
So far we have been doing project-based or topic-based lessons in US history, but I've been wondering if there exists a good high school textbook (or other book) that presents all the great things in US history but which also deals fairly with the not-so-admirable topics by presenting "the other side," especially when dealing with American Indians and even the annexation of Hawai'i.
Hawaiian students are more than aware of the injustice of the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893, and the sovereignty movement is definitely a live issue here, so sometimes it's a fine line between acknowledging past wrongs and still appreciating the good side of the US, especially for these students.
I've searched the Internet and asked other teachers here on Kaua'i, but no one seems to know if such a book exists. I've never even entered a blog site before, but I started wondering if this is a way to find what I'm looking for. On thing to consider is that for most of our students, English is their second language, so the difficulty of the language in a text must be considered.
To whomever reads this: Is this a way to help me in my search, or do you have any other suggestions?
Mahalo (thank you),
Hokulani Cleeland
There are essentially two models of history curriculum design: chronological and categorical. For the sake of ensuring everyone is on the same page we will define these two terms quickly. Curriculum design that is done chronologically is the typical method as events, people, and dates occur in the order in which they happened. Curriculum that is categorical is broken up according to major themes (government, human rights, etc.). Both have positives and negatives as any curriculum does yet I have never heard any discussion take place as to which is more effective at teaching kids history. It often results in an “I prefer this” or “I prefer that” discussion that focuses on how the teacher thinks rather than the student learns.
The implications of this information are crucial to history teachers throughout the country. Given that we spend time discussing important issues in US history, it would be nice to have data-driven proof as to what the best way to go about providing the information is. I would hypothesize that most districts (including mine) have curriculum set up in the traditional framework (chronological).
Consider this when you are teaching the Constitution next year. The one unit that I teach that I would label as “categorical” is the Constitution. I go back to ancient Greece and Rome to discuss influences on the belief systems of the founding fathers that influenced the major documents in United States history. Then we go through an evolution of the Constitution including discussion of major Supreme Court cases and the importance of each of the amendments. I also revisit these amendments when I get to their point in the traditional curriculum. It would be impossible to teach the Civil War and Reconstruction without discussing the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. I find that this leaves students with a greater understanding of the importance of the Constitution and how it influences their daily lives.
My point is this: we need to find out the best way to present history to kids on a macro (curriculum) as well as micro (instruction) level. The faster we come up with this information, the easier the time we will all have in engaging kids and providing them with the means of instruction that best fits THEM.
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This Post written by Aaron Eyler
for more information about Aaron, visit his "21st Century Education" blog at http://stretchourminds.blogspot.com/
BackStory with the American History Guys (backstoryradio.org) is a call-in radio show that brings a historical perspective to every day happenings. U.S. historians Ed Ayers, Peter Onuf, and Brian Balogh discuss current events from a historical perspective.
On Memorial Day, BackStory will pay public tribute to those who lost their lives fighting for our country. The people that should be remembered and revered more than three or four days a year. The focus will be on the changing attitude of America towards dying. The program features an interview between historian and Harvard president Drew Gilpin Faust, and BackStory co-host Ed Ayers.
Interested in how to listen to BackStoryRadio?
Though BackStory is produced monthly and can be heard on a select number of radio stations around the country, the best way to hear the broadcast is to sign up for their free podcasts.
Several weeks ago I asked my readers to contribute their favorite quote from American history. I promised I'd choose my favorite from the list and highlight it in a future post. This... is that future post.
My favorite of the bunch was from the anonymous contributor 'boldlygo', who submitted a great Abraham Lincoln quote from a letter Lincoln wrote to Union General George McClellan.
"If you don't want to use the army, I should like to borrow it for a while."That said, here's a little history of that quote...
Lincoln, was known as a micro-manager. During the war he could hardly keep still and was constantly getting his hands dirty in the details of the war. According to Doris Kearns Goodwin, Author of Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Lincoln, Lincoln would often "get himself to the battlefield to visit the soldiers, walk amidst their ranks, [and] see the wounded in the hospital."
The picture to the left is a great example of Lincoln's "Management by Walking Around" concept. A strategy still used today by many managers and supervisors.
I directed McClellan peremptorily to move on Richmond. It was eleven days before he crossed his first man over the Potomac; it was eleven days after that before he crossed the last man. Thus he was twenty-two days in passing the river at a much easier and more practicable ford than that where Lee crossed his entire army between dark one night and daylight the next morning. That was the last grain of sand which broke the camel’s back. I relieved McClellan at once.
Lincoln soon replaced McClellan with Ambrose Burnside. Lincoln would go on to relieve several more Union leaders until finally settling on Ulysses S. Grant to finish the war.
Other Works cited:
http://www.pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/McClellan__George_B.html
http://books.google.com/books?id=qbefJcN89sIC&printsec=frontcover
The following post was submitted by USHistoryBlog contributor Aaron Eyler.
One of the greatest struggles we have as history teachers is deciding what content to include and what to leave out. How can anyone tell a Civil War buff that teaching certain intricacies of the war are not necessary in a K-12 classroom? The truth is that history teachers, as most teachers, are passionate about their subject and find our curriculum growing on a daily basis despite a static amount of class time. We are beginning to find a need to make difficult decisions about what content is “more” important regardless of the personal connection that we have with it.
This only becomes more difficult in classes such as AP History where students are responsible for taking a test in May based on 500 years of history. If a teacher cuts out the “wrong” content then the students are not aptly prepared. Scores will then suffer and create a potential loss of the program. The question becomes clear: what strides can history teachers, the College Board or other governing body, and districts make to ensure that students are gaining an accurate representation of history without sacrificing teaching important skills in the social sciences like critical thinking?
Normally with this type of exercise we would start with discussing amendments that can be made to policy and passed to ameliorate the problem. Let’s be honest, the different special interest groups that have a stake in social studies curriculum will never agree on how much, or how little, of their content needs to be taught. That’s part of the reason that I marvel at the standards created by the National Council for the Social Studies. I can’t blame these groups. Advocates of each of the special interests (geography, economics, history, etc.) have a very valid point. Kids do need to know the intricacies of each of them, but the problem is, as stated above, we have limited time and an expanding curriculum. (This is also part of the reason why it is so difficult for Social Studies to be standardized tested as there is minimal agreement as to which components should make up what percentage of the test.)
So now what can we do as classroom teachers? The first point is pretty obvious. We need to begin to prioritize our scope and sequence. When beginning a new unit, the first question always has to be, “what do I want my students to know at the end of _________?” This directly follows the Understanding by Design mentality where the assessment exists prior to teaching the unit. I start every unit with a list of topics and specifics that would be labeled “critical” by most historians. For instance, my Civil War unit must contain discussion of Bull Run, Vicksburg, Antietam, Gettysburg, differences between the Confederate and United States Constitutions, etc. The problem is when people begin units with the intention of amending the topics based on the time they find themselves to have. This is when important content from the end of units ends up being eliminated. This is where people realize that they don’t have a lot of time left so they teach the Gettysburg address but fail to emphasize that Gettysburg was Lee’s last offensive and the major turning point in the war. To use the coined phrase: learn to think backwards.
Rather than providing straightforward answers, I hope this post has gotten you thinking about what we teach in history class and how we make those decisions. Hopefully, the idea above allows you to have an easier time planning. But the most important outcome of this post is that we start this discussion now before our students are graduating from our schools with a ton of meaningless content and without a full appreciation of the social sciences or a well-developed critical thinking capacity.
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This Post written by Aaron Eyler
for more information about Aaron, visit his "21st Century Education" blog at http://stretchourminds.blogspot.com/
I thought it might be a good idea to take a look at some interesting photographs from our great American history and have some fun with them. And lately I've been at a loss for entries, while other things occupy my time - so I thought I could leave the writing to you.
Think of a clever caption to go along with this picture of FDR and Churchill. The best caption will have an opportunity to shamelessly plug their favorite blog or website. Good luck!
"In spite of possible execution this morning I slept well and trust my destiny. God has never let me, or the country, down yet."
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/churchill/wc-trans215.html
On May 1st, 1960, Francis Gary Powers was shot down by Soviet Air Defenses while piloting his U-2 spy plane.
Flying from an airbase established in Pakistan, Powers was supposed to take pictures of several top-secret soviet facilities before landing in Norway. Unfortunately, the Soviets were aware of the flights and were prepared.
Their first attempts to bring the U-2 down were with MiG-19 fighters, with orders to bring it down by any means including ramming if necessary. Due to the extreme operating altitude of the spy plane, the MiG-19s were unable to engage but continued to chase it. Finally a salvo of surface-to-air missiles hit the aircraft and it began to descend. Powers bailed out just before a second salvo hit the aircraft and was captured. A pursuing MiG was brought down by friendly fire.
Initially, the United States tried to cover up the incident. NASA claimed one of their aircraft had gone missing, and a U-2 was given a NASA paintjob in an attempt to convince the press that it was operating these aircraft. The Soviets continued to tell the world (correctly) that they had shot down a spy-plane.
The Soviets made no mention that Francis Gary Powers had been captured, and then President Dwight D. Eisenhower assumed he had been killed (or had killed himself using poison he carried in a fake silver dollar to avoid capture). The White House issued a statement saying a weather research aircraft had lost its way and that "there was absolutely no deliberate attempt to violate Soviet airspace and never has been."
The White House had walked right into a trap, and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev announced "I must tell you a secret. When I made my first report I deliberately did not say that the pilot was alive and well… and now just look how many silly things [the Americans] have said." Not only did they have Powers, but the Soviets had even managed to develop some of the film taken by the U-2's camera.
A very embarrassed White House was forced to acknowledge the spying missions, and Soviet-U.S. relationships deteriorated even further. Francis Gary Powers was convicted of espionage, and sentenced to three years of imprisonment followed by seven of hard labor. He was later exchanged for a captured soviet spy after serving 21 months of the sentence.
On April 30, 1803, France sold Louisiana and the adjoining lands to the United States for $15 million dollars (78 million francs).
The Louisiana Purchase was a pivotal point in U.S. history for several reasons. First, it drastically increased the size of the young country…nearly doubling the territory the United States controlled. Second, it set an important precedent for the Federal government to expand the country.
The asking price was no great obstacle. The total price was partially covered by the cancelling of $3,250,000 worth of French debt held by the U.S., and after a $3 million down payment in gold, only about $9 million needed to be raised. With U.S. credit still recovering from the Revolutionary War it was, ironically, an English financial firm that backed the U.S. bonds used to raise the money.
It was this second reason that lead to the most opposition to the purchase. The Constitution made no mention of acquiring territory, and any power that was not expressly granted to the federal government was supposed to belong to the states. At a time when most state governments tended to think of themselves as almost separate countries, this was no trifling point. President Jefferson, president at the time, had been the greatest champion of state rights but pragmatism quickly overruled his philosophical leanings…hypocritical or not it was simply too good of a deal to pass up.
The territory acquired would eventually make up parts of 14 U.S. states and 2 Canadian provinces. The Louisiana Purchase accounts for 23% of the present-day United States. The modern day states of Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wyoming, were acquired at least partially in the purchase (as were small pieces of modern day Canadian Provinces Alberta and Saskatchewan).
The following entry comes directly from a correspondence with the National Constitution Center.
Do you have a favorite quote? Was it said by a famous American?
Washington? FDR? Sandy Koufax?
Is it inspirational? funny? or the epitome of liberty?
We're interested to learn more about our audience by having them interact.
Share your favorite US History Quote below and tell us why you love it so much.
We'll choose our favorites and highlight them in a future post.
Thanks. for sharing.
On this day in 1790, the first American super-star died. Benjamin Franklin was the most accomplished American of his age, and perhaps any age. Franklin was successful in many areas, he was an accomplished author, printer, scientist, inventor, politician, and diplomat. In his spare time, he was a civic activist who founded one of the most influential libraries in the (then) colonies, reformed the U.S. postal system and laid the groundwork for the modern system, and created one of the first volunteer fire fighting companies.
His career covered an amazing breadth of subjects, but he is perhaps best known for his work discovering electricity (the famous kite experiment), and also for his efforts to bring France into the War for Independence. Popular with many influential French thinkers, Franklin was dispatched to gain support for the cause. In many ways, it was Franklin's efforts to secure French loans that kept the Continental Army in the field. Franklin, along with John Adams and John Jay, would go on to negotiate the Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War.
To future generations, Franklin is an icon of the Revolutionary period. During his lifetime, however, he was far more popular with the crowns of Europe than he was with the leadership of the Colonies. John Adams, whom he had collaborated with on the Declaration of Independence and later in France, absolutely loathed the man. He would complain that his own role in the Revolution will be forgotten in favor of Franklin, he would write: "The essence of the whole will be that Dr. Franklin's electrical rod smote the earth and out sprang General Washington. That Franklin electrified him with his rod - and thenceforward these two conducted all the policies, negotiations, legislatures, and war."
Though not quite accurate, Adams was correct that the average American would always cherish the memory of Franklin. His funeral was attended by 20,000 people who crowded around the church to say goodbye. To this day, thousands of people visit his simple grave in Philadelphia, and toss pennies onto the tombstone of the man who advised a young nation that "a penny saved is a penny earned".
this post by Tom Haynes
The following post was submitted by USHistoryBlog contributor Tom Haynes.
On this day, the Civil War officially began. In response to southern forces firing on Fort Sumter three days prior, President Abraham Lincoln declares a state of insurrection and calls out Union troops.
In the resolution issued this day, Lincoln called 75,000 militia troops from the various states still loyal. At this point, seven states had announced their intention to secede from that Union. South Carolina had been first, followed by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. The militia's first duty, according to Lincoln's statement, would be to secure federal property seized by those states.
At the same time, Lincoln called both houses of Congress into session, scheduled for the 4th of July 1861. This period would be something of a lull in hostilities, but several more states (most notably Virginia) would quickly respond to Lincoln's call for troops by joining the secession movement.
Whereas the laws of the United States have been for some time past, and now are opposed, and the execution thereof obstructed, in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested in the Marshals by law.
Now therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, in virtue of the
power in me vested by the Constitution, and the laws, have thought fit to call forth, and hereby do call forth, the militia of the several States of the Union, to the aggregate number of seventy-five thousand, in order to suppress said combinations, and to cause the laws to be duly executed. The details, for this object, will be immediately communicated to the State authorities through the War Department.I appeal to all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate and aid this effort to maintain the honor, the integrity, and the existence of our National Union, and the perpetuity of popular government; and to redress wrongs already long enough endured.
I deem it proper to say that the first service assigned to the forces hereby called forth will probably be to re-possess the forts, places, and property which have been seized from the Union; and in every event, the utmost care will be observed, consistently with the objects aforesaid, to avoid any devastation, any destruction of, or interference with, property, or any disturbance of peaceful citizens in any part of the country.
And I hereby command the persons composing the combinations aforesaid to disperse, and retire peaceably to their respective abodes within twenty days
from this date. Deeming that the present condition of public affairs presents an extraordinary occasion, I do hereby, in virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitution, convene both Houses of Congress. Senators and Representatives are therefore summoned to assemble at their respective chambers, at 12 o'clock, noon, on Thursday, the fourth day of July, next, then and there to consider and determine, such measures, as, in their wisdom, the public safety, and interest may seem to demand.In Witness Whereof I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington this fifteenth day of April in the year of our Lord One thousand, Eight hundred and Sixtyone, and of the Independence the United States the Eightyfifth.
ABRAHAM LINCOLNBy the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
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