And to all a goodnight!

Santa has left two items under the tree for your enjoyment:

Click here and scroll down for a great video interview with one of Santa's favorite historians.

"At the crest of a hill in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn one day in early December, a gust of wind makes the just-below-freezing temperatures seem just above tolerable. A voice - three parts honey, two parts gravitas with a grain or two of gravel thrown in - rises to be heard above the wind. It is the voice of God, only friendlier."

"The World Turned Upside Down"

Our text tells us the British played a popular song of the time, “The World Turned Upside Down,” as Cornwallis surrendered to the Continental Army and to the French at Yorktown, Virginia on October 19, 1781. While numerous historians question if this tune was played at the surrender, its title certainly reflects the significance of the event. Think of all that changed with this surrender. The most powerful Empire in the world had just lost an eight year battle with thirteen young and inexperienced colonies. In addition, the thirteen new states were now embarking on a new form of government where the people would be sovereign and government would serve their needs, not the needs of the King and the aristocracy. The American Revolution, its challenges and its success, would inspire other countries to challenge the authority of kings and emperors and seek rule by the people.

Treaty of Paris, 1783

As good historians, you checked multiple sources to learn about the Treaty due to the brevity of our text on this important document. Using multiple texts allowed you to get a more complete picture of the document and its importance for our new country. On Monday, Period 2 will report on what John Adams saw as one of the most important provisions of the Treaty.

We identified the three most important provisions:

*acknowledgment of independence
*recognition of the Mississippi River as the western boundary, and
*navigation rights of the Mississippi River.

With the signing of this Treaty, the size of the country was doubled and its access to an all important water route for transportation and commerce was secured on paper. Future conflicts lay ahead to protect these provisions, but that is a story to come.

War Affects All of Us

While not every family experienced direct battle action, this war, like all wars, affected everyone in the colonies. Inflation, the rising cost of commodities, touched every family. Demand for food, clothing, and supplies by our armies drove prices on the home front even higher. Farmers, who made up about 90% of the colonists, made money by selling their crops to American and British armies. With demand for farm products high, many borrowed money to buy more land (keep this in mind when we study Shay's Rebellion). Women took on added rolls as men went to War, running farms and small businesses. We also learned this week about women such as Debra Sampson, who actually fought in the war. Black soldiers fought on behalf of both the colonies and the British. We read about the significant contribution of the Rhode Island Black Regiment as part of our fishbowl discussion. Slaves who fought for the British were promised their freedom and over 14,000 sailed to England at the end of the war.

So Now What?

With the signing of the peace treaty, the thirteen former colonies became a new and independent group of states. Each state was sovereign and thus had the power to tax, raise a militia, and sign treaties. But would this arrangement be efficient? Would thirteen diverse states be able to coordinate their economic, political and military needs? Would the Articles of Confederation, drafted during a time of war, allow the new country to grow and prosper now that peace had arrived? As Boorstin and Kelley (“A History of the United States) state, “The task of making a nation had only begun.” And that is our next standard that we will tackle after your break.

Habits of Mind

While we are working on understanding our history we are also developing habits of mind that we can apply to all aspects of our lives. A special congratulation to all for a job well done on our fishbowl discussions. Your open and constructive discussion clearly demonstrated that you are applying the “habits of mind:”

“thinking and communicating with clarity and precision”

“listening with understanding and empathy”

“striving for accuracy”

“questioning and posing problems”

“remaining open to continuous learning”

Final Assessment

You have been given your final assessment for the American Revolution and it is due before the break. The take home final assessment gives you ample opportunity and flexibility to show what you know about the Revolution. Make sure to read over the “helpful hints.” As always, I am available before or after school to talk with you further about the assessment.

Interterm Grades

Your status of assignment sheet needs to be signed and returned. Remember, this is an interterm check and you have four more weeks to improve your grade. Look over the assignments and diagnose your strengths and weaknesses. What one action could you take to improve your grade? Do you need to complete the homework? Do you need to spend more time on the current events? Do you need to revise? Do you need to stay more organized?

Our last week of 2005

We will be wrapping up our final assessment this week and for period 2 we will hear and see your skits and dialogues on chapter 4 of “John Adams.” For those students meeting standard, you have the opportunity to watch “National Treasure” which features the Declaration of Independence and great scenes from Washington, DC and Philadelphia. You may also use this last week to work on your assessment.

Who Will Win?

Using your quantitative and analytical skills, you designed a chart showing the advantages and disadvantages of the Colonists and the British as they entered the American Revolution. We can’t help but wonder if Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Franklin made the same list in 1776, yet knowing the cause was just, forged ahead in the name of Liberty!

This week you had the opportunity to practice your habits of mind as you worked in your battle groups. In order to put together an effective presentation, you had to communicate, negotiate, and organize. Just as the colonists fought with pride and conviction, I know that you will take pride in your presentations this coming week.

In addition to the facts and significance of the battles, please take a moment and look at the artists’ renditions of these moments in history. Just as the photos we see from Iraq evoke a strong emotional response, the great paintings of the Revolution captured the spirit and challenges of the times. Today, David R. Wagner, a painter from Connecticut, is working on an ambitious project depicting the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary War Route. Some of the paintings were displayed at the Colony House in Newport this summer and I had the good fortune of meeting him at the Naval War College celebration of the French landing in Newport July 11, 1778 (see blog of July 9)

We are going to turn this week to two groups who contributed to the success of the Revolution but get minimal coverage in our text, women and African Americans. We will be using two readings, including an article from the Providence Journal, which focus on the contributions made by Deborah Samson and by the Rhode Island Black Regiment.

National Treasure

Any movie that can inspire students to talk about the Declaration of Independence must have some redeeming qualities. When the movie first was released, the National Archives posted on its site a notice that the Declaration did not contain the information Nicolas Cage was looking for. In the spirit of the season, let’s aim to complete our study of the time period with a viewing of this movie. Does anyone in the blog audience have a copy of National Treasure we could use for class viewing?

A War of Ideas

After studying events that led to the Revolution, this week we focused on the power of ideas and how new thinking about people’s rights and their ability to govern themselves helped change history.

This morning as I was reading “The Newport Daily News” I came across an article in the Community section that referenced John Locke. Yes, I love it when journalists enrich their articles with historical content! Locke believed in natural rights, that is, that all people have basic rights of life, liberty and property (Jefferson changed "property" to "pursuit of happiness"). Locke believed people are born with these rights, not granted them by a king or a government who could then take them away. Locke also believed that government should protect these rights (the social contract) and if the government failed to do so, the people have the right to break away or find other rulers (popular sovereignty).

In 1776, these ideas of social contract, natural rights and popular sovereignty became the tipping point for the colonists to declare independence!

“Common Sense”

While the Founders were meeting in Philadelphia, the man on the street was reading “Common Sense,” a best seller in 1776. In language everyone could understand, Thomas Paine outlined obvious reasons why the colonists should separate from England. Paine went even further to argue that the people should rule themselves:

“Of more worth is one honest man to society, and in sight of God,
than all the crowned ruffians that ever lived.”

Your “Common Sense” assignment uses the strategy of marking up the text. This strategy allows you to read more deeply and to read for understanding. By locating unfamiliar vocabulary, making connections, and asking questions, you become more active readers. This strategy can be used in all content areas and is especially useful when you take standardized exams such as the SATs or the state tests.

We also used this strategy when we read the Declaration of Independence. You may want to return to your text book and read your author's interpretation of the document.

In addition, think about what it meant for these men to sign a document that announced to the world that the colonies were breaking with England, the most powerful empire of its time.

• Did our Founders commit treason?
• Would you be willing to sign your name to a document that could lead to your death?
• What were these people thinking as they went up against the British Empire?
  

To Your Battle Stations!

You have been assigned to your Battle Groups and will have the opportunity to continue acting and thinking like historians as you sift through the different accounts and decide what to include and not include in your presentations. You may want to take time to do an internet search to locate primary sources, keeping in mind that you want to look at the event through the eyes of the colonists and the British.

Also, think about visuals and how they could be used to help tell the story of the battle. Remember, “a picture is worth a thousand words” and many of us are visual learners. Last but not least we will want to know the significance of the battle. Why are we studying this battle, how did it contribute to the course of the war, would history be different if this battle never occurred?

Current Events Reminder

While I know you will continue to keep up on national and international issues, we will suspend current events for next week as we work on the battle presentations.

Happy Birthday Gilbert

Today is Gilbert Stuart’s birthday. He was one of Rhode Island’s most famous, and one of America’s premier painters. Please take the time to check out the site that commemorates his birthplace in Saunderstown. Of course, you could also take a moment and look at a dollar bill…Stuart’s most famous painting of GW!