A New Year Begins

Welcome back to MHS! I know we are going to have a great year.

This is my second year of blogging for US History I. From time to time (usually once a week) I will post information on the blog. The goal of the blog is to provide you with an overview of what we discussed in class and to provide active links for additional information. I will occasionally remind you about major projects and give suggestions on how to be a successful history student. The blog will not contain an all inclusive list of homework assignments as each class has different assignments and homework is always written on the board on our daily agenda. The agenda goes in your notebook everyday!

The blog also allows you to post a question after you have registered. Registration is required but that does not mean you have to have a blog. Please keep in mind safe internet practice: no personal information and no photographs.

Let’s review some of our standard classroom routines. You should bring your 3-ring binder and text to class everyday. Locker passes are not granted. Please show your fellow students the courtesy of being prepared and on time. Your binder should have a copy of the signed room management plan, the standard we are working on, and your syllabus. You are also responsible for maintaining your portfolio folder in the class bin. All graded work goes in the folder and is recorded on your status of assignment sheet. By organizing your work, you will know your grade at any time and will have a great set of study sheets for the mid term and final.

Let’s quickly review some of the goals we have outlined so far. In US History I, we will be thinking and acting like historians:

Asking questions
Using multiple sources (primary and secondary)
Debating, discussing, reading and writing

We are looking at the events, issues and personalities of the period 1620-1900 through multiple lenses so that each of us can construct our own narrative.

Early Colonial History

Our study of early colonial history kept surfacing for me this weekend. I read the article in the Sunday Providence Journal entitled “City’s joie de vivre.” The article focused on Woonsocket’s annual festival that celebrates it French heritage. As you read in your text this week, the French first came to Canada to establish trade relations with the Native Americans. They were interested in the furs that were in demand back in Europe. The French sent mostly single men to the new colony and had little interest in establishing large permanent settlements like the English.

While in New York City this weekend I was struck by the diversity of people and places of worship. The largest mosque in NYC was only a few blocks from the local neighborhood synagogue. We walked by restaurants featuring every conceivable ethnic meal. As you continue to read about the Middle Colonies you will see that New York City with its deep water harbor was the ideal welcoming spot for immigrants from Europe. Many of these immigrants, with limited funds, settled in New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey.

Welcome Back Lewis and Clark

September 23, 1806 was the 200th anniversary of the return of Lewis and Clark from their expedition to explore The Louisianan Purchase. A dealer of antique books and documents had an attractive display in his Park Avenue showroom which had two portraits of the explorers and an excerpt from their journals. It was beautifully framed and for $75,000 you could be the proud owner of this special piece of Americana.