From Johnson To McKinley: A Presidential Timeline in Multimedia

From Johnson To McKinley: A Presidential Timeline in Multimedia. This site has a nice Post Civil War timeline. Nine Presidents are covered and each has his own page. There are essays mixed with pictures and cartoons. It is a nicely put together resource.

This is part of a larger site called the Authentic History Center. The site notes that it is, "comprised of artifacts and sounds from American popular culture. It was created to teach that the everyday objects in society have authentic historical value and reflect the social consciousness of the era that produced them. Authentic also means conforming to fact, and therefore worthy of trust, reliance, or belief."

1, 2, 3, 4....I Declare a Paper War!

Ok, take a piece of notebook paper in your hand and ponder its many uses. You can use it to diagram sentences, solve complex mathematical equations, begin the next great novel or…use your hand to squish the paper up into a ball.

Yep, you read that right….create a paper ball.

Now ponder the different uses for that same piece of paper in ball form. When faced with a mistake you can release your frustration by crumpling your paper. Perhaps you’re out of those bits of Styrofoam and you need to pack something fragile. In some young minds a paper ball equates to trash which we all know must be gotten rid of as quickly as possible when sitting in a classroom. Students have some strange notion that a paper ball cannot remain on a desktop until the end of class. They must be thrown away as soon as they are formed or something terrible will happen. I don’t know what that is, but paper balls sharply increase the gravitational pull between students and the trash can. What I do know is when I challenge a student regarding why they are up and walking to the trash can during a lesson I am also instituting a power challenge between the student and myself.

Thanks to James Madison one way I have reduced the number of trash can power struggles is by instituting what I call “Paper War Rules”. It’s very simple. Stay in your seat during whole group lessons and partipate as instructed. The reward? A no holds barred just short of physical injury paper ball fight in the classroom.

Some might be asking themselves what the big deal is about going to the trash can. Well, maybe you’ve forgotten what fun it can be to stand in front of a trash can and lob paper balls into it one by one. Suddenly the whole group isn’t looking at me or listening to me. They are watching “the star” at the trash can. On average I have approximately two whole group lessons a week where I need the undivided attention of students for ten to fifteen minutes at a time. Basketball antics followed by a student who wishes to challenge me with vulgar actions and words can be extremely disruptive for everyone.

So, what does James Madison have to do with a paper war? Well, everything, of course! You see James Madison attended Jersey College or you might recognize the name it carries now….Princeton. In fact, the college likes to state he was their first graduate student. Ralph Ketcham’s biography of Madison recounts a friendly rivalry between the American Whig Society and the Cliosophian Society. Madison along with Pennsylvanians and Southerners were members of the Whigs while New Englanders tended to be members of the Cliosophian Society. Their paper war did not consist of paper balls but was a war of words when they could manage to trick or talk their professors into allowing it. Each society had their own poets who would write satiracal verse aimed at members of the other side. The verses would be volleyed back and forth in the prayer hall before the entire student body. Apparently it was great fun and some of the poetry exisits in a notebook that can be found at the college per Ketcham. He included in his biography of Madison two examples of verse. The first aimed at Samuel Springer who later became a Congregational minister and the second aimed at Moses Allen, another a minister who served at Midway, Georgia during the American Revolution. Both men remained great friends throughout their lives with Madison. Here are Madison’s verses aimed at Samuel Springer:

Urania threw a chamber pot
Which from beneath her bed she brought
And struck my eyes and ears and nose
Repeating it with lusty blows.
In such a pickle then I stood
Trickling on every side with blood
When Clio, ever grateful muse
Sprinkled my head with healing dews
Then took me to her private room
And straight an Eunuch out I come
My voice to render more melodious
A recompence for sufferings odious…

and Madison’s words towards Moses Allen:

Great Allen founder of the crew
If right I guess must keep a stew
The lecherous rascal there will find
A place just suited to his mind
May whore and pimp and drink and swear
Nor more the garb of Christian wear
And free Nassau from such a pest
A dunce a food an ass at best.

If you haven’t figured it out by now I don’t share all of Madison’s verses with students. This site here provides another Madison poem. Ketcham states in his book that the verses demonstrate abundantly what Madison never doubted: he was no poet. Students like to hear about the paper wars as I begin to explain to them how my own “Paper War Rules” work.

Part of instituting “Paper War Rules” in my classroom involve me placing the words “Paper War” on the board in different colors for each class I teach. As students challenge me or violate the stay seated policy I erase a small portion of the letters. A great day in class means I replace a small part that might have been deleted previously. At the end of class we collect the paper that needs to be thrown away in large lawn and leaf bags----only paper----no half eaten sandwiches, pencil shavings, or the assortment of strange items that end up in my trash can at the end of the day.

I’ve never had a class operating under “Paper War Rules” not get to have their paper war though there have been some close calls. Some of the more challenging students learn very quickly they will receive the wrath of their classmates if they continue to challenge me. Excitement mounts as we near the end of the term because I never announce when I will declare a paper war. Sometimes I stand at the front of the room smiling slyly as I wait for things to settle down. Under their breath someone whispers, “This is it….paper war!” Then I do an about face and say, “Ok, yesterday we discussed Jackson’s victory at New Orleans using citizen volunteers. Let’s move on by writing accounts of what Jackson might have said to get citizens to defend New Orleans.” Disappointment mixes with stoney resolve as students realize “Paper War Rules” are still in effect for one more day at least.

Finally, the day really does arrive and with fifteen minutes left in the class period I begin to walk to the back of the room to avoid getting run over announcing along the way in a loud teacher voice, “1 , 2, 3, 4…..I DECLARE A PAPER WAR!”

For exactly one second and a half there is no movement. There is no sound. Then the room magically transforms into a battle zone replete with a no-mans land. Tables are pushed away and a few are turned up on their sides to form trenches and fox holes for students to take refuge in. The bags and bags of collected paper balls are requisitioned to the two teams.

I walk to the front of the room and raise my hand. The attack is on as I exclaim, “Engage your enemy!” The room erupts into a verbal flurry of paper wads. There’s also a verbal volley as students must say social studies vocabulary words as they launch their paper balls across the room. No, it’s not the satiracal prose of Madison and his college buddies, but it makes them think while they have fun. It also slows down the throwing a bit so the fun is stretched out longer. It’s quite a scene as the air fills with paper zingers, giggles, squeals, and a mish-mash of vocabulary. George Washington, origin story, compromise, Renaissance, Line of Demarcation, Treaty of Paris, de Gama, compass rose, Samuel Adams, allegiance, barter, and Phyllis Wheatley are just some of the words kids shout at each other.

After the paper balls are all thrown and I have told at least three young men to NOT place the plastic lawn and leaf bags on their heads we clean up and refill the bags for the next group that might get to have a paper war. Every class has their war on a different day so they can’t pass along the good news to another group.

Students leave the room thanking me for the fun and I say, “You earned it and don’t thank me. Thank James Madison!

Jefferson Lived Here and Here and Here...

I usually have to make a trade off each year in order to claim the privilege of teaching history. The trade off is teaching Language Arts as well to one or two groups of students. One of the writing assignments I provide students with each year is an essay regarding the different places they have lived, or if they haven’t moved around a bit they can write about their present home.

I might as well be telling my fourth graders we are going to move a pile of bricks from one location to another over and over for the entire day when I introduce a new writing assignment. The minute I even announce a writing assignment a wide assortment of groans and moans escape the mouths of my students. I can’t really blame them because in my own writing life I don’t want to be given a topic and then told to perform right then and there. Writing is personal. You have to want to do it. You must be connected to your topic in some way, and sometimes it just takes time.

Therefore I often try to get students motivated with some sort of connection-building exercise. I tell them some sort quirky detail from my own life (I have several), I read a short story aloud to them, or I have also shown a video clip. I follow this with a discussion where as a whole group we brainstorm various points they could include in their writing.

In order to motivate students to write about their homes I like to use Thomas Jefferson as my bridge.

There are so many things to think about when you bring up the name Thomas Jefferson. His role as an American Patriot, writing the Declaration of Independence, his love of great food, wine, and conversation, the Louisiana Purchase, or even the election of 1800 are just a few of the things that come to mind.

However, when posed with the question regarding Jefferson’s residence it is so very predictable the answer will always be Monticello. From the first moment we see a nickel Jefferson’s beloved Monticello becomes ingrained in our memories. Even when students don’t know the name Monticello they always tell me his house is on the nickel and many want to prove it by pulling a nickel out of their pocket.

Monticello, however, isn’t the only spot Jefferson described as home.

Thomas Jefferson’s father, Peter Jefferson, owned many different plots of land in Virginia. Thomas Jefferson was born at Shadwell situated near Charlottesville. The land was named after the area where Jane Randolph Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson’s mother, had been born in London. Historian Willard Sterne Randall in Thomas Jefferson: A Life describes the Jefferson ancestral home as a simple farmhouse in the middle of a horseshoe of outbuildings in a clearing at the edge of the Virginia wilderness overlooking the Rivanna River. Our third president was born there on April 13, 1743.

Jefferson left Shadwell at the age of two to move with his family to Tuckahoe Plantation (seen at left) in Goochland County, Virginia. Architecture historian Jack McLaughlin states in his book Jefferson and Monticello: The Biography of a Builder the Jefferson family moved to Tuckahoe due to a promise Peter Jefferson had made to his friend William Randolph before Randolph’s death. Randolph would be leaving behind two underage children and he wanted Jefferson to mange Tuckahoe until his son, Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr., was able to manage the plantation .

Seven years of Thomas Jefferson’s childhood was spent at Tuckahoe Plantation. Today Tuckahoe is listed on the National Historic Register. It is a private residence, but it is open for tours and events as well. It is thought to be one of the finest early 18th century plantations in America. The home’s “H” shape is unusual and the property contains many of the original out buildings including a schoolhouse where it is said Thomas Jefferson attended for awhile. In his autobiography Thomas Jefferson remembered his years at Tuckahoe fondly especially the spaciousness of the home as compared to Shadwell.

Once Peter Jefferson’s promise to William Randolph was completed the Jefferson family moved back to their farmhouse at Shadwell. Randall advises in his book that once Peter Jefferson returned to Shadwell he set about expanding the home to fit his growing family. The nine year old Thomas Jefferson began to think it was natural to live in a continuous construction zone….something he carried over into his adult life. Later after Peter’s death and Thomas Jefferson’s classical education began he would return to Shadwell during interterm breaks where he spent much of his time studying and walking up the mountain where he would one day build Monticello.

Unfortunately all that exists of Shadwell today is a historical marker (see first picture) and a foundation that has been excavated. Some years after Peter Jefferson’s death on February 1, 1770 the home was destroyed by fire and the family had to find a new home. Thomas Jefferson’s mother and sisters took up residence in the overseer’s home while Jefferson was boarding in Charlottesville. Is is said the fire sped up the construction at Monticello.

We are familiar with the vast library of books Thomas Jefferson donated to the Library of Congress, however, it was Jefferson’s second library. His first one was destroyed unfortunately in the Shadwell fire. McLaughlin advises it contained law papers, personal correspondence, records, accounts, and the books of a man whose writings and books were the nature of his exsistence. This was not only a personal loss for Jefferson, but a heavy blow to Jefferson scholarship since all the records of his formative years were destroyed.

At the age of 14 Thomas Jefferson received his inheritance of approximately 5,000 acres of land and many slaves. Before he began managing the land he was sent to the home and school of Minister James Maury from 1758 to 1760. Rev. Maury lived near Gordonsville, Virginia and his school was known for heavy classical studies including manners and morals, math, literature, history, geography, Latin, and Greek. James Madison and James Monroe also went to the school. In his autobiography Thomas Jefferson referred to Rev. Maury as a “correct and classical scholar”.

Following his stint at Maury’s school Jefferson’s next residence was the Sir Christopher Wren Building at William and Mary. Constructed between 1695 and 1699 the building was considered old when Thomas Jefferson lived there though the building had been gutted in a fire in 1705. Today the building serves as faculty offices and classrooms.

In 1768 work finally began on Monticello. Jefferson moved into the South Pavilion (an outbuilding) in 1770. Historians often refer to this Monticello as Monticello I which refers to the home he built to raise a family while he served in Virginia’s House of Burgesses, the Second Continental Congress, and as governor of Virginia. If we could travel back in time we would be surprised at Monticello I. The Thomas Jefferson Wiki states the first version was less ambitious and more modest in size. By 1782 the home had been enclosed but in a letter written twelve years after his return from France Jefferson stated he was “living in a brick kiln” which could mean the interior was not complete. Monticello II incorporated many of the ideas Jefferson brought back from his stay in France, and is the home that can be toured today.

During Jefferson’s years in Paris he first resided with the American painter John Trumbull, but eventually moved to the Hotel de Langeac, located on the Champs-Elysees at the corner of Rue de Berry. Unfortunately the building was torn down in 1840. A wonderful article from American Heritage magazine provides a great look at Jefferson in Paris. The image seen to the left looks down the Champs-Elysees through the Grille de Chaillot. Jefferson’s Paris home is seen on the left near corner. It is said he began remodeling the property as soon as he moved in. Langeac taught him a number of architectural lessons, which he would incorporate into Monticello, among them the use of skylights to adequately illuminate interior windowless rooms and the realization that the skylights could be made weather tight.

Poplar Forest (below) became the site where the Jefferson family went after the British invaded Monticello in 1781. The property had come Jefferson’s way following the death of his father-in-law, James Wayles. At the time there wasn’t much there but fields and an overseer’s house. When attempting to compute the national debt the then President Jefferson was caught up in a rainstorm while visiting Poplar Forest. The president had to take refuge in the cramped overseer’s home, and realized the advantages of having a quiet place even though he was elbow-to-elbow with the overseer’s wife, children, and pets.

By 1801 Thomas Jefferson was very public person. He was known very well and people clamored for his attention. It isn’t surprising that Jefferson would have looked for a quiet place to simply be the private Jefferson. Construction began at the Poplar Forest retreat in 1806.

The website for Poplar Forest quotes historian David McCullough:

“More and more it is becoming clear how very important Poplar Forest is to our enlarged understanding of Thomas Jefferson and the reach of his imagination. That Jefferson was, along with so many other things, one of the premier American architects, has been long appreciated, but the originality and ingenuity of Poplar Forest—especially now that it is being so superbly restored—raise his standing still higher. This is an American masterpiece by a great American artist who also happened to be President of the United States .”

A letter written by one of Jefferson's granddaughters explains what Poplar Forest meant to him.

Many of my students move and move often. By discussing Jefferson and his many different residences students can connect to an important historical figure and can compare and contrast the reasons for moving as well. The process begins to get children to focus on what different residences can provide as well as honing in on how a residence can shape a person regarding their outlook on life’s pursuits.

Research note: A few web sources indicate the Jefferson family moved to Edge Hill. While it is a farm that scholarly sources state belonged to Peter Jefferson I could find no sources that confirmed Thomas Jefferson lived there. At one point the property at Edge Hill transferred to Jefferson’s sister and her husband (a member of the Randolph family) which could add to the confusion.

Oh, Mother!

Teachers are forever throwing discussion bombs out into the middle of the classroom floor hoping to ignite some type of viable conversation to help students connect to prior knowledge, connect to new knowledge, and create even more questions for future lessons.

So, one day last year found me sitting on my classroom stool waiting for conversations to stop, papers to stop rustling, and 3-ring binders to stop their incessant clicking. I finally lobbed my discussion bomb. I direct students, “Tell me about a time your mother embarrassed you.” Instantly every hand in the room goes up including my own.

Parental embarrassment of any kind seems to be the great equalizer in a very diverse group of people including my young students. For the next several minutes I’m regaled with tales of mothers who like to show baby pictures (especially the naked type) to friends and family, mom’s who go out in public with curlers in their hair, and mom’s who laugh or talk too loud. In my own case my mother was notorious for taking up with virtual strangers in waiting rooms and grocery store lines, and in the course of five minutes she would be telling them all sorts of personal and private things about my sister and I while we looked on in horrified fashion.

I’m a huge embarrassment to my own children at times. I even know what it is I do to elicit the eyerolling and the exasperated exclamations of “Oh, Mother!”, but I can’t help myself. Perhaps it all stems from some type of hormone that is present during pregnancy and never goes away. At any rate it would seem that if there are children mothers who embarrass them are never far away.

Now I don’t merely bring up embarrassing mother stories just for the heck of it. I usually do it as an introduction to a read aloud I use in my classroom by Jean Fritz titled George Washington's Mother. It is a wonderfully researched tale of Mary Ball Washington and some of her interactions with her famous son especially those of the embarrassing kind. Students instantly connect to our first president as they realize they have something in common.

Recently I posted a painting for my wordless image at History Is Elementary by Jean Ferris titled Call of the Sea (1920). The subjects in the painting are George Washington at the age of 14 and Mary Ball Washington. He is looking out the window as he receives his mother’s decision that he cannot join the British Royal Navy. As I’ve proven many times here, here, and here bring up George Washington and you are sure to have a debate of some kind regarding fact and fiction, national legend versus verified history, and a view of history as it was presented in the 18th century versus 19th and 20th century presentations.

In his biography of George Washington titled Patriarch by Richard Norton Smith he makes a very valid point regarding Mary Ball Washington. Eighteenth century writers sanctified [her while more] modern writers have depicted her as Medea in a mob cap, grasping, possessive, envious to a fault. Willard Sterne Randall states in his biography titled George Washington: A Life [men like Parson Mason Weems and Rev. Jared Sparks] grafted and pruned facts to form a Washington myth [and] we owe them for the early deification of Mary Ball Washinton.

After looking over local lore, various scholarly biographies, and the letters of George Washington I would have to state Mary Ball Washington was not our typical idea of what a mother is or does. It does appear from the evidence that George Washington’s relationship with his mother was very formal and at times strained. I have no doubt that Mary Ball Washington could be a star in the Maternal Embarrassment Hall of Fame.

It is no secret that Mary Ball Washington was the second wife of Augustine Washington. He married her at 22 at a time most of her neighbors had written her off as a spinster. Randall wonders, Could it have been something so strong and indepependent about her that every suitor seemed to back away? Luckily for our nation Augustine Washington did not. Randall also mentions Mary Ball Washington’s step-grand daughter (the wife of Robert E. Lee) passed down the family tradition that Mrs. Washington required from those about her a prompt and literal obedience somewhat resembling that demanded by a proper military subordination.

Always of a mind that past events can be evidentiary in future actions I find it interesting that during Mary Ball Washington’s pregnancy with her son George a fierce thunderstorm arose during dinner and a guest was killed at the dinnertable from a strike of lightening. Margaret C. Conkling in her book Memoirs of the Mother and Wife of Washington (1850) advises the force of the strike was so strong the knife and fork of the dinner guest was fused to her hand, and Mary Ball Washington felt the jolt of energy surge through her body as well. Throughout her pregancy she worried about the safety of her child. Could this be why she held such a firm hold on George and later felt so neglected and alone during his adult years?

Let us also not forget that Mary Ball Washington suddenly found herself a widow with several young children and as Jean Fritz’s book tells my students she suddenly felt poor. While not as aristocratic, as socially prominent, or as wealthy as families such as the Fairfax family, Mary Ball Washington was by no means destitute, but her security was suddenly very compromised by the death of her husband. Augustine Washington’s sons, Lawrence and Augustine, Jr. (Jack) inherited the bulk of the estate. Mary Ball Washington was promised an income for a period of five years from Ferry Farm prior to the property transferring to George Washington when he came of age, but she continuously worried about money.

Some historians have surmised that Lawrence Washington and his father in law, Lord Fairfax, took young George under their wings regarding his education in order to get him away from a very firm mother who did not want George to ever leave her side. Those same historians like to state that Augustine Washington enjoyed his job surveying the countryside mainly because it took him away from his wife for long periods of time.

The painting I used in my wordless post centers around an event that occurred on September 8, 1746 when George Washington met with his benefactor, Lord Fairfax, to receive two letters from Lawrence Washington. One letter was for George and the other was a letter for Mrs. Washington asking her to allow her son to join the British Royal Navy. My students learn from my read aloud using George Washington’s Mother that young George’s mother did exactly what any mother would do. She stalled for time hoping the ship would leave without her son, and she also wrote her bother, Joseph Ball, who had returned to Britain some years earlier. When she finally did hear from her brother he advised her that her since her son was a middle son and had no further prospects of inheriting additional property he would be better off keeping his Virginia contacts, taking over Ferry Farm at the prescribed time, and try to make it as a planter. Joseph Ball advised his sister that without the proper patronage and contact the Royal Navy would be a very unkind place for young George to be saying that the Royal Navy could cut him and staple him and use him like a Negro, or rather, life a dog.. After reading her brother’s letter that was the end of any hopes George Washington had for naval career. Joseph Ball’s letter is quoted in the seventh volume of Douglas Southall Freeman's biography of George Washington (Scribners, 1948-1957). Of course, we now know that George Washington did very well as a soldier, used his planter contacts, and upon the death of Lawrence Washington inherited Mount Vernon as well, but young Washington did not know this at the time and his mother's decision was very upsetting to him.

Of course, that wasn’t the end of events that caused George Washington great embarrassment where his mother was concerned.

In 1755 while at Fort Cumberland in the Ohio wilderness a message from his mother arrived via a family friend who had been enlisted to deliver it. Mary Ball Washington requested her son find her a “Dutchman” meaning an indentured servant to help her run the farm. She also requested her son send her some butter.

Yes……butter.

So while the future Father of our County was off nearly getting killed in the Ohio Wilderness he had to write his mother we are quite out of that part of the country where either are to be had. There are few and no inhabitants where we now lie encamped and butter cannot be had here to supply the wants of the camp…. From the papers of George Washington you can see the letter here.

In an article titled Washington and His Mother by Frederick Bernays Weiner published in the American Historical Review (1991, 26, vol. 3) an episode is recounted where Mary Ball Washington petitioned the Virginia House of Delegates (formally the House of Burgesses) for a state pension. She also indicated she needed to have her taxes lowered and claimed she was destitute. Benjamin Harrison, speaker of the House of Delegates, promptly sent a message to General Washington advising him of his mother’s petition.

I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to state George Washington was shocked and surprised. Weiner states he was outraged and promptly answered Harrison’s message explaining he regularly sent money to his mother and whence her distress arise therefore, I know not, never having received any complaint of inattention or neglect.

It also didn’t help that throughout the Revolution Mary Ball Washington was a staunch loyalist. Randall states only George Washington’s stature protected her from being driven out of the community by resentful neighbors.

Randall mentions there is no evidence George Washington wrote his mother at all during the Revolution but he did see to it that she had received an annuity and all her living expenses were paid by Lund, his farm manager. Eventually George Washington bought his mother a home in Fredericksburg where she lived until her death.

At one point in 1787 Mary Ball Washington actually requested to live at Mt. Vernon but Randall contends George Washington refused and references a February 15th letter he wrote in response….you would not be able to enjoy that calmness and serenity of mind which in my opinion you ought now to prefer to every other consideration.

In another letter to Richard Conway, George Washington correctly predicts his stopover in Fredericksburg in the Spring of 1789 would be the last time he would see his mother alive. Randall refers to Washington relating his reason for the visit as [an effort] to discharge the last act of personal duty I may ever have it in my power to pay my mother.

Randall also relates a local legend that when Washington arrived Mary Ball Washington continued to work in a flowerbed while the soon-to-be-inaugurated President attempted to engage her in conversation.

After reading the read aloud to students by Jean Fritz we discuss possible reasons for Mary Ball Washington's actions throughout George's life and students begin to see that in her own way she probably cared for her son and was proud of him. Later I ask students to remember their own embarrassment story about their own mother, and I ask them to write an essay regarding why their mother acts the way she does at times. It's always very interesting to see how students begin to understand and justify their mother's actions.

A Presidential Doughface

As a writing exercise I often place pictures of important or famous people up on the screen in my room and ask students to provide a caption or write something about the picture. After a few minutes students share their ideas and then I share one of mine which leads into a quick lesson in history. Sometimes this type of activity can be used to review a topic, introduce something new, or simply move a unit along with additional content.

The last time I presented students with this image they came up with some interesting responses:

*My belly hurts. I should have left that last taco in the bag and thrown it away.

*When are they going to invent a real tie that doesn’t look like a bow?

*This man is important. He looks really smart. Maybe he’s a writer or a great thinker. I wish the picture was in color.

*The picture looks like it is from a long time ago. I didn’t know they had hair gel back then. Interesting!

These are the better ones, of course. I left out the silly, off the mark, or inappropriate ones that can be the result of this type of exercise, but you can see that some students can really get into the moment when analyzing photographs.

Next we discussed names and labels…words we use to identify individuals or groups of people. We talked about how those names aren’t always meant to be nice. We also talked about how some names stick simply because it’s easier to remember a group of people by a certain name in order to remember what they stood for….groups like tree huggers, Bible thumpers, and even educrats.

These types of monikers are not simply for the 20th and 21st century. Certain groups throughout history have claimed remembrance through their name such as the Know- Nothings, muckrakers, and don’t forget the hawks and doves.

Do you know who the gentleman is in my image?

It is President Franklin Pierce, our fourteenth president and the tidbit of knowledge I share with students is Franklin Pierce was a doughface.

What’s a doughface?

During the 1850s a doughface was a Northern politician who had Southern sympathies.
President Pierce hailed from New Hampshire, one of our northern most states, so I’m sure it could be a little surprising that he might have southern sympathies, but he did. It wasn’t that he held slaves or thought slavery was a correct action, however, he did believe it was up to each state to decide its own course especially as new states entered the Union. He was against sectionalism and was not a fan of the abolitionist movement. President Pierce felt that compromise was an integral part of the Federal System.

The United States was experiencing growth and expansion, but a negative impact was growing tension between states who held slaves and those that did not. Legislators from the South wanted an equal number of slave and free states in order to balance power. They feared a higher number of free states because slavery could then be abolished through a Congressional vote.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act brought the question of slavery in the West to the forefront of national debate. In 1854 Congressman Stephen A. Douglas proposed the Kansas-Nebraka Act which would reverse the Missiouri Compromise of 1820 and allow settlers in Kansas and Nebraska territories to decide on their own if they would allow slavery or not. Reluctantly President Pierce gave his approval of the bill because many of his appointments were still pending in Congress and he wanted the Gadsden Purchase Treaty
to be approved as well.

Many Northerners disliked the way Pierce compromised with Southern viewpoints. Many of the discussions and debates on the floor of Congress were so emotionally charged that fistfights broke out and Charles Sumner, a U.S. Senator was so severely beaten it took him three years to recover.

The Kansas Nebraska Act eventually led to a mini civil war in those territories, and Kansas became “bleeding Kansas”. The Democratic party split, the Republican party was created, and the Whig party became nonexistent.

President Pierce is not the only president to be called a doughface during the time leading up the Civil War. President Buchanan and President Fillmore have also enjoyed the label.

A Hop, Skip, and Jump...Right Over Hoover

Textbook committee meetings, vertical team meetings, and grade level conferences where teachers from across a school system get together to discuss standards, content, and unit planning are wonderful opportunities for educators to share and learn from each other.

I’ve never refused an opportunity to serve in these capacities because I come away with great ideas, forge new friendships, and these opportunities to serve are also opportunities to influence others.

During one such meeting my group of fourth and fifth grade teachers (two with veteran status, one middle of the roader, and one first-year teacher) was to take our standards for social studies and group them according to like characteristics, create key questions to guide a unit, and brainstorm ideas for implementing and assessing the standards.

We had discussed the 1920s and were grouping together the standards for the 1930s when I asked about the actual transition from the Roaring 20s to the Great Depression. It would make sense that children would have questions concerning how America went from Eddie Cantor’s Makin’ Whoopee to I Got Plenty O’ Nuthin’.

I pointed out to the group the particular standard that begins the study.

Standard SS5H5 states….The student will explain how the Great Depression and New Deal affected the lives of millions of Americans. Element (a) of the standard continues….discuss the Stock Market Crash of 1929, Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Dust Bowl, and soup kitchens and another standard for the Economics strand (SS5E1b) states…explain how price incentives affect behavior and choices (such as monetary policy during the Great Depression).

I mentioned that in the past I had generally ended my look at the 1920s by allowing students to discover President Herbert Hoover and the results of the 1928 election. Here are the responses I received after saying that:

“Hoover, didn’t he cause the whole thing? He’s just a blip in the road.”

“All the textbook says is how Hoover didn’t understand there was problem and he just kept telling people good times were around the corner. Didn’t his policies actually make things worse?”

“Policies? Didn’t FDR get elected because Hoover had no policies?

Poor Hoover. He’s often hopped over, skipped over, and jumped on as the poster child of how a President should not act in a time of crisis. In their zeal to cover President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal policies teachers teach American schoolchildren next to nothing about our thirty-first president. Most students learn very little about Hoover until they reach highschool or take American History during their core college courses, and even then it can be a bit sketchy.

My fellow educators are missing a great opportunity to invoke interest and motivation to study historical figures by glossing over President Hoover as they transition between the decade of excess to the decade of less.

As stated before one of the main questions students have about the 20s and the 30s is how things seemed to be so great at one point and so bad at another. This question also lends itself to President Hoover as well.

I like to pose questions for students to ponder as they explore some well chosen evidence that I have prepared for them. This is also known in more formal education circles as the mystery or inquiry strategy where the teacher determines a situation that lends itself to a mystery and prior to presentation he or she must develop a clear idea of what students will discover. Clues and information sources have to be determined as well as the method of assessment. Finally, students reflect upon the uncovered material and how it relates to other parts of the curriculum.

Look at the picture I’ve posted with this article….men on camels. What does this have to do with Hoover, American History, and even the Great Depression? What about a copy of a ship’s log dated 1897 indicating a destination of Perth, Australia…one of the entry names is Herbert Hoover, age 35 along with a copy of a birth certificate that also has the name Herbert Hoover and his birth date. Yet once students are prompted to check the dates Hoover’s age on the ships’s log and the birth date on the birth certificate don’t match up? What about a series of newpaper headlines from October, 1929 onward? What about a copy of a New York Times article detailing the ten most important Americans prior to World War I mixed in with images of Hoovervilles and an article regarding the Bonus Army episode during June, 1932?

Through the examination of other documentation students also learn the following:

In his early 20s Hoover used his degree in geology to begin a career in mining. Later Hoover crossed the Mississippi River for the first time and embarked on a journey that took him across the world to Australia. He trekked across the Great Victoria Desert via camel to the small mining town of Kalgoorlie where the streets were kept wide to accommodate the sweeping turns of camels. Hoover had been sent to Australia by Beswick, Moreing and Company, a mining company out of London, England. They had wanted an older, more established man for the job so Hoover grew a mustache and beard and stated he was 36 instead of 23. He convinced the owners of the company to invest their money in the Sons of Gwalia mine for a price of 200,000 pounds. He also managed to convince the company that he had a plan to develop the mine. He was given the right to manage the development process contradicting mining policies which stated managers had to have at least three years experience. Hoover must have had some great skills of persuasion and a real knack for mining. Over the next few years Hoover built a fortune for himself due to his mining efforts. President Hoover is considered to be something of a hero in Australia even though he didn’t stay long at the mine. Today, his home overlooking the mine is a museum and a bed and breakfast. The museum homepage is interesting as well as an online article called Into the Outback: How Herbert Hoover Made His Name and Fortune in Australia by William J. Coughlin.

In 1914, Hoover was responsible for helping to return over 100,000 Americans who became stranded in Europe at the outbreak of World War I. Food, clothing, and steamship tickets were provided. He served on the Committee for Relief in Belguim and he traveled to Europe and met with German leaders to persuade them to allow relief efforts to reach their citizens. The Finns added the word “hoover” to their language. It meant “to help”. President Woodrow Wilson appointed Hoover as the head of the American Food Administration. Hoover stated that “Food will win the war”, and it was during World War I, not World War II, that Meatless Mondays and Wheatless Wednesdays were initiated. Following the Great War, Hoover reached national hero status and was named by the New York Times as one of the ten most important Americans. He utilized the American Friends Service Committee to send aid to Germany and Bolshevist Russia and more often than not begged to have his name deleted from any of the relief efforts.

So the question students are really attempting to answer through this example of the mystery strategy is...how does one adventurous problem-solver who becames a national hero known for helping people in need end up taking the blame for economic upheaval and strife in his own country? How can that happen? By carefully choosing images and snippets of documentation regarding Hoover’s early life and by posing questions to guide students at certain pivotal points during their discovery they can embark upon a journey where they arrive at their own realization regarding past historical events.

They also end up learning something much more powerful than reviewing a litany of facts that are often forgotten. Students learn how to evaulate and analyze information and how to connect what might seem to be unrelated information in many various ways thereby internalizing the learning in a much more powerful way.

Remembering ALL of the Presidents?

Have I got a quiz for you! Can you name all 43 presidents?

In ten minutes?

Go to the quiz Can You Name All 43 Presidents?

Actually it’s easier than you think, but the timer begins the minute you log on. All you have to do is type the last name of the president and the program will immediately place it where it goes.

I hope this stays up for awhile. Some of my students would love the challenge, and over time I guarantee that many of them would become more familiar with the names as well as the events that surround their administrations.

No cheating now….

ERIC Digests on the American Presidency

ERIC Digests on the American Presidency. ERIC Digests are short reports (1,000 - 1,500 words) on topics of prime current interest in education. There are a large variety of topics covered including teaching, learning, libraries, charter schools, special education, higher education, home schooling, and many more.

The ERIC Clearinghouse System was eliminated in 2003 by the US Federal Government. However, before it went away, it produced several ERIC Digest relating to the American presidency.

These include:

Teaching about the U.S. Presidency - Many consider the U.S. presidency to be the most powerful office in the world. What are its constitutional foundations? How has the role of the chief executive changed through the years? What World Wide Web resources are available for teaching about the U.S. presidency?

The Election of 1800: Teaching about a Critical Moment in the History of American Constitutional Democracy - This Digest connects the election of 1800 to the social studies curriculum, summarizes core content on this key event in American history, proposes the use of historic documents by teachers and students, and recommends World Wide Web sites as sources of documents and related information.

Teaching about George Washington - Do most students understand the importance of George Washington as a military and political leader during a time that demanded extraordinary leadership? The bicentennial of Washington's death in 1999 is an appropriate time to reflect upon his role and place in the school curriculum.

Teaching about Presidential Elections - This ERIC Digest describes legal and extralegal requirements and traditions of presidential elections, processes by which people seek and gain the office of president, and resources for teaching about presidential elections.

Teaching about the Louisiana Purchase - This Digest discusses (1) President Jefferson's decision to purchase the Louisiana Territory, (2) the significant consequences of this decision in American history, and (3) methods of teaching about the Louisiana Purchase.

Teaching With Documents: Constitutional Issues - Watergate and the Constitution

Teaching With Documents: Constitutional Issues - Watergate and the Constitution. Lesson plan from the National Archives and Records Administration provides suggestions for using primary documents to teach about Watergate.

From the site:

When Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 in the wake of the Watergate scandal, it was only the second time in our history that impeachment of a President had been considered. Nearly every action taken with regard to the case had some constitutional significance. The document shown here deals with a specific question: Should the Watergate Special Prosecutor seek an indictment of the former President?

It is two pages of a three-page memorandum written for the Watergate Special Prosecutor in August 1974, after Richard Nixon resigned the Presidency and before President Ford pardoned him. (The third page adds one more item to the pro-indictment list and adds another category, "delay decision.")

The Office of the Special Prosecutor was created by Executive Order in May 1973 and twice faced the question of whether to seek an indictment of Richard Nixon. The first time was in March 1974, when the grand jury handed down indictments of seven White House aides for perjury and obstruction of justice.

Teaching about the Louisiana Purchase

Teaching about the Louisiana Purchase. This essay looks at ways that students can be taught about this important historical event. The topic of the Louisiana Purchase would make an excellent centerpiece for any lesson about President Thomas Jefferson.

From the site:

The year 2003 marks the bicentennial of the 1803 Treaty of France, by which the United States of America acquired the Louisiana Territory, an area of more than 828,000 square miles. Upon this acquisition, known as the Louisiana Purchase, the territory of the United States doubled. Historians consider the Louisiana Purchase to be a landmark event or turning point in American history. This Digest discusses (1) President Jefferson's decision to purchase the Louisiana Territory, (2) the significant consequences of this decision in American history, and (3) methods of teaching about the Louisiana Purchase.

THE DECISION TO PURCHASE LOUISIANA.

President Thomas Jefferson faced an important decision during the summer of 1803. Napoleon, the emperor of France, had offered to sell the territory of Louisiana to the United States for $15 million. This vast territory extended westward from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and southward from the Canadian border to the Gulf of Mexico and the Spanish lands of what is now Texas and New Mexico.

Jefferson had offered to buy for $2 million only the region around the mouth of the Mississippi River, which included the port and city of New Orleans. The President wanted to protect the interests of farmers in the Ohio River Valley, who depended on access to New Orleans. They sent their crops down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, from which ships took the products to cities along the Atlantic coast of the United States. Americans feared that the French might interfere with their trade by imposing high taxes on products and ships moving through New Orleans. Even worse, the French might close the port to Americans.

Teaching about the U.S. Presidency

Teaching about the U.S. Presidency - Provides full-text access to the ERIC Digest of this name which gives advice to teachers about instructing students on the American Presidency.

From the site:

Many consider the U.S. presidency to be the most powerful office in the world. What are its constitutional foundations? How has the role of the chief executive changed through the years? What World Wide Web resources are available for teaching about the U.S. presidency?

CONSTITUTIONAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE PRESIDENCY.

The delegates to the 1787 Philadelphia Convention, who framed the U.S. Constitution, brought with them various conceptions of executive power. Three questions dominated the framers' consideration of the role the executive would play in the new government. First, the delegates discussed whether the executive should be a single individual or whether multiple persons should share the office. Second, they considered at length the amount of power the executive should wield. And third, they debated the best means by which to elect the executive. Generally, deliberations on these questions involved the balance of power in the new government.

The framers feared that a powerful executive could usurp legislative authority and engage in tyrannical actions. The weak executives created by the state constitutions, however, proved unable to prevent state legislatures from trampling on the people's rights. The founding fathers sought to create a government in which, as James Madison explained in FEDERALIST 51, "Ambition must be made to counteract ambition." Madison deemed a balance of power necessary, and he called for a governmental arrangement in which it would be in the best interest of all citizens to resist executive encroachment.

Teaching about George Washington.

Teaching about George Washington. This is an essay which gives an overview of the life of Geroge Washington. It also provides teachers with ideas for teaching about this American President.

From the site:

No generation in American history has matched that of the founding era for its array of talented and influential political thinkers and actors. John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington all possessed certain traits of character and intellect that significantly shaped the new United States of America and its direction for generations that followed. Among these personalities, George Washington is the most difficult for students to know. Compared to Jefferson, Hamilton, or most other important historical figures, our common images of Washington--seen on the dollar bill and quarter, crossing the Delaware River, or enshrined in the impersonal Washington Monument--are cold and distant. Today's perceptions of Washington seem to validate Ralph Waldo Emerson's maxim, "Every hero becomes a bore at last."

Do most students understand the importance of George Washington as a military and political leader during a time that demanded extraordinary leadership? The bicentennial of Washington's death in 1999 is an appropriate time to reflect upon his role and place in the school curriculum.