Democratic developments in colonial America

This information can be found in your lecture notes.


o 1619, Formation of the Virginia House of Burgesses: First representative assembly in America; beginning of representative government in America.
o 1620, Mayflower Compact: First agreement for self-government; freemen agreed to majority rule
o After 1629, New England Townhall Meeting: Church members discussed political and community issues
o Colonial Assemblies: The lower house of colonial assemblies gradually gained political influence; governors had difficulty ruling without the support of assemblies.
o 1639, Fundamental Orders of Connecticut: First written constitution in America.
o 1643, New England Confederation: Connecticut, New Haven, Plymouth, and Massachusetts formed an organization for collective security against Indian attacks. This was an important step in creating more unity among New England colonies.
o 1649, Maryland Act of Toleration: Guaranteed religious freedom to all Christians (but not Jews and atheists)
o 1676, Bacon’s Rebellion: Western Virginia farmers revolted against eastern government; first of several major rebellions where common people are fighting for a more responsive government.
o 1683, New York chapter of Liberties: Granted freedom of religion to all Christians and gave all landowners the right to vote. Created to attract more settlers to New York.
o 1691, Leisler’s Rebellion: Jacob Leisler led a rebellion of frustrated poor people and farmers who protested huge land grants favoring wealthy landholders and speculators that left common people with few opportunities to own land.
o 1735, Zenger Case: A colonial jury found John Peter Zenger innocent of libel against New York's governor. This is an important first step towards freedom of the press.
o 1754, Albany Plan for Union: Proposed by Benjamin Franklin, this plan would have created an intercolonial congress. It was rejected by Britain for giving too much control to the colonies. It was also rejected by the colonies who feared an oppressive colonial congress.
o 1764, Paxton Boys: Western Pennsylvanians (Scots Irish) rebelled against gov’t believing gov’t was not doing enough to protect them from Amerindian attacks.
o 1771, Carolina Regulator Movement: Frustrated poor people from western North Carolina rebelled against the colonial government (similar to Bacon's Rebellion and Leisler's Rebellion)
o 1713-1763, "Salutary Neglect": The colonies enjoyed relative autonomy from British rule. Americans became used to regulating their own political and economic affairs (such as Triangular Trade) without British interference. When Britain tried to reimpose control in 1763, the road to revolution began.
o 1740s, Great Awakening: Americans enjoyed much choice regarding religious groups. Churches increasingly had to cater to the needs of their parishioners. This was an important democratic step.
o 1720s to 1790s, The Enlightenment: American political thought was influenced by Locke's natural rights philosophy (including consent of the governed) and Montesquieu's views on checks and balances.

Monday

Bring your flashdrives for the powerpoint presentations and/or the lecture notes. I purchased the entire lecture notes package in order to help you with the material. Also, bring a quarter to help cover the costs.

After two weeks in the course, reflect back on what you learned from the course. Expect a quiz on Monday from the 1-3 historyteacher.net quizzes. Also, we will discuss Chapter 3. We will probably test on this material on Wednesday or Thursday. You might review the free response questions on this blog for Unit I (Chapters 1-3)

Have a great weekend but use it to study!

Hands on History: Extra Credit Opportunity

Saturday September 25 (mark your calendar)

Boiling Springs Community Park
10am-5pm

Discover how agriculture, textiles, railroad, music and military played a role in making Spartanburg County what it is today.

The festival will include hands-on exhibits, demonstrations and crafters. Storytelling and games will be available for the kids. The main stage will be host to several local musicians.

Admission is free and concessions will be available for sale.


http://www.spartanburgparks.org/calendar/hands-on-heritage.htm
See website for directions and more detail.

Indian Wars

King Philip:Metacom

Powhatan Confederacy 1622-44 (Virginia) Following an initial period of peaceful relations, a 12-year conflict left many natives and colonists dead, but the remaining colonists were victorious.

Pequot War 1637,Massacre at Mystic (Connecticut and Rhode Island) The death of a colonist eventually led to the immolation of 600-700 natives. The remainder were sold into slavery in Bermuda.

King Philip's War 1675-78 (Massachusetts and Rhode Island) Philip's attempt to drive out the settlers, beginning at Swansea, Massachusetts, led to slaughter on both sides and his own death.

Pueblo Revolt 1680-92 (Arizona and New Mexico) Led by Popé, Pueblo Indians threw off the Spanish yoke and lived independently for 12 years. The Spanish reconquered in 1692.

French and Indian War 1689-1763 (Eastern Woodlands) A contest between France and Britain for possession of North America. For various motivations, most Algonquian tribes allied with the French; the Iroquois with the British.

Tuscarora War 1711 (North Carolina) The Tuscarora under chief Hancock attacked several settlements, killing settlers and destroying farms. In 1713, James Moore and Yamasee warriors defeated the raiders.

Yamasee War 1715-1718 (South Carolina) An Indian confederation led by the Yamasee came close to exterminating white settlement in their region.

Pontiac's Conspiracy 1763 (Ohio River Valley) Warrior chief Pontiac and a large alliance drove out the British at every post except Detroit. After besieging the fort for five months, they withdrew to find food for the winter.

NADA

NADA

Empire State Building

Colonial Information

According to the United States Historical Census Data Base (USHCDB) (2002), the ethnic populations in the American Colonies of 1775 were:
English 48.7 %
African 20.0 %
Scot-Irish 7.8 %

German 6.9 %

Scottish 6.6 %
Dutch 2.7 %
French 1.4 %
Swedish 0.6 %
Other 5.3 %



Colonial Colleges
The history of the Ivy League really begins with the formation of the Colonial Colleges in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Prior to the 1776 Declaration of Independence nine colleges were formed and while seven of the nine have since changed their names they all still thrive today. The nine schools that make up the Colonial Colleges are in order of establishment:
o New College (est. 1636, now Harvard University)Congregational

o The College of William and Mary (est. 1693)Anglican

o Collegiate School (est. 1701, now Yale University)Congregational

o Academy of Philadelphia (est. 1755, now University of Pennsylvania)Nonsectarian

o College of New Jersey (est. 1746, now Princeton University)Presbyterian

o King's College (est. 1754, now Columbia University) Anglican

o College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (est. 1764, now Brown University) Baptist

o Queen's College (est. 1766, now Rutgers University)Dutch Reformed

o Dartmouth College (est. 1769)Congregational

Of the nine Colonial Colleges seven are now members of the esteemed Ivy League with the eighth member, Cornell University, being founded later on in 1865. William and Mary and Rutgers, the two Colonial Colleges that are not part of the Ivy League, transitioned to eventually become public institutions.

Religion in Colonial America, 1775
The New England colonists were largely Puritans, who led very strict lives.
The Middle colonists were a mixture of religions, including Quakers (led by William Penn), Catholics, Lutherans, Jews, and others.
The Southern colonists had a mixture of religions as well, including Baptists and Anglicans.

Congregationalists=575,000 (New England)
Anglicans=500,000 (New York, South)
Presbyterians=410,000 (Backcountry)
German churches=200,000 (Pennsylvania)
Dutch Reformed=75,000 (NY, NJ)
Quakers=40,000 (PA,NJ,DE)
Baptists=25,000 (RI,PA,NJ,DE)
Catholics=25,000 (MD,PA)
Methodists=5,000 (Scattered)
Jewish=2,000 (NY,RI)
Estimated total membership=1,857,000
Estimated total population=2,493,000
Percentage church members=74%

Atlantic Slave Trade, 1500-1870

Terms for Chapter 3: Colonial Society in the 18th Century

Crevecoeur
Demographics of 1775 Colonial America
English cultural dominance
Pennsylvania Dutch
Scotch-Irish
Backcountry
Great Wagon Road
Regulator Movement
Africans
Pluralism
Self-government
Religious toleration
Hereditary Aristocracy
Social mobility
Colonial families in VA vs. MASS
Colonial men
Colonial women
Subsistence farming
Yeoman farmers
Protestant work ethic
Breadbasket
Plantations
Leading industries
Hard money
Transportation
Cities
Taverns
Established Church
Congregational Church
Great Awakening (1730s-1740s)
Jonathan Edwards
“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”
George Whitefield
Revival meetings
Old Lights v. New Lights
Schisms
Itinerant preachers
Georgian Style
Trumbull, Peale, Copley, West
Ben Franklin
Poor Richard’s Almanack
Cotton Mather
Salem Witch Trials
Phillis Wheatley
Enlightenment
Education
New England Primer
Tax-supported schools
Harvard College
Physicians
Lawyers
Artisans
Zenger Case
Rural Folkways
National Culture
Royal Governors
Colonial assemblies
Town Meetings
Limited Democracy

Colonial Dames Essay Contest: Winners Go To Washington

This is a major project of The Society held under the auspices of the Washington Workshops Foundation, a private nonprofit educational program in American government for high school students. Winners of an annual national essay contest sponsored by The NSCDA are sent to Washington, D.C. during the summer for a week of citizenship education about the national government.

The topic for 2010 was "Discuss a major Supreme Court decision you believe to be pivotal in our nation's history." Grace Anne Martin and David Stevens won the contest last year, receiving an all-expense paid trip to DC. Other winners from SHS included Caroline Cope, Owen Belcher, Andrew Pennebaker, Paul Richardson, Jay Patrick, and Michael Poon.

The Essay Topic for 2011 is:

IN HIS FAREWELL ADDRESS IN PHILADELPHIA IN 1776, GEORGE WASHINGTON WARNED AGAINST THE ADVENT OF POLITICAL PARTIES IN NATIONS WITH POPULACE-ELECTED GOVERNMENTS. DO YOU BELIEVE OUR NATION'S HISTORY SUPPORTS HIS VIEWS? EXPLAIN.

Everyone will be participating in the essay contest so start formulating your ideas regarding the question.

2 TOUGH QUESTIONS.... INTERESTING

Yalta:1944
Churchill, FDR, Stalin

This is an email that has circulated for some time.

Question 1:
If you knew a woman who was pregnant, who had 8 kids already,
three who were deaf, two who were blind, one mentally retarded, and
she had syphilis, would you recommend that she have the baby?


Read the next question before looking at the response for this one.



Question 2:
It is time to elect a new world leader, and only your vote
Counts.
Here are the facts about the three candidates.


Candidate A:
Associates with crooked politicians, and consults with astrologists.
He's had two mistresses. He also chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10
Martinis a day.


Candidate B:
He was kicked out of office twice, sleeps until noon, used opium
In college and drinks a quart of whiskey every evening.


Candidate C:
He is a decorated war hero. He's a vegetarian, doesn't smoke,
Drinks an occasional beer and never committed adultery.


Which of these candidates would be our choice?

Decide first... No peeking, and then scroll down for the
Response.




















Candidate A is Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Candidate B is Winston Churchill.
Candidate C is Adolf Hitler.

And, by the way, on your answer to the first question:
If you said NO, you just killed Beethoven.

Pretty interesting isn't it?
Makes a person think before judging someone.


Remember:

Amateurs ... Built the ark.
Professionals ... Built the Titanic

Check out the below link to see the validity of this post. 
http://www.snopes.com/glurge/twoquestions.asp

America: The Story of Us

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELOxjW-eFx4&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhPwGqAXxKw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hHGdHh8NIw&feature=related

Above our links to the video we watched in class last Wednesday.

Nada

Nada

Lecture Notes 1400-1781

http://historysage.com/jcms/content/view/12/31/

I strongly recommend viewing these notes on the above website.

Chapter 2 Terms

Chapter 2: The 13 Colonies and the British Empire, 1607-1750
Charter
Corporate, Royal, and Proprietary colonies
Chesapeake colonies
Maryland
Lord Baltimore
Act of Toleration
Bacon’s Rebellion (1676)
Families in Chesapeake region
Indentured servants
Headright System
FFV
Roger Williams
Rhode Island
Anne Hutchinson
Antinomianism
Thomas Hooker
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
Connecticut
New Hampshire
Halfway Covenant
The Elect
New England colonies
New England Confederation
King Philip’s War (1675-1676)
Restoration
Lords Proprietors
South Carolina
Barbados
Rice plantations
Cash crops
North Carolina
New York
New Jersey
Quakers
William Penn
Holy Experiment
Frame of Government
Charter of Liberties
Delaware
Georgia
James Oglethorpe
Middle colonies
Southern colonies
Mercantilism
Navigation Acts
Enumerated goods
Dominion of New England
Glorious Revolution
Salutary neglect
Slavery
Royal African Company
Slave laws
Mulattos/Creoles
Racism
Work slowdowns
African Americans
Stono Rebellion
Triangular Trade
Middle Passage
Foodstuffs
Naval stores

Rest of Curriculum Outline for Unit I (Chapters 1-3)

Transatlantic Encounters and Colonial Beginnings, 1492-1690
First European contacts with Native Americans
-Spanish (Aztecs, Incas, and Mayas), Columbus, killed off by diseases, disorganization (wars), and disposability, Indians introduced new plants and foods to Europeans(beans, corn, potatoes, tobacco) as well as syphilis and Europeans introduced animals (horses, pigs) as well as diseases, sugar cane (Columbian Exchange)
Spain’s Empire in North American
-Mestizos (Spanish men married Indian women), few families, encomienda system (forced labor of Indians, rigid class system), located in South, Central and Western American due to conquistadors, introduced Roman Catholicism, had mixed relations with Native Americans, Florida (St. Augustine), New Mexico, Texas, California
French Colonization of Canada
-Had the best relations with Indians, settlement along the St. Lawrence Rivers as well as the Ohio Valley and Mississippi Basin, traded with Indians (furs), intermarried with Indians, little threat to Indians due to small settlements unlike New England, respected culture, introduced Catholicism
English settlement of New England
-Plymouth (Pilgrim Dissenters), faced many early hardships
-Massachusetts Bay (Puritans), Great Migration of Puritans (Congregationalist Church), John Winthrop (City Upon a Hill), rocky soil and long winters limited farmers to small subsistent farms, industry included logging, shipbuilding, fishing, trading, rum-distilling, settled from religious reasons, Protestant work ethic (worked hard to ensure they were members of the elect under predestination, offered came in family units, high life expectancy, religion dominated society (Salem Witch Trials), Half-Way Covenant (allowed more religious participation) town meetings (direct democracy), promoted education to read the Bible (first tax-supported schools, establishment of Ivy League schools), King Philip’s War (ended Indian resistance in New England)
-Rhode Island: Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson (antinomianism: faith not deeds led to salvation), complete religious toleration, respected Indians rights, formed from banished of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
English Settlement of the Mid-Atlantic Region
-Penn’s Holy Experiment: safe haven for Quakers, Frame of Government and Charter of Liberties (guaranteed freedoms and colonial government), one of the most diverse and liberal colonies, Philly
-New York (Dutch) trading and farming, iron-making, taken by the English without a fight from a discouraged Peter Stuyvesant, Anglican Church
-Schools church-sponsored or private, rich soil to produce wheat and corn for export (breadbasket), trading important
English settlement of the South
Chesapeake Colonies
-Virginia: founded for economic reasons, tobacco prosperity (John Rolfe), first arrival of slaves House of Burgesses, Bacon’s Rebellion, young male indentured servants, few woman and children, high death rates
-Maryland: founded for Catholics, Act of Toleration due to rising Protestant population, tobacco farming
Southern Colonies
-Carolinas: founded for economic reasons, colonist from Barbados, trading furs and provided food for West Indies, rice-growing plantation worked by African slaves, indigo, North broke from South (more linked with Virginia, small farmers)
-Georgia (James Oglethrope), founded as a debtor haven, buffer colony against Spanish Florida, linked with South Carolina, developed a plantation system
-Little education, private tutors for the wealthy, farming ranged from subsistent to large plantations that were self-sufficient, exported timber and naval stores (tar and pitch), Anglican Church
From servitude to slavery in the Chesapeake Region
-Bacon’s Rebellion caused moved from indentured servants to slaves, need for labor on plantations, difficult to find a proper labor source
Religious diversity in the America colonies
-Most diverse (Middle Colonies), Least diverse (New England), rise of new sects after First Great Awakening
Resistance to Colonial Authority
-Bacon’s Rebellion: sharp class divisions between wealthy planters and landless/poor farmers, colonial resistance to royal control (royal government under William Berkeley)
-Glorious Rebellion: William and Mary came to power in England, destroyed Edmund Andros’ Dominion of New England (laying taxes, limiting town meetings, and revoking land titles), limited salutary neglect by enforcing the Navigation Acts
-Pueblo Revolt: Indian uprising against the Spanish, successful, wanted more rights

Colonial North America, 1690-1754
Population Growth
-Spectacular gains made as a result of immigration and sharp natural increase, Population increased from 250,000 in 1701 to 2,500,000 in 1775; African Americans from 28,000 in 1701 to 500,000 in 1775
Immigration (escaping religious persecution/wars, economic opportunity such as farming, shopkeeper, merchant, or artisan)
-English, Germans (Pennsylvania), Scotch-Irish (western parts of PA,VA, Carolinas), Africans (by 1775, consisted of 20% of the population, slavery legal in all states before the Revolution
Transatlantic Trade and the growth of seaports
-Mercantilism (favored mother country): Navigation Acts (must use English ships, goods had to go through English ports, enumerated goods like tobacco had to go to England only)
-Positive Impacts of Navigation Acts: New England shipbuilding prospered, Chesapeake colonies, VA and MD had monopoly in England, English forces protected attacks by French and Spain
-Negative Impacts of Navigation Acts: Colonial manufacturing limited, paid high prices for manufactured goods, farmers received low prices for crops, smuggling routine (salutary neglect)
-Triangular Trade: Slaves from Africa to West Indies (middle passage), Sugar and molasses from West Indies to New England, Rum from New England to Africa, Foodstuffs from North America to West Indies, Manufactured goods from England to New England, Tobacco, furs, indigo, naval stores from New England to England
-Rise of seaports along the Eastern Coast due to geographic advantages, water routes easily for trade due to poor roads, Boston, New York, Philly, Charleston were sites of good harbors and navigable rivers
The 18th Century Backcountry
Small rural independent farmers, Scotch-Irish, Regulatory Movement (took laws into their own hands), didn’t relate nor respect British rule, lower life expectancy, difficult life, encountered Indians, Taverns/Inn popped up to provide lodging and social centers
Growth of plantation economies and slave societies
-Headright System (encouraged wealthy planters to obtain indentured servants), After Bacon’s Rebellion, relied more on slaves, geography of the south (large areas to produce tobacco and indigo encouraged the plantation system
-Growth of slavery: Reduced migration of European immigrants, Dependable work force (problems of indentured servants), Cheap labor (loss of slave trade monopoly of the Royal African Company), racism and slavery become integral part of American colonial society
-Slave laws: all states allowed slaves (based on race)
The Enlightenment
-Human reasoning to solve humanity’s problems, John Locke (natural rights, had right to revolt against govts. failing to protect their rights, used by Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence)
-Deists: God had established natural laws in creating the universe but that the role of divine intervention in human affairs was minimal, believed in rationalism and emphasized reason, science,, and respect for humanity (had profound impact on the Founding Fathers especially Ben Franklin)
Great Awakening (1730s and 1740s)
Jonathan Edwards (Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God), each individual could be saved by God’s grace, George Whitefield (taught faith an sincerity could understand Christianity without depending on ministers to lead them)
-Impacts: Emotionalism became part of Protestant services, minister lost some of their former authority among those who now studied the Bible in their homes, more evangelical sects such as the Methodists and Baptists, New Lights and Old Lights division , increased religious diversity, called for separation of church and state, First unifying experience of colonists regardless of social class, region, and national origin, viewed authority differently
Colonial Government in British North America
Each colony had a representative assembly elected by eligible voters (white male property owners), governors usually appointed by the crown
Beginnings of self-rule: Virginia (House of Burgesses), Mayflower Compact, Connecticut (Fundamental Orders), New England Confederation, Penn’s Holy Experiment (Frame of Government, Charter of Liberties)
Imperial Policy in British North America
-salutary neglect (lightly enforced the Navigation Acts), allowed slavery, Zenger Case (freedom of the press), allowed the colonies to develop self-government and local rule as well as the economy.

Colonial Maps

US circa 1650

US circa 1763

Native American Tribes: Yes! There all weren't the same.

Triangular Trade: Not so Triangular

The Columbian Exchange

Early forms of colonial self-government and written constitutions prior to French and Indian War (1754-1763)

Pennsylvania
Charter of Liberties-written constitution guaranteeing freedom for all and unrestricted immigration
Frame of Government-guaranteed representative assembly elected by landowners

Massachusetts
Mayflower Compact-pledged to make decisions by the will of the majority
Town Meetings-came together, usually in the town church, to vote directly on public issues
Freemen-male members of the Puritan Church had the right to participate in yearly elections

Virginia
House of Burgesses-first representative assembly in North America

Maryland
Act of Toleration-granted religious freedom to all Christians

Connecticut
Fundamental Orders-established a representative government consisting of a legislature elected by popular vote and a governor chosen by that legislature

By 1750, the 13 colonies had similar systems of government, with a governor and a legislature, voting to adopt or reject the governor’s purposed laws. Lower houses, elected by eligible voters, voted for or against new taxes. Representative assembly elected by white male property owners


Events that fused the colonies together prior to French and Indian War

New England Confederation-4 New England colonies formed a military alliance to deal with the threat of attack from Indians

Franklin's Cartoon

Albany Plan of Union (1763)
Developed by Ben Franklin, it provided for a intercolonial government and a system for recruiting troops and collecting taxes from various colonies for their defenses

Great Awakening (1740s)

Edwards casts his spell

The movement affected every social class in every section on the colonies (common experience as Americans). If common people could make their own religious decisions without relying on authority of ministers, then they might make their own political decisions as well.

Emergence of National Culture
The colonies experienced the rights of free speech and a free press, becoming accustomed to electing representatives to colonial assemblies and tolerated a variety of religions.

Free Response Questions: Chapters 1-3

(2010 DBQ)
In what ways did ideas and values held by Puritans influence the political, economic, and social development of the New England colonies from 1630 through the 1660s?

(2010b)
Evaluate the influence of religion on the development of colonial society in TWO of the following regions.
The Spanish Southwest
New England
New France

(2008)
Early encounters between American Indians and European colonists led to a variety of relationships among the different cultures. Analyze how the actions taken by BOTH American Indians and European colonists shaped those relationships in TWO of the following regions. Confine your answer to the 1600s.
New England
Chesapeake
Spanish Southwest
New York and New France

(2006)
Analyze the differences between the Spanish settlements in the Southwest and the English colonies in New England in the seventeenth century in terms of TWO of the following:
Politics
Religion
Economic development

(2005b)
“Geography was the primary factor in shaping the development of the British colonies in North America.” Assess the validity of this statement for the 1600s.

(2005)
Compare and contrast the ways in which economic development affected politics in Massachusetts and Virginia in the period from 1607 to 1750.

(1993 DBQ)
Although New England and the Chesapeake region were both settled largely by people of English origin, by 1700 the regions had evolved into two different societies. Why did this difference in development occur? Use the documents and your knowledge of the colonial period up to 1700 to develop your answer.

(1994-1995 Student Guide)
Analyze the relative importance of religious dissent and demographic change in undermining the Puritan dream of establishing a godly and orderly society in 17th century New England.

(1994)
Analyze the ways in which TWO of the following influenced the development of American society.
Puritanism in the 17th century
The Great Awakening in the 18th century
The Second Great Awakening in the 19th century

(1998)
Analyze the extent in which religious freedom existed in the British North American colonies prior to 1700.

(2002)
Compare the ways in which religion shaped the development of colonial society (to 1740) in TWO of the following regions:
New England
Chesapeake
Middle Atlantic

(1995)
For the period before 1750, analyze the ways in which Britain’s policy of salutary neglect influenced the development of American society as illustrated in the following.
Legislative assemblies
Commerce
Religion

(2000)
Analyze the cultural and economic responses of TWO of the following groups to the Indians of North America before 1750.
British
French
Spanish

(2002b)
Analyze the impact of the Atlantic trade routes established in the mid 1600’s on economic development in the British American colonies. Consider the period 1650-1750.

(2003b)
Compare the ways in which TWO of the following reflected tension in colonial society.
Bacon’s Rebellion (1676)
Pueblo Revolt (1680)
Salem witchcraft trials (1692)
Stono Rebellion (1739)

(1990)
“Throughout the colonial period, economic concerns had more to do with the settling of British North America than did religious concerns” Assess the validity of this statement with specific reference to economic and religious concerns.

Colonies Outline

New England Colonies

Plymouth (1620)-settled for religious freedom (Pilgrims)
Mayflower Compact- early form of self-govt.
Absorbed by Massachusetts Bay in 1691

Massachusetts Bay (1630)-settled for religious freedom (Puritans/Congregationalist Church), Great Migration of Puritans
John Winthrop’s City On A Hill
Strict religion but gave way to Halfway Covenant
Town meetings-direct democracy
Strong in education, especially higher education

Rhode Island- broke away from Massachusetts Bay
Religiously tolerant, recognized rights of Indians
John Williams & Anne Hutchinson
Separation of church and state unlike Massachusetts Bay

Connecticut- broke away from Massachusetts Bay
Thomas Hooker
Fundamental Orders-allowed males with property to vote, limited power of govt.

Environment
Forested, rocky soil with long, cold winters & short growing seasons (long life expectancy)

Economy
Small family farms practice subsistent farming, shipbuilding, logging, rum-distilling, fishing, trade with England & West Indies in Triangular Trade (not enforced by British), belief in predestination leads to Protestant work ethic, few indentured servants and slaves (least diverse population)

New England Confederation-formed a military alliance against the Indians (early form of unity within the colonies)

King Philip’s War- ended Indian resistance in New England

Dominion of NE- King James II tried to increase royal control over the colonies and limit their self-govt., ended after Glorious Revolution (resistance to colonial rule)

Middle Colonies

New York-founded by the Dutch and taken over by English
Trade

Pennsylvania-founded by William Penn for religious & political freedom
Holy Experiment- attract a religious refuge for Quakers and other persecuted people, enact liberal ideas in govt., treat Indians with respect
Quakers-belief in pacifism and equality of men & women
Frame of Govt.- provided a representative assembly
Charter of Liberties- provided freedom of religion

Both attract the most diverse population in the colonies

Environment
Fertile soil, temperate climate with longer growing seasons

Economy
Cash crops include wheat, rye, corn (breadbasket)
Trade and manufacturing centers (New York City, Philly-grid city)
Exported to England & West Indies
Little slavery, some large estates & family farms that hired indentured servants

Chesapeake Colonies

Virginia (1607)- formed for economic reasons (joint stock companies)
Religion not real importance
James Smith and John Rolfe (tobacco) provided stability
House of Burgesses- form of self-govt. (representative assembly)
Bacon’s Rebellion (class conflict)- lead to reliance of indentured servants to African slaves

Maryland- founded as religious haven for Catholics
Tobacco important
Act of Toleration-religious freedom for all Christians

Southern Colonies

Carolinas-founded for economic reasons (8 Lords Proprietors)
Rice, indigo, naval stores
Rise of African slave trade to work rice plantations, influenced by Barbados
North Carolina separated from the South, more democratic, small tobacco farms, more aligned with Virginia than South Carolina

Georgia- founded as a haven for debtors and buffer zone against Spanish Florida (James Oglethorpe)
Rise of slavery and plantations, adopted SC plantation system

Environment
Fertile soil, mild winters with long growing seasons, abundant waterways for irrigation and transportation
Swamps and warm weather led to disease (lower life expectancy)

Economy
Labor intensive tobacco, rice, and indigo agriculture on plantations, few large cities and few slaves lived in cities (second more diverse population due to large number of African slaves)
Most farms small and worked at subsistent level, self-sufficient plantations with large numbers of slaves held by a wealthy few (headright system)

Curriculum Outline 1 (Muy Importante)

Pre-Columbian Societies
Early Inhabitants of the Americas
-One to ten million Natives spread across North America, 50 to 75 million total in the New World, population more dense along the coasts, came from Asia via Land Bridge in small family units (many distinct cultures and tribes with various languages), small nomadic hunters chased game into N.A., became primarily hunters-gatherers
American Indian Empires
Meso America- Aztecs (conquered by Cortez), Mayans (Yucatan Peninsula), Incas (conquered by Pizarro), developed highly organized societies, carried on extensive trade. Created calendars through scientific observations
The Southwest-Pueblos (sedentary farmers, classless society with a theocracy, skilled in pottery and weaving, living in multistoried buildings, developed irrigation systems, Navahos and Apaches (skilled at war)
Mississippi Valley- early mound builders, metal work and sculpture, farmers skilled in agriculture and had rich food supply, elaborate social structure with class distinctions
American Indian Culture of North America at the time of European contact
-Tribes were independent, self-contained, and ruled by councils, loose confederations were exceptions as most tribes were hostile to each other as they competed for land use, Iroquois League (NY) and Creek Confederation (SE), always organized against Europeans too late (disorganization)
-Land use (land can’t be sold only used, developed problems understanding property rights), became disposable after Europeans settled
-Economic activities (hunters and gatherers, farming, hunted deer and turkey using skills of animals, wove fine cloth
-Columbia Exchange: Native introduced beans, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, tobacco, and syphilis while Europeans introduced sugar cane, bluegrasses, pigs, horses, and diseases, introduced wheel, iron tools and implements, guns, and alcohol

Pocahontas, Smith, and Rolfe

Not  just a Disney Movie!

She Saved His Life
By BILL KAUFFMAN
NOVEMBER 25, 2003
Wall Street Journal

As Thanksgiving approaches, our thoughts naturally turn to a certain NewEngland repast. But no Pilgrim bewitches posterity quite like the princessPocahontas, best known to schoolchildren (and their dads) as the fetchingheroine of the Disney cartoon, in which she is depicted as a tawnysupermodel of the 17th century.

Pocahontas and the Englishmen who came "to invade my people, and possessmy country," in her father's blunt phrase, are the subjects of David A.Price's well-researched "Love and Hate in Jamestown" (Knopf, 305 pages, $25.95).

Mr. Price notes wryly that "English America was a corporation before itwas a country." The Virginia Co., which sponsored the Jamestown settlement,at first desired peaceful coexistence with the natives. It instructed itsmigrants to settle on uninhabited land in this El Dorado, where, snickeredthe satirists, even the chamberpots were made of gold.

The 105 male settlers who arrived in Jamestown in 1607 ran through aseries of ineffectual toffs as colony presidents until that meritocraticmoment when a stocky commoner with the demotic name of John Smith assumedleadership.

Smith was a hard man under whom fools and the indolent suffered. Hisdiplomacy with the natives consisted of equal parts bluff and courage. Mr.Price defends him: "It is clear that he respected the talents andintelligence of the native leaders more than he did the leaders of his ownside, but he also meant for the colony to survive. The alternative tointimidation was not love and friendship; it was open war -- which theEnglish, in 1608, would have lost to the last man."
[Image]

The captain would be forgotten today as just another John Smith were itnot for the intercession of an 11-year-old native girl nicknamedPocahontas. Searching for a Virginia passage to the Pacific, Smith wascaptured by evidently unpacific Chickahominy warriors. After a puzzlingtour of Indian villages, Smith -- whose mates had been tortured and killedby methods primly omitted in contemporary social-studies texts -- found hishead on the bashing block.

In Smith's famous account, the princess Pocahontas dashed to his rescue,pleading with her father, the chief Powhatan, to spare his life. "Shehazarded the beating out of her own brains to save mine," Smith would writeto Queen Anne. Later, Pocahontas saved Smith's life a second time, warninghim of an imminent attack by Powhatan's men. When Smith gracelessly offeredher beads in gratitude, she sobbed.

To the eternal dismay of romancers everywhere, John Smith never marriedthe woman who kept saving his life. Instead, Pocahontas, the first Indianconvert to Christianity, took the name Rebecca, married the tobacco titanJohn Rolfe and moved to England, whose palefaces were dazzled by the exoticyoung lady from beyond the sea. She would die in exile, seeming to preferthe balls and masques of her New World to the corn and venison of theold.

Why did Pocahontas save John Smith? Though Peggy Lee chalked it up tothe fever, Smith himself, as Mr. Price writes, saw it as simply "compassionfor a man in distress."

Then what's love got to do with it? Nothing, answers Paula Gunn Allen in"Pocahontas" (HarperSanFrancisco, 350 pages, $26.95), whereinshe scoffs at the hoary view that her subject "had fallen so helplessly forold blue eyes that she was forever pining after white meat."

Ms. Allen insists that Pocahontas cannot be understood except within anAlgonquin Indian context, with its dream-visions and communal acceptance ofthe supernatural. She rejects the Noble Red Woman cliché thatsaddles all natives with the blandly faultless victimhood of a SidneyPoitier character. Yet Ms. Allen can be as tendentious as the deadestwhitest malest historian.

Her "hapless" John Smith is so "obtuse" that when he finds his head onthe bashing block, he thinks the situation is threatening! In fact, writesMs. Allen, the Indians were adopting Smith in a "rebirthing" ritual. (Mr.Price, as if in rebuttal, notes that "nothing is known about 17th-centuryPowhatan adoption ceremonies" -- if such things even existed.)

In a classic case of the wish being mother to the thought, Ms. Allenasserts, adducing scant evidence, that Pocahontas was a "Native espionageagent." She was no "docile and willing convert to Christianity andcivilization" but rather an intelligence-gathering "mole." Thus does Ms.Allen parry the charge that Pocahontas was a sell-out "Apple" (red on theoutside, white on the inside) who collaborated with English invaders andsealed her people's fate.

Ms. Allen further suggests that secret agent Pocahontas was poisoned byhusband John Rolfe. Now, Rolfe may have been an avaricious cad who nevereven bothered to learn his wife's language, but a uxoricide?

I understand why a proud Indian patriot would wish that Pocahontas hadrejected Rolfe and expatriation, but she didn't. The ways of the heart havea way of confounding the best-laid ideologies.

Pocahontas's dying words were a model of equanimity: "All must die. 'Tisenough that the child lives." Her child, Thomas, did live, but the childPocahontas has lived even longer. She is at four centuries and counting,and despite Ms. Allen's spirited revision, Pocahontas remains thecartwheeling imp who in an impulsively humane moment saved a foreigner'slife and made herself immortal.

Chapter 1: Exploration, Discovery, and Settlement, 1492-1700

Early Exploration

Key Terms: 
Land Bridge
Native Americans
Aztecs, Incas, Mayans
Renaissance
Technological improvements
Ferdinand & Isabella
Protestant Reformation
Portuguese exploration
Nation-states
Christopher Columbus
New World
West Indies
Indians
Columbian Exchange
4 D’s
Disease
Disposability
Disorganization
Dependability
Treaty of Tordesillas
Cortes & Pizzaro
Conquistadoras
God, Gold, and Glory
Encomienda system
West Africa

Slave trade
African immigration
John Cabot
Elizabeth I
Sir Francis Drake (sea dogs)
Sir Walter Raleigh
New France
Samuel de Champlain
Fur trade
Henry Hudson
New Amsterdam
Spanish Armada (1588)
Joint-stock company
Virginia Company
Jamestown
John Smith
John Rolfe
Pocahontas
Tobacco
Indentured servants
Powhatan Wars
Royal colony
John Calvin
Predestination
The Elect
Henry VIII
Anglican Church/Church of England
Puritans
Pilgrims/Separatists
Mayflower
Plymouth Colony
Thanksgiving
Squanto
Massachusetts Bay Colony
John Winthrop
“City Upon a Hill”
Great Migration
Mayflower Compact
House of Burgesses
Freemen
Franchise
Spanish settlements
Pueblo Revolt
Mestizos
Relations with Native Americans
Spanish policy
English policy
French policy

TEXTBOOK CHAPTER OUTLINES from America: Past & Present

Click on the below website to find chapter outlines from your textbook.

http://wps.ablongman.com/long_divine_appap_7/23/5926/1517172.cw/index.html

American Civil Literacy Test

http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx

Are you more knowledgeable than the average citizen? The average score for all 2,508 Americans taking the following test was 49%; college educators scored 55%. Can you do better? Questions were drawn from past ISI surveys, as well as other nationally recognized exams.

History Teacher Website

www.historyteacher.net
Click on the above website for help in AP US History. I would highly recommend bookmarking this site.

Some Rules Kids Won't Learn From School

Whether you like Bill Gates or not...this is pretty
cool. Here's some advice Bill Gates recently dished out
at a high school speech about 11 things they did not
learn in school. He talks about how feel-good,
politically correct teaching has created a full
generation of kids with no concept of reality and how
this concept sets them up for failure in the real
world.

Bill Gates (Breaking the Rules)

RULE 1
Life is not fair - get used to it.

RULE 2
The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world
will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel
good about yourself.

RULE 3
You will NOT make 40 thousand dollars a year right out
of high school. You won't be a vice president with
car phone, until you earn both.

RULE 4
If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a
boss. He doesn't have tenure.

RULE 5
Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your
grandparents had a different word for burger flipping
they called it Opportunity.

RULE 6
If you mess up,it's not your parents' fault, so don't
whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

RULE 7
Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as
they are now. They got that way from paying your bills,
cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about
how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest
from the parasites of your parent's generation, try
delousing the closet in your own room.

RULE 8
Your school may have done away with winners and losers,
but life has not. In some schools they have abolished
failing grades and they'll give you as many times as
you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the
slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

RULE 9
Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get
summers off and very few employers are interested in
helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.

RULE 10
Television is NOT real life. In real life people
actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

RULE 11
Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for
one.

Summary of the eRumor
Bill Gates spoke before a group of high school students and gave them his eleven rules of life.

The Truth
This is not from Bill Gates. It's an excerpt from the book "Dumbing Down our Kids" by educator Charles Sykes. It is a list of eleven things you did not learn in school and directed at high school and college grads.

Top 100 Influencial Figures

Lincoln in 1860 (pre-whiskers)

American idols: who are the most influential, figures in American history? Ten historians came up with a 'Top 100.' Now, you get to decide
New York Times Upfront, May 7, 2007 by Ross Douhat

Last year, The Atlantic magazine worked with 10 prominent historians to come up with a list of the 100 most influential Americans, past and present, with "influence" defined as "a person's impact, for good or for ill, both on his or her own era, and on the way we live now."

The results are inevitably unscientific, since whittling down all the influential Americans of the last few centuries to just 100 names, let alone ranking them, isn't easy.

The list suggests that white Protestant men have been the most influential, at least in the eyes of these historians. There are 10 women on the list, eight blacks, a few Catholics and Jews, and no Hispanics, Asians, or Native Americans.

Of course this list, or any such list, is far from definitive. But it does offer a good takeoff place for discussion, starting with who's not on the list that you think deserves to be, and who's on the list that you think shouldn't be.

Let the debate begin.
1 Abraham Lincoln
As President (1861-65), he saved the Union, freed the slaves, and presided over America's second founding
2 George Washington
The first President (1789-97)
3 Thomas Jefferson
Third President (1801-09) and the author of the five most important words in American history: "All men are created equal The quotation "All men are created equal" is arguably the best-known phrase in any of America's political documents, as the idea it expresses is generally considered the foundation of American democracy. ."
4 Franklin D. Roosevelt
President (1933-45) during the Depression and World War II. He said "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," and then proved it.
5 Alexander Hamilton
Soldier, banker, and political scientist, he set in motion an agrarian nation's transformation into an industrial power.
6 Benjamin Franklin
The Founder-of-all-trades: diplomat, scientist, printer, writer, inventor, and more.
7 John Marshall
The defining Chief Justice (1801-35), he established the Supreme Court as the equal of the other two federal branches.
8 Martin Luther King Jr.
His dream of racial equality is still elusive, but no one did more to make it real.
9 Thomas A. Edison
It wasn't just the light bulb; the Wizard of Menlo Park..
10 Woodrow Wilson
This President (1913-21) made the world safe for U.S. interventionism,if not for democracy.
11 John D. Rockefeller
The man behind Standard Oil set the mold for America tycoons first by making money, and then by giving it away.
12 Ulysses S. Grant
A poor President (1869-77), but the general Lincoln needed in the Civil War.
13 James Madison
Before becoming the fourth President (1809-17), he fathered the Constitution and wrote the Bill of Rights.
14 Henry Ford
He gave us the assembly line and the Model T, and sparked America's love affair with the automobile.
15 Theodore Roosevelt
Whether busting trusts or building canals, this President (1901-09) blazed a trail for 20th-century America.
16 Mark Twain
Author of our national epic
17 Ronald Reagan
As President (1981-89), he made conservatism mainstream and helped end the Cold War.
18 Andrew Jackson
President (1829-37); the first great populist, he found America a republic and left it a democracy.
19 Thomas Paine
Our first great radical; his 1776 treatise, Common Sense, urged immediate separation from England.
20 Andrew Carnegie
The original self-made man forged America's industrial might and became one of our greatest philanthropists.
21 Harry S. Truman
An accidental President (1945-53) who ushered in the Atomic Age and then the Cold War.
22 Walt Whitman
His poetry sang of America and shaped the country's conception of itself.
23 Wright Brothers
Orville and Wilbur got us all off the ground.
24 Alexander Graham Bell
With his invention of the telephone, he opened the age of telecommunications.
25 John Adams
The second President (1797-1801); his leadership made the American Revolution possible.
26 Walt Disney
The quintessential entertainer-entrepreneur wielded unmatched influence over our childhood.
27 Eli Whitney

His cotton gin cotton gin patented in 1794, made cotton a money crop and helped sustain an empire for slavery.
28 Dwight Eisenhower
He won a war and two elections as President (1953-61), and made everybody like Ike.
29 Earl Warren Noun
As Chief Justice (1953-69), he and his Supreme Court transformed American society.
30 Elizabeth Cady Stanton
One of the first great American feminists, she fought for social reform and women's right to vote.
31 Henry Clay
One of our greatest legislators and orators, he forged compromises that held off civil war for decades.
32 Albert Einstein
His greatest scientific work was done in Europe, but his humanity earned him undying fame in America.
33 Ralph Waldo Emerson
The bard of individualism, he relied on himself--and told us all to do the same.
34 Jonas Salk
His vaccine for polio eradicated one of the world's worst plagues.
35 Jackie Robinson
He broke baseball's color barrier and embodied integration's promise.
36 William Jennings Bryan
"The Great Commoner" lost three presidential elections, but his populism populism
transformed the country.
37 J. P. Morgan
The great financier was the prototype for all the Wall Street barons who followed.
38 Susan B. Anthony
She was the country's most eloquent voice for women's equality under the law.
39 Rachel Carson
The author of Silent Spring was godmother to the environmental movement.
40 John Dewey
He sought to make the public school a training ground for democratic life.
41 Harriet Beecher Stowe
Her Uncle Tom’s Cabin inspired a generation of abolitionists and set the stage for civil war.
42 Eleanor Roosevelt
She used the First Lady's office and the media to become "First Lady of the world."
43 W. E. B. DuBois
One of America's great intellectuals, he made the "problem of the color line" his life's work.
44 Lydon B. Johnson
President (1963-69); his brilliance gave us civil rights laws; his stubbornness gave us Vietnam.
45 Samuel F. B. Morse
Long before the Internet, there was the Morse code.
46 William Lloyd Garrison
Through his newspaper, The Liberator, he became the voice of abolition.
47 Frederick Douglass
After escaping from slavery, he pricked the nation's conscience with an eloquent accounting of its crimes.
48 Robert Oppenheimer
The father of the atomic bomb atomic bomb midwife of the nuclear era.
49 Frederick Law Olmsted
The genius behind New York's Central Park, he inspired the greening of America's cities.
50 James K. Polk
President (1845-49); his Mexican War land-grab gave us California, Texas, and the Southwest.
51 Margaret Sanger
The ardent champion of birth control.
52 Joseph Smith
The founder of Mormonism, America's most famous homegrown faith.
53 Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
This Supreme Court Justice wrote opinions that still shape American law.
54 Bill Gates
The Rockefeller of the Information Age, in business and philanthropy alike.
55 John Quincy Adams
The Monroe Doctrine's real author, the sixth President (1825-29) set 19th-century America's diplomatic course.
56 Horace Mann
His advocacy of universal public schooling earned him the title "the father of American education."
57 Robert E. Lee
He was a good general but a better symbol, embodying conciliation in defeat.
58 John C. Calhoun
The voice of the antebellum South, he was slavery's most ardent defender.
59 Louis Sullivan
This architect shaped the defining American building: the skyscraper.
60 William Faulkner
The most gifted chronicler of America's tormented and fascinating South.
61 Samuel Gompers
America's greatest labor organizer made the golden age of unions possible.
62 William James
The mind behind America's most important philosophical school, Pragmatism.
63 George Marshall
As a general, he organized the American effort in World War II; as a statesman, he rebuilt Western Europe.
64 Jane Addams
The founder of Hull House, she became the secular saint of social work.
65 Henry David Thoreau
The author of Walden has inspired seekers of authenticity for 150 years.
66 Elvis Presley
He melded country, blues, and gospel, and became the king of rock 'n' roll.

67 P. T. Barnum
The circus impresario's taste for spectacle paved the way for blockbuster movies and reality TV.
68 James D. Watson
He co-discovered DNA's double helix double helix, revealing the code of life.
69 James Gordon Bennett
As the founding publisher of The New York Herald, he invented the modern American newspaper.
70 Lewis and Clark
They went west to explore, and millions followed.
71 Noah Webster
He didn't create American English, but his dictionary defined it.
72 Sam Walton
The founder of Wal-Mart promised us "Every Day Low Prices," and we took him up on the offer.
73 Cyrus McCormick
His mechanical reaper reaper, signaled the beginning of industrial agriculture.
74 Brigham Young
What Joseph Smith founded, Young preserved, leading the Mormons to their promised land, Utah.
75 Babe Ruth
He saved the national pastime in the wake of the Black Sox scandal--and permanently linked sports and celebrity.
76 Frank Lloyd Wright
America's most significant architect.
77 Betty Friedan
She spoke to desperate housewives everywhere, and inspired a revolution in gender roles.
78 John Brown
Whether a hero, a fanatic, or both, he provided the spark for the Civil War.
79 Louis Armstrong
His talent took jazz from New Orleans to Broadway, TV, and beyond.
80 William Randolph Hearst
The press baron who perfected yellow journalism and helped start the Spanish-American War.
81 Margaret Mead
Her Coming of Age in Samoa made anthropology relevant, and controversial.
82 George Gallup
His polls asked Americans what they thought, and the politicians listened.
83 James Fenimore Cooper
His novels are unreadable, but he was the first great mythologizer of the frontier.
84 Thurgood Marshall
As a lawyer and the first black Supreme Court Justice, he was the legal architect of the civil rights revolution.
85 Ernest Hemingway
With novels like The Sun Also Rises, he influenced generations of writers.
86 Mary Baker Eddy
She got off her sickbed and founded Christian Science Christian Science, which promised spiritual healing to all.
87 Benjamin Spock
With one book, he changed American parenting.
88 Enrico Fermi
A giant of physics, he helped develop quantum theory and was instrumental in building the atom bomb.
89 Walter Lippmann
The last man who could swing an election with a newspaper column.
90 Jonathan Edwards
His eloquence made him America's most influential theologian.
91 Lymun Beecher
Harriet Beecher Stowe's father earned fame as an abolitionist and evangelist.
92 John Steinbeck
In his novel The Grapes of Wrath, he chronicled Depression-era misery.
93 Nat Turner
The most significant rebel slave; his specter stalked the white South for a century.
94 George Eastman
The founder of Kodak democratized photography with his handy rolls of film.
95 Sam Goldwyn
A producer for 40 years, he was the first great Hollywood mogul.
96 Ralph Nader
He made the cars we drive safer--and George W. Bush President in 2000.
97 Stephen Foster
America's first great songwriter, he brought us "O! Susanna" and "My Old Kentucky Home."
98 Booker T. Washington
As an educator and self-help champion, he tried to lead blacks up from slavery.
99 Richard M. Nixon
President (1969-74); after breaking up the Democrats' New Deal majority, he broke his presidency on a scandal that still haunts America.
100 Herman Melville
Moby Dick was a flop at the time, but Melville is remembered as the American Shakespeare.

TOP LIVING INFLUENTIALS
Living Americans who received votes from the panel of historians
1 BILL GATES [No. 54 on the Top 100]
2 JAMES D. WATSON [No. 68]
3 RALPH NADER [No. 96]
4 BOB DYLAN
5.STEVE JOBS
6 STEVEN SPIELBERG
7 WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY JR.
8 MUHAMMAD ALI
9 SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR Sandra Day O'Connor
10 OPRAH WINFREY

COPYRIGHT [c] 2006 THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY GROUP, AS FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY. DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES Tribune Media Services ("TMS") is a syndication company owned by the Tribune Company.

Why History?

David McCullough

Why History?
By David McCullough
Source: Reader's Digest December 2002

"The best way to know where the country is going is to know where we've been."

On a winter morning on the campus of one of our finest colleges, in a lovely Ivy League setting with snow falling outside, I sat with a seminar of 25 students, all seniors majoring in history, all honors students-supposedly the best of the best. "How many of you knew who George Marshall was?" I asked. No one knew. Not one. At a large university in the Midwest, a young undergraduate told me how glad she was to have attended my lectures, because until then, she said, she never realized that the original 13 Colonies were all on the Eastern Seaboard. This was said, in all seriousness, by a university student.

Who are we, we Americans? How did we get where we are? What is our story and what can it teach us? Our story is our history, and if ever we should be taking steps to see that we have the best prepared, most aware citizens ever, that time is now. Yet the truth is that we are raising a generation that is to an alarming degree historically illiterate. The problem has been coming on for a long time, like a disease, eating away at the national memory. While the popular cultures races loudly on, the American past is slipping away. We are losing our story, forgetting who we are and what it's taken to come this far.

Warnings of this development have been sounded again and again. In 1995, the Department of Education reported that more than half of all high school seniors hadn't even the most basic understanding of American history. Two years ago, a study by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni showed that four out of five seniors from leading colleges and universities were unable to pass basic high school history test. To the question "Who was the American general at York town?" more of these students answered Ulysses S. Grant than George Washington. And there's been no improvement.

This year the American Council of Trustees and Alumni reported that none of the nation's top 50 colleges and universities now require American history as part of the curriculum. In fact, one can go forth into the world today as the proud product of all but a handful of our 50 top institutions of higher learning without ever having taken a single course in history of any kind.

But why bother about history anyway? "That's history"-that's done with, junk for the trash heap. Why history? Because it shows up how to behave. History teaches and reinforces what we believe in, what we stand for, stand up for. History is about life-human nature and the human condition and all its trails and fallings and noblest achievements. History is about cause and effect, about the simplest of everyday things-and the mysteries of chance and genius.

History shows us what choices there are. History teaches with specific examples the evils of injustice, ignorance or demagoguery, just as it shows how potent is plain courage, or one simple illuminating idea. History is-or should be-the bedrock of patriotism, not the chest-pounding kind of patriotism but the real thing, love of country.

At their core, the lessons of history are lessons of appreciation. Everything we have, all our great institutions, our laws, our music, art and poetry, our freedoms, everything is because somebody went before us and did the hard work, provided the creative energy, faced the storms, made the sacrifices, kept the faith.

Indifference to history isn't just ignorant; it's a form of ingratitude. And the scale of our ignorance seems especially shameful in the face of our unprecedented good fortune. What's so worrisome about the college student who doesn't know that George Washington was the commanding American general at York town is that he also, therefore, has no idea that it was Washington who commanded the Continental Army through eight long years in the struggle for independence. I'm convinced that history encourages, as nothing else does, a sense of proportion about life, gives us a sense of how brief is our time on earth and thus how valuable that time is.

We live in an era of momentous change, creating great pressures and tensions. But history shows that times of tumult are the times when we are most likely to learn. This nation was founded on change. We should embrace the possibilities inherent in such times and hold to a steady course, because we have a sense of what we've been through and who we are.

In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, history can be a source of strength and of renewed commitment to the ideals upon which the nation was founded. As unsettling as events may be, others before us have known worse. Think of what our predecessors endured and accomplished. Think of the dangerous times they knew! Churchill, in the darkest hours of World War II, reminded us that "we have not journeyed all this way because we are made of sugar candy."

I passionately believe that history isn't just good enough for you in a civic way. History, really, is an extension of life. It enlarges and intensifies the experience of being alive, like poetry and art or music. And there's no great secret to making history come alive. Historian Barbara Tuchman said it perfectly in two words, "Tell stories." Part of what that means is that history is ours to enjoy. If we deny our children that enjoyment, that adventure in the larger time among the greater part of the human experience, then we're cheating them out of a full life.

Map Quiz-Due Friday

Take the US Map Quiz 

Click on the above link and take the US Map Quiz. This assignment needs to be completed by Friday.  You will print out your score and return to me by Friday. You can retake this quiz until you master the quiz.

Take Dr. Phil's Test-Just For Fun

Dr. Phil's Test

Click on the above link.Feel free to post your score .

Important US AP History Helpful Hints

1. Listen in class! Listen in class! And finally Listen in class!
2. Learn how to learn
3. Review each night. What did you learn?
4. Read your Amsco!
5. Don’t get behind in your reading as quizzes follow reading assignments
6. Ask questions while you read
7. Complete the free response questions at the end of chapters
8. Get a planner and place due dates in them
9. Keep a dictionary handy when reading
10. Bring appropriate materials to class (Amsco, notebook)
11. Don’t wait until the last minute to complete assignments. Budget your time
12. Ask questions in class. If you are asking questions, I know you are completing assignments. And don’t be afraid to ask.
13. Ask for extra help. Always encouraged especially for struggling students
14. Turn in all assignments on time. Failure to do so will negatively affect your grade.
15. No silly comments needed for this class. Think before you talk!
16. Be mature and respectful to others
17. Don’t be a Slacker. Do your best and please no laziness, apathy.
18. 100% passing rate. I have extremely high expectations for this class
19. Multiple choice tests will occur after units, 2 to 3 per six weeks
20. View your powerpoint DVD
21. No busy work. Homework assignments have a specific purpose
22. Learn to create thesis statements
23. Don’t consume yourself about your grade. If you learn properly, you will achieve your goal
24. Free responses and DBQs will be thoroughly reviewed with feedback
25. Figure out your desired score on the AP exam and work toward your goal
26. Extra credit will be assigned throughout the semester.
27. Some students will need more time to prepare for tests and quizzes. Figure out how much time you need.
28. Review the curriculum outline.

AP US History Syllabus

AP United States History (2010-2011)
Mr. Jobe
579-1887 (Home) 621-2937 (Cell)
jobesw@charter.net

Texts: America: Past & Present, Revised 7th Edition, 2005.
United States History: Preparing for the Advanced Placement Exam, Amsco Publishing, Newman & Schmalbach.

Web Sites: www.historyteacher.net
Additional sites will be added throughout the year

Course Purpose: Developing skills to enable you to pass the AP Test with a 3 or higher.

Topics of Discussion:
Unit I
Chapter 1: Exploration, Discovery, and Settlement, 1492-1700
Chapter 2: The Thirteen Colonies and the British Empire, 1607-1750
Chapter 3: Colonial Society in the 18th Century
Unit II
Chapter 4: Imperial Wars and Colonial Protest, 1754-1774
Chapter 5: The American Revolution and Confederation, 1774-1787
Chapter 6: The Constitution and the New Republic, 1787-1800
Unit III
Chapter 6: The Constitution and the New Republic, 1787-1800
Chapter 7: The Age of Jefferson, 1800-1816
Chapter 8: Nationalism and Economic Development
Chapter 9: Sectionalism
Chapter 10: The Age of Jackson, 1824-1844
Unit IV
Chapter 9: Sectionalism
Chapter 11: Society, Culture, and Reform, 1820-1860
Unit V
Chapter 12: Territorial and Economic Expansion, 1830-1860
Chapter 13: The Union in Peril, 1848-1861
Unit VI
Chapter 14: The Civil War, 1861-1865
Chapter 15: Reconstruction, 1863-1877
Unit VII (Gilded Age)
Chapter 16: The Last West and the New South, 1865-1900
Chapter 17: The Rise of Industrial American, 1865-1900
Chapter 18: The Growth of Cities and American Culture, 1865-1900
Chapter 19: National Politics in the Gilded Age, 1877-1900
Unit VIII
Chapter 20: Foreign Policy, 1865-1914
Chapter 21: The Progressive Era, 1901-1918
Chapter 22: World War I, 1914-1918
Unit IX
Chapter 23: A New Era: The 1920s
Chapter 24: The Great Depression and the New Deal, 1929-1939
Unit X
Chapter 25: Diplomacy and World War II, 1929-1945
Unit XI
Chapter 26: Truman and the Cold War, 1945-1952
Chapter 27: The Eisenhower Years, 1952-1960
Chapter 28: Promises and Turmoil: The 1960s
Chapter 29: Limits of a Superpower, 1969-1980
Chapter 30: The Conservative Resurgence, 1980-Present

Grading Breakdown for 1st Semester:                            Grade Scale
Unit Tests 45%                                                                    A=100-93
Quizzes 35%                                                                        B=92-85
Participation/Homework 10%                                                C=84-77
Final 10%                                                                            D=76-70
                                                                                            F= 69-0
Extra Credit will be offered throughout the semester. Also, the End-of-Course-Test will count 20% of your overall average.