Week 36 in Mr. Bruce's History

Parents and Students,

Well, here we are, the last Friday of the school year. There is nothing more I can provide your students - not that I have covered everything they'll ever want to learn, but rather we are out of time. This week marked the end of all learning and work. I'd like to share what this means for final work submissions and expectations for final exams.

First and foremost, all work from this week is due no later than Monday, June 6 (D-Day). The only student work I will accept past this date is any extra credit from Civil War Days last week. Work due no later than Monday includes the "My Reconstruction Timeline" and the notes this week from pages 324-331 of the text.

This week, we explored the realities of Reconstruction. In order to do this we explored the way in which the ideals of the Radical Republicans, in charge of Congress by 2/3 majority, pushed too hard too fast against the Southern way of life. In addition, the billions of dollars that poured into the South for rebuilding efforts seemed to be lining the pockets of Northern businessmen who went to create factories down there. 

While all this contributed to the next historical phase we call the Industrial Revolution, it also created a scenario that was very harmful to the advancement of Civil Rights, even though the time was perfect for this to be achieved. What resulted is a restoration of old ideals following the 3rd most peculiar presidential election in our history - the election of Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876 (1800 being the 1st and 1824 being 2nd). Once inaugurated, he promised an end to Reconstruction and a return of the South to the southerners. This ushered in a wave of laws and codes intended to keep the 4 million new citizens from realizing the benefits of the 14th and 15th Amendments. 

Final Exam Information

Students will be taking an oral exam next week during their scheduled exam period (see schedule below). I have provided an explanation and expectations for this style of exam. I will meet students one-on-one for about 10 minutes each and ask them questions that will give them an opportunity to tell me how to use the process of history to answer that question. Here is the handout: Final Exam Expectations and Review. They have also been provided the review packet with the rubric attached. Completing their note packet may require that they access the following slides: Thinking Like a Historian - How Do We Know? (links require quincyschools.org sign-in).

Final Exam Schedule

Chat with Author Kenneth Davis

Finally, today, 23 of your best kids spent an hour with best-selling author and historian Kenneth C. Davis. He had a great way of engaging and communicating with the kids and provided lots of time for them to ask questions. I was proud of the way they interacted and challenged Mr. Davis. Check out his website dontknowmuchabout.com for more about him and what we learned.

One more week...

Until then, I remain yours,

Mr. Bruce

Week 35 in Mr. Bruce's History

Parents and Students,

Angela Spraul and her daughter Ava, 4, sit at the grave of her
 husband, John Spraul, U.S. Navy, on Memorial Day at
 Arlington National Cemetery on May 25, 2015, in Arlington,
 Virginia. Photo: Gabriella Demczuk via Getty Images
courtesy of Huffington Post

Today we begin the weekend that typically marks the unofficial beginning of summer. It is a weekend that for many means camping, family gatherings, parades, bonfires, and other things that we've been waiting all winter and spring to do. Yet for thousands of wives, husbands, sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, and friends, Memorial Day means something more significant. Memorial Day must remind us of more than a day off. We must remember those who, in the words of Abraham Lincoln, "gave their last full measure of devotion." As you go about your activities, take time to let the real meaning of Memorial Day occupy your time, thoughts, and prayers. If you're unsure yet what that is, let this photo set from Huffington Post help.

That phrase is one of the most memorable of Gettysburg Address. His speech marked the commemoration of the Battlefield at Gettysburg, PA, where the largest battle of the Civil War took place. One of our activities this week was to deconstruct the Gettysburg Address to understand how Lincoln looked forward at the unfinished business of the Civil War - particularly the repairing of the Union in a way that honors those who sacrificed for the same. Talk with your student about Lincoln's Gettysburg Address: ask them to share the gems we discovered between the lines of the address.

We also started looking at the period that follows the Civil War - this time called Reconstruction. Lincoln never had a chance to put into effect his plans alluded to at the inauguration of his second term. Lincoln ended his very brief second Inaugural Address with:

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.

We end the school year striving to understand how, in his absence, Reconstruction failed to create such a peace, but rather resulted in one that established a century of racial discrimination, prejudice, and segregation that was supported by government of all levels: local, state, and federal.

I'd like to inform you all of the only opportunity I offer for anything related to "Extra Credit." It requires some work following Civil War Days of Branch County. If you are unaware, at Heritage Park in Coldwater, hundreds of actors, presenters, and reenactors spend a whole weekend bring this era back to life. I have provided their complete schedule and a description of expectations for receiving credit in the linked document: Civil War Days 2016 Extra Credit Opportunity. Strongly recommended for some.

Finally, let me remind you all of the email I sent yesterday. Next Friday we will be welcoming Kenneth Davis. Please talk about this over the weekend. Seats are still available. For more, see the Kenneth Davis Announcement.

Today we ended our school week with our Third Annual Staff vs. Student game and fundraiser. Our Student Council organized and facilitated a great event that contributed significant proceeds to Tommy's House. Tommy's House is a transitional house for women. The establishment of a transition house will give these women a safe, structured environment for learning skills enabling them to get a new start as a clean, sober, employable woman. Tommy's House will be a 24 hour supervised home which will include rehabilitation programs so that a woman can complete three levels before being released. These levels will provide spiritual guidance, personal counseling, a 12 step program, job skills and practical life skills, i.e. personal hygiene. Take a look below at a few pics of the event taken by our own Mrs. Knaack and student Emma Barve. What a great time!

Week 34 in Mr. Bruce's History

Parents and Students,

Sorry for getting this out late. I started Friday afternoon, bout couldn't finish. And there are too many projects around my house to occupy my weekend.

As I typed "Week 34" I realized how close we are to the end of the school year. Officially we have two solid weeks of class time and that week in June of exams and that's it. Done. Hard to believe, really. As we wrap up this week, we must recognize that the end is near. Next week, I'll try to share more of the schedule of events as they pertain to you and your need for preparation.

Photo credit: Nina Subin
dontknowmuch.com

I'd like to take an opportunity at the start here to announce an event/opportunity coming on June 3. I have arranged for a Skype conversation with Mr. Kenneth Davis, author/historian of the Don't Know Much About series and other works focusing on sharing lesser-known stories from America's past. His most recent book, In the Shadow of Liberty reveals the unheard stories of slaves belonging to high profile Americans such as George Washington (does it get any higher profile!?). I have arranged for Mr. Davis to speak with us at the end of the day on Friday, June 3 from 1:45ish to 2:45. Because of the nature of the session, I am thinking of making this available on a sign-up basis limited to 35-40 students and arranging opportunities for those who opt-out (rather, miss out). More details to come on that, but in the meantime, look him up at dontknowmuch.com and start planning to get your name on that list.

Otherwise, we spent a good portion of this week getting to understand the progress of the Civil War. I shared some great resources from CivilWar.org and we relied on our textbooks to gain a comprehensive view of the major movements in the Civil War from start to finish. Some key ideas within were the initial optimism of a short war held by both sides, then the significant casualties inflicted by both sides as a result of better weapons technologies. We learned how the abolitionists and the Battle of Antietam shifted Lincoln's view on using the war to bring an end to slavery. Finally, we learned how General Grant changed the strategy toward "total war" against the Confederacy to bring the southern states to a desperate condition in order to bring about a final end to the war, almost exactly 4 years after it began.

Monday we will all begin a timeline activity that puts the major events of this conflict into a chronological view. This will complete our work on the Civil War and we will shift our focus onto the challenges and tragedies facing the nation as it works to rebuild what was torn asunder.

In case you missed it, this past Sunday evening, I had the honor to speak to the graduating Class of 2016 at the QHS Baccalaureate Ceremony. I have linked my speech here for those of you who desire to read it.

I hope you all have a great week. More to come Friday!

Until then, I am yours,
Mr. Bruce

Week 33 in Mr. Bruce's History

Parents and Students,

Three years ago, PBS created a video series as a part of their "American Experience" series titled, The Abolitionists (see a preview at the bottom of the post - online only). The first time I watched it, I knew immediately this had to have a prominent place in my lessons as we approach the Civil War. It is a three-part drama/documentary, each an hour long, covering the movement led by five people to end slavery in the United States beginning in the 1820s and concludes with the end of the Civil War and the establishment of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. It is the most powerful, accurate, and engaging production I have ever used in the classroom to uncover the realities of why the Civil War was a war to end slavery.

All week, your students have gotten to know William Lloyd Garrison, Angelina Grimke, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher-Stowe, and John Brown. They learned about their experiences with slavery and their unshakable Christian foundation that created for them a conviction that their lives must be dedicated to ridding the nation of the evil sin that slavery had been. Most significantly, we have learned of their efforts that forced America to confront this issue as one that must end if the nation was to be preserved. This was the work of the abolitionists - making sure that the Civil War was a war that ended slavery.

All week, we also confronted the critical assumptions of the 1850s that lead to misunderstandings regarding the causes and course of the Civil War. As slavery is the issue that gets the attention, it is also the nature of the definition of federalism that must be recognized as needing to be resolved if the Civil War is to serve a purpose. Southern states had threatened secession and civil war since 1820 - whether or not slavery was the issue. Their stance was against what they perceived as the encroachment of a tyrannical and over-reaching federal government into States' sovereignty. When it became clear that the nation was to be led by a president whose party policy was unfriendly with the status of slavery, they secede.

In their secession, the southern States form a Confederacy, a nation just like the one that existed before the Constitution - a nation where they retain their sovereignty as States.

Homework/Extension Opportunity
To debrief from this week, I have assigned something that is due Tuesday. I recorded three short videos that provide some necessary connections and supplements the content from this week. They are titled, "The Crisis of the Union," and they have an accompanying reflection/guide handout (attached below). This handout has a few questions from the video lectures to answer.

In addition, there are instructions on the handout for accessing and viewing any part (or whole) of The Abolitionists by students. I encourage anyone to re-watch with family, but the focus is to provide these for anyone who missed a day of class this week. Visit history.lawrencebruce.us for access.

The Crisis of the Union (assignment sheet)

Lastly, I hope everyone has a great weekend. Recharge and re-energize as best as possible. We have just a few busy weeks remaining. Emotions and attitudes give in to the beckoning summer weather which sometimes leads to destructive behaviors in the classroom. Let's keep those at bay for a few weeks and end the year strong!

Yours,
Mr. Bruce

Week 32 in Mr. Bruce's History

Parents and Students,

Oh my is the weather looking amazing outside this afternoon. As I write this I am eager to get out and tackle the final stages of the chicken coop I am building in our back yard. A month ago, I gave in to my wife's suggestions for chickens by promising a coop as a Mother's Day gift. Thinking about my weekend in that regard, I would like to wish all of you mom's reading this a fantastic weekend, and a special day on Sunday. I hope your kiddos treat you to something special.

We started off our week in class by completing our reading and discussion on the institution of slavery as an economic and social and cultural institution in the southern states of the Union. Proceeding from there, we have a baseline understanding that slavery is more than a economic right, but a Constitutional right - guaranteed by the document that created the Union of States. Perception of southern leaders in this way leads us to a recognition that the loss of slavery to them was more than an economic loss, but rather was the principle behind it - namely that laws limiting slavery would be more an infringement on their Constitutional rights than they would be an attack on their ownership of slaves. To them, losing slaves was a lesser transgression than an imposition of a "tyrannical government" on their rights.

From here we looked into the series of events that began in 1850 which led immediately to the most significant conflict on our nation's history. It begins with the Compromise of 1850. This arose out of the bill to admit California as a state - but the question, at least on the surface, was should it be a state that allows slavery (slave state) or a state that prohibits slavery (free state). Questions you should ask your student is:

• What compromise had previously settled the issues that arose in 1850? What changed?
• Why was there a debate over admitting California as a "free" state?
• What was the root of the problem behind the free/slave state debate?
• How did the Compromise of 1850 settle the problem but not really "fix" anything?

From there it was on to the Kansas-Nebraska Act. This began as a railroad bill by Stephen Douglas but exploded into a full blown mini-war. Questions you should ask your student are:

• How did Douglas's bill about a transcontinental railroad become all about slavery?
• What did the Kansas-Nebraska Act do to Kansas? What happened there as a result?
• What was the response of Senator Charles Sumner (R - Massachusetts) (see here for info on his speech)
• How did the actions of Congressman Preston Brooks (D - South Carolina) against Sen. Sumner lead Americans to recognize that Civil War was inevitable (see the video below)?

I can't not provide a link to the full speech given by Sumner titled "The Crime Against Kansas" where he roasts his fellow Senators for selling Kansas to slavery and ensuring a small scale war within the United States. We read an excerpt in class, but here's the whole thing from the U.S. Senate.

Overall, we had a great week and are looking now forward to how this conflict that is really about the presumed Constitutional rights of citizens and States under the Constitution against what is perceived to be a tyrannical expression of federal authority turns into a war to end the institution that has plagued the Union from the beginning - slavery. Next week, The Abolitionists.

Until then, I am yours,
Mr. Bruce

Week 31 in Mr. Bruce's History

Parents and Students,

About Tuesday this week I realized that I had not written a "weekly" email since before Spring Break... There were good reasons for this, early on, anyway. The two weeks immediately following Break was littered with M-STEP testing. While this is an honorable responsibility, it certainly interrupts precious class time. I intended to keep the workload light during those weeks, and I didn't initially see the need to write that first week. While I intended to last week, I simply forgot out of the break in routine. Apparently, getting back into a routine is hard - which may be why it is Sunday, and I am still finishing... So, long story short, here I am. Back at it.

What have we done? Well, after coming back from break we were completing our unit on Westward Expansion. For this unit we used a chapter in our textbook titled "Manifest Destiny and the Growing Nation." (Just as an FYI, the accompanying packets were due last Friday and if your student is currently getting and E in History, it is because they didn't turn it in). This chapter instructs on the means and methods used to acquire the territories of Louisiana, Florida, Texas, Oregon, and the "Mexican Cession." This broad overview fails to account for the context within which these vast additions were made. I've already discussed that in posts Week 27 and Week 28. To complete that unit, we came back full circle to view a really cool video on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. This expedition, undertaken at the beginning of our growth westward in 1805, was used to legitimize our claim to Oregon. As I said, we took it lightly during the M-STEP testing.

This has been a very interesting week. As we move forward into our next unit, The American Civil War, it is necessary that we fully understand the institution that became the purpose and reason behind the war - slavery. The word slavery has connotations that has been ingrained by images, visuals, narratives, and history classes that defined it as brutal working conditions, racial degradation, and general abuse by owners. While these are not wrong connotations and definitions, they do not capture a "right" survey of American "chattel slavery." We started the week with an awkward excerpt from a text written by George Fitzhugh. His work lay a foundation for justifying slavery as a moral and ethical good. To explain and counter this, we turned to a chapter from a book titled Negroes in the Making of America by Dr. Benjamin Quarles, a leading black historian (you can read the chapter here). This text explains the vast and varied spectrum of American slavery from 1800-1860.

As we read, we encountered difficult ideas and realities that are not common understandings regarding slavery. As we read, discussed, and questioned, I offered them pieces from Frederick Douglass' autobiography as well as the narrative titled, 12 Years A Slave, written autobiographically by Solomon Northrup. These texts have combined to put within our reach a far more comprehensive understanding of slavery in Antebellum America. Perhaps Thomas Jefferson, writing in 1781, explains the complexity of a slave society best when he wrote Notes on the State of Virginia:

“Deep rooted prejudices entertained by the whites; ten thousand recollections, by the blacks, of the injuries they have sustained; the real distinctions that nature has made; and many other circumstances, will divide us into parties, and produce convulsions which will probably never end but in the exterminations of one or the other race.”

As you may have already noticed, I have provided for students an opportunity to read the aforementioned 12 Years A Slave on a voluntary basis. While I recommend the book, I cannot in good conscience recommend the movie to adolescents. Its depictions of the text are far too graphic to see - the first 5 minutes will explain why it is rated R. Regarding the book readers, I have not yet decided whether or not to offer a study/discussion group for them. If you are interesting in picking up a copy, I still have 8 or so available - just let me know you want one.

We will finish up this reading on slavery Monday and Tuesday where we will transition into the political forces that culminated in the break between the North and the South - remembering always that southern states had been threatening secession as early as 1832 over an issue unrelated to slavery (see the Nullification Crisis). As we proceed then, it is for us to learn how the Civil War becomes a war to end slavery.

I think that's enough. As always, email me with questions, comments, thoughts, reflections, and the like. Lots to look at this week. Enjoy.

Yours,
Mr. Bruce

Week 28 in Mr. Bruce's History

Students and Parents,

After a good, solid week into the 4th marking period, we are fit to take a break - Spring Break. And after the week we have had, I think we did our best to earn this week off. Don't get me wrong, it has been a very good week. But we have challenged ourselves with historical understanding to a sufficient degree this week.

As a matter of explanation, I feel compelled to share that as we study Westward Expansion of the United States (1803-1853) I desire to insert the necessary context into it. Last week it was pausing to look at the Missouri Compromise at the same time we were acquiring Florida from Spain. This week it is looking at the nature of Indian Removal as the U.S. was considering the addition of Texas to the Union. 

This is a peculiar topic of study due to a number of reasons. First and most of all is the sensitive nature of human rights that must be considered. And this is not because of the "faults" of our leaders and decision makers of the past, but rather because we must endeavor to understand the reasons for their decisions, actions, and behaviors in the context within which they were made. This is the most challenging aspect of history for any student. Ordering hundreds of thousands of people to march hundreds of miles to a new home, thousands who will die along they way, is not easy to understand. 

It also forces us to face the fact that intolerance and human rights violations are just as much a part of our history as we were at the same time (and are still continuing) striving to achieve the ideals of the Declaration of Independence and the Preamble to the Constitution (i.e. "all men are created equal..." and "...secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity..."). 

Lastly, it invites us to seek to understand and attend to the lone voice that cries out for justice. Sometimes the whisper is lost to the roar of the wind. Others, as in the case for abolition of slavery, others join in to affect change at significant cost to personal, social, and political forces. It also is what leads us to a new understanding of the American Civil War. 

But that's for after break...

As I said, we earned it this week. Until then, I remain yours,

Mr. Bruce