Week 25 in Mr. Bruce's History

Parents and Students,

We had a great week in class! As the week progressed, we recognized that we were very disrespected by other countries for almost thirty years between 1790 and 1820. During this time we were challenged by party rivalry between the Federalists and the Republicans and by foreign affairs. The nasty love triangle that existed between the U.S., France, and Britain certainly paid its toll on Americans and early American leadership.

Presidents Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe all dealt with the issues in ways that made it difficult to follow Washington's principle of isolationism and neutrality. When Washington took office, he knew the United States was too weak to be involved. Interestingly enough, it was the War of 1812 and the circumstances that occurred during it that led to respect overseas. By the time Monroe takes office, the United States is able to redefine its desire to be isolated and neutral. It is during this time of prosperity and growth that people in the United States begin calling themselves Americans and establishing a sense of American Identity.

It is this identity that we will study next week. We began today by looking at how everything we know that is "American" began immediately in this period after the War of 1812. The "Star-Spangled Banner", Uncle Sam, "America" ("My country, 'tis of thee"), capitalism, and the idea of national celebrities all have their origins rooted in this period.

I have a poster project that is fun, quick and has the potential for redecoration in mind for next week. This morning when getting it all out of my head, Google Drive was uncooperative and so I wrote all my preliminary handouts on paper. I've shared the five options for next week below so you can start thinking about which aspect of Americanism you would like to research and represent for your classmates. They are my hand-written notes, so, sorry.

Growing Pains Project Options

I hope your weekend is fantastic. Don't forget, Student-Led Conferences are next week. See you all there!

Until then, yours,
Mr. Bruce

Week 24 in Mr. Bruce's History

Parents and Students,

Welcome to March! Today, March 4, 2016 is the 215th Anniversary of Jefferson's inauguration as president. We used this day to spend an extra class period on Jefferson's presidency and his legacy as he left us constantly confused about what he really believed in. This is what makes Jefferson's presidency and his record as a leader difficult, interesting, and important for us to study it today.

All week, we have been exploring the nature of foreign policy as it affected the decisions made by our first presidents. We began by making it clear, using Washington's Farewell Address (video assignment pt. 2 last weekend) that our first president challenged his successors to remain neutral and isolated. Unfortunately, the dirty love triangle between U.S., France, and Britain (our top two trading partners) made this very difficult as the latter two continued to declare war on each other. Adams, Jefferson, and (as we will see Monday) Madison all had to address the dilemma of how to protect American ships engaged in overseas trade.

Adams used a bit of force (Quasi-War) and military build-up to create a firm ground upon which we could negotiate with the French. This resulted in a peace that (kind-of) lasted a few years but it cost us more in the end than we received from the deal (see Notes for Tuesday's Lesson: Adams' Foreign Policy and the Election of 1800 - Web view). As we learned, Adams chose the right thing to do, keeping us out of war and without any permanent alliances. However, as we also learned, it also cost him the Election of 1800.

We took the time to study Jefferson's goals as president to reduce the size of the national government. We had learned about his beliefs of Government last week as we contrasted the Hamiltonian Federalists with the Jeffersonian Republicans. These ideals and goals when he becomes president would definitely bite him as he, too, had to address the same dilemma as Jefferson: how to keep American shipping safe from attack. Whereas Adams had to deal with the French, Jefferson faced more enemies on the seas. He uses the navy to challenge the Barbary Pirates, leading to an end to paying them tribute for our safety (eventually). But his troubles with French are amplified by increased conflict between them and Britain. He works with Congress to pass the Embargo act of 1807, cutting off all trade with Britain and France, intended to punish them. This results in a disastrous effect on our economy and boosted American manufacturing, which Republicans desired less of. In the end, he kicks the problem down the road to the next guy, Madison. We'll learn how his strategy is what the others avoided...

Lastly, as we re-capped and came full-circle of Jefferson's presidency, we learned about Marbury v. Madison. As  most important Supreme Court decision that served as the only battle of the "Revolution of 1800." Feel free to view the notes from today (Friday 3.4.16 - Web view) and the videos we used today.

Looking forward to next week. Until then, I remain

Yours,
Mr. Bruce

Week 23 in Mr. Bruce's History

Parents and Students,

I went to start writing this, titling it Week 22, when I realized that this is actually week 23 and I missed getting last week's out. Bad, bad, bad. Sorry for not keeping you all in the loop with a regular email. I'll make it my goal to keep up for the rest of the school year.

We had a great week, in spite of the day off yesterday. When the reports came on Monday of a likely snow storm, I started planning for a day off. While today was a little crazy, we certainly accomplished enough this week to feel good about it. I'd like to make sure here that you know about/remember the video assignment: Washington's Foreign Policy (mrbruceshistory.wikispaces.com for videos and handouts).

The biggest thing I want you all to quiz your son/daughter about is our first real political parties. We spent the bulk of our time learning about how the Federalists and Republicans emerged as a result of early challenges to the new nation. As Washington struggled to keep us out of foreign conflict (at the same time Europe ignites as a result of the French Revolution), opinions about economy, government, how to interpret the Constitution, and whether or not we should support France all worked to divide leaders into these two distinct political divisions. Good questions to ask your students are:

• Why did more southerners align with the Republican Party?
• Why did Hamilton's plan for a National Bank upset Republicans?
• What do you think Jefferson's vision for America was? How did this differ than Hamilton's?

This period in our history, while probably as critical and fragile as (or more than) any other, gets far too little attention. Our political history begins here with the beginning of a two-party system. It also gives us a chance to explore the beginning of our nation's foreign policy. Washington's plan for isolation in foreign conflict will set a foundation for over 100 years. 

Monday, we will explore the Election of 1800 as it exposes a huge flaw in our Constitution and how it sets a standard for a peaceful transition of power from one group to another. From there, we will explore that idea of isolation as a new nation with no navy and no desire to get dragged into a war in Europe. We'll also learn how America deals with pirates.

Until next week I remain yours,

Mr. Bruce