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

Week 27 in Mr. Bruce's History

Parents and Students,

Week 27 means only one thing: End of the third 9-week marking period with only one more to go! Wow! Hard to believe that there's just a quarter left. But as in sports, the 4th quarter is crucial; games are won and lost in the final minutes. Let's motivate ourselves to stay academically strong and finish well!

As we move into this last marking period, we turn our attention to the period known as "Antebellum." The term is Latin and means "before the war". In American History, this is the period before the Civil War. Pretty much every thing we talk about will hint toward a possible factor that produces the climactic content for this course.

We began this week by looking at "Westward Expansion" and all the questions, challenges, and

In 1800, all of "Louisiana Territory"
was at least 6 weeks away.

debates that arose out of it. Beginning with the Louisiana Purchase, we learned that Jefferson was criticized for this purchase for three reasons: 1) we already had more land than we could settle at that time, 2) impossible to govern given the transportation (before steam power was used for boats and rail engines), and 3) it was unconstitutional, especially in Jefferson's interpretation of the Constitution. Yet, it stood, and began a 50 year pattern of land acquisition by many methods.

From the Louisiana Purchase, we learned about the aggressive methods of taking control of Florida from Spain. The textbook made it seem as though Andrew Jackson was a defiant and insubordinate general who defied President Monroe's direct orders... Yet the whole affair is more complicated and we start to wonder why the documentation of his orders didn't survive. (this link has some highlighted portions for your viewing). So why was it so important for Florida to be added that we use such measures to take it?

We took a diversion from Florida to look at a debate in Congress happening at the same time over the admission of Missouri as a State. Neither in the North nor the South, debate became fierce when it was suggested that Missouri be admitted on the condition that it prohibit slavery (see Missouri Compromise). With threats of secession, it was agreed to allow Missouri as a "Slave State" regardless if there were many (if any at all) slave owning residents. The matter was over a balance of power in the Senate, where states are equal to each other. If there are more "Free States" than "Slave States" then Southerners would be unable to stop any legislation that would inhibit slavery. This makes new territory in the south very necessary for this balance to be maintained. This includes Texas, which is how we ended this week, learning of their "independence movement", which is how it is portrayed in American textbooks. However, it was stolen from Mexico, a nation we sought to protect in principle (see the Monroe Doctrine).

Ask your students this weekend:

• What motivations are there for the South to gain territory in Florida and Texas?
• How do Mexican textbooks portray American expansionist tendencies?
• What did Texas become in 1836?

These are fun questions, and essential to our understanding as we go forward in this unit. One last thing before next week: if you can watch "The Odd, Odd Election of 1824" in preview of studying Andrew Jackson as President.

Week 27 means one more thing: Easter Weekend! May your weekend be filled with the grace of the cross and the joy of the Resurrection.

Until next week, I remain, yours,

Mr. Bruce