Boston

Attached here are the pictures from my trip to Boston last weekend.  I had the opportunity to attend a Group Leader orientation with EF Smithsonian Student Travel and get to experience Boston and the surrounding areas.  This was such an enjoyable trip and I was so impressed by EF Smithsonian!  They have such a remarkable staff and every part of the weekend was well planned, well executed and quite fun.  I am very excited for taking my first group of students on tour to Washington in April with this great company.

For more on the trip to Washington in April 2014, click here.

Boston

Union 1812

Today, on the 200th anniversary of the official declaration of war against Britain, I finished my first book of the summer - A.J. Langguth's Union 1812.  This is one of many books I have read on this topic - especially as James Madison and the founding period was my focus in college.

In many respects, the War of 1812 was a disaster.  Once again, Americans were mismatched against the world's leading military power and the nation suffered many losses culminating in the burning of Washington in 1814.  Yet, this war marks an important turning point in the nation's early history.

Langguth makes the analogy that starting this war was the new republic's way of challenging Britain to a duel in order to preserve her sacred honor.  In the decades since the Revolution, Britain and France often trampled on America's neutrality and sovereignty.  Indian alliances, often encouraged by the British in Canada, represented a dangerous threat to frontier-seeking Americans.  To a younger generation of founders, those who did not fight in the first war for independence, the only solution was to stand up for the rights of the nation even though many of the older founders, men like Jefferson and Madison, were reluctant to support such a gamble.

Despite the limited successes and tremendous blunders of the war, the republic survived and as a result, gained more respect abroad.  With the defeat of the formidable Indian confederacies and a new sense of national pride at the end of the war, Americans vigorously moved west and laid the foundations for a market revolution.  An industrial boom in the North resulted from years of embargo and war and politically, the era that followed would be labeled one of "good feelings."  Sectionalism was dealt a black eye with the failure of the Hartford Convention, yet the long-term effects of this war would cause a resurgence of sectionalism as the nation pushed west and faced the inevitable question on the existence and expansion of slavery.

Related links:

• On Twitter - #Warof1812
• The Official Declaration of War - the first issued by the United States Congress
• How Canada celebrates the War of 1812 (from Smithsonian)
• A Correct Map of the Seat of War, 1812 (Library of Congress)
• USS Constitution Museum - nicknamed "Old Ironsides" in the War of 1812
• Washington Post Review of the National Portrait Gallery's exhibition, War of 1812: "A Nation Emerges"
• PBS: The War of 1812 - Guide to Historic Sites

Milestones

Over six months have passed since my last blog post.  Why?  New baby, busy family and a busy work schedule.  These are good reasons, right?  Now that the school year is closing, I finally have a chance to write.

This year marks several significant anniversaries in U.S. and local history - and an exciting time to study history.   Here's a compilation of the milestones of 2012 (in order):

450th Anniversary of the French Arrival on the First Coast
In May of 1562, French explorer Jean Ribault entered what the French called the "River May," today the St. Johns River.  The French later founded Fort Caroline on a high river bluff which became a refuge for Huguenots escaping religious persecution.  The French did not last very long at Ft. Caroline after their slaughter in 1565 by Pedro Menendez of Spain.  Though the French did attempt to re-settle here, they were never successful at regaining a foothold in Florida.  Instead, Florida became a Spanish possession and the river was re-named for Saint John.

I took this picture on the AP U.S. History field trip to Fort Caroline on May 17th.

For further information about this milestone, explore the following:

• Commemorate 450 from the City of Jacksonville
• 450th Anniversary Information from the National Park Service Timucuan Preserve

225th Anniversary of the United States Constitution
In an election year filled with questions of constitutionality and the proper role of the federal government, it is very timely that we mark this important milestone.  The United States Constitution of 1787 is our nation's second constitution, the first being the ineffective Articles of Confederation.

To the right is a picture I took of the actual Constitution at the National Archives in 2005.

As this anniversary approaches, be sure to follow the hashtag #constitution225 on Twitter

200th Anniversary of the War of 1812

The War of 1812 is often considered America's second war for independence.  Though militarily this war was a disaster resulting in the burning of the national capitol and emerging sectionalism, the two and half years of war did result in a surge of nationalism and the drafting of the Star Spangled Banner, later to become the national anthem.  Andrew Jackson's fame was solidified as the victor of New Orleans and Americans began to move west in stronger numbers.  By standing up to the British, the United States legitimized itself as an independent nation.

I have acquired several books on the War of 1812 and I hope to have more posts later this summer.

Some additional resources:

• U.S. Navy's commemoration:  http://www.ourflagwasstillthere.org/
• War of 1812/Star Spangled Banner from the National Museum of American History

150th Anniversary: Civil War Events of 1862, the Homestead Act and the Pacific Railway Act
I have written several posts regarding the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.  The year 1862 was certainly pivotal as by the close of the year, a long and deadly conflict was now impossible to avoid, a fact now recognized by both sides.  Bloody battles at Shiloh, Antietam and in Virginia foreshadowed the terrible years to come.  By September, Lincoln had issued his Emancipation Proclamation fundamentally changing the war from one of union to one for freedom.

With southern Democrats absent from Congress, Republicans were able to pass two significant laws, the Homestead Act and the Pacific Railway Act.  These acts opened the west to settlement with free land, business opportunities and an emerging transcontinental railroad network.

To the right is a picture of a homestead grant, taken at the National Archives in 2005.

For further interest:

• Twitter - #CW150 #HomesteadAct150
• The Homestead National Monument of America in Nebraska - on Twitter @HomesteadNM
• Union Pacific's 150th Anniversary Website:  http://www.up150.com/

75th Anniversary: The Golden Gate Bridge
Last week, San Francisco celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge.  A technological marvel for its day, the Golden Gate bridge rose above San Francisco Bay at a time when Americans needed a sense of hope, trying desperately to rise above the worst economic depression in history.

Here's a picture I took from the San Francisco side of the bridge in September 2006 while my wife and I were on our honeymoon.


50th Anniversary: The Cuban Missile Crisis
October marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the climax of tensions in the Cold War and the closest the United States and the Soviet Union came to the brink of thermonuclear war.  As I read oral history papers submitted by my students, I continue to learn more about the true fear experienced by Americans during those thirteen troubling days.  One colleague recently shared a story with me about how he, as a second grader here in Jacksonville, wore a dog tag and was issued ration cans in case the civil defense alarms sounded.  I doubt many students in the United States today could share such an experience.

Jacksonville certainly was on heightened alert in those days with three major naval bases all within Duval County.

In regards to the Cold War, since the release of Russian documents after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, historians are learning much more about the very real dangers of the era.

Conclusion


Every year brings a series of anniversaries, though this year does include some of the most significant events in U.S. history. Why do these commemorations and celebrations matter?  Will our knowledge of these events change or improve just because this is an anniversary year?  Maybe.

These anniversaries and commemorations matter because they enhance our collective "American memory."  Celebrating or remembering historical events helps us connect to our national story and build a sense of heritage.  Anniversaries also help reinvigorate discussions and debates on key historical issues - as several of this year's commemorations demonstrate.

Revolutionaries

Since this week began with our celebration of Independence, I thought I would share my notes from a book I read last year on the leaders of the American Revolution.  The "founding era" is my favorite time period in U.S. history.  Last summer, I read Jack Rakove's Revolutionaries.  Here are some basic themes and lessons I learned from this book (from a Power Point I used in class to discuss the book with students):

- Must distinguish between 2 generations:

Older: Independence (John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, etc.)

Younger: Constitutional government (Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, etc.)

- "The revolution made them as much as they made the revolution”

- New England: lack of diversity = a people united

- Middle Colonies: diversity = potential for more civil disorder

- Radical or Conservative? (Ideas, what changes and doesn’t change)

- This revolution affected the world (inspiration for other revolutions, changing the geo-political relationship among nations, effects still evident today with our founding documents and ideas)

One segment of the book I personally enjoyed was the story of Henry and Jack Laurens of South Carolina and the personal trauma both endured.  I remember being so aggravated at Jack Laurens for how he treated his wife.  There's a brief discussion about Laurens on the Amazon page for this book (linked here). 

Here are some other notes regarding the social history of the Revolution that I use in class:

http://broachweb.com/classes/shared-docs/SocialHistoryReview-AmericanRevolution.htm

Liberty's Exiles: American Loyalists

Whew, what a month. As mentioned in my last post, I usually read several books in the summer. With the busy schedule of summer school, household tasks to prepare for our next child and keeping up with a two-year-old, I have not had much time in June to read. I did finally finish Liberty's Exiles, a thorough account of the other side of the American Revolution - the Loyalists. What I enjoyed most about this text was that Maya Jasanoff analyzed the overall history of loyalists and examined the personal stories of a handful of historical characters.


Here's what I learned from this impressive work:

1. Telling the story of American Loyalists is not as simple as mentioning that there was a substantial section of the American population that chose to remain loyal to King George III and that many of these people left after the war. In fact, once these loyalists left America, defining them by shear "loyalty" to the King became difficult to define, especially as some struggled with the local governments they encountered in their new homes, or for blacks who failed to receive the fulfillment of the true freedom they were promised (either in Africa, Nova Scotia or in other places) or for the Indians who lost their British allies and protection in the early 1800s and permanently after the War of 1812. Despite the disappointments, the British government did make great efforts to care for those who remained loyal during the war. Some of these efforts produced great results, some failed.

2. Often history textbooks (including one I have used for class) represent loyalists as mostly rich, well-educated and Anglican. While plenty do fit this stereotype, the term "loyalist" transcends every demographic barrier in the Thirteen Colonies.

3. The American Revolution was truly "our" first civil war - pitting neighbors against each other and exposing factions within American society. Just as declaring independence from Britain was no easy decision for the patriots, as many of them still considered themselves British in the early years of Revolution, deciding to stay loyal and uphold that loyalty in the face of violence was even more challenging and for many, devastating.

4. The major groups of "loyalists" include:

• White, British subjects (including the stereotype: well-educated, Anglican, or slaveholders, etc and those not included by the stereotype: merchants and small farmers)
• Free blacks and former slaves offered emancipation for serving in the British Army. For former slaves, their evacuation from America represents the largest mass emancipation of slaves until the end of the U.S. Civil War in 1865.
• Indians who allied with the British in order to protect their lands

5. Once the war had ended, or at least the last major campaign had ended at Yorktown in 1781, many loyalists held out hope that a complete split could be avoided and instead some type of "home rule" would be established for American within the British system. Instead, the Treaty of Paris of 1783 evaporated any hope that they could remain in their homeland.

6. Evacuation from America was a complicated process, especially in dealing with "runaway slaves," and on a personal level, it was traumatic for those who had lost everything and faced further separation from family and friends.

7. Those who left or those who stayed must be viewed with a global and diverse perspective. Some were able to restore loses, gain compensation and rebuild some sort of livelihood. Some lost everything: property, families or their very lives. Some joined the military, some gained fame and some sunk into obscurity. The major recipients of the "Loyalist diaspora" include:

• Great Britain - some returned to their mother land or settled in the mother land for the first time. The work of the Loyalist Claims Commission was not only a noble attempt to compensate those who remained attached to the crown, but for historians today, it provides a wealth of documentary evidence for understand the scale of migration.
• Nova Scotia (and later New Brunswick) - many chose to remain in British North America and make these maritime provinces profitable. Free blacks and former slaves who settled here did not always find the harmony they were promised while Mohawk Indians who remained loyal to Britain worked to carve their own autonomy and maintain protection.
• Africa - The first "back to Africa" movement was sponsored by the British on the banks of the Sierra Leone River. The first settlement was an immediate failure, while the second had some promise but eventually failed as well. Ironically, this settlement hailed by abolitionists as a seed of freedom (even by its name, Free Town) was just down river from the largest slaving station in the British Empire.
• India and Australia - Some loyalists, many through military service, moved to the far reaches of the empire. In fact, India replaced the original Thirteen Colonies as the economic engine of British imperialism.
• Native Americans and hopes for an independent state - Some loyalists, including John Cruden, Joseph Brant and William Augustus Bowles, hoped to carve out territory in North America. These hopes were lost to a rapidly expanding United States, especially for Brant and Bowles who hoped for protective territory for Mohawks and Creeks, respectively. The link between British (or loyalist) ambitions and Indian resistance to the westward settlement of Americans was one of the causes of the War of 1812, a conflict that ended the great hopes of Indian confederacies in the trans-Mississippi and Ohio Valley regions.
• East Florida (St. Augustine) - A few thousand loyalists, including some former slaves, evacuated out of British-occupied Charles Town (now Charleston) and Savannah for St. Augustine. The governor, Patrick Tonyn, hoped to grow the East Florida colony and worked on plans for land grants around the St. Johns River (local history!). The Treaty of Paris that formally ended the American War for Independence ceded Florida back to Spain, completely stunning the loyalists who were already in St. Augustine trying to reestablish their lives and create a sense of livelihood.
• Bahamas, Jamaica and the Caribbean - Other loyalists, especially after St. Augustine and East Florida was returned to Spain, settled in the British West Indies. In Barbados and Jamaica, former plantation owners hoped to tap into the lucrative sugar business. In several cases, struggles between the British government in these colonies and the existing inhabitants with the refugees became evident.

8. The dynamics of settlement and changing demographics in what remained of British North America laid the foundations for the eventual commonwealth of Canada. These loyalists became the founding fathers of today's Canada.

9. Not all loyalists were perfect British subjects. In fact, while in conflict with local governments over land disputes and representation in government or other issues, some loyalists seemed more like the American patriots that they had opposed in the war years. The dynamics of this relationship will be tested even more during the French Revolution and the very long conflict between the British and the French in the 1790s and early 1800s.

10. Loyalists do not have the same "loss complex" as other "losers" of wars. As Jasanoff points out, after the War of 1812 (which marks the end of this era) most loyalists had absorbed into the British empire. There is no "lost cause" movement as is seen with those in the American South after the U.S. Civil War.

Here's a link to the book on Amazon, should you feel compelled to read more.

My next target: In honor of the 150th commemoration of the Civil War, I am now reading John Keegan's military history of the war. Military history is not always my favorite, but I am hoping to expand my horizons.

Welcome to my blog!

Since graduating college and beginning my teaching career, I began a tradition of "pleasure reading" in the summer when I'm not so inundated with student papers and planning for six classes. Of course, pleasure reading for me is reading history. I am fortunate that my profession is also my hobby. During the break, I usually select a particular time period or a range of topics and then further my knowledge.

This summer, I've spent so much time working on new technology for the classroom and keeping up with my two-year-old, I have not read as much... yet. I recently started Liberty's Exiles, a book that gives a voice to the thousands of "Loyalists" in the American Revolution, an often forgot-about group of historical figures.

One improvement I hope to make this summer is to blog about what I read and what I learn from books, articles or other discoveries. Check back soon for my thoughts on Liberty's Exiles.

I started something similar to this project a few years ago when I published my notes on the First Amendment and "separation of church and state" debate based on a series of readings. Here's a link to those notes:
http://www.broachweb.com/docs/history/separation-churchandstate.htm

Other topics I hope to pursue with this blog are the various discussions among historians and everyday Americans regarding the Civil War. This past December, we as Americans began the four-year commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. How is the Civil War remembered today? Why does it still evoke controversy in classrooms and among everyday people?
Here's a few resources I have referenced in class or found online (from my links page).

I hope you enjoy this blog and I look forward to this new experience.