Semester 1:
The US through the 19th Century
Stage One: In Search of American Roots
09/13/00: Roots that span the ocean
Neda tells the story of how her family left Tehran, Iran, her birthplace, after the fundamentalist revolution of 1979. She describes her own return to Iran in April 2000, and explains how understanding her Iranian roots make her stronger.
09/16/00: Twisters, cyclones, and tornadoes, oh my! Chasing the wacky weather in Toto-land
Becky and Neda explore the world of severe storms and tornado chasing at the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma
09/23/00: A ghost town turns into a whirling dervish dance festival
Neda and Becky experience the amazing traditions of the Irquote n-Lon-Schka, an Osage ceremonial dance in northern Oklahoma.
10/04/00: The mysterious and spooky disappearance of an entire colony!
Explore England's first colonies -- the mysterious disappearance of Roanoke and the tobacco-driven Jamestown
10/07/00: The Regulators take on the big, bad tax men
Neda describes how the Regulator movement of North Carolina ended in violence at the Battle of Alamance, where the Regulators were defeated by the forces of Governor William Tryon. But the ideas these western frontier farmers demonstrated - namely, that people could join together to fight unfair taxation - would become important in the upcoming Revolutionary War.
10/11/00: Long, lazy summer days? Not for these teens!
Discover what slave life was like at Mulberry Row in Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson. Think about Jefferson's contradictory lifestyle as a slaveholder, and particularly his relationship with Sally Hemings.
10/11/00: Dive! Dive! Discover the secrets of Henrietta Marie
Neda learns about the wreck of the Henrietta Marie, a British slave ship that sunk off the coast of Florida in 1700, as well as the European trade in African slaves to the Americas.
Stage Two: The Birth of the United States
10/28/00: A Toyota Tercel named Turkey on the trail of Lewis & Clark
Lewis and Clark were sent out by President Thomas Jefferson to find a water route to the Pacific Ocean. Neda and Irene are sent out to follow their trail, from Missouri to Montana to
Idaho and finally Oregon.
10/28/00: The Donner Party: How far would you go if you were starving?
Neda travels to Donner Lake, hoping not to get stuck as the infamous Donner Party did while traveling west to California. She also hopes not to run into any signs of cannibalism.
Stage Three: Expansion and Reaction
10/28/00: Steamboating the Mississippi`.in a floating McDonald's?
Neda and Irene go to St Louis, Missouri, to learn about the Mississippi River, steamboats and Mark Twain.
11/08/00: The Republic of California, a 24-day wonder
Neda wonders what it would be like if California was its own nation, as it was for a month back in 1846 during the Sonoma Bear Flag Revolt
11/15/00: Looking for Utopia -- and mint chocolate chip ice cream
Neda and Irene explore Utopia, a.k.a. New Harmony, Indiana. They look for examples of the two experimental communities that were started here in the 19th century: the first by George Rapp and the Harmonists and the second by social reformer Robert Owen.
Stage Four: Civil War and Reconstruction
11/22/00: Visiting the houses that cotton -- and slave labor -- built
Discover the plantations of the antebellum South-Frogmore, Laura, Nottoway, Oak Alley -- during the era when cotton was king
11/29/00: Shake your contra thing
Contra dancing, an American folk dance. Started in the 1800s. Inspired by English country dancing. A group dance.
12/09/00: Mozart vs. Jay-Z and other reasons people go to war
Becky and Neda visit Montgomery, Alabama, the first capital of the Confederate States of America. They learn about the confederate president, Jefferson Davis and the reasons for secession.
12/16/00: Harriet Tubman kicks some butt
Learn about Harriet Tubman's amazing contributions to the Civil War as a nurse, spy and leader of troops! Find out about her stint in Beaufort, South Carolina and the raid she led on the Combahee River.
1/03/01:Assassination, ballot box stuffing, and eating in the bathroom: it's American politicking!
Neda explores the surge of African-Americans, such as Charles Caldwell, in government positions during Reconstruction as well as how this power was taken away
1/03/01: Neda - This is America. We all have the right to vote...or do we?
Neda looks at African-American voting rights in the South and measures of disfranchisement, such as poll taxes, literacy tests and the grandfather clause. The role of Booker T. Washington and the Atlanta Compromise is also explored, as well as the role of the NAACP and W.E.B. Du Bois.
Stage Five: The Transformation of the US
1/06/01: My Life as a Teenage Warrior
Neda tells the story of a Chiricahua Apache fighting for his homeland under the leadership of Geronimo. Includes the story of Bosque Redondo
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