09/13/00: Camels for sale: Daphne traces her roots
Daphne focuses on her family history, especially her Danish roots. This dispatch talks about how most of her family emigrated from Europe to South America, and how South America, like the US, is also made up of immigrants.

09/23/00: The mysterious ways of the secretive Publeos

09/27/00: Living with those pesky, loud tourists at the Taos Pueblo in New Mexico
Daphne visits Taos Pueblo and meets many of its members. She observes the way in which tourism has helped - and hurt - the Pueblo.

10/04/00: When greed can make a good idea go bad
Daphne explores Savannah and learns about the history of the Georgia colony. She studies the way in which James Oglethorpe started the colony and how, little by little, his ideas were corrupted by colonizers intent on owning slaves, rice plantations, and land.

10/07/00: Nathaniel Bacon: a rebel with a cause
Daphne and Kevin discuss Nathaniel Bacon and Bacon's Rebellion. Daphne, for her part, highlights the plight of indentured servants during the colonial period in Virginia, and uncovers some of the reasons that they felt ready to rebel against the British elite.

10/11/00: From slavery to freedom
Daphne visits the Carolinas in search of some truly fascinating African American women. She relates the story of Harriet Jacobs, slave and abolitionist who lived in the 1800s and her visit to Harriet's hometown of Edenton, NC.

Stage Two: The Birth of the U.S.

10/18/00: What They Did Was Treason!
Daphne visits Philadelphia and Carpenter's Hall, the place where the 1st Continental Congress convened for the first time in 1774. She also visits Independence Hall, home of the 2nd Continental Congress and discusses its role during the Revolutionary War. She mentions key players, such as Sam Adams, John Jay and Patrick Henry, and ponders the real reasons behind the colonists' rise against the British crown

10/25/00: Who were George Washington and Thomas Jefferson really?
Daphne discusses the backgrounds of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and their motivations for leading the American Revolution. She analyzes different arguments, including the one put forth by Charles Beard's An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution and urges students to think critically about this very important subject.

Stage Three: Expansion & Reaction

11/11/00: Know-Nothings without a clue
Daphne explores the history of the Know-Nothings, and their views on immigrants. She discusses when they were started and how they reacted towards the immigrants.

11/15/00: Standing up for the mentally ill
Daphne recounts the life of Dorothea Dix, teacher, social reformer and humanitarian, who spent most of her adult life, from 1841 to 1881, fighting for the rights of the mentally ill. She lobbied for legislation to improve conditions in state hospitals, prisons and jails, and was directly responsible for founding numerous state and local institutions. Daphne also looks back at her own experience volunteering at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington DC and how that affected her outlook on this subject.

Stage Four: Civil War & Reconstruction

12/06/00: All aboard the Underground Railroad
Daphne visits the town of Ripley, Ohio and some of its most famous points of interests, including the Rankin House, the Parker House and the banks of the Ohio River. She gives a brief introduction of the Underground Railroad and Ripley's role in this abolitionist movement, which was responsible for helping thousands of runaway slaves reach freedom.

12/09/00: Bloodshed in Kansas: we're part of the war now, Toto
Daphne discusses the Missouri Compromise, the Compromise of 1850, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, all of which brought the issue of slavery to a head in Kansas. She also looks at the Pottawatomie Massacre of 1856, led by John Brown and other violent events that coined the term 'Bleeding Kansas.'

12/09/00: Abraham Lincoln: A log cabin boy wonder!
Daphne visits Abraham Lincoln's birthplace in Hodgenville, KY and Lincoln City, Indiana. She uncovers stories of his childhood, and highlights some of the reasons that Lincoln has been an inspiration to so many people.

Stage Five: Transformation of the U.S.

1/10/01:Would you rather go to school or work in a dark, dangerous factory?
Daphne discusses the philanthropy practiced by the robber barons, including Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller. She analyzes the seeming contradiction between their benevolent acts of charity and their ruthlessness toward their workers. She compares their business ethics with those of companies such as Nike and Ben & Jerry's, and ponders the future of corporate America.