Semester 1:
The US through the 19th Century
Stage One: In Search of American Roots
09/13/00: Rebecca recalls her roots
Rebecca explores the importance of connecting with relatives who are "living history." Having both lost and taken advantage of her ancestors' life experiences, she urges students to connect NOW with the stories of their past.
09/16/00: Neither gators or brown goo will stop these trekkers from checking out the swamp
Becky and Neda step into Seminole land in Hollywood, Florida, and learn the importance of adaptation for the tribe's survival. Includes information on the Seminole Wars and alligator wrestling.
09/20/00: A sticky, gooey mammoth in Los Angeles, California
Dispatch describes a visit to the La Brea tar pits in Los Angeles, California and discusses paleontology and the ancient environment of southern California
09/30/00: If Jamestown wasn't the first colony, what was?
Becky and Neda step into Seminole land in Hollywood, Florida, and learn the importance of adaptation for the tribe's survival. Includes information on the Seminole Wars and alligator wrestling.
10/7/00: Becky and Teddy travel back in time to explore the role of women in the New England colonies
10/11/00: Sacred African burial grounds in Manhattan
10/11/00: Mose, Florida: Paradise among mosquitoes and tropical heat
Rebecca and Neda find that alongside slavery, the Free Black experience in America needs to be told. They head to St. Augustine to see the site of Ft. Mose, the first free black settlement in what would become the United States.
10/14/00: Iroquois Federation - The founding fathers
Rebecca learns about the Great Peace of the Iroquois that united six Indian nations into a strong, united government called the Iroquois Confederacy.
10/14/00: Massive wall of falling water!
Ft. Niagara was built by the French to protect the water 'highways' that enabled fur trade routes across the northeast. Rebecca visits the fort and Niagara Falls near it to learn about its role in the Seven Years' War (French and Indian War)
Stage Two: The Birth of the United States
10/21/00: One man rises above to prove all men ARE created equal
The Black Heritage Trail in Boston tells the story of the important African American role in the development of the United States
10/25/00: When politicians wore guns...
The Alexander Hamilton/Aaron Burr Duel. Rebecca takes a look at the violence and passions of early US politics, and wonders what that would look like in today's debates
Stage Three: Expansion and Reaction
11/08/00: Henry David Thoreau, busted! And a nonviolent political tool is born
Henry David Thoreau spent a night in jail for protesting the Mexican American War by not paying his poll tax. Rebecca treks to Concord, MA to understand the impact of his actions.
11/11/00: How Mr. Potato Head changed the face of America
Becky chronicles the arrival and struggle of Irish Americans in Boston, from the devastation of the Potato Famine to modern success
11/15/00: Public school's best friend
The father of public education had an amazing vision, encouraging access to education for all. Rebecca takes a look at the history of public education and where it's at today.
11/15/00: A simple walk 'round Walden Pond
Rebecca explores 'simple living' and the transcendentalist movement by visiting Henry David Thoreau's home at Walden Pond
11/18/00:What's got 7 layers of clothes and broken ribs?
Rebecca tries out 19th century constrictive clothing at the National Women's Conference 2000 - The 150th anniversary of the first national women's convention in the US
11/18/00: Get out of the kitchen! It's time for equal rights! Or is it?
Rebecca revisits The First National Woman's Rights Convention in 1850
Stage Four: Civil War and Reconstruction
11/22/00: Pass the gumbo and another sweet potato biscuit
Southern food: Becky tries out the tantalizing tastes of the South that originated in antebellum Louisianna - soul food and creole/cajun. YUM!
12/02/00: The unluckiest lottery winner
Becky and Neda visit Charleston, South Carolina, to learn about Denmark Vesey, the organizer of what would have been the biggest slave rebellion in the United States
12/09/00: Friendly letters, wine and more at the start of a civil war?
The first shots of the Civil War were fired by Confederate troops on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. Rebecca examines what went down to begin the bloodiest war ever seen on US soil.
12/16/00: If it takes every chicken in the Confederacy...
General William T. Sherman charged that the best way to win the war was to devastate the resources of the south, striking the supplies and support of the Confederacy. He commenced a March to the Sea, burning and pillaging Georgia from Atlanta to Savannah, then through the Carolinas, to bring the "War Between the States" to its' close.
12/20/00: Americans torturing Americans
Rebecca and Neda visit Andersonville - the site of the Confederacy's most notorious Civil War POW camp
Stage Five: Transformation
01/10/01: Monopoly's Meanest Players
John D. Rockefeller became the richest man America had ever seen by creating a monopoly on the oil refining business. Rebecca and Daphne travel to Cleveland, where he got his start. They wonder what Bill Gates and Microsoft are the next Rockefeller and Standard Oil Company.
01/13/01: The Haymarket Witch Trials
Rebecca and Daphne visit the Illinois Labor History Society in Chicago to learn the tragic circumstances of the Haymarket Affair, one of the most pivotal points of United States Labor History.
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