Professor Eric Foner traces the development of the concept of "freedom" in the U.S., beginning with the nation's founding and continuing up to 2005 (the present day at the time of the lecture). He focuses on race relations and fights by minorities for civil liberties as focus points for the definition of freedom.
President Obama's new Summer of Service Initiative—United We Serve—calls on Americans to make community service part of their daily lives, and on June 25, The Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership (JTHG) at Harpers Ferry National Historic Park unveiled a ground-breaking service-learning program in keeping with this initiative. Seventy students from Harpers Ferry Middle School launched their own historic research and preservation project: Of the Student, By the Student, For the Student. These students created six mini-movies examining the October 6, 1859, John Brown raid on the Harpers Ferry arsenal. These videos are now on view at the historic site and online to help students from around the globe connect to that history.
Beginning in January, the middle school students conducted research, then wrote, edited, and designed their project. The use of iPods, cell phones, and YouTube engaged the students, and the project promoted both leadership qualities, collaborative learning, and critical thinking skills. As the project introductory video explains, "It's critical for students to be connected to stories in their own backyard . . . and technology immediately attracted them."
John Brown's raid was polarizing, and historians continue to reexamine its meaning and impact. In researching and developing their project, students explored these controversial interpretations, examining contradictory primary sources and interviewing historians and current residents of the area. They explored the contours of the narrative: John Brown and 21 supporters (both black and white and including two of his sons) planned to seize the arms stored at the arsenal, then retreat into the Allegheny Mountains and fortify a base to encourage, assist, and defend additional slave insurrections and escapes.
Brown was an ardent and militant abolitionist, and in 1837 he declared, "Here, before God, in the presence of these witnesses, I consecrate my life to the destruction of slavery." He aided fugitive slaves, worked with free blacks to resist the Fugitive Slave Law, and fought against proslavery forces in the battles of Bleeding Kansas leading the Pottawatomie Massacre in 1856—his response to pro-slavery attacks on settlers in Lawrence.
After Harpers Ferry, Brown envisioned an interracial, utopian community in the mountains with shared labor, shared resources, and shared property. It was a tall order for the small band of 22 men and it failed—not surprisingly in view of the numbers of civilians and members of the armed forces of the U.S government arrayed against Brown and his men. Brown was tried and executed for treason, murder, and fomenting insurrection.
The aftermath of Harpers Ferry reverberated throughout the nation, and the middle school students explored various responses to define their own opinions. Abolitionists called Brown a martyr and grieved at his execution; proslavery southerners believed him a madman, symbolic of the North's egregious intentions toward the south. Moderate abolitionists rejected his violent tactics, but supported his ideals. Abraham Lincoln called him a "misguided fanatic."
The student's research led most to conclude that John Brown was neither good nor bad, but a man committed to a cause, and their videos chart the processes and the path toward their conclusions. They also demonstrate that a useful historical argument isn't confined to text-based narrative: rap, music, reenactment and dance are among other interpretive methods. Presentations such as John Brown: Children of the Raid are among the videos that demonstrates the unique perspectives of historical inquiry students brought to their examination of primary sources (with background music from the Harpers Ferry Middle School Concert Band).
As part of the project, students wrote a letter to Malia and Sacha Obama, daughters of President Barack Obama, explaining their project and inviting them to the project opening. Don't miss press releases, process videos, and other background materials about the project.
Of the Student, By the Student, For the Student is the outcome of a variety of collaborative efforts to make history relevant to young people. It is a program created, developed, and sponsored by The Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership created at the request of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) and Harpers Ferry National Historic Park.
The East Tennessee Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the unique history of Eastern Tennessee and its people. To this end, the society operates the Museum of East Tennessee History. Permanent exhibits include a historical overview off the area, addressing the Cherokee, frontier life, the Civil War, the Great Smokey Mountains National Park, the Tennessee Valley Authority, country music, and the Civil Rights Movement. The museum also presents a recreated early 20th-century streetscape, including period dentist and drug store settings and an original streetcar.
The society offers exhibits, period rooms, genealogy workshops, school tours and scavenger hunts, curriculum-based programs, curriculum-based outreach programs, and educator workshops and summer institutes. The website offers lesson plans and genealogy resources for use in the classroom.
The Women's Rights National Historical Park is located in Seneca Falls, New York, and marks the site of the first public convention on women's rights. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and four other women called the convention in 1848. The park features a visitor center and is also home to a stop on the Underground Railroad, which is now open to visitors.
The park offers guided tours, exhibits, field trip programs, and special events. The website offers visitor information, historical information regarding the park, a calendar of events, and sample lesson plans and curriculum guides for teachers. In order to contact the park via email, use the "contact us" link located on the left side of the webpage.
The Constitution is a classroom (and U.S. ideological) staple. As the platform from which U.S. history shapes itself, it is crucial that your students understand the Founding Fathers and their documents. The Bill of Rights Institute exists to help educators present this material.
The website brings together a variety of resources from introductions to and copies of primary source documents to a wide selection of resources specifically for educators. The latter includes Constitution Day resources such as an interactive game on living without the Bill of Rights, another that provides interesting background information on all of America's infamous founding figures, and an essay contest. Browsing through the educator resources also brings to light lesson plans, Bill of Rights-related current news articles which have been selected for classroom appropriateness, information on 24 of the Founding Fathers, summaries of major Supreme Court cases, and the ability to search the site by choosing a major topic such as "criminal procedure."
The student resources are largely the same as the Constitution Day resources, although links are provided to a number of relevant videos and an "Americapedia," which identifies and describes civic values, portions of the Constitution, major political documents, major Supreme Court Cases, and names to know.
Educators may also be interested in seminars and webinars. Two previous webinars are available online.
The William H. Seward House preserves four generations (1816-1951) of artifacts of daily life; and presents the life of William H. Seward (1801-1872), Governor of New York, U.S. Senator, Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, abolitionist, and organizer of the Republican Party. Seward was involved in the writing process of, and signed, the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. The 1816 structure itself is Federal and Tuscan in style.
The house offers period rooms, tours, and brown bag lectures. Advance notification is required for groups of 10 or more.
The Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial consists of the home of the Polish head engineer of the United States' Continental Army, Thaddeus Kosciuszko (1746-1817). The majority of the house is dedicated to exhibits concerning Kosciuzko's life and career. However, one room has been furnished in period style. Visitors to the home during Kosciuzko's life included Benjamin Rush, Thomas Jefferson, and Chief Little Turtle; and in his will, Kosciuszko asked that his property in the United States be sold to purchase the freedom and education of slaves.
The memorial offers an eight-minute introductory audio-visual program, exhibits, a period room traveling trunks, and Junior Ranger activities.
The 293-acre Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site is located on the site of the signing of the Texas Declaration of Independence. The park is home to a reconstructed Independence Hall; the Star of the Republic Museum, which covers the history of the Republic of Texas (1836-1846); and Barrington Living History Farm, home of Dr. Anson Jones, the last President of the Republic of Texas. Numerous walking trails and a picnic area are also available in the park.
The visitor center offers interactive exhibits, snack food for purchase, and a gift shop. Daily guided tours of Independence Hall are offered as are scheduled group tours. Barrington Living History Farm offers tours of the Anson Jones home focusing on the politics, economics, and daily life of 1850s Texas. The Star of the Republic Museum offers exhibits, audiovisual presentations, educational programs, and houses an extensive research library. Age appropriate school tours are available at all three sites and align with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). An educator's packet for Barrington Living History Farm is available online as is www.txindependence.org
The 28-acre Charles Pinckney National Historic Site preserves a portion of Snee Farm, the plantation owned by Charles Pinckney (1757-1824), a man who was deeply involved in the writing of the U.S. Constitution, as well as a signer of the finished document. The site also addresses the life of African Americans in South Carolina's Lowcountry plantations. The visitor's center is housed in a circa 1838 residence. Note that it is not typical of architecture with which Pinckney would have been familiar.
The site offers a half-mile trail with wayside exhibits, a 20-minute orientation video, exhibits, educational programs, Junior Ranger activities, and a picnic site. Advance notice is required for educational programs. The website offers a teacher's guide, which includes content relevant to the Pinckney site, as well as Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie.
Last president of the Republic of Texas Anson Jones farmed near Washington during and after his presidency. Jones named his farm "Barrington" after his Massachusetts home, Great Barrington. There he lived with wife Mary, their four children, his sister, sister-in-law, and five slaves. The family home, two slave cabins, a kitchen building, smokehouse, cotton house, and barn made up Barrington Farm. With Jones's daybook as their guide, the interpreters at Barrington Living History Farm conduct themselves much as did the earliest residents of the original farmstead. The Jones home is original; the outbuildings are replicas constructed by Texas Parks and Wildlife using Jones's own journal and drawings. Visitors to the farm can experience the sights, smells, and sounds of the 19th century. The scene is complete with heritage breeds of livestock. Interpreters, dressed in period style clothing, help visitors better understand what life was like 150 years ago. Visitors can participate in the work of the farm and become a part of the exhibit.
The farm offers demonstrations, tours, classes, educational programs, and occasional recreational and educational events (including living history events).