History Colloquium: "The West and the Constitution"

Description

"An NCHE team of Elliott West and JoAnn Fox will explore the topic of The West and the Constitution at this The Constitution in Historical Context: Teaching Exemplars of American Constitutional History--Project TEACH II colloquium."

Contact name
Csepegi, John
Sponsoring Organization
National Council for History Education
Phone number
1 440-835-1776
Target Audience
Kindergarten through Twelfth Grade
Start Date
Cost
Not listed
Course Credit
Not listed
Duration
Two days
End Date

Westward Expansion in the Nineteenth Century

Description

This seminar, led by Kathryn Morse of Middlebury College, will explore westward expansion in the U.S. during the nineteenth century, offering "in-depth exploration of historic personalities, themes, and events and intensive work with primary source materials."

Contact name
Sopcak, Amy Lynn
Contact email
Sponsoring Organization
American Antiquarian Society
Phone number
1 508-471-2129
Target Audience
Kindergarten through Twelfth Grade
Start Date
Cost
Not listed
Course Credit
May earn PDPs.
Duration
One day

The Great Plains: America's Crossroads

Description

"To many, the Great Plains are part of the Great Flyover, whose landscape and history alike are flat and featureless. But in this region in the middle of the nation, cultures have mingled and clashed for thousands of years. This seminar will focus on the 19th century, though also examining the first peoples and the continuing cultural exchanges of the 20th century. It will begin with the physical setting, plants, and animals, and consider early humans in both Native American traditions and anthropological/archeological studies. Europeans arriving in the 16th century accelerated the long history of change and evolution, initiating more than three centuries of converging peoples and cultures, new centers of power, flourishing trade, calamitous epidemics, and cultural and material intrusions from across the planet. Participants will visit Bent’s Fort to see a cultural crossroads illustrated through one family. The seminar will also examine cattle ranching, homesteading, scientific explorations, and the depiction of the plains in art."

Registration Deadline
Sponsoring Organization
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Phone number
1 646-366-9666
Target Audience
Secondary
Start Date
Cost
None ($400 stipend)
Course Credit
"Participants who complete the seminar in a satisfactory manner will receive a certificate. Teachers may use this certificate to receive in-service credit, subject to the policy of their district. No university credit is offered for the course."
Duration
One week
End Date

Independence Rock State Historic Site [WY]

Description

Independence Rock stands 6,028 feet above sea level. The tallest point of the rock is 136 feet above the surrounding terrain. If one were to walk around the base of this rock, the distance covered would be more than a mile, or 5,900 feet. Windblown sand and silt have grooved the rock and polished it to a high gloss in a process called "windfaceting." It is because of this smoother surface that the pioneers were able to easily carve their names into the rock. It was the names carved in stone here that caused Father Peter J. DeSmet to appropriately name this place "The Register of the Desert" in 1840. Register Cliff and Names Hill also contain names left by the pioneers.

The site is open to the public.

Website does not specify any interpretive services beyond signage available at the site.

Big Bottom [OH]

Description

Named for the broad Muskingum floodplain, the three-acre Big Bottom park is the site of a skirmish between Ohio Company settlers and some Delaware and Wyandot Indians on 2 January 1791. The Big Bottom massacre marked the start of four years of frontier warfare in Ohio, which only stopped when General Anthony Wayne and the Indian tribes signed the Treaty of Greene Ville.

Website does not specify any interpretive services beyond signage.

Logan Elm Memorial [OH]

Description

Logan Elm State Memorial is said to be the site where, in 1774, Chief Logan of the Mingo tribe delivered his eloquent speech on Indian-white relations. The speech was supposedly delivered under a large elm tree. Considered to be one of the largest elms in the U. S., the tree stood 65 feet tall, with a trunk circumference of 24 feet and foliage spread of 180 feet. It died in 1964 from damage by blight and storms. The tree's former location is marked by a plaque. Other plaques and monuments in the park honor Native Americans and early Ohio settlers.

The site is open to the public.

Website does not specify any interpretive services beyond signage available at the site.

Fort Dilts State Historic Site [ND]

Description

This site marks the location of a sod-wall protective enclosure hastily constructed by an 80-wagon party and their cavalry escort. They were attacked by Sioux Indians while en route to Montana gold fields in September 1864 and stayed corralled within the six-feet-high and two-feet-thick walls for 14 days until rescued by a column of troops from Fort Rice. There is a marker on the site.

The site is open to the public.

Website does not specify any interpretive services available at the site.

Territorial Kansas Online

Image
Annotation

These Territorial Kansas collections convey the growing divisions in Kansas and the nation over the expansion of slavery, federalism, nationalism, industrialization, and changing political coalitions in Congress. Materials include government documents, diaries, letters, photographs, maps, newspapers, rare secondary sources, historical artifacts, and images of historic sites. The website is divided into five sections: Territorial Politics and Government; Border Warfare; Immigration and Early Settlement; Personalities; and National Debate about Kansas. Each is searchable by keyword, author, and county. Topical sections are subdivided into relevant themes and include an introductory essay. Visitors will find essays on territorial politics, the rights of women and African Americans, military organizations, and free state and pro-slavery organizations. "Personalities" lists 32 individuals, including John Calhoun, and the final section presents both anti-slavery and pro-slavery perspectives of the national debate about Kansas. The site also includes a timeline with links and an annotated bibliography.