Blog 4 History

Last year our school district had to cut $11 million dollars, this meant pay cuts and freezes, and jobs. This year we have been informed that due to loss of tax revenue we will have to see another $10 million or so in cuts. This will be the beginning of even more serious cuts. On the table is pretty much everything, from busing to job cuts, and more pay cuts. Our Department Chair informed me that United States AP History could be among those classes that in the future could be gone, why? Well, last year I went from 24 students to a final 12 who finished to take the examine, and this year from 26 to 14 as it stands now. According to administration, due to need to increase class sizes (and I presume reduce teachers) we will have to utilize resources and a room that holds 32 only serving 12-14 does not represent the best use of resources. It was suggested that if I could maintain my numbers into the mid-20s I would most likely keep the class. [Note: all Social Studies AP classes on the possible chopping block.]

Why do the numbers decline? The workload is demanding and the material is significant and complex. I end up with the best, the cream of the crop. Thus, do I reduce the work load, decrease the expectations, and essentially dumb down the class in order to keep the numbers and essentially the class? [Note: nothing has been finalized and all this may never materialize, but nonetheless it has been brought to my attention.]

I have to admit I am perplexed. Last year I had almost 50% scores of 5, if I reduce the quality of the class, do I risk a lower average of scores and then a critical review of my teaching? The goal has always been the AP exam, which I do admit is also problematic. However, as a public school parents expect us to get their student ready for that exam. It is a demanding proposition.

I have to admit that maybe this is an opportunity to make the class more inclusive and accessible, but I fear that I do a disservice to those students who want the challenge and want to be among what they see as an elite group of students of history. I don’t want to lose that either.

[Cross posted over at my other site, Soldier Studies.org]

Deliver Us from This Cruel War:
The Civil War Letters of Lieutenant Joseph J. Hoyle, 55th North Carolina Infantry
Front Cover
BY: Joseph J. Hoyle, Jeffrey M. Girvan

Title: Deliver Us from This Cruel War: The Civil War Letters of Lieutenant Joseph J. Hoyle, 55th North Carolina Infantry
Publisher: McFarland, 2010
ISBN: 0786447575, 9780786447572
Length: 233 pages

Joseph J. Hoyle enlisted in the Confederate Army in May 1862 as a private. By the time of his death in September 1864, he was serving as a lieutenant in the 55th Regiment North Carolina Troops. The personal letters of this soldier, supplemented by the editor’s overview of the events and actions of the regiment, offer a view of the common soldier as well as battlefield and camp culture. The letters also reveal, among other things, how this former schoolteacher urged his fellow soldiers forward at Gettysburg despite a sense that the cause was lost.

Jeffrey M. Girvan is a social studies professional development specialist with Prince William County Schools in Virginia.

McFarland and Mr. Girvan have given us one of the better first hand accounts of the Civil War that I have read in some time. Reminiscent of Stephen E. Ambroses A Wisconsin boy in Dixie: Civil War letters of James K. Newton, Girvan’s subject, Joseph J. Hoyle, is an exception and prolific writer who had some interesting and keen insights of the war. Girvan does a far better job of editing his book than does Ambrose, but nonetheless they are counterparts to a degree.

Hoyle was a spiritual man who loved his wife Sarah deeply, but found himself in the middle of a Civil War that would ultimately claim his life. The letters are often touching and poignant, and though Hoyle’s religious belief allow him a somewhat unusual reaction to war, the battlefield did test his convictions and the length of the war his resolve, though he never stopped believing in the fight and wrote home many times as a correspondent to a local newspaper.

Girvan offers up a nice introductory essay that touches on the historiography of social history of the Civil War soldier, and then continues with excellent historical overviews for each chapter along with solid historical exposition. The presentation is very solid with nice illustrations and maps, and Girvan’s timely and informative elicitation makes this book an excellent contribution to Civil War soldier studies.

–Chris Wehner

Ed Hooper wrote recently in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that public schools and universities have lost the military aspects of American History. That our recognizing of our nation’s military heroes is waining. This process, according to Mr. Hooper, has led to a loss which has “trickled down to public school systems generations ago.” As Hooper notes, the rate of military genre book sales has been strong and has been for decades. The big names of American history continue to outsell the social/micro history subjects that don’t translate well to the general reading public.

But for Mr. Hooper, the military side of American history is going or already gone:

Gone from U.S. textbooks are the commanders and the battles; the stories of remarkable citizen soldiers who walked away from the safety of their fields, stores and factories and stepped into history’s pages are forgotten. The sociological impacts of armed conflicts or political movements relating to U.S. wars now dominate classroom instruction.

In most public schools the focus on social justice and social history seems to be far outpacing the traditional and indeed military and political components of history.

Military history has all but vanished from America’s educational mainstream. What was once regarded as a core subject in a classical education has become irrelevant. Teaching military history requires instructing students there are times when wars are justified. It requires defining traitors and heroes by academic guidelines.

Perhaps Mr. Hooper has touched on something here in an age where seemingly to teach American Exceptionalism, patriotism, and that war is sometimes justified simply is seen by many in the world of acadamie to be nothing short of intellectual bankruptcy.

When it comes to teaching history, as I have said numerous times, it is about emphasis. I can teach a class about the American Revolution and not tell a lie or provide a historical inaccuracy, and yet someone else could teach the same unit in such a different way and with different emphasis that the students from both classes would received a vastly different impression of the historical events.

Our school district is one of many that has over the course of the last few years instituted PLC’s, or Profressional Learning Communities. The philosophy is centered around educators coming together in their areas of expertise and working together on developing essentials for each unit and as we are doing here in Colorado, common assessments. We are required to meet weekly, we set goals at the beginning of each year and work towards attaining that goal. Additionally we spend time in eachother’s classrooms and observe various teaching styles. I find that the interaction and feedback is well worth it. With this philosophy along with personal growth obtaining my masters in history, I have made significant strides these past few years as a teacher. For more on the PLC concept click here as provided by Education Week website.

Received some info from the good folks at HBO about their upcoming documentary called WARTORN 1861-2010 from executive producer James Gandolfini, which premieres this Veterans Day, November 11th at 9pm on HBO.

Civil War doctors called it hysteria, melancholia and insanity. During the First World War it was known as shell-shock. By World War II, it became combat fatigue. Today, it is clinically known as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a crippling anxiety that results from exposure to life-threatening situations such as combat.

With suicide rates among active military servicemen and veterans currently on the rise, the HBO special WARTORN 1861-2010 brings urgent attention to the invisible wounds of war. Drawing on personal stories of American soldiers whose lives and psyches were torn asunder by the horrors of battle and PTSD, the documentary chronicles the lingering effects of combat stress and post-traumatic stress on military personnel and their families throughout American history, from the Civil War through today’s conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The HBO Documentary Films presentation debuts on Veterans Day, THURSDAY, NOV. 11 (9:00-10:15 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.

Historymasters.org identified the Top 50 American History Blogs (Now I know they do it strickly for promotional purposes, but still it is nice to get recognized):

The United States has had a rather eventful history — in spite of its being considered a somewhat young nation. Born out of a revolution, the United States is full of interesting turning points. History scholars have long been fascinated with the mix that has led to the rise of one of the most powerful nations ever to exist in a relatively short period of time.

You don’t have to be a history professional, though, to enjoy the history of the United States. Many people find history — specifically U.S. history — a great hobby. If you are interested in learning more about the history of the U.S., you can read some of these 50 American history blogs:

Blog 4 History: Looks at interesting facts, stories and more related to U.S. history.

If tonight’s mid-term election turns out the way the polls are suggesting we might witness a historic swing right in the Legislative Body. The Republicans need to pick up 40 seats to regain the House majority they lost in 2006 and most political analysists say that is a forgone conclusion. There are a 100 plus Congressional districts up for grabs and the gains for the Republicans could be in the 80s according to some. Currently Real Clear Politics is reporting that 44 seats are safe for the Democrats and 49 for the Republicans, while 42 remain “up for grabs.” If the Republicans gain a significant number of those “up for grab seats,” they could see a 70 to 80 seat swing.

This type of potential “swing” is not uncommon in times of economic downturns. Let’s look at some past “historic” elections.

The first Financial panic in 1893 set the stage for a series of sharp swings in the 1890s. Republicans won a landslide in 1894, picking up 135 seats, but then lost 48 seats two years later, despite Republican William McKinley’s triumph in the presidential race.

Then, in 1910, labor unrest and divisions within the GOP cost the party 57 House seats that year and 28 in 1912. World War I and its aftermath created a period of almost continual seesawing, with only one election (1916) seeing fewer than 20 House seats changing hands. [Source]

Another realignment at the beginning of the Great Depression when Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected in 1932 that saw the Republicans swept from the House (101 in all) and 9 from the Senate and marked the start of a Democratic dominance of Congress that lasted for nearly three decades.

Since the end of World War II (1946 to 1952) neither party had lost more than 20 seats. However, in 1946 post-war strikes combined with low approval for President Truman, saw Republicans gain 55 seats which gave them the House for the first time since 1928.

Two years later, voters reacted to a “do-nothing Congress” by tossing out 75 Republicans. The GOP regained the House in 1952, but lost control in the next election. That drought would hold until Republicans roared back in 1994. [ibid]

Will the Republicans control the House much like the Democrats did in the 1930s? Historically it depends on the economy and/or war. The United States tends to shift in times of economic strife and not in times of war, though the 1930s proves that war trumps economy when in 2010 that will not be the case.