Archive for the ‘Founding Fathers’ Category

George Washington’s Whiskey For Sale?

George Washington's Whiskey For Sale?
George Washington was a brewer, well, a distiller. Not just that, he was the largest distiller of his time producing more than 10k gallons of whiskey in 1799 alone. As early as 1789 Washington wanted Americans drinking only home grown spirits, so he presented his “buy American” policy indicating he will only drink ... Full story

Ira Stoll’s “Samuel Adams: A Life”

Ira Stoll's
Type in "Samuel Adams" and do a google.com search and you are just as likely to come up with links and images referring to the Beer Company Samuel Adams. As historian Ira Stoll notes, "History has not been kind to Samuel Adams," and indeed one might ask why? As an APUS History teacher ... Full story

The Nine Key Concepts of the Declaration of Independence

The Nine Key Concepts of the Declaration of Independence
I came across this and thought I would share: Full story

Benjamin Franklin’s “The Way to Wealth”

Benjamin Franklin’s “The Way to Wealth”
I was reading this the other day and found that our society is forgetting so much about its "Exceptionalism" and part of it is in what Franklin is preaching below! Do you know what I mean? “The Way to Wealth” (1758) “Friends,” says he , “and Neighbours, the Taxes are indeed very heavy, and if ... Full story

Notes on the State of Virginia By Thomas Jefferson

Notes on the State of Virginia By Thomas Jefferson
Spent a lot of time today reviewing my copy of Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the state of Virginia as I prepare for a Graduate Class discussion and in particular his thoughts on religion. As we know, Jefferson was one of the main proponents of religious freedom and one of those who demanded that ... Full story

History Channel’s “America: The Story of Us”

History Channel’s
The History Channel's "America: The Story of Us," began with a nice introduction by President Obama. Rolfe at Jamestown, the horrible conditions, and the exceptional nature of the survival of the early colonies. Then in an even more grand style, it reveals the Revolution and heroci struggles at battles such as The ... Full story

An Interesting Question…

An Interesting Question...
Here's an interesting question: "If a piece of the presidential record remains stowed in a drawer, is it history or history waiting to happen?" The discovery of a previously unknown personal letter by Thomas Jefferson this past December, written sometime in 1808 towards the end of his presidency, was the impetuous for such ... Full story

The Historian’s Perspective

The latest issue of the Gilder Lehrman Institute's online magazine History Now centers on the studying and teaching of the American Revolution. Here's a list of those articles: Teaching the Revolution, by Carol Berkin Inventing American Diplomacy, by R.B. Bernstein Lockean Liberalism and the American Revolution, by Isaac Kramnick Unruly Americans in the Revolution, by Woody Holton The Righteous Revolution of Mercy Otis ... Full story

Who is Oxenbridge Thacher?

O.K., a simple google search and one can find that he was a Boston resident, a lawyer in fact, and with a little more searching he was a friend of John Adams. He also wrote a pamphlet, "The sentiments of a British American" in 1764 as a result of the Stamp Act. I also found a bio sketch: "Oxenbridge Thacher, who was born in ... Full story

Troubling A.P. Text and Supplementals…

So I have been going through the A.P. textbook and other materials and I am becoming somewhat troubled by how the authors present several topics (which I will get into later.)  However, most troubling are a couple POTENTIAL incorrect statements, for example on one review question: The statement, "taxation without representation is tyranny" was first proclaimed by A. Benjamin Franklin B. John Hancock C. Samuel Adams D. John Dickinson E. ... Full story

July 3rd, 1776

I know that I have been focusing on the Battle of Gettysburg the last few days, but my heart is with the Founding Fathers; and more so than ever it seems in light of recent political events. The founding of our wonderful nation and the promise of hope and liberty that it was founded on, should stir the hearts and minds of even the most ... Full story

U.S. Constitution went into effect JUNE 21, 1788

...when New Hampshire became the 9th state to ratified it. The 55 writers of the U.S. Constitution consisted of: 26 Episcopalians, 11 Presbyterians, 7 Congregationalists, 2 Lutherans, 2 Dutch Reformed, 2 Methodists, 2 Roman Catholics, 2 Quakers and 1 Deist - Dr. Franklin, who called for prayer during the Constitutional Convention, June 28, 1787: "I therefore beg leave to move - that henceforth prayers imploring ... Full story

Actor Richard Dreyfuss Promotes a Return to Civics

Actor Richard Dreyfuss Promotes a Return to Civics
From this news article: NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Of all the causes actors have chosen to champion, Richard Dreyfuss admits his passion lacks, well, a certain pizazz: Civics. "Don't call it 'civics' because 'civics' is easily the most boring word in America," Dreyfuss says. "Call it what it is: political power." Dreyfuss brings an actor's dramatic pacing and a historian's ... Full story

Declaring Rights and Limited Government

I am skimming through a very interesting read for my Graduate Class on the United States Constitution by Pulitzer Prize author and historian Jack N. Rakove titled,Declaring Rights: A Brief History with Documents (The Bedford Series in History and Culture)... Full story

Federalist or Anti-Federalist

I've been doing a lot of reading concerning early American history, specifically the Colonial and Revolutionary periods as I have already started the process of game planning my lessons and handouts, ect. for AP U.S. History.  Here's the list of books I am reading: Gordon S. Wood, The Radicalism of the American Revolution... Full story

Anti-Federalist or Federalist and Is More Government Really the Answer?

Perhaps those Tea Bag attendees were not a bunch of redneck racists, but actually were just concerned over what our government is becoming and that more government is maybe not the answer.  A government that started to get fat under Bush and the Republicans, and is now getting obese under the Democrats.  So this story below was just too much to pass up and not post, ... Full story

What I am Reading

Thomas Paine's place in American History is secure but that wasn't always the case. He died in relative obscurity after having made the mistake of taking on the Federalists, who viciously attacked Paine. Also, his mistaken commitment to the French Revolution also contributed to his downfall. Though always a friend to Thomas Jefferson, when Paine ... Full story

A Brilliant Solution

I am taking a class in graduate school on the American Constitution. I just finished a pretty good book by Carol Berkin called "A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution," and in it Berkin skilfully describes and analyzes the issues, controversies, and events of the Constitutional Convention. The war was over and independence gained when the ... Full story

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

I started a new class (two classes actually) at American Public University where I am working towards my masters. Though its not an assigned reading I spent part of the weekend reading Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography, which I had not read before. I found something that I wanted to share: Observations on my reading history, in Library, May 9th, 1731. "That the great affairs of the ... Full story

The Aristocratic Classroom

BY: Chris Wehner (Note: fellow teachers I have shared this with thought I should submit the findings of this simulation to a journal, as I simply don't have the time to refine it I am posting it here on my blog. I welcome responses!) I teach American Government to high school seniors in Western Colorado. I recently did a simulation where I instituted a “Grade Tax” on ... Full story
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