Wed Oct 29

Students looked at how things changed little despite the fact the 13-15th amendments were passed. The Reconstruction included the beginning of sharecropping and black codes which kept the cycle of a slavery like appearance in the South. Handouts will be posted tomorrow. As well as quickwrite on voter intimidation.

Quickwrite Question: Using the Picture with the gun to the head, how did whites(typically the KKK) in the South impact voting of blacks? Why do you think they even let this guy vote? What has the 15th amendment turned into?
Quickwrite Picture, Sharecropping, and Black Codes

10/28

Today we began Unit 3 "Like a Monet". Things looked good in America from a distance, but there were a lot of problems the closer you looked. We began by talking about the Reconstruction and how America was going to rebuild, re-establish the nation, and redefine the role of freed men in the South. All three issues were difficult and came with controversy. Students turn in notebook tomorrow. A checklist for what should be included can be found below

Start of Unit 3 Like a Monet
Reconstruction and Notebook 2 checklist

Monday Oct 27th

Today we began Unit 3 which will be called Like a Monet: Good from far away but ugly when you get up close. We began the unit by looking at the transcontinental railroad. This engineering wonder would help link the east and west and make America connected. It would allow for the advancement of people to the west, greater immigration, and more opportunity for people. Students watched an intro film on the train's building and importance.

Friday Oct 24

Students took the midterm exam mostly off Unit 2. They were able to turn in the study guide if they wanted for credit though it was just designed to help those who wanted to improve their grade, it was not required.

Thursday Oct 23

Students completed the school wide midterm assessment, they had any remaining time to review for tomorrow's test.

Wed Oct 22

Today we finished Unit two by looking at the 3 amendments passed after the Civil War. The 13th 14th and 15th amendments were all designed to give blacks a better opportunity. It starts with ending slavery, but then gives them citizenship and finally allows voting rights.

We have the district quiz tomorrow and our UNIT 2 CHAPTER TEST FRIDAY.

Study Guide for test

Tues Oct 21

Depending on period we got a a little further in beginning of day and a little less toward end but we went over the Gettysburg address and why it was important. Lincoln gave a short and precise reason the war needed to be won. Soldiers at Gettysburg needed their life to have not been in vain. The cause they lived for needs to be completed in the Civil War. We also looked briefly through the final scene of Glory at the 54th regiment. They helped initially get support for using black soldiers in the war which for the first two years was basically avoided. Their courage and bravery paved the way for more soldiers to be respected, paid equally and used for the war.

amendments

Monday Oct 20th

Today we looked at the Civil War and what the strengths were of both sides. I also explained how the Emancipation Proclamation was more a gradual freeing of slaves and not an instant thing. It was a weapon of war however because as slaves were "confiscated" they were set free, often times joining the union army. It also gave more individuals in the North a moral reason to fight the war beyond just restoring the nation.

Gettysburg address
Notes

Friday 10/17

Today students finished the questions on Emancipation Proclamation from Wed. We also watched an episode from the history channel documentary The Story of Us on the Civil War. It gave a quick look at how the North despite having to go into the southern territory were able to win the war. It discussed the technological and industrial superiority of the North and how through trains, communication and massive productions they were able to defeat a South that could not keep up.

Wed Oct 15th

We looked at the final cause of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln becoming president. In the South few states even had him on the ballot, let alone voted for him. For the south it was the final straw for democracy being inefficient. Before Lincoln had done anything the south would secede and establish the Confederate States. Students had a quickwrite and because of PSAT's by many juniors we skipped discussing the war for the day. We did start looking at the Emancipation Proclamation (except 3rd period).

Quickwrite(and things to study at bottom), notes, and questions for every class but third

Tuesday Oct 14th

Students on the John Brown passage should have answered on their page(period 1 is the exception) How does the reaction to John Brown differ from the North to the South and how could it be a cause for war?

In class we also looked at Frederick Douglass speech in which he discussed the Fourth of July and George Fitzhugh's speech about why slavery isn't too bad. The big idea we are trying to get at is that the in the North the issue is all about Freedom and Independence, and how can we go on basically until that issue has been dealt with. In the south the debate is more that slavery is simply a job and not the worst one. They look at slavery in different eyes and it is much different to both. We finished class with looking at Dred Scott and his court case. Students are to do the questions on it and then using that knowledge apply it to Lincoln's "house divided against itself" speech. Homework attached.

Homework

Monday Oct 13

Today in class we went discussed John Brown and why he was such a polarizing figure. Though somewhat of a madman he became a terrorist to the south and a hero to the north. Steadfast in his goal to end slavery he was willing to use violence to further his cause. First in Kansas during "bleeding Kansas" and later at Harper's ferry. Notes are small so I will try to load the power point instead of the little pictures that students got in class.

John Brown

Friday Oct 10

Today we looked at more causes of the Civil War. For one literature had an important impact on the divide in America. Uncle Tom's cabin which would become an instant success opened the north to what happened under slavery. Despite being a fictional book it amazed many in the North and pushed for abolition. The nullification crisis was another split between the north and south, this one on tariffs. The south felt they were being taken advantage of at the expense of the North. Despite a solution and a compromise, we see a growing rift between the two parts of the United States.


Uncles Tom's Cabin, Nullification Crisis

Thursday Oct 9th

 We began to look at the second half of our unit which is was titled From New Nation to Two Nations. The two nations part is what we will be focusing on as we look at how America was pulled into the Civil War. While slavery is the central issue it is deeper than that. Slavery was not abolished yet America would be in war. We talked about the first "snowball" that would begin the issue. (though there is a history that dates back far before this) was Eli Whitney's invention of the Cotton Gin. This gives rise to larger plantations and the need for additional slaves. We began the reading the following passages, each class got to a different point.

Start of Civil War packet

Wed Oct 8

Students finished journal entries that began yesterday. They also watched a clip from the history channel series the story of us that discusses those who moved to california and the gold rush as well as those who lived in and moved to texas.

Tuesday October 7th

Students had a quickwrite on Manifest Destiny and what the term means or looked like. Often times we have this idea that the land to the west was this God given land for us to take and that is why we got it. While we did take over the land we see that its not so much just because we feel like God had given it, but more that there was a purpose in going. Students looked at 3 individual groups of people and why they went to Utah, California and Texas. They began in class a journal assignment writing a 1st person account of what it would be like. The assignment and quickwrite are linked below.

Manifest Destiny quickwrite, maps and class assignment

Monday Oct 6th

In class we looked at the Indian Removal Act also known the trail of tears where America forced Native Americans off their land and out toward modern day Oklahoma. Over time we have been gone from thinking this was an acceptable and smart action to realizing it was wrong, unconstitutional and tragic. After a brief lecture students looked at textbook readings from 5 different time periods. As the textbooks evolve America's role is greater questioned. The reading is slightly difficult as the PDF came out sideways but the reading and questions are still there.

Trail of Tears

Friday Oct 3rd

Students had a quickwrite on the Monroe Doctrine. It shows the Monroe Doctrine through a cartoon about chickens. Some chickens are labeled to help understand which nations are cooped up and which nations are running free under the American rooster.  After the students made a hypothesis on what they thought the Monroe doctrine was they were given small passages from it. America was slowly changing its isolationist policy established under Washington and taking a stance in global issues. While America didn't really have the strength to back up what it said, it stood up for Latin American nations being recolonized. America would hold on to this policy over time when issues arise in Latin America.

Quickwrite
Monroe Doctrine Excerpts and Questions

Thursday October 2nd

Today we looked at both Jefferson and Madison's presidency and the big events the Louisiana Purchase and War of 1812. In Hamilton's letter we saw why there were critics of Jefferson's purchase.

Hamilton Letter
Notes

Wed October 1

The class finished and reviewed the questions from yesterday in class. Students should be able to clearly give a definition of what judicial review is and how it impacts America.