Here in memory lingers…

“Here in memory lingers to recall the guiding mind whose daring plan outflanked the foe and turned dismay to hope when Washington with swift resolve marched through the night to fight at dawn and venture all in one victorious battle for our freedom.”

 

Inscription from the Princeton Battle Monument

 

Some say the battle of Princeton was a crucial turning point in the

Revolutionary War.  If Washington had not arrived in time and helped turn the tides of the battle, the British may have claimed a victory and ended the war.  Already the British occupied New York and much of New Jersey, so the Continental Army was in desperate need of a victory. The Battle of Princeton followed Washington’s first crossing of the Delaware on Christmas Eve where he surprised and routed the Germans at Trenton.  Washington returned across the Delaware on December 27^th in a strategic move not only to assist General Mercer, but also to insure that he retained the enlisted men whose term of duty was about to expire.  The Battle of Princeton was won primarily because Mercer and his men were able to hold off the British long enough for Washington and his reinforcements to arrive.  Mercer later died in the Clarke residence that was located near the battlefield, but the British were successfully routed until Cornwallis arrived from New York (Jan. 1).  From that point on it was a running fight with the British all the way back to Trenton, complicated by the weather which was a mixture of freezing rain and muddy conditions.

 

A side to story to this has to do with Robert Stockton who was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.  He was captured by the British when fleeing from Princeton, and during that time renounced his signing of the Declaration.  It is unknown whether he did this under duress or voluntarily, but it is speculated that if another day had passed, the battle would have been won, and Stockton may not have renounced his signing.  None of this is documented, however.

 

After a visit to the battlefield, we visited the Princeton campus and did a walking tour of Princeton which included a walk past Albert Einstein’s house.  Einstein lived in Princeton from 1933 to 1955.  Besides his association with Princeton, Einstein supported the efforts to free Jews from Eastern Europe, worked to support the efforts and causes of African-Americans, and helped students with their homework.  I can’t imagine what that would be like!  Einstein did not want a burial, so his ashes are scattered at some undisclosed place.  No permanent museum exists for him in Princeton.

 

Probably the most impressive thing to me about this whole day was the cathedral at Princeton University.  The high arched ceilings and stained glass windows were majestic and awe inspiring.  It was the kind of building that stirred rather than dictated reverence.  The other buildings at Princeton, also, oozed with the sanctity of learning. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chicken catch a Tory

According to our Park service guide there are four reasons the 3rd winter of the Revolutionary War at Valley Forge was important.  First it had the highest death toll of the war, second it was significant because it coincided with France signing the Treaty of Alliance, third, because of Von Steubon (Von Schteuben more accurately pronounced), it marked the unification of military procedures for the Continental Army, and lastly it was important because of the location of the the Valley Forge iron works which in metaphor at least “forged” the army into a mean clean working machine.

It was intersting to hear his perspective because of the readings we did in preparation for this course.  Our guide mentioned that Washington never lost another battle, which was an interesting choice of words. It was my understanding from the reading that it became a non-issue because the focus of the war moved south.  Von Steubon, too, was given far more credit at Valley Forge for his military expertise than he was in the book written by Wayne Bodle. 

I was, however, convinced after listening to the ranger that the winter at Valley Forge was one of the worst of the war.  This is contrary to what Raphael says in “Founding Myths”.  The information that convinced me was when the ranger described the constant freezing and thawing and the conditions created by the ice.  It made me reflect on the last two winters in Colorado and how different they were even though they were both cold.  I’m not sure you can just rely on temperature data as Raphael did to guage the severity.  You can have a cold, wet winter that is far more harsh than a cold, dry winter. 

Regarding the details of Valley Forge, there were around 1000 log cabins with 10-12 soldiers per cabin.  Each group built their own cabin and took pride in the accomplishment.  This makes me think a little bit about our visit to Plimoth last year when they shifted from a communal garden to individual plots.  The attitude towards gardening and growing food made a subtle shift.  During the soldier’s stay at Valley Forge the first National Thanksgiving was proclaimed and celebrated by the men with 1/2 teaspoon of rice and a Tablespoon of Vinegar.  We also visited George Washington’s headquarters, a neat stone house owned by a man named Isaac Pitts.  His home was a little more luxurious with a room for his aides, an office and an upstairs bedroom.  He probably had more than a teaspoon of rice for Thanksgiving.

In the late afternoon we were able to see some of the artifacts at the Valley Forge visitor’s center including a letter written and signed by Washington which requested supplies and assistance from the Continental Congress for the troops at Valley Forge.  I returned home with a couple of great teaching resources “The Yankee Doodle Boy” a first person account of the Revolutionary War by Jacob Plumb Martin and a second book of first person accounts of Revolutionary War experiences. 

 One more thing: I touched the same handrail as Washington did over 200 years ago.  Maybe it’s like touching Harvard’s toe.

 

 

 

 

 

Bricks and Mortar

Today we visited many of the buildings used during the years of our country’s infancy.  Literally the documents created in these places have served as the ideological bricks and mortar of our nation.  From the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall) to the Quaker Meeting House on Arch Street, the buildings helped to tell the story of the people and the contributions they made to our history.  We learned about Hamilton and the first and second banks of America, the conflicts between the Hamiltonians and the Jeffersonians, the Sedition Acts and the first case that was tried in the Supreme Court which was housed in Philadelphia in the Old City Hall from 1790-1800.  We also visited Congress Hall where the two houses of the legislature met and the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution. We viewed the room where the House of Representatives met as well as the Senate (upstairs) whose quarters were posh in comparison because they were elected by the legislatures of each state which gave them more status.  This changed when the 17th Amendment was passed, changing the way the Senate was elected. In a small building next to Congress Hall we viewed copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution.

As we continued our walking tour, we saw a portion of the original cobbled street, envisioned and planned by Benjamin Franklin as well as a 600 year old babtismal font in Christ Church which changed from Anglican to Episcopal after the Revolution. Another impressive building was the Georgian Style symmetrical building where the First Continental Congress met.  The bricks on this building had a special glaze which made a red and black alternating pattern.  One of the last buildings we visited was the Betsy Ross home with a peek into the upholstery and flag making business and speculations on how our first flag design came to be.

Viewing these buildings served as a great survey of what Philadelphia has to offer and is only the beginning of the many things there still are to see and explore more in-depth.  Best “take-aways” for class use include some quotes.  One by James Madison:  “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.” (1788)  And a quote by Thomas Paine:  “We have it in our power to begin the world over again.”  It would be fun to see how fifth graders would respond to these quotes.  And I’d also like to see what 5th graders think about the idea of “making a leg” as a sign of manlihood.  What a great entry point for a lesson, and what a great web search that would be for kids to find photos of people from the Revolutionary period, posed with their legs forward.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Home

History is, in part, a record of what is said, and not said, documented and not documented as well as all the huge events that affect us all: World Wars, Revolutions, catastrophic acts of nature…  The blogging for this class has been a little mini-documentation of the lives of 33 people, teachers and professors, recording the trip to Boston.  Just as with the colonists arriving in America, our experiences shape us.  The past two weeks have added so much depth to my knowledge of American history and how events from the past have shaped the present.  All of these thoughts dovetail into the theme of a book I was reading on the plane on the way home called Unless by Carol Shields. In her fictional story, she talks about how events combine together to create certain outcomes, and UNLESS they had come together in that certain combination, the outcome may not have been the same. 

I think about this idea in relationship to historical events such as the Boston Massacre.  If the soldier hadn’t walked down by the dock and been hassled by the longshoreman, or if the temperament of the soldier who shot Crispus Attucks had been different, or if General Gage had not been so beholden to his belief in following the rules, or if any of the battles of the Revolution had turned differently, the whole direction of things could have been changed.  (I can still see Peter Drummey drawing a straight line with his finger across the table and then moving outward from the line to show the branches of alternative possibilities.)  So, I am awed by the fact that history can turn on small things when single events are isolated. When put together, these events can change the world.

The big and the small.   I ended my trip sleeping in the boardroom of the Wingate Inn.  The floor was only slightly harder than the beds at Salem State College. Of all the choices (phoning around, taking a cab, no vacancies anywhere near) it was the best one going.  Just think, it could have been the Boston airport, the JFK airport or even the street.  I’m absolutely certain it wasn’t any worse that sleeping on the Mayflower in a gale wind in the middle of the Atlantic.  When put into perspective, it was quite cozy.  The door locked, I had my own sink, TV if I wanted it, a continental breakfast, and in the morning I had the boardroom for my use until my husband arrived. The chair at the head of the table and the nine other chairs around the “board” were cushy with a nice earthy leaf-patterned upholstery. Life is good, and this is a good place to end my own story of things both written and omitted.  You’ll have to read between the lines for the rest.  June 17, 2007

Lords of the Loom and Lash

It was interesting to me to hear the use of the term “wage slavery” in relationship to the factory workers at Lowell.  It makes perfect sense as does the use of the term “overseer” to title the person who oversees the work of the factory.  To us the work would be greulling and unpalatable, but it was pointed out that many farm girls felt liberated.  They actually had money in their pocket (a little) and a whole day and a half a week off.  Also, as I can imagine, they looked at the factory work as an exchange for the servitude of the farm. The average length of time the girls stayed there was 3-4 years.  I wonder if they returned to the farm, marriage, or if the factory work was a stepping stone to something else. Being a hillbilly, myself, I can hardly imagine spending long hours with all of those machines clanking and rattling.  With all of its faults, we are lucky to be living in the 21st century.  Many people have laid the foundation for the conveniences we have today.

 Even though this trip stretched our early American time period, I’m glad we did it. I learned a little more about the labor movement, how it started and how the depression of 1893 affected the course of events.  It seems with history, the more you learn, the more you understand how layered events can be–one thing affecting the other on so many levels.  In this case, the completion of the transcontinental railroad had a lot to do with industrialism by opening up of new markets, and the wave of immigration from Europe was a key factor in breaking the strikes. I enjoyed the canal trip and learning about how inovations in the use of water power helped with production.  Water=power=production=products. 

As with everything else we have done on this trip, being there and seeing things in person makes a huge difference in understanding.  I’ve read about the Lowell Mills before, but now I have a better idea of what they are all about.

The evening, which included the trip home, was a series of “lasts”:  the last bus ride with our driver, Tim, the last dinner at the Salem Beer Works (only my second one, but still the last), and the last t-shirt purchase.  When I get home it will probably take me awhile to fully process the things I have learned in the past two weeks, but for now I can say the trip has been wonderful, challenging, thought provoking, and full of adventure. Thanks to Matt, Jonathon, and Scott for making it happen.

Obsession with the Printed Copy

Pauline Maier inspired me.  This is saying something since I really found her book hard to follow from a writing/organizational standpoint.  Now that I’ve heard her in person, she ’s my hero. (heroine?) I really understand, now, her points about the hype around the Declaration and how the Declaration has been shaped and reshaped in the minds of Americans over time–the cultural editing as she phrased it.  In fact the whole idea of cultural editing as an aspect of history makes sense to me now, and I particularly enjoyed her footnote discussion about the Constitution as a document Americans really need to have more knowledge about.

 At lunch I was able to ask Peter Drummey a burning question about how historians make decisions when they come accross conflicting primary resources.  In other words, when you’re trying to synthesize and make sense of your data, at what point do you make an interpretation? I don’t think you can ever entirely take yourself as an individual out of the process, but if I understood Peter correctly he said that you always need to be questioning your own objectivity.  The questioning is key.  We compared it to a science experiment where you are always monitoring your variables and agreed it is probably always a balancing act.  You need to be both linear and cognizant of the layers and branches all at one time. One example Peter used was the wording of the Constitution in which the interpretaton of a line or a phrase has the potential of taking you in many directions, not just one.  Culteral Editing. I get it.

These thoughts all dovetail into the artifacts we saw right after we first arrived. It was interesting to see the little “to do” list by John Adams which listed the Declaration of Independence like you would a head of lettuce on a shopping list.  I also found Thomas Jefferson’s entries interesting.  With him, his notes were straightforward and factual without any extra embellishment.  This was another little clue into how historians interpret things.  It involves making an inference.  It’s not what is said, but what is not said that gives the information. I also enjoyed the inclusion of John Rowe’s diary in the selection of primary sources shown.  Each one of these resources helped to make a picture of the people and events surrounding the writing and publishing of the Declaration.

The afternoon session again was a great model for how primary resources can be utilized in the classroom.  Having access to the web site for the Mass Historical Society, will be a tremendous resource.

  AN AMERICAN ICON  

Drawn and Quartered

“The British lay dead as thick as sheep in fold.”  John Stark, Patriot. 

 

The multi media diorama in the museum across from the Bunker Hill memorial had to be one of the coolest things of the day.  The quote above is from that script, and luckily the creators of the diorama were right there so I could ask them about it.  They said this particular Patriot was high enough that he had a clear view of the battle, but I was more impressed with the imagery which proves that the Patriots combined passion with poetry.

 

The British, indeed, had a reason to worry.  They went into the battle with around two thousand men and lost almost half of them.  In the end they captured the redoubt at the top of Breed’s Hill, but it was costly giving the colonists a chance to secure Dorchester another strategic high spot in the Boston area. The war was not off to a great start.

I’m going a little bit backwards in this blog.  We climbed to the top of the monument and then visited the USS Constitution the ship that has been commissioned the longest in our history.  One of the flags that were flown showed a snake running up through the 13 red and white stripes.  The caption read, “Don’t tread on me.”   I’d like to find out a little bit more about it because my fifth graders loved flags, and I want to learn a little more about this one.

Going backwards in time, we had a great lunch at an Italian Deli called Dinos.  It probably could fit in the front half of our bus, but the food was great.  The menu was written on a green chalkboard that ran the length of the café, and thanks to the fact that Delores actually read it, I was spared having to eat a foot long sandwich on my own.  Our teachers from the morning, Gretchen and Kristen informed us that the best restaurants in the area were the ones that were filled with locals.  On that account we did well.  At about noon, a long line of customers came in, mostly men, and ordered lunch.

Just before lunch we visited the Old North Church which is Anglican. I’m glad that was pointed out to me so I could compare it to the other, mostly Congregational churches we have been in.  It was a little more ornate with a gorgeous pipe organ surrounded by statues of angels located in the loft opposite the pulpit.  The chandeliers added to the décor.

 

In the morning we visited the Paul Revere house and did an activity using primary resources.  As our guide/teachers walked us down to the North Church, they told us the story of Newman, the man who hung the two lanterns on the night of April 19^th.  As the story goes, he had soldiers staying with him and he had to slip out secretly into the church, lock the doors behind him and climb several narrow flights of stairs up into the bell fry.  This brought up a question that has been niggling at me.   Was there or wasn’t there quartering in Boston prior to the Revolutionary War?  Allison said, “No”, and when I questioned him about it, he was adamant. “No,” he said. “In other areas of the colonies, but not in Boston.”

The Park Ranger at the Bunker Hill monument also mentioned quartering, telling us that it was the cause for much of the friction in Boston during those times. This is what I have always taught my students.  So what gives?  When I questioned the two teachers from the Revere House about it, they said that that was the first they had heard of it.  They respected Allison as the expert and planned to ask.  The myth debunking that I wrote about yesterday has now become a mystery.

EAT AT DINOS FOR THE BEST ITALIAN SUB IN BOSTON

Rabblerousing

During our first stop at the Old State House, I enjoyed hearing the story behind the Boston Massacre, and I had never heard the part about the longshoremen at the rope works hasseling the British Soldiers.  Also, up until today I didn’t understand about the quartering of soldiers in Boston. I had always assumed it was part of the tension there.  Bob Allison’s story about the soldiers surrounding and laying seige to the Manufacturing House and then being surrounded by the Boston mob added to the drama of the events leading up the the massacre.  It didn’t take long for resentments to begin once the troops arrived.  At that time Boston had a population of 16,000 and it suddenly increased by 2000 when the British troops landed. You can certainly see how suspicions and fears would begin to arrise right from the start with every small heckle or broadside adding to the emmotional timber.  It’s hard to imagine 10,000 of the 16,000 town residents marching in the funeral for the massacre victims.

The mock trial at the Old State House also added to my understanding of the Boston Massacre.  It was interesting that inspite of his Patriot leanings, John Adams sat in as one of the justices for the defence of both Preston and the eight soldiers on trial.  All were acquited except for two who had their thumbs branded for manslaughter and were shipped out of Boston.  A second reenactment of the meeting in the Old South Meeting Hall also helped with my understanding of town meetings and the sentiments of the various groups in Boston prior to the revolution.  During the occupation of Boston by the British, the Meeting House was turned into a stable for the queen’s infantry, and many felt it was done as an insult to the Bostonians at that time.  Much of the mob action was grass roots, but there were also a few key figures such as Sam and John Adams who knew how to embellish and bring a public awareness to the events. It was during this time, 1771-1773, the Committee of Correspondence was set up in order to keep the individual colonies in touch with each other adding to the growing unity of the colonies.

Near the end of our “official” day we were able to go upstairs in the Faneuil Hall which was constructed as both a meeting house and a market place.  We had three hours in the area for dinner, and I used my time to explore some more of the Freedom Trail.  One wrong turn took me all the way to the South Station in Boston, but after that was corrected, I got back on the trail and was able to view the King’s Chappel burying ground as well as a second graveyard which held the remains of Paul Revere and none other than Mary Goose, the noted Mother Goose of nursery rhyme fame.  After this I was determined to make it to the Boston Common and Public Garden Park because I had missed it the night before because our dinner took too long.  It was there I met up with Kris, Delores, and Delphine, and it was perfect timing.  We went to Cheers for dinner and with the expert map-reading and navigational skills of all of us landlubbers, we made it back to the bus via a different route with enough time to stop at Staples for boxes and packaging tape. I even managed to get a photo of the “Make Way for Ducklings” statues and the State House on the way back.  ALL of the buildings in Boston continue to amaze me.

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“The paths of glory lead toward the grave.”

This quote from General Wolfe’s favorite quote seemed to be relevant for everyone except for Amherst who arrived just in time for the surrender of Quebec to the English. The visit to the Massachusetts Historical Society was fascinating.  Being a Canuck of sorts, it was interesting to me to hear about the fall of Quebec City and the three crucial “hot spots” of the French and Indian War.  I also understand more fully about why it was named the Seven Years War and have an answer for kids who can do the math and ask me that question.  Having the background about the ongoing French and English conflicts was helpful.  The spelling in my notes, however, was atrocious as I couldn’t understand the French general’s name and had to go back and change all my misspellings.  Miquelon?  I’m still not sure if I have it right which is why college professors need to take a few lessons from elementary teachers and use a few more visuals or stop and spell things for those of us who are unanointed.  Also, it seemed to be a consensus that sitting too long is a dangerous proposition.  I promise I will remember this when asking my own students to sit too long in class without breaking it up with some activities.

The primary resources were awesome and I loved the activity which juxtaposed two or more primary resources.  It’s a great classroom model that can be adapted to most ages.  The walk around the historical society was also amazing, especially the original portraits and a walk through the archives to see what goes on there.  I loved seeing the various printings of the Declaration and understanding more about printing techniques of the day.  Being in the same room with a document worth more than 6 million dollars was a little hard to wrap my mind around and I really appreciate the generosity of the educational staff and Peter Drummey to let us view it.  The other documents, too, were impressive.

As with most of our days in Boston, there have been some interesting side-highlights.  During our lunch break we walked to the community gardens down near the river and discovered they originated as Victory Gardens during World War II.  We were able to visit with one of the garden-keepers and learn a little bit more about their upkeep.  They were gorgeous.

Alarm and Muster!

Today we traveled with Paul Revere to the Hancock-Clark House, Lexington Green and the Buckman Tavern.  From there we went to the Munroe Tavern where Percy set up a temporary hospital for the wounded British, and traveled to both Concord and the North Bridge with a stop at Battle Road for a musket firing demonstration and first person accounts from both British and “American” soldiers which described the British retreat.  One myth that was debunked had to do with the notion that the Minutemen were unskilled and untrained.  In fact they were the opposite.  The Minutemen were an elite group of volunteers who were paid and put in extra time training above and beyond what the normal militia did.  These men had experience fighting Indians and many of them had fought in the French and Indian War.  Because of their organization and experience about 20,000 men were mustered as the British made their way back to Boston.  There is still a rivalry today between Lexington and Concord regarding where indeed the “shot heard round the world” was fired.  Concord makes it’s claim based on the fact that it was the first place where there was active engagement on the part of the colonists.  Their claim is in the figurative sense, and not base on the actual firing of a gun as the shot fired in Lexington was.

There were a few things of interest with the house and tavern tours.  We saw a musketball hole in the original door of Buckman’s Tavern, and noticed the appearance of fire buckets one for sand the other for water in the dwellings.  I think this was Ben Franklin’s influence, but every household was required to respond to local fires.  If not, they could not expect to have help if their own house would catch on fire.  The buckets were decorated and labeled so they could be identified at the end of a fire.  The buckets were counted after the fire was out to keep track of which families had responded.

By now I’m getting quite a collection of sayings which originated from the colonial times.  At Sturbridge in the blacksmith shop there was “getting to the point” as a blacksmith pounded and worked the red hot iron.  Today we learned about the Kings lumber where everything more than 23 inches was sent to England.  Once in a while, however, a tree fell or was blown down that was more than 23 inches.  Those trees you didn’t have to count and/or export.  You could use them for yourself, therefore it was called a “windfall.”  The expression “sleep tight” comes from tightening the ropes on the colonial beds, and “costs an arm an a leg” comes from the fact that portrait painters charged for every extra limb that was added to a portrait.  I’m sure there have been more of these throughout the trip, but that’s all I can think of right now.  Maybe someone can add to my list??

We ended the day at Harvard, so now I can say “I went to Harvard.”  I touched the foot of John Harvard’s statue which we had a good yuck over because everyone seemed to be doing it.  There were some foreigners standing next to us who asked us to explain the tradition and we said we were clueless.  It might just have been the person just before us that touched Harvard’s foot for a photo and everyone else just followed suit.  At any rate, everyone after us had their pictures taken touching the foot of John Harvard including the family we had just talked to.  I think, however, if you look closely at the photo you will see a place on the toe of John Harvard’s shoe that is rubbed shiny.  It’s my belief that a little bit of his  knowledge rubbed off, and now I’m much smarter.