Lowell Mills 6-15-07
June 16, 2007
It turned out to be a beautiful day, the weather finally cooperated!
The Industrial Revolution began to kick-off in the U.S., it occurred mostly in the Middle states and the New England states. Textiles was a major industry; cotton came from the south and northern factory produced cloth with its large labor force. “Mill” girls came mostly from farms, in the Lowell mills they could make additional income for their families back home. Each boarding house would house about 40 girls, their was a boardinghouse keeper that cooked for them and took care of them while they were away from home. The normal workday lasted about 13 hours with only an 8 hour workday on Saturday, and no work on Sunday (just church services). Later as more labor was needed due to union strikes immigrants began to work in the mill. More and more mills were built, cloth was easy to purchase, the price dropped and so did the demand for the mills.
MHS 6-14-07 Flag Day
June 15, 2007
Today it was quite an honor to meet Pauline Maier. She claimed to be somewhat anti-Jefferson in her book, she claims he received too much credit for the writing of the Declaration. Less editing was done to the upper half of the Declaration written by Jefferson, she believes he most likely reviewed that part before editing the next, then time ran out and the bottom half would be edited by others. We talked about the Stone pressed engraving, the Tyler engraving with the signatures, and the decorated copy with the pictures of the delegates (Adams’ picture is missing). We also had the opportunity to view first hand some of the original documents pertaining to the Declaration of Independence. Many individuals had input into the final document along the way making the Declaration a creation of the American people.
Maier feels that all students should read the committee papers before reading the Declaration of Indepence and the Constitution. It makes it clear that the convention was not linear but circular. A report would be made to the convention and resolutions would be made. Rough drafts of the Constitution were made just to have more series of changes made. In the end a committee would polish it up and make changes on the last day which included two references to God.
The afternoon was very valuable – we learned about the mass amount of information available to us from the MHS website with its numerous copies of original documents. They have curriculum projects that should spark an idea in my head for a lesson plan – I hope! We compared how different cities and towns came to a concensus on whether to declare independence or not from Britain and found out they were very similar overall. I am gaining ideas daily of things that can be done in the classroom.
On the way home Tim was kind enough to give us some time in the Granary graveyard, then dropped a few of us off in Salem, and those of us who remained were able to get some fastfood before heading back to the dorms.
Freedom Trail II 6-13-07
June 14, 2007
Today we focused on the North end of Freedom Trail. Gretchen Adams was expressive, she used visual aides in her overview of Paul Revere, I learned that he was more than a messenger, engraver, and goldsmith. He was also a dentist and caster (made him a wealthier man). He was married twice and had 16 children in all, 5 died before they became adults. We participated in an activity that requires students to use an article and an object from Revere’s time period. We ere required to identify the article and tell what we learned about Revere and guess at what the object was used for. My students love this kind of activity! Paul Revere was made popular with Longfellow’s exagerated poem.
We treked along some narrow streets to Old North Church, this is where Newman hung the two laterns in the steeple. The two laterns indicated that the British were on the move by water. Newman had to escape the church through a window in the back – he went undetected by British who were everywhere. This was the back-up plan in case Revere was not able to notify Hancock and Adams. Dawes, another rider, was to notify Hancock and Adams as well.
On the other side of Charles River lies the Bunker Hill Monument. Bunker Hill Monument was built to honor the patriots who fought in the first major battle of the American Revolution. The monument actually lies on Breed’s Hill, south of Bunker Hill. Those of us who were too tired to think cleary decided to climb the 294 steps to the top of the monument – the sight was wonderful!!!! The Patriots were able to defend the hill in the first two attacks, by the third attack the Patriots were running out of amunition, battle wise the British won, but their casualities where much higher. The battle did show the Patriots how strong they could be.
All Aboard! The USS Constitution won three battles in the war of 1812, the last time the ship saw action was in 1854, it is sailed about nine times a year. It has to be pulled out of it dock and into the harbor with barges.
Have to run now the Rockies are going to defeat the Red Sox! See you again tomorrow.
Freedom Trail I 6-12-07
June 13, 2007
It looked as if it would rain today, but luck was on our side – it was a beautiful day. Our day started at the Old State House, it was hard to believe it was built in 1713 and was the location of the Boston Massacre. Dr. Allison spoke about the events that led up to the Boston Massacre. A feeling of self-rule among the colonists caused strong feeling against the King and Parliament as they tried to tax the colonists without representation. When Christopher Seider, a young boy, was killed accidently by a warning shot the colonists grew more angry. Boys were throwing rocks through a merchant’s store window, and Mr. Richardson accidently shoots the boy. Ropeworkers taunted soldiers. Finally an angry mob gathers around the State House after seeing young boys pushed back by the soldiers. The Soldiers probably feared for their own safety, they were being hit by snowballs with rocks in them, and with ice. The colonists had large pieces of wood they had torn off a building, the soldiers shot into the crowd killing 5 and wounding 9.
Samantha, from Old State House, then led a group in a mock-trial of the soldiers – this was fun and I think this would be a great thing to have our students do. We also had a great activity we did at the Old South Church: half of us were loyalists and the other half were patriots, it showed us that there were strong sentiments on both sides of the fence. In the end the feelings are so strong no solution or compromise could be met (I learned that approximately only 1200 men in Boston could vote at this time – Boston’s population was around 16,000). The Boston National Historical Park also played a game with us: the king and parliament decide 4 items to be taxed, then the tax collectors collected those taxes, those who refused to pay the tax were jailed.
Several of us went back to the Old State House, walked through the Boston Common, and visited the Granary Burying ground where Mary Goose, John Adams and Paul Revere were burried. We ate dinner at Cheers – it was OK, not what I expected but now I can say; “I was there”.
Mass Historical Society 6-11-07
June 12, 2007
Prof. Fowler gave a nice lecture on the French and Indian War – his humor and knowledge made it interesting. He started with the constant conflict with Britain and France from 1066 through the war, how it spread throughout the world. He did focus on Arcadia, W. Pennsylvania, and the Great Lakes.
The war was costly and Britain felt that the colonists had benefitted the most and taxed the colonists “without representation”. This sparked bitter feelings with the colonists, Fowle explained that the colonists were already feeling like a separate enity from Britain. MHS served a great lunch – we ate among the artifacts!!
After lunch we discovered the “Liberty Garden”. We found a local who’s had a garden there since 1978. Most of the gardens are cared for, there were a few that looked abandoned.
We returned and toured MHS with its huge collection of art which includes many valuable portraits. We had the chance to view many primary documents including an original copy of the Declaration of Independence.
Lexington/Concord 6-10-07
June 11, 2007
What a great trip, it refreshed my memory of the events of April 19, 1775 we had read about before our trip. It was great to do Lexington first since this is were the fighting began. It was beneficial to see the area and places where people were located. I imagined Lexington and Concord to be even further away from each other. It still is strange to hear how Hancock and Adams were not overly concerned for their safety and when they finally decided to flee that Hancock had to take trunks of his belongings and well as a fish dinner with them. The Buckman Tavern was quaint, I’m surprised it was still standing after the battle.
Before heading off to the Minute Man National Historical Park we took a quick trip to Ye Old Buring Grounds were the British soldier who had died near the tavern was burried as well as the Minute Man leader John Parker. When we arrived we watched a techno skit that reenacted the events of April 18 and 19, 1775. I would love to take something home like this to show my students at school – I think they would love it. I especially like the map that showed the direction of the troops, it made they subject so clear!
We finally arrive at the Battle Road Trail. There I could imagine Revere and Dawes riding along these types of roads to warn the Patriot leaders of the approaching Regulars. Seeing how sharp the turn was at Bloody Angle and understand why it was one of the bloodiest battles along the route. I can see how the Regulars could be easily surrounded by the surmounting Minute Men .on the exodus to Boston. This was the part of out Boston trip I was looking forward to – I was not disappointed!
Sturbridge Village 6-9-2007
June 10, 2007
This was a fun hands-on experience! Not only did you get to see how people lived in 1838, you watched them in action and then partcipated in activities ourselves that people of that time would have participated in. We made a toy, made a book cover, and combed wool before cooking our own dinner. It gave me many great ideas I can use in the classroom.
Maine 6-8-07
June 9, 2007
The weather was wonderful, the scenery was even better. It almost felt like a greener Colorado, there were many pine trees, and there was also a variety of deciduous trees mixed in. There were many differences as well, the wider and slower moving rivers, the bridges, the shore lines, and the New England style homes, told me I was in a place much different than Colorado. We first stopped at the Pemaquid historic site. Three forts were built on the site at different times. With the site so close to Canada the forts were used as protection from the French and Native Americans. Fort Charles was the first fort built on the site. The fort was attacked by Native Americans, it was destroyed and abandond. Fort William Henry was the second fort built on the site, it was built by Wm. Phips, the Gov. of Mass. The last fort built on the site was Fort Frederick, Dunbar rebuilt and extended its size.
We reboarded the bus and spent a short time at the Pemaquid Point Lighthouse.
We boarded the bus once more and visited Old Fort Western along the Kennebec River in Augusta. The fort was built by a Boston company and established presence near Canada. Benedict Arnold gathered up supplies at the fort before heading off to Quebec. The fort never came under attack and became Captain Howard’s home and store.
Danver-Salem Village 6-7-07
June 8, 2007
Dr. Baker cleared up some misconceptions about witches! 150 or more individuals were accused of being witches. Nineteen were hanged, one was pressed to death. Some of the photos show a carved stone in memory of these individuals. These so-called witches were a way to explain and place blame for misfortunes that happened during this time in 1692. Those who refused to confess to being witches were the ones who were executed. We visited to home of Rebecca Nurse, one of the witches tried and hanged.
Mayflower-Plimoth 6-4-07
June 8, 2007
It was a long and tiring day, but well worth it! I was surprised to see how small the Mayflower actually was to carry 102 people along with with all of their cargo and smelly animals. I can only imagine the difficulties they had on their ocean journey. Plimoth was fun, we visited the Wampanoag homesite, there we saw traditionaly clothing and how the Wampanoag planted, cooked, and built their homes. Did you know that women in most Native American groups were treated equally and sometimes even better than the men? After that we went to a replica of the Plimoth Plantation. I entered through a wooden gate, the plantation had a wall that surrounded the plantation, I then proceeded through the Plantation. I visited the blacksmith and many other resident homes. The residents explained their role on the plantation: men, women, and children had different roles. We finished off the day with a large Pilgrim feast.
