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US History (Monday, January 30, 7th period)
Josh stopped his hundred yard stare at nothing when the history students began coming into the classroom.
"Hey," he said. "So. Snowmonsters. Huh."
He shook his head. "Moving on. I forgot to mention my attendance policy at the beginning of the year because I'm a grown-up and just assumed that people would be showing up, thrilled to hear about the ins and outs of US history and government." He looked down at his class roster. "Apparently some of you are more thrilled about this than others. So beginning today, if you miss three classes in a row, I'm going to have to ship your name off for detention. And I don't want to be that guy. So everyone show up, okay? Thanks."
He pulled down a map of the original thirteen colonies. "Okay, so the last time we were talking, our band of intrepid colonists had just dumped a couple of tons of tea into Boston Harbor. This, as you might imagine, did not go over well. It led to a ramp-up in troop movements from England to the colonies, especially to Boston, and a increase in rhetoric from the colonists." He looked down at his notes. "Thomas Paine wrote a pamphlet he called Common Sense, which laid out three key points: monarchy was a ridiculous form of government and they were better off without it; England was hurting the colonial economy with taxes and trade restrictions; and it was kind of dumb for a tiny island 3,000 miles away to think it could rule an entire continent. The colonists agreed with Paine. England, as you can probably guess, didn't."
He grinned. "And then you had Patrick Henry. Got to hand it to these guys--they had a better grasp of speechmaking than anyone in the current Congress. Patrick Henry was in the House of Burgesses in Virginia when news reached them about the port of Boston being closed, the Massachusetts Assembly being dissolved, and English troops being in the streets in retaliation for the Tea Party. The question before the Virginians was would they do anything about it?"
Josh pulled up a sheet of paper and cleared his throat. "Here's what Henry said:
Our chains are forged, their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston. The war is actually begun. The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms. Our brethren are already in the field. Why stand we here idle? ...Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?" Josh looked up. "Then Henry stood up straight and shouted, Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"
He grinned. "Hell of a way to get someone's attention, huh? The statesmen of the time were in contact with each other and had been exchanging letters long before war was declared. The first Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in 1774 and passed ten resolutions listing the rights of the colonists, which they shipped off to the king. Who, as you probably guessed, ignored it."
He looked down at his notes. "Which brings us to Lexington and Concord and the shot heard 'round the world, if you're feeling at all poetic. No one knows who shot first on the commons of Lexington, but when the smoke cleared, eight American farmers were dead and the Revolutionary War had begun. This was April 19, 1775, for those of you who want to keep track.
"I can see you're little minds working. 'But Mr. Lyman,' you want to say, 'the Declaration of Independence wasn't signed until July 4, 1776.' And that is true. While the lightly armed and pretty much hopelessly outnumbered militiamen were running around New England getting shot at by the most powerful military the world had ever seen up until that point, the politicians held another meeting." He raised an eyebrow. "Because some things never change. However, the Second Continental Congress did something that the Congresses that have come after it have really never been able to achieve: they made hugely important decisions."
He held out a hand. "They decided that there needed to be a Continental Army: not just whoever happened to be cranky, in the area, and carrying a rifle, which was the primary make-up of the militias at the time. There also needed to be someone in charge, and they picked George Washington of Virginia, who had gotten military experience fighting in the French and Indian War. Then the delegates got together and wrote another letter trying to explain their position to King George, who ignored it. At this point, only the most radical among them were thinking of scrapping the whole system and becoming their own country.
"That of course, changed. The battles of Bunker (or Breed's) Hill and Charleston showed everyone--much to everyone's surprise--that the colonists might be able to hold their own and even defeat the British army and navy. King George hadn't written back. It had been more than a year of battles. The Continental Congress said 'screw it, we're done.'" He grinned. "And then proceeded to write one of most beautifully phrased break-up letters in the history of the planet. Yes, I'm talking about the Declaration of Independence. You should read the whole thing, if only for the insanely long list of grievances that the colonists had with England, but the part that everyone needs to remember is a 36-word sentence in the second paragraph." He picked up another piece of paper and read:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
He looked up. "And then the delegates all signed it and made a gazillion copies. They sent one to King George and passed the rest around the colonies, where there was great rejoicing, as you might imagine. It was the last thing the colonists would have to rejoice about for a while because the Continental Army was, sadly, getting its ass kicked. After Bunker Hill, Sullivan's Island and Great Bridge, nothing seemed to go right. Congress was using the terribly unsuccessful 'hey, anyone got some money to spare' method of asking states to fund the army, so the soldiers weren't getting paid, armed, clothed or fed. Which is bad. Washington decided to try to take Trenton, New Jersey from the British on Christmas Eve." Josh looked up. "There's a famous painting commemorating this event, although no one would be standing up in a boat going across the Delaware River. That's dumb. Anyway, that military strategy was successful, but the next year was pretty much not.
"Bringing us to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania and different frozen soldiers. But in the time they spent freezing together, they began forming an esprit de corps--they trained together and for the first time stopped being from Massachusetts or Virginia or Pennsylvania. They became an army. And the French, who were always looking for an excuse to poke England in the eye, offered their support both financially and militarily."
Josh looked up. "Long, long story really short, the longer England spent money and manpower trying to win back the colonies, the more unpopular the war became at home. The Americans were actually winning battles and not just getting lucky." He ran a hand through his hair. "So we'll skip to the end. The war was officially over at the battle of Yorktown in 1781, even if the treaty wasn't signed for another two years. In a time before email or airplanes, these sort of things took time."
He sat down at his desk. "Okay. Today's discussion: based on the lecture and the reading in your textbook, who's your favorite Founder and why? Oh, and there's a quiz on Wednesday to cover all the material we've learned so far this semester: Columbus through Yorktown. No need to thank me."
"Hey," he said. "So. Snowmonsters. Huh."
He shook his head. "Moving on. I forgot to mention my attendance policy at the beginning of the year because I'm a grown-up and just assumed that people would be showing up, thrilled to hear about the ins and outs of US history and government." He looked down at his class roster. "Apparently some of you are more thrilled about this than others. So beginning today, if you miss three classes in a row, I'm going to have to ship your name off for detention. And I don't want to be that guy. So everyone show up, okay? Thanks."
He pulled down a map of the original thirteen colonies. "Okay, so the last time we were talking, our band of intrepid colonists had just dumped a couple of tons of tea into Boston Harbor. This, as you might imagine, did not go over well. It led to a ramp-up in troop movements from England to the colonies, especially to Boston, and a increase in rhetoric from the colonists." He looked down at his notes. "Thomas Paine wrote a pamphlet he called Common Sense, which laid out three key points: monarchy was a ridiculous form of government and they were better off without it; England was hurting the colonial economy with taxes and trade restrictions; and it was kind of dumb for a tiny island 3,000 miles away to think it could rule an entire continent. The colonists agreed with Paine. England, as you can probably guess, didn't."
He grinned. "And then you had Patrick Henry. Got to hand it to these guys--they had a better grasp of speechmaking than anyone in the current Congress. Patrick Henry was in the House of Burgesses in Virginia when news reached them about the port of Boston being closed, the Massachusetts Assembly being dissolved, and English troops being in the streets in retaliation for the Tea Party. The question before the Virginians was would they do anything about it?"
Josh pulled up a sheet of paper and cleared his throat. "Here's what Henry said:
Our chains are forged, their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston. The war is actually begun. The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms. Our brethren are already in the field. Why stand we here idle? ...Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?" Josh looked up. "Then Henry stood up straight and shouted, Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"
He grinned. "Hell of a way to get someone's attention, huh? The statesmen of the time were in contact with each other and had been exchanging letters long before war was declared. The first Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in 1774 and passed ten resolutions listing the rights of the colonists, which they shipped off to the king. Who, as you probably guessed, ignored it."
He looked down at his notes. "Which brings us to Lexington and Concord and the shot heard 'round the world, if you're feeling at all poetic. No one knows who shot first on the commons of Lexington, but when the smoke cleared, eight American farmers were dead and the Revolutionary War had begun. This was April 19, 1775, for those of you who want to keep track.
"I can see you're little minds working. 'But Mr. Lyman,' you want to say, 'the Declaration of Independence wasn't signed until July 4, 1776.' And that is true. While the lightly armed and pretty much hopelessly outnumbered militiamen were running around New England getting shot at by the most powerful military the world had ever seen up until that point, the politicians held another meeting." He raised an eyebrow. "Because some things never change. However, the Second Continental Congress did something that the Congresses that have come after it have really never been able to achieve: they made hugely important decisions."
He held out a hand. "They decided that there needed to be a Continental Army: not just whoever happened to be cranky, in the area, and carrying a rifle, which was the primary make-up of the militias at the time. There also needed to be someone in charge, and they picked George Washington of Virginia, who had gotten military experience fighting in the French and Indian War. Then the delegates got together and wrote another letter trying to explain their position to King George, who ignored it. At this point, only the most radical among them were thinking of scrapping the whole system and becoming their own country.
"That of course, changed. The battles of Bunker (or Breed's) Hill and Charleston showed everyone--much to everyone's surprise--that the colonists might be able to hold their own and even defeat the British army and navy. King George hadn't written back. It had been more than a year of battles. The Continental Congress said 'screw it, we're done.'" He grinned. "And then proceeded to write one of most beautifully phrased break-up letters in the history of the planet. Yes, I'm talking about the Declaration of Independence. You should read the whole thing, if only for the insanely long list of grievances that the colonists had with England, but the part that everyone needs to remember is a 36-word sentence in the second paragraph." He picked up another piece of paper and read:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
He looked up. "And then the delegates all signed it and made a gazillion copies. They sent one to King George and passed the rest around the colonies, where there was great rejoicing, as you might imagine. It was the last thing the colonists would have to rejoice about for a while because the Continental Army was, sadly, getting its ass kicked. After Bunker Hill, Sullivan's Island and Great Bridge, nothing seemed to go right. Congress was using the terribly unsuccessful 'hey, anyone got some money to spare' method of asking states to fund the army, so the soldiers weren't getting paid, armed, clothed or fed. Which is bad. Washington decided to try to take Trenton, New Jersey from the British on Christmas Eve." Josh looked up. "There's a famous painting commemorating this event, although no one would be standing up in a boat going across the Delaware River. That's dumb. Anyway, that military strategy was successful, but the next year was pretty much not.
"Bringing us to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania and different frozen soldiers. But in the time they spent freezing together, they began forming an esprit de corps--they trained together and for the first time stopped being from Massachusetts or Virginia or Pennsylvania. They became an army. And the French, who were always looking for an excuse to poke England in the eye, offered their support both financially and militarily."
Josh looked up. "Long, long story really short, the longer England spent money and manpower trying to win back the colonies, the more unpopular the war became at home. The Americans were actually winning battles and not just getting lucky." He ran a hand through his hair. "So we'll skip to the end. The war was officially over at the battle of Yorktown in 1781, even if the treaty wasn't signed for another two years. In a time before email or airplanes, these sort of things took time."
He sat down at his desk. "Okay. Today's discussion: based on the lecture and the reading in your textbook, who's your favorite Founder and why? Oh, and there's a quiz on Wednesday to cover all the material we've learned so far this semester: Columbus through Yorktown. No need to thank me."
During the lecture
Re: During the lecture