fandomhigh | Plus We Have a Motorcade [Thursday, January 16, 2014, 1st period]

Josh was dressed in the winter uniform for bureaucrats in Washington--dark suit, taupe trenchcoat--as he stood on the lawn of Mount Vernon, because who didn't love a good field trip, even in January? He took a sip of his coffee (thanks, Gert!) as he let his students wander around for a bit, exploring the grounds of the home of the first American president (or at least the first in any dimension he'd ever heard of).

Finally he gestured for them all to come back around. "Welcome to Mount Vernon," he said, "the home of George Washington, the first president of the United States, at least in all dimensions that I'm aware of." He passed out copies of the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution "Before you explore the house an outbuildings, give these a quick glance. How much power does a president have now, compared to what he'd been given in the Articles of Confederation? Bear in mind that the US had just broken off from a fair micromanage-y dictatorship, which colored the way they looked at things. Then you get to wander around and find the answer to this question for me: how much power did Washington have in comparison to the modern presidency?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Cold. WTF, Josh, it's January.

Raven Darkholme

Jessica Drew

Gertrude Yorkes

Joker Moreau

Marasiah Fel

Mercy Thompson

Eleanor Lamb

Read the handouts! They're both short, don't worry. Look around Mt. Vernon! Make comments about slaveholding Founders!

Edited 2014-01-16 17:06 (UTC)

So you can find the answer to Josh's question about the changing in power to the presidency over the past two hundred years.

Or just so you can see people in period costume. (http://www.mountvernon.org/)

Raven wasn't bothered in the least by the cold. She was bothered by -- and subsequently kind of fascinated by -- the slaves' quarters.

She didn't encounter that many relics of that part of America's history up in New York, certainly not in as rich (and subsequently white) an area as she'd spent the last several years.

She spent a lot of her time in this part of the grounds, smiling politely but shaking her head when the historical interpreters tried to interact with her. She didn't have any questions, and she didn't want to come off as crass or terrible, so she preferred to keep quiet, and just let it all sink in.

"Yeah, I'm about to give these guys each a dollar to stop trying to teach me things," Gert muttered to Raven after witnessing an exchange with a historical interpreter. "So annoying."

"It's like when you're just trying to do some nice quiet shopping and the sales clerks keep asking if you're finding everything okay," Raven said. "I know it's their job, but sometimes you just want to take it all in by yourself."

"Seriously," Gert agreed. "Maybe younger kids have fun with it, but it's just frustrating when we only have a limited amount of class time for this and want to actually get to see stuff. I've always wanted to explore here."

"Have you found anything interesting so far?" Raven asked. She was imagining hidden treasure or evidence of occult ties or something. Though she supposed if there were any of that here, it would probably be tucked away where visitors weren't allowed.

Which was not to say she couldn't potentially get to them. . . .

"Not really," Gert admitted, wrinkling her nose. "I guess I didn't think about how they probably keep the really important historical stuff in the museums that get more foot traffic back in DC. The museum was all glassware and clothes and stuff, which, great for being able to save all that, I guess, but not that relevant. What about you?"

Raven shrugged, looking towards the cabins. "These, mostly. You don't see this sort of thing where and when I'm from. 1950s New York is pretty good at pretending this sort of thing never actually happened."

Or that, when it did, New Yorkers were obviously totally opposed to it in every way possible.

"And people are still struggling just to get recognized as being people, you know? Even a hundred -- or a hundred fifty -- years later. It's terrible."

The whole experience just seemed somewhat surreal. Joker made his way around the estate slowly, stopping frequently and taking in all the exhibits.

Sia was taking a very real interest in looking around, just to get an idea of how different things were than what she was used to. Even after two years here, sometimes this place still felt very... removed.

Also there were period costumes.

Eleanor was pleased to have her winter coat as she wandered the grounds. She'd seen pictures of Mount Vernon before, but how different to actually be here, standing on the grass under the cold winter sky.

What's changed since Washington's time?

"Washington wasn't President under the Articles of Confederation," Joker pointed out. "But it looks like the people who were had jack in the the way of power. Nobody even remembers or cares who they were. And... Maybe I'm reading it wrong, but it doesn't look like there's much in the way of power in the Constitution, either. They were really big on the whole 'he's not a king' thing, weren't they?"

Josh nodded. "But in their defense, King George was kind of a power-mad crazy person. They still treated Washington a bit like royalty--he was addressed as 'His Excellency', something that would have gotten either of my bosses laughed out of the room. But in terms of actual, wield-able power--that was all in the Congress."

If you'd like!

Gert had some issues with the Articles of Confederation just like anyone else, but some aspects of their legislation didn't seem so bad. No presidential power and no draft? She could get behind that.

Edited 2014-01-16 21:51 (UTC)

My keyboard is being stupid. I suspect the toddler hit some button...

Plus We Have a Motorcade [Thursday, January 16, 2014, 1st period]

Sign in [1/16]

Re: Sign in [1/16]

Re: Sign in [1/16]

Re: Sign in [1/16]

Re: Sign in [1/16]

Re: Sign in [1/16]

Re: Sign in [1/16]

Re: Sign in [1/16]

Listen to the lecture [1/16]

Explore Mt. Vernon

Re: Explore Mt. Vernon

Re: Explore Mt. Vernon

Re: Explore Mt. Vernon

Re: Explore Mt. Vernon

Re: Explore Mt. Vernon

Re: Explore Mt. Vernon

Re: Explore Mt. Vernon

Re: Explore Mt. Vernon

Re: Explore Mt. Vernon

Re: Explore Mt. Vernon

Answer Josh's question!

Re: Answer Josh's question!

Re: Answer Josh's question!

Talk to Josh and Gert!

Re: Talk to Josh and Gert!

OOC