October 28, 1886 The Statue of Liberty Dedication

Lady Liberty is 111 feet tall, weighs 250 tons and has a 35 foot waist.

The NY Times reported it this way back on that day.

 

Chapter 5 Online Activity

Chapter 5: The Civil War Era - ”Escape to Freedom”

Introduction
In this chapter, you learned about the growing rift between the North and South before the Civil War. One of the most contentious issues between the two regions was slavery and the growing number of runaway slaves. Many Northerners angered Southern slave owners by giving aid to runaway slaves and refusing to return them to their owners. Learn more about this issue by logging on to the Internet and examining an actual newspaper ad by a landowner seeking the return of one of his slaves.

Destination Title: Africans in America

Directions
Start at the Africans in America Web site.

• Click on Judgment Day.
• Click on Resource Bank.
• Scroll down to Fugitive Slaves and Northern Racism.
• Under Historical Documents, click on Runaway Notice for Harriet Jacobs.
• Read the runaway notice as well as the accompanying text, and answer the following questions.

1.  In what year did the ad appear?

2. What does Dr Norcom believe Harriet plans to do?  How does this differ from what she actually did?

3.  To what system or network – led by people like Harriet Tubman – might Dr Norcom be referring to in his last paragraph?

4. Imagine you are a member of the family that helped Harriet escape.  Write an anonymous letter to Dr Norcom telling him why you not return her to him.  (100-150 words)

October 27, 1787 The First of The Federalist Papers Is Published, Calling for Ratification of the Constitution

The Library of Congress has a digital copy of all 85 of them – here.

Chapter 5 Summary Questions

Chapter 5 The Civil War Era

	1	The belief that the United States should stretch from sea to sea was called ____________
				A) popular sovereignty.
				B) Manifest Destiny.
				C) “Fifty-four forty or fight.”
				D) abolitionism.
	2	Which group of Americans first settled the Oregon Territory in the 1830s?
				A) American missionaries
				B) Stephen F. Austin and his followers
				C) the British government
				D) Mormon settlers
	3	Why didn’t the Wilmot Proviso become a law?
				A) It was defeated in the House of Representatives.
				B) It was vetoed by the president.
				C) It became unnecessary because the problem of slavery was solved.
				D) It was defeated in the Senate.
	4	What was the meaning of popular sovereignty?
				A) Voters within existing states should decide whether slavery would be allowed in the territories.
				B) Slavery should be forbidden in all the territories.
				C) Voters within the territories should decide whether slavery would be allowed within their borders.
				D) Slavery should be allowed in all territories.
	5	Why was California’s application for statehood such a controversial issue?
				A) It had too few people to become a state.
				B) Few people wanted to move as far away as California to live.
				A) Gold was discovered in California.
				B) It would create an imbalance in the number of free and slave states in the Senate.
	6	Which of the following was NOT a provision of the Compromise of 1850?
				A) Slave trade would be forbidden in the District of Columbia.
				B) California would be admitted as a slave state.
				C) The Mexican Cession would be divided into two territories.
				D) The Fugitive Slave Law would be strengthened.
	7	Which of the following statements about slavery is true?
				A) Marriages between enslaved persons were legal.
				B) Southerners didn’t even try to defend the use of enslaved persons on their plantations.
				C) Freed African Americans were allowed to live their lives without restrictions.
				D) The majority of Southerners were not slaveholders.
	8	Which of the following helped to nullify the Fugitive Slave Law in the North?
				A) the Dred Scott decision
				B) the Kansas-Nebraska Act
				C) personal liberty laws
				D) the Compromise of 1850
	9	How did the Kansas-Nebraska Act nullify the Compromise of 1850?
				A) It forbade slavery in the trans-Missouri region.
				B) It made Kansas and Nebraska slave states.
				C) It allowed the possibility of slavery below the Missouri Compromise Line.
				D) It allowed the possibility of slavery above the Missouri Compromise Line.
	10	What is conscription?
				A) the government set up by seceded states
				B) a military strategy by which an area is sealed off
				C) formal withdrawal from an organization
				D) drafting men for military service
	11	Why did Robert E. Lee decide to reject Abraham Lincoln’s offer to lead the Union armies?
				A) He was not trained to lead soldiers.
				B) He did not want to lead any troops.
				C) He felt loyalty to the federal government in Washington was more important than loyalty to his home state of Virginia.
				D) He felt his loyalty to Virginia and his family was more important.
	12	Who was the Confederate president?
				A) Jefferson Davis
				B) Abraham Lincoln
				C) Ulysses S. Grant
				D) Robert E. Lee
	13	Which Union general led his troops on a destructive march through the Georgia countryside in 1864?
				A) General Ulysses S. Grant
				B) General Robert E. Lee
				C) General William T. Sherman
				D) General George McClellan
	14	What did Abraham Lincoln mean when he said, “It was not best to swap horses while crossing the river”?
				A) Lincoln liked horseback riding.
				B) It would be wise to try to gain control of the Mississippi River.
				C) Lincoln expressed his bitterness toward the Southern states that had seceded.
				D) It would not be wise to elect a different president while the war was going on.
	15	Where did the surrender of General Robert E. Lee’s troops take place?
				A) Washington, D.C.
				B) Richmond
				C) Atlanta
				D) Appomattox Court House

October 26, 1774 The First Continental Congress Adjourns in Philadelphia

This was the adjournment (dismissal) of the first in a series of meetings held by important people from each of the 13 colonies.  The Congress’ were held to address their complaints with the British crown which the Americans felt were unfairly taxing and mistreating the new American colonies.  

October 25, 2002 Senator Paul Wellstone Dies in a Plane Crash In Minnesota

Senator Paul Wellstone, a progressive liberal, and his wife were killed when their small plane hit turbulence and crashed.  Some look at this as a tragic accident.  Others believe it to be an assassination that was carried out to put the U.S. Senate back in control of the Republican Party.

On the same day, 3 years earlier, golfer Payne Stewart and 5 others were killed when something went wrong on their small Learjet and killed everyone inside the plane at 30,000 feet.  The plane flew on its own for four hours before it ran out of fuel and crashed into a field in Aberdeen, South Dakota.  Stewart, who signature clothing style and love of the NFL made him immediately recognizable on the course, he just won the U.S. Open earlier in the year.

NFL Pick 5 – Week 7

Dr Ray’s Picks (29-6)
Minnesota (upset) / Indianapolis / New Orleans
Philadelphia (div) / Green Bay

Pottieger’s Picks (26-9)
Minnesota (upset) / Indianapolis / New England
San Diego (div) / Carolina

Kennedy’s  Picks (24-11)
Pittsburgh / NY Giants / Carolina
Philadelphia (div) / Atlanta (upset)

Nguonly’s Picks (18-12)
Washington /

Mastronardi’s Picks (15-10)
Detroit (off this week)  /

Shulla’s Picks (14-7)
Miami /

Fraser’s Picks (12-5)
New England /

.

USH Chapter 5 Projects

You know the deal.   Check the grading rubric here.  Read it carefully, it’s filled with minor details you don’t want to miss.   List of partners is here.

A day will start their presentations on Monday, Oct 26.
B day presentations will begin on Thursday, Oct 28.

A few key things to remember:
– have your worksheets printed and any documents, powerpoints, etc (anything you want to be projected) e-mailed to me BEFORE you class starts.
– practice before you present.         — dress code!

I’m looking forward to seeing what your teams come up.  Be creative and have fun – there are a million ways to fulfill the requirements of the rubric.

(click on this rubric to see it full size)

October 23, 1983 Suicide Truck Bomber Strikes The Marines Barracks in Beirut, Lebanon

President Reagan said the Marines would remain in Lebanon despite the attack.    A few months later, however, they were withdrawn from Lebanon.    The Arlington National Cemetery website writer refers to the deaths of these soldiers as “the first Americans to shed blood in the fight against Middle East terrorism”.  That’s not actually true, but this was the first large-scale suicide attack targeting Americans in the Middle East.

October 22, 2002 The DC Sniper Kills His 13th and Final Victim

In one of the most bizarre true crime stories in recent history, two men – John Allen Muhammed and his teenage “son” Lee Boyd Malvo - went on a serial killing spree that spanned nearly a month and 13 victims around the Washington, DC area.

Muhammed now sits on death row in a Virginia prison.  Malvo is now serving life in prison with no chance of parole.  It’s a fascinating and tragic story of senseless violence in the name of Islam.  Although while John Muhammad was a Muslim, this violence was a result of his complete craziness and lack of a conscious – not jihadist ideology.

Relection Terrace – Wheaton, MD

October 21, 1879 Thomas Edison has a Bright Idea

Can someone please turn on the lights!?!