Founding Fathers

In my house we all have our favorite founding father.  For my daughter and husband it is John Adams.  My son's favorite is George Washington.  But for me, although John Adams runs a very close second, it is Alexander Hamilton.  Most find Hamilton an odd choice.  He could be.... let's say abrasive, often getting into arguments with not only Thomas Jefferson and his followers, but also fellow Federalists.  And of course, most notably, Aaron Burr.

I admire Hamilton for many reason, the main one being that he truly came from nothing.  He is an example of living the American Dream, but he lived it before there was an America.  Alexander Hamilton was born in 1755 (1757 in some documents) as the illegitimate child of a Scottish trader in the West Indies and was orphaned as an adolescent.  In 1773 he was sent to the colonies to pursue a formal education at King's College and almost immediately took up Patriot cause.  He joined a militia two years later and by 1777 became George Washington's aide-de-camp.  Hamilton wrote most of what we now call the Federalist Papers, in an effort to counter anti-federalist opposition to the ratification of the Constitution.  He then went on become the first Secretary of the Treasury and established the First National Bank and the foundations of our modern day banking system.  Not bad for a bastard immigrant.

On the other hand, Alexander Hamilton was arrogant, a terrible politician and was obsessed with honor.  For these reasons he was disliked and is today lesser known (perhaps unknown) to most Americans.  And then there is of course his tragic death in a duel with Aaron Burr.  No one is perfect.  So next time you take out a ten dollar bill, take a moment to reflect on the accomplishments of Alexander Hamilton and his contributions to our current system of government.

For additional resources on Alexander Hamilton check out this virtual tour of the Hamilton Exhibition, screen the PBS American Experience documentary, or visit Hamilton's grave at Trinity Church on Wall Street in New York City.

Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

These famous words were uttered by Ronald Reagan on this day in 1987.  Today this may seem like old news, but to those of us who lived through it, the events that followed two years later seemed, at the time, improbable.  Germany had been divided for so long, a united Germany seemed unlikely to happen in our lifetime.

Just a little food for thought as we read the news and observe the various political events unfolding around the world today.

School House Rock Wednesday #1

School House Rock played an important role in my educational development and thus, because Wednesdays are tough days (and nights) for me, I will post a favorite School House Rock video each Wednesday.  In honor of Sarah Palin and her re-writing the famous ride of Paul Revere, I think this video is most appropriate.  Please note that although the video does not make this clear, Paul Revere made his famous ride on April 18, 1775 and "the shot heard 'round the world" (not fired by Revere) occurred on April 19, 1775, now fondly commemorated as Patriots' Day.  (If you are ever in Massachusetts around Patriots' Day, there are awesome re-enactments in Lexington, Concord and other surrounding towns).  And, yes, I realize that the School House Rock Video has Paul Revere yelling "The British are coming! The British are coming!" into a bullhorn.  He did in fact state that "The Regulars are coming out!" after he was asked to not make so much noise.  This is why School House Rock is a good starting point for a discussion on the American Revolution, but not a final source of information.

Bells, Bells, Bells

Little did I know that we would hear about Paul Revere and his bells so soon after my last post on the subject.  Palin supporters are even trying to amend Wikipedia.

History Re-told

Welcome to my first education blog post! Initially I was not sure what to discuss for this post, but have decided to go with this....

Sarah Palin discussing the historical importance of Paul Revere.  Palin's misunderstanding of history is not as disturbing as the fact that like Palin, so many other Americans take history and re-interpret it for the benefit of their own political ideas.  No Governor Palin, Paul Revere did not stand up to the British and tell them that they were not going to take our arms and he did not "ring those bells" -- that would have been counter-productive and most likely a suicide mission.  Paul Revere was a silversmith and he might have made bells, but the signal Palin is referring to is the two lanterns placed in the steeple of the Old North Church ("one if by land, two if by sea") as a warning. Revere rode on horseback from Charlestown to Lexington to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock about the British coming to arrest them, all along the way spreading word to fellow patriots about the advancing Regulars.

Palin is not alone in this need to rewrite history.  Here is Michele Bachmann discussing our founding fathers and slavery.

To say that our founding fathers "worked tirelessly" to eliminate slavery is a gross misstatement of history.  Many of them, including Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and George Washington, owned slaves.  And John Quincy Adams, although openly opposed to slavery, was not even 9 years old on July 4, 1776.  

American history is not always pretty.  We study history not only to learn about our past, but to learn from our past mistakes.  By rewriting history and glossing over those events for which we may not be so proud, we do a disservice to those who fought to change the status quo and make history.

Currently most Americans have a very poor understanding of American history, and an even worse understanding of world history.  As a history lover and social studies teacher I find this very disturbing.  I think the biggest challenge in the years to come for history teachers will be undoing all the inaccurate history floating around in the media.  Unfortunately, once it's out there in the world wide web, for many it is fact.  I'm sure in the years to come we will hear more about Paul Revere and his bells.