Subtle Change in Declaration Draft

Even the best of us can make mistakes – including that renown Founding Father, Thomas Jefferson.

In a press release on July 2, research chemist Dr. Fenella France and Librian of Congress James Billington pointed out that Jefferson had made, then soon caught and corrected, a slip in wording.
While listing the grievances against King George III, Jefferson had written: “He has incited treasonable Insurrections of our Fellow Subjects, with the allurement of Forfeiture and Confiscation of our Property.”

He realized his error almost immediately, as evidenced by the fact that the still wet ink was smudged. France thinks that Jefferson wiped over the original word with his hand, then wrote “Citizens” over the brown smudge he had created. Although the discovery was made last year, it was only revealed recently. The word was found through the use of digital imaging technology and other scientific tests. The camera also revealed erased text and fingerprints from the Founding Fathers who handled the document. France called it a “spine-tingling” find.

France stated: "This has been a very exciting development".

The rough draft includes other corrections made by the committee (Including Benjamin Franklin and John Adams) on Jefferson’s work – a lined through word here, notes in the margin, smaller writing in the spaces between the lines… all the work of an editorial committee.

But the smudge is different – corrected by the man who made it, before it went before the committee. Oddly enough, the sentence did not make it into the final version of the Declaration of Independence.

There is now a debate being generated among historians as to whether it was a Freudian slip by a man who had been born under the rule of an English monarchy, or if it was taken from a draft of Virginia’s constitution, which includes the word “subjects” – or any of a number of other possible reasons.

According to Librarian of Congress James Billington:

“It shows the progress of his mind. This was a decisive moment. We recovered a magic moment that was otherwise lost to history.”

What does this show us? How about… we are human and make mistakes???

Of course, this inspired me to read the original draft to compare it to the final draft – just out of an interest as to what other changes might have been edited in, as well as trying to find other ‘smears’. While I have neither the original document nor the scientific equipment for analyzing it, I can ‘suppose’….

WEB RESOURCES:

AOL News
The Huffington Press
Library of Congress (Look at page three of the draft document)
Newser
Yahoo News

PHOTO SOURCE:

Library of Congress
Yahoo News Slideshow

Fenella France with slide of image/AOL
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Women's History Month

March 1 marks the beginning of Women’s History Month, an annual celebration and recognition of the contributions of women to civilization and history – and pointing to the needs of the future.

The theme for this year’s Women’s History Month is “Writing Women Back Into History”, a theme designed to recognize the diverse accomplishment of women throughout history.

Women’s History Month is a time to celebrate how far women have come – and what contributions have been made that were overlooked in generations of history texts and teachings.

How much do you know about women’s history? Try the quiz on Biography – or better yet, project it in class onto the screen and have your class take the quiz.

Some other resources:

Library of Congress has a site with a number of specific topics, as well as lesson plans for use in the classroom.

The history of Women’s History Month can be found here.

The National Women’s History Project provides information and resources.

Time Magazine has a Time for Kids special section for Women’s History Month, including games, a quiz, and information.

There are many, many other resources. The above is just a sampling. Google ‘Women’s History Month” and you’ll see 26 million links.

'Thanks for the Memories' - Bob Hope

One of my sources mentioned that today (December 20) in 1920 Leslie Townes Hope received American citizenship. Hope was born in 1903 in England. His father moved the family to America in 1907 - though Hope often quipped that:

"I left England at the age of four when I found out I couldn't be king."

The family settled in Ohio, and Leslie became a naturalized citizen at the age of seventeen.

He was better known to Americans as Bob Hope. As I began to think about him - especially his efforts to entertain American troops during World War II (an on through Desert Storm) - I searched and found some resources that might be of use to our teachers in the classroom.

Army-Navy Screen Magazine presents a line up of stars from the Armed Forces Radio Service program "Command Performance" to entertain the troops. Filmed at Camp Roberts, California, this episode featured Hope as the host, along with a galaxy of stars who donated their time and efforts. Remember as you watch this that this was a show taped for radio broadcast - though with a live audience.

Bob Hope on Command Performance, WW II Part 1 and Part 2.

Discussion on the steak and the concept of meat rationing could be especially instructive, as well as the concept of humor to relieve crisis and stress.

A short (6 minute) but interesting compilation of Hope's USO career from World War II to Desert Storm is found here.

Finally, the Library of Congress provides information and resources on Hope's USO tours through their On the Road LOC exhibit site.

Photo Resources:

Bob Hope, Wikipedia

Bob Hope during a 1943 radio broadcast, Library of Congress

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American Treasures Exhibit

Wow - the 100th blog entry! What better topic than one concerning our nation's history and heritage.

I was privileged to attend the Teaching American History Project Directors conference in Washington DC last week. The conference was enlightening, as was the opportunity (evenings and an afternoon) to visit various spots in our nation’s capital on our own.

Knowing the emphasis our teachers are placing on the use of primary resources, I visited the Library of Congress, Jefferson Building – which is the oldest of the three LOC sites in the capital. It was an absolutely splendid experience – one even more impressive as I realized that the LOC was working on digitizing many of its items for display on its internet website.

It was fascinating to see a selection of Jefferson’s books, which helped restart the Library after its destruction when the British burned many of the official buildings in Washington during the War of 1812 – and to be told that he actually collected (but had not read) many of those books.

I also was able to spend an inordinate amount of my time at the American Treasures exhibit titled “Creating the United States” - which chronicled the steps to American Independence and the writing of the Constitution over a decade later. The exhibit housed maps, letters, and documents – all primary resources that could be used to teach this concept in the classroom without resorting to the textbook. It would be an engaging and innovative method of instruction with our young people, showing them the very documents and thinking that led to the foundation of our nation. The Creating the United States link. That link also has a tab that leads to interactive activities for the students.

Many of the items in the exhibit are available online at the Library of Congress. A link from the aforementioned site takes you to the Top Treasures Gallery where digitized primary resources on the Declaration of Independence, Mason’s Declaration of Rights, Washington’s Commission as Commander-in-Chief, the Constitution, and more are available.

Of course, the first item I saw was a huge map of colonial America that would look really nice hanging in my office…..
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The War That Defined A Century

Today is the ninety-fifth anniversary of the war that defined the character of the 20th Century and – to an extent – the experiences we have had in the 21st Century.

The men and women who lived during that time, fought the battles in the mud and trenches of France and other places around the world – they have by and large passed on, and often their stories with them. Great Britain reported in the last month the passing of their oldest WW I veteran and their last survivor of the trenches from the war. The US has two WW I veterans still living.

We are also losing our World War II veterans. Once source indicated almost a thousand of these veterans are dying in America every day. Then we have our Korean War vets, who are most likely retired by now, and our Vietnam vets, who – if not retired – are in their mid- to late-fifties.

If you personally know any vets from any era, see if they won’t talk to you about their experiences – and video tape it if you can. If you videotape it, make several copies – one for the Library of Congress Veterans History Project, one for your local historical society, and one for the home town historical society of the veteran – and one for the veteran to share with his/her family. We’re losing precious stories of history every day – perhaps we need to make one small act of trying to preserve what we teach.

And – we’re not only losing the stories of the veterans, but also of those who stayed at home during these wars. They all have their own story to tell – and those stories can be a revealing and fascinating look at the past.

All of this takes a little preparation in preparing questions, filming, etc., but is well worth the effort.

Essential Question: What is our responsibility as instructors for preserving the voices of the past?
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Library of Congress: Teacher Site

I was reading through the Library of Congress blog last week and came across an entry of interest.

We have been emphasizing the use of primary resources in the classroom recently, and the Library of Congress is one of the primary resources that we used in our trainings. This LOC offering is an excellent tool for teachers – and students – to use in learning how to utilize the LOC as a powerful resource for the classroom.

The article was titled “New Teachers Site Is All Class”, and is one that is worth reading. If you click here you will go to a LOC page called “Resources for Teachers”, which lists classroom materials the teacher can access and use, as well as the professional development available. If you click on TPS Direct you will link to the first of six self-paced professional development modules: Introduction to the Library of Congress. The other modules will be added

As you go through the module, take your time – even if you ‘know’ what it’s talking about. First, it’s a good refresher and second, it doesn’t take all that long. I went through the “Getting Started” portion of the module prior to beginning the program.

I’ve started the initial course – am on Chapter 4 of 7 chapters - and am finding the material engaging, informative, and useful. I believe at the end the participant receives a certificate – which you can use to get inservice hours in our District’s Professional Development plan.

Just heed this bit of advice… don’t skip anything as you go through.

Essential question: How could the use of Primary Resources be used to enhance a student’s reading and analytical skills?

Library of Congress, Flicker, and Historic Newspapers

I was doing my (apparently) weekly catch-up on blogs when I read the one from the folks at the Library of Congress. They have set up a new series – which will be growing continually – on Flickr which deals with historic newspapers. From their blog:

“Today the Library launched a new photostream on our Flickr page to celebrate this visual heritage. It is a series of 52 weekly supplements in the New-York Tribune, beginning 100 years ago in 1909. About 50 new pages will be added to the stream every month.”

TIP: Be sure to click on the ‘all sizes’ button on the Flickr site in order to enlarge the picture – all of the way to ‘original’ size.

Earlier this year in my blog I had written about some statistics from a hundred years ago. I know when I was in the classroom one could build an entire unit around the ‘hundred years ago’ concept – of course, when I started teaching was the hundredth year since Grant defeated Greeley – and the kids always enjoyed ‘looking back’.

I’d encourage teachers to take a look at the new Library of Congress initiative and see (and share) how they could use this in the classroom!

Essential Question: What classroom strategies could be used for teaching by using this Library of Congress material?

Letters of the Delegates

The Library of Congress has wonderful online resources for the Social Studies teacher. I came across one the other day while ‘surfing’ through the American Memory portal of the LOC webpage: Letters of the Delegates.

This site contains links to letters and diary entries of many of the delegates to the Continental Congress, and covers the years 1774 – 1788. It is easy to navigate through the letters, as the initial division is by date – usually covering a three to five month block. Once you link to that three-to-five month block, the names of the authors of these letters are show. If the document is a letter, it also shows whom the letter is to.

An example of some of the insight provided by perusing this collection: A letter from John Hancock to George Washington on May 16, 1776, inviting the General to Philadelphia to discuss matters with Congress – and offering to share his residence with General Washington and his wife.

Sir, Philadelphia May 16th. 1776. I do myself the Honour to enclose you several Resolutions passed by the Congress, to which I beg Leave to refer you. The Congress being of Opinion, that it is necessary, as well for your Health, as the public Service, that you should embrace the earliest opportunity of coming to Philadelphia, have directed me to write to you, and request, that you will repair to Philada. as soon as you can conveniently, in order to consult with Congress, upon such Measures as may be necessary for the carrying on the ensuing Campaign. I hope the Situation of the great Affairs with which you are entrusted, will admit your making this Excursion, which I apprehend may be serviceable to your Health. In which Case, I request the Favour that you will please to honour me with your and your Lady's Company at my House, where I have a Bed at your Service during your Continuance here, and where every Endeavour of mine and Mrs. Hancock, shall be exerted to make your Abode agreeable. I reside in an airy, open Part of the City in Arch Street and Fourth Street. If this should be agreeable to you, it will afford me much Pleasure.”

This site is one to be explored! If you decide to explore it, feel free to share any discoveries or interesting tidbits.

Essential Question: How can the personal views found in the Letters of the Delegates be effectively used in our history, government, and civics classes?