America’s First Constitution – “A Rope of Sand”
The Articles of Confederation, reflecting republican fears of both centralized power and excessive popular influence, leads to conflicts among the states that threaten the existence of the young nation.
No executive leadership
No national court system
One State, One Vote
No power to TAX
Northwest Ordinance (1787)
Shays’ Rebellion (1787)
The Logic of Resistance [1770 to 1774]
Colonial reactions to perceived threats from the British help unite the colonies and provide a training ground for young colonial politicians – a formative step toward organized rebellion.
Boston Massacre
Committees of Correspondence
Boston Tea Party
Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts)
First Continental Congress
The Spanish Mission System
The Spanish clergy, particularly Jesuits and Franciscans, played a critical role in settling the Southwest using the mission system. Over the centuries, this became the most effective means of “civilizing” natives. Their missions were designed to spread Christianity among, and establish control over, native populations. In some areas, they forced Indians to live in mission communities, where the priests taught them weaving, blacksmithing, candle-making, and leather-working, and forced them to work in orchards, workshops, and fields for long hours. The missions were most successful in New Mexico (despite an Indian revolt in 1680) and California and far less successful in Arizona and Texas. In addition, as Indians converted, a form of Catholicism that was unique to the Americas developed to accommodate the converts
Current Events: Canonization of Spanish missionary Junipero Serra
Junipero Serra, an 18th century Spanish missionary, will be canonized as a saint during Pope Francis’s trip. Some see Father Serra as an American hero, but his sainthood isn’t without controversy.
Missionary Work in the New World
Using NPR Podcasts to tell the American story
La Malinche known also as Doña Marina was a Nahua woman from the Mexican Gulf Coast, who played a role in the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, acting as an interpreter, advisory, mistress, and intermediary for the Spanish conquistador, Hernán Cortés. She was one of 20 women slaves given to the Spaniards by the natives of Tabasco in 1519. Later, she became a mistress to Cortés and gave birth to his first son, Martín, who is considered one of the first Mestizos (people of mixed European and indigenous American ancestry).
NPR Podcast: Who was La Malinche? (6:50)
HOW TO DELIVER CONTENT IN THREE EASY STEPS!
1. Create a class account using the Remind.com text service.
2. Search the American Pageant’s Infinite Playlist and select the file you want to send to your students.
3. Paste the podcast link in your Remind.com text message and send!
This post is part of the APUSH Gameday series.
San Diego State University “Leadership Starts Here” San Diego State University (SDSU, San Diego State) is a public research university in San Diego, California, and is the largest and oldest higher education institution in San Diego County. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university in the 23-member California State University.
After the athletic teams were established in 1921, media referred to the teams as “Staters” or “professors”. The school newspaper tried to encourage “Wampus Cats” during its coverage of the 1923-24 school year. In the fall of 1924, Athletic Director C.E. Peterson urged the students to select a nickname and the school newspaper, The Paper Lantern, invited suggestions. Over the next few issues, names such as Panthers, Balboans and Thoroughbreds were suggested and submitted to a committee of Dean Al Peterson, C.E. Peterson and a student. In 1925, student leaders chose the nickname “Aztecs” over such other suggestions as “Balboans”. They felt the terminology was more representative of a southwest image and the selection met with no dissent. In February of 1925, President Hardy gave his formal approval to the “Aztec” nickname and teams adopted that identity within a week.
I work the San Diego State Aztecs into my course when I cover the following topics:
From Pangaea to Paradise – The Americas Before European Conquest [1491] Pre-Columbian indigenous populations were not sparsely settled in a pristine wilderness, rather, a vastly more populous and sophisticated civilizations that actively shaped and influenced the land around them .
The Spanish Mission System – “A Wealth of Souls to Harvest”The Spanish clergy, particularly Jesuits and Franciscans, played a critical role in settling the Southwest using the mission system.Over the centuries, this became the most effective means of “civilizing” natives.
This year I decided to work my favorite TV show into my Advanced Placement United States History course. College Football Gameday goes on location Every week the crew from Gameday typically broadcasts from the campus of the team hosting a featured game being played that day and features news and analysis of the day’s upcoming games.
While on they were hosting from campus of James Madison University I thought I could have some fun weaving a college’s history (founding mascots, and notable alumni) into my curriculum. So it began, I ordered a bunch of College Polo’s from Fanatics.com using money I made selling resources on my TeachersPayTeachers site. I will be posting info about the colleges I choose to incorporate into my course as we move through the semester.
Save TomRichey.net to your favorites and visit it often.
This is well-built resource with quality content that has a central mission of delivering learning to students and teachers by providing online videos, PowerPoints, tutoring services, writing courses, and other instructional materials.
AP US History Exam Prep
Start building your Toolbox now!
Review the scope of US history with the Gilder-Lehrman online AP US History Study Guide, which follows the AP US History course from 1692 to the present
Watch videos for detailed tips on how to answer the various question formats (multiple choice, short answer, document-based essay question, long essay) and get tips on how to think like a historian.
Here is a fantastic mission statement for an Advanced Placement U.S. History course. These are the words of award winning documentary film maker Ken Burns. I first heard the following quote on a National Constitution Center podcast about Mr. Burn’s film Prohibition.
“I am in the business of history. It is the avocation I have chosen to practice my craft of film making. Over the many years of practicing, I have come to the realization that history is a not a fixed thing, a collection of precise dates, facts and events that add up to a quantifiable, certain, confidently known, truth. It is an inscrutable and mysterious and malleable thing. Each generation rediscovers and re-examines that part of its past that gives its present, and most important, its future new meaning and new possibilities.
I am interested in that mysterious power of history, and I am interested in its many varied voices. Not just the voices of the old top-down version of our past, which would try to convince us that American history is only the story of Great Men. And not just those pessimistic voices that have recently entered our studies, voices which seem to suggest that our history is merely a catalog of white crime. I am interested in listening to the voices of a true, honest, complicated past that is unafraid of controversy and tragedy, but equally drawn to those voices, those stories and moments, that suggest an abiding faith in the human spirit and particularly the unique role this remarkable and sometimes dysfunctional Republic seems to play in the positive progress of mankind. That, quite simply, has been my creed, my mantra, the lens through which I have tried to see our shared past, to understand its stories, for more than 30 years”. Source Link
Additional U.S. History Resources
Prepare and Perform with History 360
History Incubator 