September 21, 2005

19^th Century Lessons 1-15

By: Dr. Frank J. Collazo

Lesson 1 - Historical Text Archive

This site contains a large collection of documents, articles, photographs and web sites for the 19^th Century. Address: http://historicaltextarchive.com/

Locate and click on the “Articles” link in the left column menu. Then click on “United States/19^th Century” and locate and click on “Sectional Conflict 1840 – 1852.” Summarize this article.

Summary: Sectional Conflict, 1840-1852

Westward expansion and the controversies, which accompanied it, captivated the public and their political representatives much more so than such issues as the tariff, the National Bank, and national funding of internal improvements. Migration was a fact of life; it had been occurring in the territory for 300 years. There seemed to be limits to expansion, for Texas and the Great Plains were all that was available in the early 1840s.

United States citizens had been migrating into northern Mexico, to the state of Coahila-Texas, since the 1820s. The Mexican government initially had encouraged it, but many of the American-Mexicans were illegal aliens. Mexico tried to stem the flow but could not. When conservatives took over the government in Mexico City and clamped down on dissent and reduced state independence, some Mexicans and American-Mexicans rebelled in 1836 and won.

When the United States refused to annex Texas, they created the Republic of Texas. The fur trade between Missouri and Mexico began. Mexican territory between the newly annexed Texas and the Pacific coast showed great promise for human bondage and, perhaps equally important, trade. The prospect of gaining the San Francisco harbor, the jumping off point for Pacific voyages, made some merchants salivate. So Polk started a war with Mexico to annex a large portion of that nation. The "Texas men" argued that Polk's victory was a mandate for annexation. In early 1845, Congress approved, by joint resolution, the admission of Texas as a state.

Polk turned out to be a very effective president, getting most of what he sought. He got the independent treasury started again in 1846 and a downward of the tariff. His administration-reduced expenditures for federally financed internal improvements. Like Jackson, he was not afraid to use the veto. It was in foreign policy, however, that he made his most enduring fame; he would effectively deal with the United Kingdom and Mexico.

Lesson 2 - U.S. Civil War Center

The U. S. Civil War Center created a web site to house historical information from the Civil War period.

Address: http://www.cwc.lsu.edu

Click on the logo in the center of the page and then on “Civil War Resources” and select the “Diaries” link. Click on two entries that relate to the 1800s and provide the title and a summary of the information in each.

1. Title: The Sharpshooters. In the autumn of 1862 Governor Todd undertook to raise ten independent companies of sharpshooters to serve on special duty without field officers. Captain Gershom M. Barber raised a company, which was largely composed of residents of Cuyahoga County, and denominated the Fifth Independent Company of Sharpshooters. The Sixth and Seventh companies were also recruited in this county; the captains having free access to the large camp of drafted men at Camp Cleveland. A portion of their men was actual residents of the county, though generally credited to other counties in which the captains resided. The Ninth and Tenth companies were also largely composed of Cuyahoga-county men, but, as previously stated these were mustered into the Sixteenth Infantry and served with that regiment.

2. Title: The Diary of LaFrancis E. Hackett

Summary: 1864

January 1   Clear and the 

coldest day there has 

been this winter No mail

to day musterd for pay

2    Very cold to day

3    Weather moterated

commenced storming

This evening on guard

4    Cold rany

and to two 

windy two in 

joy good 

health

5   Cold wether hear 

in the suney south

6   A cold rany day

O dear what a time 

for yong Ducks

7   Weather stormy

twelve of our new recruits 

came to camp to day

Dell Barber was one of 

them

8  Wether plesent over 

head but cold and 

the ground covered 

   with snow

9   Plesent wether but 

cold Miller a new 

recuit of compny A 

had his leg badly hurt 

by the explosion of a shell 

which he was plaing with

he had his leg amputated

10  Cold and cloudy

Braly Udel received 

his discharge to day

11  Weather a little warmer

Co A lost 23 lbs 

of bread but found it 

at the bakers

We had Battalion drill 

over it no man 

goes hungry for want of 

it

12 Looks stormy Braily 

starts for home 

two day

13  Weather dull and 

looks like 

rain two 

day

14  Weather pleasant

Cars come in to town 

to day for the first time

  S. A. Clark repremanded

but he don’t

car for that

he is a j

15  Weather dull and 

Cloudy drew r 

rations 

to 

day

16  pleasant to day

No news from 

the front 

to 

day

17  Weather pleasant 

to 

day

18  Weather rainy 

and bad to day

19   Weather pleasant  

but cold 11 more of 

our New recruits come 

to day Miller the new 

recruit that was hurt 

with a shell died to 

day

20  Weather pleasant 

to day

21  Weather pleasant 

to day

22  Weather pleasant 

to day

23  Weather pleasant 

to day

24  Weather pleasant to day

the most of our boys 

have gone out on Chickamauga

Battlefield with

Capt Barber

25  Weather pleasant our 

boys returned from 

Chickamauga two 

more of our new recruits 

come to day Lamer Huntley 

was one of them

26  Weather pleasant 

to day

27  Weather very pleasant 

to day

28  Weather pleasant 

to day

Troops are coming 

in from the front

29   Very pleasant 

to day

A lutendent of the 10 OV 

shot one A privet of the

same right threw 

the hart  the Lieut

is under Arrest now

30  Weather very rany 

to day

31   Damp and cold

  the last of this month

I am glad of it for it 

makes one month shorter

for me from home

Lesson 3 - Ellis Island

Personal experiences, pictures, and records of American immigrants who were “processed” at Ellis Island have been preserved on this web site.

Address: http://www.ellisisland.org/

If you had a relative, or think there might be a chance of a relative, coming through Ellis Island, type their name into the search window and describe the information you find. Then move your mouse over the words “Ellis Island” in the top menu bar and click on “Ellis Island History.” Read this page, describe who regulated immigration before 1890, and then later in the article describe what the doctors were looking for in the “six second physical.” The return to the menu bar, move your cursor of “Ellis Island” again and click on “Photo Albums.” Describe three of the photos on this page. Click on each photo to see an enlarged version of it.

Personal Note: This lesson is so important to the history of the USA that I felt that I covered the whole landscape. All of my ancestors immigrated from Haiti and New Orleans to Puerto Rico.

Regulation of Ellis Island Prior to 1890: From 1892 to 1954, over twelve million immigrants entered the United States through the portal of Ellis Island, a small island in New York Harbor. Ellis Island is located in the upper bay just off the New Jersey coast, within the shadow of the Statue of Liberty. Through the years, this gateway to the new world was enlarged from its original 3.3 to 27.5 acres mostly by landfill obtained from ship ballast and possibly excess earth from the construction of the New York City subway system.

It was known as Oyster Island for many generations during the Dutch and English colonial periods. By the time Samuel Ellis became the island's private owner in the 1770's, the island had been called Kioshk, Oyster, Dyre, Bucking and Anderson's Island. From 1794 to 1890 (pre-immigration station period), Ellis Island played a mostly uneventful but still important military role in United States history. When the British occupied New York City during the duration of the Revolutionary War, its large and powerful naval fleet was able to sail unimpeded directly into New York Harbor. After much legal haggling over ownership of the island, the Federal government purchased Ellis Island from New York State in 1808.

After much legal haggling over ownership of the island, the Federal government purchased Ellis Island from New York State in 1808. A fortification was constructed to defend the New York harbor. The fort at Ellis Island was named Fort Gibson in honor of a brave officer killed during the War of 1812.

Prior to 1890, the individual states (rather than the Federal government) regulated immigration into the United States. Castle Garden in the Battery (originally known as Castle Clinton) served as the New York State immigration station from 1855 to 1890 and approximately eight million immigrants, mostly from Northern and Western Europe, passed through its doors. Prior to 1890, the individual states (rather than the Federal government) regulated immigration into the United States.

.

These early immigrants came from nations such as England, Ireland, Germany and the Scandinavian countries and constituted the first large wave of immigrants that settled and populated the United States. Castle Garden was ill equipped and unprepared to handle the growing numbers of immigrants arriving yearly. The Federal government intervened and constructed a new federally operated immigration station on Ellis Island. While the new immigration station on Ellis Island was under construction, the Barge Office at the Battery was used for the processing of immigrants. The new structure on Ellis Island, built of "Georgia pine" opened on January 1, 1892.

Annie Moore, a 15 year-old Irish girl, accompanied by her two brothers entered history and a new country as she was the very first immigrant to be processed at Ellis Island on January 2. Over the next 62 years, more than 12 million were to follow through this port of entry. During the evening of June 14, 1897, a fire on Ellis Island, burned the immigration station completely to the ground. Federal and State immigration records dating back to 1855 burned along with the pine buildings that failed to protect them. All future structures built on Ellis Island had to be fireproof. On December 17, 1900, the new Main Building was opened and 2,251 immigrants were received that day.

First and second-class passengers who arrived in New York Harbor were not required to undergo the inspection process at Ellis Island. The Federal government felt that these more affluent passengers would not end up in institutions, hospitals or become a burden to the state. However, first and second-class passengers were sent to Ellis Island for further inspection if they were sick or had legal problems.

Third Class Passengers: These immigrants traveled in crowded and often-unsanitary conditions near the bottom of steamships with few amenities, often spending up to two weeks seasick in their bunks during rough Atlantic Ocean crossings.

Arrival: Upon arrival in New York City, ships would dock at the Hudson or East River piers. First and second class passengers would disembark, pass through Customs at the piers and were free to enter the United States. The steerage and third class passengers were transported from the pier by ferry or barge to Ellis Island where everyone would undergo a medical and legal inspection.

Medical Care: The Ellis Island inspection process would last approximately three to five hours. The inspections took place in the Registry Room (or Great Hall), where doctors would briefly scan every immigrant for obvious physical ailments. Doctors at Ellis Island soon became very adept at conducting these "six second physicals." By 1916, it was said that a doctor could identify numerous medical conditions (ranging from anemia to goiters to varicose veins) just by glancing at an immigrant.

The ship's manifest log (that had been filled out back at the port of embarkation) contained the immigrant's name and his/her answers to twenty-nine questions. This document was used by the legal inspectors at Ellis Island to cross-examine the immigrant during the legal (or primary) inspection. The two agencies responsible for processing immigrants at Ellis Island were the United States Public Health Service and the Bureau of Immigration (later known as the Immigration and Naturalization Service - INS).

Exclusion: Only two percent of the arriving immigrants were excluded from entry. The two main reasons why an immigrant would be excluded were if a doctor diagnosed that the immigrant had a contagious disease that would endanger the public health or if a legal inspector thought the immigrant was likely to become a public charge or an illegal contract laborer.

After WWI: At the end of World War I, a big "Red Scare" spread across America and thousands of suspected alien radicals were interred at Ellis Island. Hundreds were later deported based upon the principal of guilt by association with any organizations advocating revolution against the Federal government. In 1920, Ellis Island reopened as an immigration receiving station and 225,206 immigrants were processed that year.

Lesson 4 - Nineteenth Century Documents Project

This historical documents project provides an extensive collection of documents on many historical events from the 19^th Century.

Address: http://www.furman.edu/~benson/docs/

Scan the page, select one article from two separate categories, and provide the category, article title, and a summary of each.

1. Category: 1850s Statistical Almanac

Title: Survival Table (Slaves, Massachusetts)

Summary: (Number of individuals per thousand population surviving to the specified age)

Age (Years)	Slaves	Massachusetts, 1865
0	1000	1000
1	686	795
5	548	726
10	518	716
20	486	701
40	391	676
70	165	613

Sources: Robert Fogel, Without Consent or Contract:, (volume II: Evidence and Methods), p. 285 (Slave Survival); Historical Statistics of the United States, volume I, p 63 (Massachusetts, 1865).

2. Category: Early National Politics

Title: New York Legislature, Select Committee Report on the Woman's Rights Petition (1854)

Summary: A higher power than that from which emanates legislative enactments has given forth the mandate that man and woman shall not be equal; that there shall be inequalities by which each in their own appropriate sphere shall have precedence to the other; and each alike shall be superior or inferior as they well or ill act the part assigned them. Both alike are the subjects of Government, equally entitled to its protection; and civil power must, in its enactments, recognize this inequality. We cannot obliterate it if we would, and legal inequalities must follow.

The education of woman has not been the result of statutes, but of civilization and Christianity; and her elevation, great as it has been, has only corresponded with that of man under the same influences. She owes no more to these causes than he does. T he true elevation of the sexes will always correspond. But elevation, instead of destroying, shows more palpably those inherent inequalities, and makes more apparent the harmony and happiness which the Creator designed to accomplish by them.

Lesson 5 - Letters From an Iowa Soldier

Letters from Newton R. Scott of the 36th Infantry during the Civil War have been collected and transcribed for this University of California, Santa Cruz web site.

Address: http://www.civilwarletters.com

Click on the “Table of Contents,” list the dates and provide the names of three letters.

1. October 24, 1862, Camp Lincoln, Keokuck, Iowa

"Indeed Dear Miss there is thousands of Poor Soldiers that will see Home & Friends no more in this World If you was in Keokuk & See the number of Sick & Disabled Soldiers it would make your Heart Ache."

2 November 30, 1862, Benton Barracks, St. Louis, Mo.

"...those little towns on the Mo. Side of the River are Hard looking Places little Dirty cabins with nothing to Sell Hardly But whiskey & the People looks to Suit the Places..."

3. April 9, 1863, Helena Arkansas

"... we Respected Rebel Property But little & where Ever they Fired on our Boats We landed & Burnt Every thing that would Burn..."

Lesson 6 - 19^th Century U.S. History Sites Online

Sources of other American history links are available through this web site.

Address: http://www.wsu.edu/~amerstu/19th/hist.html

Review the list of links, select, and provide the title and a description of two that are related to the 19^th Century.

1. Name of Site: Archiving Early America

Describe: "They" are the women of early America. Two hundred years their status was--at best--confining. Nonetheless, their presence was felt and their opinions were brought to bear when those opportunities presented themselves.

Some of the women presented here were close to the movers and shakers of the early Republic, while others took direct action on their own. In every case they made important contributions to America's early years. From our archives...and out of the shadows of history...we introduce you to America's forgotten--the Notable Women of Early America.

Please note that all of the portraits here are engravings from the original paintings or drawings. The portraits date from 1806 to the mid-1800's, and are part of the Early American Digital Library. This is in keeping with our policy of presenting viewers with primary source reference material throughout this site.

2. Name of Site: An Early American Almanac

The first annual almanac printed in early America was "The Astronomical Diary and Almanac." First published in 1725 in Boston by Nathaniel Ames, it was the most famous of the early almanacs, along with "Poor Richard's Almanac" by Benjamin Franklin. Ames' almanac became the standard New England almanac for 50 years. It included tide charts, solar table calculations and eclipses, and changes of the moon.

The almanac for the year 1742 appears below. During this year in early America's history: William Parks wrote the first American cookbook, Countess Benigna Von Zinzendorf established the first school for Protestant girls, the first German songbook was published by Christopher Sauer and Benjamin Franklin invented the first stove for heating.

CLICK ABOVE
FOR ENLARGEMENT

America's
First
Newspaper

America's first continuously published newspaper, the Boston News-Letter published its first issue on April 24, 1704. John Campbell, a bookseller and postmaster of Boston, was its first editor, printing the newspaper on what was then referred to as a half-sheet. It originally appeared on a single page, printed on both sides and issued weekly.

In the early years of its publication the Newsletter was filled mostly with news from London journals detailing the intrigues of English politics, and a variety of events concerning the European wars. The rest of the newspaper was filled with items listing ship arrivals, deaths, sermons, political appointments, fires, accidents and the like.

CLICK ABOVE FOR
ENLARGEMENT

One of the most sensational stories published when the Newsletter was the only newspaper in the colonies was the account of how Black beard the pirate was killed in hand-to-hand combat on the deck of a sloop that had engaged his ship in battle.

Campbell relinquished his stewardship of the paper in 1722 to Bartholomew Green, its printer. As editor, Green devoted less space to overseas events and more to domestic news. When Green died after a decade as its editor, the Newsletter was inherited by his son John Draper, also a printer. Draper proved to be a better editor and publisher than his predecessors. He enlarged the paper to four good-sized pages, filling it with news from Boston, other towns throughout the colonies, and from abroad.

On view here is the May 14, 1761 issue of the Newsletter. The front page is displayed in its entirety. Notice the credit line Printed by J. Draper appearing.

Lesson 7 - The Napoleonic Association

This site provides an extensive collection of information about the Napoleonic Period.

Address: http://www.n-a.co.uk/

Locate and click on “Click here to enter” and click on “Articles” and then on “Observations at A Coruna 1809.” Summarize this article.

Summary: "The Midshipman: Fragments of Voyages and Travels – When I Beheld These Men Spring from the Ground, 1809" by Basil Hall.

Many thousand stands of new arms had been issued to the troops from the stores at Corunna, and I could observe the men rapping the flints, tightening the screws, and tossing about their firelocks with the air of veteran sportsmen eager to try their new pieces. The officers, who up to this moment had seemed so languid, might be seen everywhere brushing along the line, speaking to sergeants, and making arrangements, which we did not pretend to understand. Aides-de-camp galloped past us, dropping their orders into the ears of the commanding officers of different corps, as they moved swiftly along the position.

Not a single face could now be seen turning toward the ships, and we found it difficult to obtain an answer to any of our questions. All had become animation and cheerfulness, over minds from which, but a short time before, it seemed as if every particle of spirit had fled. There appeared to be much conversation going on, and not a little jesting amongst the men, while they braced themselves up, buckled on their knapsacks, and made various other arrangements, preparatory to the hard work they foresaw they would have to perform before night fell. Their kits, or stock of clothes (none of them very large), being soon placed on their shoulders, the army in a few minutes, stood perfectly ready to meet that of the enemy, whose troops, in three immense close columns, by this time were pelting rapidly down the side of the opposite heights."

Lesson 8 - Multi-Educator, Inc.

This commercial site provides compact disks for educators. Their web page features excerpts of their product, as well as useful graphics that can be downloaded at no charge for non-profit/educational organizations. There are different ways of researching topics on this site; chronologically, by nation, and by type of event, i.e. wars, presidents, etc. Take some time to look a several of the dimensions of this complex site.

Address: http://www.multied.com/

Move to the bottom of the page, click on “Nation-By-Nation,” and select one nation. Click on the “History” link. Provide the name of the nation and a summary of the information relating to the 19^th century. Then return to the home page and click on “World Timeline” in the top center of the page – not the left column menu. Click on “1800- 1900 A.D.” and select a time period. Provide the time period, the title of one of the links in that period, and a summary of the information in the link.

Name of the Nation: Iraq

Summary: Mesopotamia, the ancient name for the region now known as Iraq, was the birthplace of one of the oldest civilizations known to mankind. The Sumerians arose some 3000 years before Christ and from their city-states, the empire of Babylonia developed. Babylon fell to the Assyrians in 1350 B.C., and then to the Persians under Cyrus and Darius. Persian rule would define the area for the next millennium. Islam began expanding in the 600s A.D. and quickly absorbed the Persian-ruled areas. The Caliphate was moved to Baghdad in 762. After the Mongols attacked Baghdad in 1258, the region declined such that it was easy pickings for the Ottomans in 1534 and thus Iraq remained for nearly 400 years. In 1915, the British occupied Iraq and after World War I, Britain continued to govern under the provisions of a League of Nations mandate. Under British supervision, a Hashemite monarchy was established in 1921.

The kingdom became independent in 1932 but continued its close relationship with Britain, one predicated on the oil and defense interests of the British. But the British were not universally loved in Iraq as evidenced by the coups that were repelled with the help of British troops. After a 1941 attempt wherein Italy and Germany were approached for aid, Britain took no chances. It sent troops to secure the throne and then ensure that Iraq declare war on the Axis in 1943.

Post-war, Iraq joined the Arab League and took part in the war fought in 1948 to prevent Israel from being established. When the conflict ended, nearly the entire Jewish population of Iraq left for Israel. The monarchy was deposed in 1958 by a left-wing coup. The new regime turned against the West, nationalized oil and other industries, and broke up large landholdings. The radical Socialist Ba'ath party came to power in 1968. Soviet advisors and armaments followed in 1972, preparing Iraq to participate in the 1973 Yom Kippur War against Israel (Iraq sent troops to the Syrian front-lines).

In 1975, Iraq took on the Kurds who were defeated by at great cost. In 1979, General Saddam Hussein took over the government, and a year later war broke out between Iran and Iraq. It would continue, with little accomplished except the killing of hundreds of thousands and massive destruction on both sides.

In 1981, Israel destroyed an Iraqi nuclear reactor that was apparently engaged in the manufacture of nuclear weapons. Iraq and Iran agreed to a ceasefire in 1988. The international community criticized Iraq's continued repression and arms acquisitions, particularly when Iraqis were seized trying to smuggle nuclear weapon components from the UK and the US.

In 1990, Iraq invaded and occupied Kuwait, setting the stage for the Gulf War five months later. Though Saddam Hussein was defeated, he was left in control of the country, which has spent the years since the Gulf War ended, trying to stymie United Nations arms inspectors and dealing with the results of UN-sponsored sanctions. Throughout the 90's the United States and other NATO nations patrolled an non-fly zones over northern and Southern Iraq. A U.S.-led coalition removed the Ba'ath regime in March and April 2003.

Time Period: 1453-1529

Link Title: The Ottoman Empire

Summary: The Osman Turks slowly expanded to dominate the Turkish Peninsula and founded the Ottoman Empire. They slowly expanded into the Balkans pressuring the Byzantine. On October 29th, 1453 the Ottomans captured Constantinople. Over the next four and a half centuries the Ottomans maintained control over much of the Middle East and North Africa, while coming into ongoing conflict with European nations in the Balkans.

The Osmans were given land by the Seljuk for their help in defending against the Mongols. The Osmans expanded as the Seljuk Empire began to disintegrate. The Osmans founded the Ottoman Empire expanded into the Balkans. The Ottomans soon came into conflict with the Byzantines. They recruited Christians in the Balkans, who they converted to Islam and enlisted in their Janissaries corps. In 1453 the Ottomans laid siege to and the captured Constantinople the Byzantine capital. The conquering Ottomans totally sacked the city.

In the first part of the 15th century, the Ottomans swiftly expanded their empire to include Mesopotamia, Egypt and Arabia. The Ottomans soon controlled the major holy cities of Islam, Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. Selim, the Ottoman leader, declared himself the new caliph (successor of Muhammad). The Ottomans swiftly expanded westward along the African coast nearly to the Straits of Gibraltar.

The Ottomans also expanded in Europe; they conquered Romania, and most of Hungary. In 1529 the Ottoman advance was checked when they were defeated at Vienna. Suleyman the Magnificent led the assault on Vienna. After him the Ottomans began a slow decline. Their administrative control was weakened. The Ottomans were defeated at the battle of Carlowitz in 1699. From that moment on the Ottomans began to lose parts of their empire to the expanding European powers.

Lesson 9 - The Overland Trail

This site is packed with information pertaining to America’s expansion into the west.

Address: http://www.over-land.com/links.html

Click on “Ancient Footpaths and Indian Trails” and then on “The Iroquois Warriors’ Trail.” This short description includes the toll fees paid on the Owego Turnpike. List the m. The Ithaca to Owego Turnpike followed the Iroquois Warriors' Trail, and was in operation from 1804 to 1845. It later became a railroad bed. This Turnpike was paid for by fees collected every ten miles at tollgates. Here are some of the fees:

20 sheep or hogs - 8 cents
20 cattle, horses, or mules - 20 cents
cart drawn by 1 horse - 6 cents
chariot coach - 25 cents
cart drawn by 2 oxen - 12 1/2 cents

Lesson 10 - Underground Railroad

National Geographic has developed an exciting web site that lets you take a journey on the “underground railroad.”

Address: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/railroad/j1.html

Locate “Choose” at the bottom of the page. Select “Yes” and continue to take the journey. List two places or people that were encountered along the way and then describe the final destination of the freed slave on this journey.

1. Place or Person: “Moses is coming!” You’ve heard the stories about her. She is Harriet Tubman, a former slave who ran away from a nearby plantation in 1849 but returns to rescue others. Guided by her “visions,” she has never lost a passenger. Even if Moses can’t fit you into her next group, she’ll tell you how to follow the North Star to freedom in Canada.

2. Maryland Creek: Every step seems louder. Twigs snap, leaves crackle. But you walk on till you see a group of friendly faces. You join them shyly and meet “General Tubman” herself. She tells you how to sneak across the bridge over the Choptank River and where to find friends in a place called Delaware.

Safe House: Your head says go, your feet say no. Harriet Tubman told you that a lantern on a hitching post means a safe house. But can you really knock on a white family’s door and trust them to help you?

Final Destination: A Safe House, warm welcome and hot food—that’s what you find inside the house. Guided by their conscience, the owners break the law by helping runaways. Yet terror still haunts you. As you fall asleep you hear bloodhounds not far away. They are looking for fugitives, looking for you. Freedom is still a long way off.

Lesson 11 - American Memory Collections

The Library of Congress has a large collection of significant writings from the 20th century in its web site, American Memory.

Address: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/amtitle.new.html

Click on “Environment, Conservation” and then on the “Conservation Movement” and click on “1847-1871.” Provide a summary of the information for “1847,” “1851,” “1855-1860s,” and 1871.”

George Perkins Marsh, then a U.S. Congressman from Vermont, delivers a seminal speech to the Agricultural Society of Rutland County, Vermont, calling attention to the destructive impact of human activity on the land, especially through deforestation, and advocating a conservationist approach to the management of forested lands; some of these insights were elaborated in a work by Marsh's fellow New Englander, George Emerson, in a book published the previous year, A Report on the Trees and Shrubs Growing Naturally in the Forests of Massachusetts. In 1848, Marsh's speech is published as Address Delivered Before the Agricultural Society of Rutland County, Sept. 30, 1847".

1851: Henry David Thoreau delivers an address to the Concord (Massachusetts) Lyceum declaring, "in Wildness is the preservation of the World." In 1863, this address is published posthumously as the essay "Walking" in Thoreau's Excursions.

1855-1860: In an early example of the era's great government-sponsored scientific and ethnographic survey reports on the West, the U.S. War Department publishes the multi-volume Reports of Explorations and Surveys, to Ascertain the Most Practicable and Economical Route for a Railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean; these include accounts of surveying expeditions which greatly increase knowledge and interest concerning the Western landscape, documented by illustrations by artists accompanying the expeditions.

1871: Hayden's United States Geological Survey of the Territories explores the Yellowstone region with William Henry Jackson as official photographer and Thomas Moran as accompanying artist; widely-distributed lithographs of Moran's paintings from this expedition help publicize Yellowstone in the East, while Jackson's 1870-1878 work with the Survey quickly becomes the most influential photographic representation of the Western landscape and its natural wonders.

Congress passes a "Joint Resolution for the Protection and Preservation of the Food Fishes of the Coast of the United States," authorizing the President to appoint a commissioner of fish and fisheries to investigate the declining numbers of coastal and lake food fishes, and to recommend remedial measures to Congress.

Clarence King publishes Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada, a classic work of travel literature uniting scientific geology and artistic sensibility, which helps stimulate Eastern fascination with Western wilderness.

John Burroughs publishes Wake-Robin, the first of many volumes of his extraordinarily popular nature essays.

Henry George publishes Our Land and Land Policy, National and State, an influential critique deploring the squandering of the public domain and its natural resources.

Lesson 12 - U.S. Camel Corps

Camels were once used by the military prior to the Civil War in the southwestern area of the United States. This web site provides historical information about this experiment.

Address: http://www.outwestnewspaper.com/camels.html

Read this story and provide the purpose of the Camel Corps, the number of camels that were in the first shipment, and a summary of Lt. Beale’s description of the value of the animals.

Purpose of the Corps: The story of Hi Jolly began in 1855 when Secretary of War Jefferson Davis was told of an innovative plan to import camels to help build and supply a Western wagon route from Texas to California. It was a dry, hot and otherwise hostile region, not unlike the camel's natural terrain in the Middle East.

Number of Camels in the First Shipment: Major Henry Wayne was sent to the Middle East where he bought 33 of the animals. With much difficulty, they were loaded onto a Navy ship (with part of its deck modified to accommodate the large creatures) and transported to Texas. There Lieutenant Edward Fitzgerald Beale took over. Forty-four more camels arrived later.

Summary of Lt. Beale’s Evaluation: Beale left on a Western expedition in June 1857, with Hi Jolly along as chief camel driver. Camels were loaded with 600 to 800 pounds each and traveled 25 to 30 miles a day. If the animals fared well, a series of Army posts could be set up later along the route to relay mail and supplies across the Southwest.

After reaching California the expedition returned to Texas, a success -- at least to Beale.

"The harder the test they (the camels) are put to, the more fully they seem to justify all that can be said of them," Beale wrote. "They pack water for days under a hot sun and never get a drop; they pack heavy burdens of corn and oats for months and never get a grain; and on the bitter greasewood and other worthless shrubs, not only subsist, but keep fat." He concluded, "I look forward to the day when every mail route across the continent will be conducted and worked altogether with this economical and noble brute."

Lesson 13 - Abraham Lincoln Online

A complete resource for information about Abraham Lincoln can be found at this site.

Address: http://www.netins.net/showcase/creative/lincoln.html

Select the link “Speeches” located near the top of the page and provide the title, date, and a summary of the information on one of the speeches or documents. Then click on “Students” in the menu bar at the top of the page and in the “Images and Places” section, click on “Lincoln Photo Tours.” Click on “Lincoln at Gettysburg” and then on one of the titles. Provide the title and a summary of the information.

Title: Lyceum Address

Theme: An early speech, which reveals Lincoln's attitude toward government.

Date: 1838

Summary: In the great journal of things happening under the sun, we, the American People, find our account running, under date of the nineteenth century of the Christian era. We find ourselves in the peaceful possession, of the fairest portion of the earth, as regards extent of territory, fertility of soil, and salubrity of climate. We find ourselves under the government of a system of political institutions, conducing more essentially to the ends of civil and religious liberty, than any of which the history of former times tells us.

We, when mounting the stage of existence, found ourselves the legal inheritors of these fundamental blessings. This task of gratitude to our fathers, justice to ourselves, duty to posterity, and love for our species in general, all imperatively require us faithfully to perform.

How then shall we perform it? At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years.

At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.

Photo Tour Title: Gettysburg Speech Site

Summary: Gettysburg Speech Site

Finally, after Edward Everett's long oration, President Lincoln rose to speak. Eyewitness accounts vary widely about the crowd's reaction, but Pennsylvania Governor Curtin maintained, "He pronounced that speech in a voice that all the multitude heard. The crowd was hushed into silence because the President stood before them...It was so impressive! It was the common remark of everybody. Such a speech, as they said it was!"

The actual place Lincoln spoke has been a matter of dispute. It was not in the new National Cemetery, but rather on the grounds of the adjacent town cemetery near this photo location.

Lesson 14 - Scientific American’s 19^th Century

This is an interesting, though small, site dealing with inventions of the 19^th Century. You and your students can have fun researching the “mystery” inventor or invention. (The site is not part of the Scientific American magazine.)

Address: http://www.history.rochester.edu/Scientific_American/

If you know the “Mystery Inventor / Invention” of the month provide the name and a description. If not, click on “Last Month’s Mystery Inventor” and provide the name and a description.

Name: Calcium Light or Drummond Light (Spot Lights)

Description: A little change of pace this month an invention instead of an inventor. This invention is known by two names one for the inventor and the other for something that is used in the invention. It was invented to aid in surveying in the 19th century. It was used in the civil war by both the north and south. It was used on the land and sea and I have even seen an engraving showing it used in the air. Do you know what it is?

Lesson 15 - Bombay in the 1800’s

Bombay, also known as “Mumbai,” has had a long and fascinating history as an international influence and a place conjuring images of intrigue and suspense.

Address:

Description: Description: Although the archipelago which developed into the modern city of Mumbai was inhabited whenever history chanced on it, we are forced to imagine the lives of these early Mumbaikars, because the islands lay outside of the sweep of history and beyond the marches of armies for millennia. Stone age implements have been found at several sites in these islands. Later, around the third century BC, the coastal regions, and presumably the islands, were part of the Magadhan empire ruled by the emperor Ashok. The empire ebbed, leaving behind some Buddhist monks and the deep-sea fishermen called Kolis, whose stone goddess, Mumbadevi, gave her name to the modern metropolis.

Between the 9th and 13th centuries, the Indian ocean, and especially the Arabian Sea, was the world's center of commerce. Deep sea crafts made of wood tied together with ropes transported merchandise between Aden, Calicut, Cambay and cities on the West coast of Africa. Marco Polo, Ibn Batuta and other travelers passed by without ever

making a landfall in these islands.

Bombay changed hands many times. The islands belonged to the Silhara dynasty till the middle of the 13th century. The oldest structures in the archipelago--- the caves at Elephanta, and part of the Walkeshwar temple complex probably date from this time. Modern sources identify a 13th century Raja Bhimdev who had his capital in Mahikawati-- present-day Mahim, and Prabhadevi. Presumably the first merchants and agriculturists settled in Mumbai at this time. In 1343 the island of Salsette, and eventually the whole archipelago, passed to the Sultan of Gujarat. The mosque in Mahim dates from this period.