The Great Depression

Did you know that today is the anniversary of "Black Tuesday,"  the day known as the start of the Great Depression?  If you are teaching this subject, a good site for photos is the Library of Congress American Memory site http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsahtml/fahome.html . Because This site contains government pictures, so there are no copyright issues [I know you follow the rules to avoid copyright infringement, right?]. There are other great sites listed on www.google.com/images.

  New York City

Guilford County, NC

One of my favorite sites for information is Stan Schultz's lecture series. http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/lectures/lecture18.html  Other sites are http://ezinearticles.com/?1929-Vs-2009---Will-We-Relive-the-Great-Depression?&id=2081891 &  http://ezinearticles.com/?Excessive-Leverage-Caused-1929-Stock-Market-Crash-and-2008-Economic-Collapse&id=2715175 . They are good for prompting conversation.  Let me know of other resources so they can be added to our list.

George Washington, Father of the National Debt

Did you know that the National Debt dates back to the Revolutionary War?

As of October 28 at 1:52pm our national debt was the staggering sum of $11,903,911,251,033.22 which translates to a debt of $38,751.82 per citizen [see http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/ for up-to-date information].

The national debt began during the presidency of the Father of our Country, George Washington.

The 13 states signed the new Constitution only after the Federal government agreed to assume responsibility for some $75,000,000. in debts incurred while fighting the Revolutionary War.     
The debt grew to $1 billion during Abraham Lincoln's presidency.  Lincoln said about the debt,  "Men readily perceive they cannot be much oppressed by a debt they owe themselves."  During that time, most of the public debt was financed by issuing government bonds, like savings bonds.
The situation today is quite different, with much of our debt owned by foreign interests. Just something to think about......

Annenberg Media Resources Available

Do you look for FREE video that is on point and interesting? Are you having difficulty finding appropriate ideas to make the constitution real for your students [the BIll of Rights is easy, but the Constitution ......]? I have one set each of the following materials, which are also available via streaming video:

The Constitution: That Delicate Balance  which has people having debates on controversial constitutional issues like school prayer, the right to die, immigration reform, and many other topics.  http://www.learner.org/resources/series72.html 

Democracy in America has 15 half hour videos, and on-line materials. It covers all kinds of issues related to how democracy works including Civil Liberties, the modern presidency, Federalism: US v the States and more. http://www.learner.org/courses/democracyinamerica/dia_1/dia_1_topic.html 

Ethics in America I and II  are hypothetical cases discussed using the Socratic method. Subjects include National Security and the News; Under Orders, Under Fire; Does Doctor Know Best? and others that are equally interesting. There is also information available on the web:  http://www.learner.org/resources/series81.html  is Ethics in America and 
http://www.learner.org/resources/series207.html  is Ethics II.


The website for Annenberg Media is http://www.learner.org/# . Enjoy yourselves!

Precious

I was browsing at the largest online bookstore when  the thought struck me. I haven't read a book for pleasure in months! As I sat there feeling completely disconcerted, I tried to remember the last book I read completely for pleasure. A book, not a magazine. I came up dry. I remember a time when I read mysteries, romance, travel, horror, short stories, and other kinds of fiction as well as non-fiction. But now? I'm reading More Sex is Safer Sex by Steven Landsburg, which is an economics book somewhat like Freakonomics. l have Economics for Dummies and Teaching What Really Happened in my to-be-read pile - nothing that isn't related to work in some way.

I was on my way from Northeast HS and heard Oprah talking on the radio about a movie she has a role in creating called Precious. The movie is based on Push, a novel by Sapphire. I got the novel and thought it would be a good diversion when I am tired of doing what I am supposed to do. I was floored! This is very powerful stuff. I can see why Oprah made it into a movie. I even heard that Mo'nique shows us what an actress can really do [there's Oscar buzz]. I highly recommend this small book.  



 

Gilder Lehrman site for teaching the American Revolution

This is the most wonderful site for teaching the American Revolution.  We will be going to Gilder Lehrman Institute this summer to study.  Check it out and leave a comment.

http://www.historynow.org/09_2009/index.html   

Guilford Courthouse colloquium

This is a pix of the buildings at the former Tannenbaum Park site, now part of the Guilford Courthouse National Park.