24 years ago the unthinkable happened on 9/11/2001. America was attacked by the Taliban and Osma Bin Lade. The Twin Towers in NYC, the Pentagon in D.C., and they wanted to attack the White House, but the passengers of that plane took control and crashed the plane.
There is SO MUCH to know about 9/11, but for AP US History you need to know 9/11 started the War on Terror, and so much changed in America. Congress passed the Patriot Act allowing much to happen in America! Here is a documentary made about the Patriot Act called Foreweigh 9/11
Below is the trailer for a moment that was America's first response to 9/11.
Jon Stewart a famous comedian used his position to help the first responders of 9/11 18 years later. He testified infront of Congress about their needs. We do not have time in class to watch it - so please watch here!
He had a response on Stephen Colbert. So funny, and he has the best argument:
Civil Disobedience was on full display this weekend. An estimated 3.5 Million Americans assembled and rallied against Trump and Musk. That is what is hard about America! Everyone has a voice and the constitutional right to assemble and protest even if you do not like it.
Henry David Thoreau wrote and came up with the idea of Civil Disobedience. Non Violent Resistance. Thoreau was upset about the Mexican American War, and refused to pay his taxes. He did not want to give one dime to the war so he did not pay his taxes. He was thrown into jail. Do NOT forget there are consequences for your actions!
Here are some famous Disobedience moments:
Sit - ins of the 1960s
Dr. King Jr. went to prison 29 times!
This Saturday, April 5th, at the Hands Off Rally! Americans participate in their democracy:
First time ever in American History the House of Represenatives ousted the Speaker of House. No one knows what is going to happen now! But this is a historic moment! Here is an aricle about what happened!
Never before has a former president been arrested and indicted multiple times! This is a HUGE moment regardless of your political leanings. So below is the mug shot and an article from NBC News about this Historic Moment!
Rosie the Riveter was created during World War Two. All the men left for war, now America needs Women to take over the men's jobs. This poster was meant to inspire Women to go to work. The poster now inspires Women in so many different ways!
Here is an article about the significance of Rosie the Riveter.
It went so deep during the war America made an all girl Baseball League to replace the guy's that went off to war. They made an awesome movie about it called A Legue of their Own. There is amoment in the film when some asks will there be another season? And the response was no - the boys will back.
This picture makes me incredibly sad. On January 6, 2021, an armed mob stormed the U.S. Capitol. On October 21, 2022, the January 6 Select Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives did something unprecedented. They sent a subpoena to former U.S. President Donald Trump for his actions on January 6. Included here is the text of the subpoena. Please read it!
To my APUSH students: This is a big moment! The DBQ for this year could really be about the executive branch.
History has been made! Ketanji Brown Jackson has been confirmed to the United States Supreme Court! She is our first African American Woman on the court! So exciting!
In Jean Edward Smith's biography of George W. Bush, he wrote about what President Bush thought of President-elect Obama during the transition period.
On page 650, it states:
“As part of the presidential transition, Barack Obama asked Bush if it would be possible for him to meet all the ex-presidents. Bush was happy to oblige, and organized a White House luncheon in the Oval Office on January 7. Bush and Obama were joined by Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and George H. W. Bush. The luncheon lasted over two hours, each former president ordered his lunch à la carte from the White House mess, and the tone was convivial and friendly. “All the gentlemen here understand both the pressures and possibilities of this office,” said Obama before the meeting. “For me to have the opportunity to get advice, good counsel and fellowship with these individuals is extraordinary, and I just want to thank the President for hosting us.”
Bush was equally effusive. “We want you to succeed,” he replied. “Whether we're Democrat or Republican we care deeply about this country. And to the extent we can we look forward to sharing out experiences with you. All of us who have served in this office understand that the office transcends the individual.”
On January 6, 2021 History was Made! And we still do not know a lot! In the coming days, weeks, months, and years we will find out more! But here is what WE Know!
Trump held a rally encouraging his supporters to march to Capital to contest this false election result.
They Did, stormed the Capital and got on the floor of Congress, and went through open offices!
It was all filmed and played out on TV! I like millions sat for hours and watched the coverage! I was sickened and saddened! Most importantly disappointed in the security of America!
I am trying to STILL Process what happened, but I bet I will be teaching this for the rest of my career!
She was known as RBG, and she was an Icon! Her image was on masks, hats, t-shirts, and so much more! But her name was Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and she was on the Supreme Court! She was nominated by President Clinton, and there was a collective sadness when the world heard she passed! RBG was in her 80s and sadly had Pancreatic Cancer!
As a history teacher it will be interesting to see what happens next! Watch the process - we will all see it unfold on TV!
For Nine Days Teachers, Parents, Students, and Education Supporters showed up to the capital daily by the thousands to demand more funding for Education Funding!!! The support and reaction is overwhelming! When I truly think about it I want to cry! Oklahomans were demanding their government fund education! Here is one of my favorite pictures from those nine days. Teachers in the galleries waiting to talk to their representative:
On the first day they had 30,000 people at the capital exercising their rights as citizens! On the last day there were 80,000 people in attendance! Teachers were so creative. Here are some of the BEST signs!
It was the 1940s in Germany, and a group of young people could not stand by and witness the holocaust! They mobilized in Munich, and informed Germans through the press. They named themselves the White Rose! They wrote pamphlets telling the people of Germany what was happening! They sadly paid with their lives and were caught in their conquest!
They were caught by their janitor at their school who threw their pamphlets over the balcony!
This story is a great reminder that young people can make a difference, and how often do young people stand up against evil?
In 1680 a revolt happened in New Mexico. The Pueblo Native Americans were being mistreated by the Spanish explorers who were in the New World. This was a big moment, and for instance College Board wants AP US History students to know this moment.
The accounts of mistreatment the Pueblos experienced is heartbreaking, and unbelievable. I do not understand how you can be so cruel to another human being! But maybe that is the problem - the Spanish did not see the Pueblos as humans. At this time the Spanish essentially had a slave system in place - the Encomeinda System.
Encomienda System
The Pueblos could not take it anymore! One of their biggest complaints was the fact the Spanish would not let them worship their gods. Instead they wanted them to work. So the Pueblos took the moment in their own hands. The Revolt was led by Pope.
One reason they were successful of expelling the Spanish was numbers. They had the numbers! There were 8,000 Pueblos and 200 Spanish. The Pueblos killed 20 Priests and 100s of Spanish colonists. The Spanish brought their faith with them to the New World.
A Spanish Missionary in Arizona
It was not till Pope died did the Spanish try to take back their control. They were successful, but much nicer in hopes of preventing any further revolt in 1692.
America has incredible growth in the 1890s due to industrialization! It brought tremendous change to America. Quickly reformers began to analyze and look at the social problems caused by big business and industrialization. Some of those problems include immigration, suffrage, political reform, and growth of urban cities.
That is just a small list of social problems and injustices that were tackled. The Progressives picked up right where the Populists left off!!!! The Populists were seen as a failure, but the Progressives were seen as a success, but the question becomes how effective were they? They had presidential support from Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson. They also got 4 Constitutional Amendments (16th - 20th)
Here are 2 issues that were tackled!
The Progressives took on Suffrage for Women, and got the 19th Amendment passed giving all Women the right to vote! It amazes me it took over 140 years before women to get this right! When I hear women say they did not have time to vote - I am mind boggled! Women were starved, beaten imprisoned, and tortured to get the right to vote! The amazing part about this era is the fact that we are benefiting today from their hard work! A great movie about the fight is Iron Clawed Angels.
The other is Ida B. Wells
Below is an amazing documentary about her life! She was a mover and a shaker. Ida B. Wells was a crusader for African American Rights! She tackled lynching, and put a national spotlight on the issue! I believe the documentary below explains it all - so I will let it speak for itself. One thing that I became present to was I want to eat dinner with her! She seems amazing!
If you feel that ordinary working people should have the strongest political voice, you can say you believe in populism.
In politics, the termpopulismcan have different meanings depending on who is using it and what their political goals are. At its root, populism is a belief in the power of regular people, and in their right to have control over their government rather than a small group of political insiders or a wealthy elite. The wordpopulismcomes from the Latin word for "people,"populus.
This is a definition from vocabulary.com. The populist movement was a big moment in American History. This was the late 19th Century during the Gilded Age. This was a time of corruption, and many felt oppressed financially. To help see this - here is a video about the politics of the Gilded Age and why it was so corrupt.
One group that was furious were the farmers. They felt unheard politically and financially! At this time the railroads controlled everything, and the farmers found them unfair. The biggest thing was freight prices. It cost an arm and a leg to ship product to American Markets.
The Populist had a long list of what they wanted to happen. They wanted better representation politically, graduated income tax, currency, and government ownership of railroads and communication lines. They felt like if the government controlled these industries it would be fairer.
To get any kind of progress this Populist movement had to get political! It will become political, and a huge supporter will be Frank L Baum. That name might sound familiar because he wrote a famous book that was a political allegory of the Populist movement! The Wizard of OZ!
Everything in this story symbolizes and represents aspects of this movement. Here are some of the thing represented in the Wizard of OZ:
Dorthy represents Mary Elizabeth Lease - A mover and shaker in the Populist Movement
Yellow Brick Road represents the danger of the Gold Standard
Silver Slippers (Ruby Silvers) represent silver coinage will save us
OZ represents ounce referring to gold and silver
Scarecrow represent the Western wise but naive farmer
Tin Man represents the dehumanized industrial worker
Cowardly Lion represents William Jennings Bryan - history does not remember him fondly
Wizard represents Gilded Age presidents
There are more symbols of the Populist Movement, but those are the big ones. Everything represents something! William Jennings Bryan put a huge spotlight on the movement when he gave his Cross of Gold Speech. Where he discusses the danger of the Gold Standard.
Sadly the Populist Movement did not accomplish many of their goals, but the Progressives will pick up many of their goals, and be successful!
My goal as a teacher is to have my students think for themselves! So the first week we read "What is an Enlightenment?" by Kant. I will admit it is a hard read, but we tackled it with AP strategies, and discussed it! The main point of his essay is tto think for yourself, and do not let others think for you! That is why I had them read this! I want them to think for themselves! After we read and discussed the essay they made mini posters of what the Enlightenment means to them! They were so good! Here are a few of my favorite!
It was the Age of Enlightenment, and Kant and others were fighting for us! He said he will never experience Enlightenment, but he is willing to die for others to experience the Enlightenment! That is amazing!!!! The ideals of the Enlightenment inspired America! Here is the Essay we read:
This painting has become a symbol of the French Revolution
I love the French Revolution! I could talk about it all day. I love Robespierre, and one year I read every book I could get my hands on! Then one night i had a dream that I time traveled back to Revolutionary France, and had dinner with Robespierre. I knew I had tto stop reading!
Today is Bastille Day in France (July 14th) - their Independence Day! The storming of the Bastille was a significant moment in the French Revolution. France was divided into 3 Estates. The second Estate was the nobility of France, and they wanted more power in society. France had a Monarch who did not want to give the 2nd Estate more power.
Louis the 16th - King of France during thee Revolution
France was in a financial crisis. Every financial adviser told King Louis that he must tax the 2nd Estate. The 1st and 2nd Estate did not pay taxes. The 3rd Estate did, and what was ironic was that the 3rd Estate was poor, and did not have money. No wonder France could not get out of debt! Every time King Louis mentioned the 2nd Estate paying taxes - they freaked out! King Louis had a plan to tax them, and instead of making them pay - he asked them to vote on it.
One problem with King Louis the 16th had no back bone! With his power he could just make them do it, but instead he engaged with them. King Louis needed the 2nd Estate to vote so he called the Estates General. It had not been called in over 150 years. That tells you something. The Estates General was made up of all three Estates, and each Estate has one vote. King Louis the 16th wanted the Estates to vote on his tax measure, and be done with it! He would of had no idea it would last the whole summer!
The Estates General
It is May 1789, and the 2nd Estate had no intention of voting. Instead the debated and discussed. Poor King Louis is asking everyone to vote! But no one will! He is very frustrated! So he hired a foreign army to force the Estates General to vote! The mobs in Paris heard this news, and wanted to protect the General. To do that they stormed the Bastille to get weapons and demolish the symbol of the old regime.
The Bastille represented the Old Regime or King Louis the 16th. That is why this prison was selected! There were only less than 10 people in the prison, but it represented the evils of the monarchy! They liberated the prisoners, took the weapons, tore the prison down brick by brick, and marched to Versailles where the Estates General was to protect them from the monarchy.
They used the bricks from the Bastille to build a bridge going to the assembly - so for the rest of time people would trample on the old regime. This was a big moment!
The bridge built with the Bastille
What is left of the Bastille - it is a subway stop in Paris
