Your every voter, as surely as your chief
magistrate, exercises a public trust.

                         - Grover Cleveland

February 3, 2012

Class documents: The 1920s

Filed under: Honors History 9 — Mr. Tripodi @ 12:05 pm

Below, find the slideshow The Roaring Twenties: Cultural Shifts Within Two Americas.

Also posted are the “four to get three” handouts.  You may do any three (or all four) of these assignments.

Please note that the crossword below includes a word bank that was not part of the in-class handout.

1920s slideshow (PDF, 979 kb)
Marcus Garvey reading (PDF, 89 kb)
State v. Scopes (PDF, 373 kb)
Chapters 12 and 13 crossword (PDF, 34 kb)
’50 Years Later’ poem (PDF,  121 kb)
50 Years Later’ worksheet (PDF,  176 kb)

 

February 2, 2012

Closing tips

Filed under: Honors History 9 — Mr. Tripodi @ 10:33 pm

From the PA Bar association…

V. CLOSING STATEMENTS

Objective: To provide a clear and persuasive summary of the evidence you presented to prove your case and the weaknesses of the other side’s case.

Structure and Outline of Closing Statement

  1. Introduction. Thank the jury for their attention in listening to and synthesizing your theory of the case. Lead into a discussion of the evidence.
  2. Parties. Remind the jury of certain background facts that bear directly on witnesses’ credibility.
  3. Issue. Identify the central issue as simply as possible. After stating the issue, you should emphatically answer the issue in your favor.
  4. What Happened. This discussion should parallel the opening statement and be in the same narrative you used up to this point.
  5. Corroboration. Pick significant parts of the important testimony that are the heart of your case and argue them emphatically as support for your position.
  6. Other Side and Refutation. You should at least mention what the other side’s contentions are and refute them.
  7. Conclusion. Smoothly and efficiently sum up your position and request a proper verdict.

January 30, 2012

Constitution interpretation project: Useful links

Filed under: Archive: 2009-10,Honors History 8 — Mr. Tripodi @ 8:11 am

Constitution interpretation project (PDF, 228 kb)

Here are a few links that can help you with your project.  Don’t forget, it’s worth 40 points and it’s due Wednesday, February 1.

ellefsonsm.jpgMicrosoft Photo Story 3 (link)
Powerful, free software to make multimedia slideshows from still photos.

Extremely easy to use, and fully customizable.

The Constitution read aloud (link)
This page, hosted by the University of Chicago Law School, features the Constitution in MP3 format.

You can download just your segment if you have questions about pronunciation, or you can use the audio as part of your project.

National Constitution Center’s Interactive Constitution (link)
This is an excellent site.  Go here first if you need help with the language, or check to see if their reading matches your own.

Click the article or amendment at top, then click your section(s).  You can also search key words directly.

Centuries of Citizenship: A Constitutional timeline (link)
If you’re still drawing a blank on how to illustrate or interpret your passage, check out this site. Key events in American history are presented in the context of the Constitution.

usconstitution.net: Quick explanations (link)
usconstitution.net: In-depth explanations (link)
No frills, but helpful guidance in breaking it down.

January 27, 2012

Class documents: Articles of Confederation

Filed under: Honors History 8 — Mr. Tripodi @ 10:44 am

Click the image below to access the class notes on the Articles of Confederation.

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“Why did the Articles fail so completely? Most historians believe the founding fathers spent a great deal of their first constitutional convention drafting the delaration of independence and only realized on July 3rd the Articles were also due.”   -Jon Stewart

Sacco and Vanzetti

Filed under: Honors History 9 — Mr. Tripodi @ 6:23 am

Sacco and Vanzetti (PDF, 112 kb)

For this assignment you were to read the two-page article about Italian-American anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti.  Learn how ethnic and political tensions in the interwar period turned these two men into unlikely heroes of the working class.

As you read, complete the guided reading response questions that follow the article.

This assignment is due Monday, January 30, and is worth 20 points.

January 20, 2012

Lines on a map

Filed under: Honors History 8 — Mr. Tripodi @ 12:13 pm

Use your map and the clues below to figure out what each one represents.

  1. Connecticut’s 1635 charter said that its land extended to the South Sea, aside from what was PA and NY. It gave up most this claim in 1786.  It kept this part till 1800.
  2. Named for an ambassador to Mexico and bought in 1854, this was the last addition to the contiguous US.
  3. An overland route to the West Coast; the first group to use it: “Wagon Train of 1843”
  4. Its spiritual origins were in Palymra, NY, and Nauvoo, IL.
  5. This longhorn trail sounds kind of racy, but it’s named for the two men who established it.
  6. Forerunner of the proposed NAFTA superhighway, then the invasion route for war, 1846-48
  7. M. Lewis committed suicide — or was he murdered?  – while traveling this route in 1809.
  8. People in the South are still quite unhappy about this. (1864)
  9. A line “drawn” by King George III in 1763, dictating the American frontier with “the scratch of a pen”
  10. The most heavily traveled interstate in the US, it sees almost 400,000 vehicles per day
  11. Line of latitude; also a campaign slogan for our most underrated president
  12. It’s the only part of the contiguous 48 that lies north of the 49th parallel.

 

January 19, 2012

Qs

Filed under: Honors History 9 — Mr. Tripodi @ 8:58 am
  • What gave the US the luxury of isolationism, compared to powerful nations in Europe?  Did the US have to abandon isolationism to become an imperialist nation?  Why or why not?
  • We’ve talked at length about the fight between labor and business.  Who ultimately won that battle?  List and compare modern and historical examples.  Be specific.
  • Imagine America in 2012 if we’d never strayed from Washington’s farewell address.  What would that nation look like?  Support your hypothesis.
  • The mock trial materials for Commonwealth v. Carnegie were created by exhausting the resources of the Carnegie Library System of Pittsburgh.  Consider Carnegie’s life and legacy.  Do you find the use of this system highly ironic or perfectly appropriate?  Explain.

 

January 18, 2012

Revolutionary War presentation

Filed under: Honors History 8 — Mr. Tripodi @ 5:02 am

Revolutionary War presentation (PDF, 68 MB)

Washington crosses the DelawareAbove find a PDF version of the Revolutionary War presentation.

It includes all embedded video from class.

Please note that this is a very large file (68 MB), which is the equivalent of roughly 20 three-minute MP3s.

January 14, 2012

Bonus assignment: Honors History 8

Filed under: Honors History 8 — Mr. Tripodi @ 12:00 am

For this bonus assignment (worth up to ten points), you may create a propaganda poster for the American Revolution.

Your poster can either promote the war effort, or encourage people to rebel against Britain.  Think about the Stamp Act, the Intolerable Acts, Common Sense, and the Declaration of Independence.

Here are a few links to propaganda posters from other moments in history:

Use the links above to jog your creativity, but be sure to create one of your own.  A simple Google image search will bring up countless alternative sources.

You must submit original work larger than a piece of letter paper, and the message must be historically accurate.

Five points will be allocated to how accurately it depicts the revolutionary effort, and five points go toward your creative output.

It’s due January 17. No exceptions.

Bonus assignment: Honors History 9

Filed under: Honors History 9 — Mr. Tripodi @ 12:00 am

For this bonus assignment (worth up to ten points), you may create a propaganda poster for the Great War.

Your poster can either promote the war effort, or encourage Americans to join the fight in Europe.

Here are a few links to propaganda posters from different moments in history:

Use the links above to jog your creativity, but be sure to create one of your own.  A simple Google image search will bring up countless alternative sources.

You must submit original work larger than a piece of letter paper, and the message must be historically accurate.

Five points will be allocated to how accurately it depicts the war effort, and five points go toward your creative output.

It’s due January 17, 2012. No exceptions.