Today was sort of review day and sort of random day. I told the story of Quaker Oats. I read the Harper's Weekly Review. We talked about a few other current events. We talked about the the sleep in.

I had students write a Matt evaluation. I asked them to critique my teaching. I also asked them to tell me about their learning this quarter/semester and tell me what grade they would give themselves a grade based upon their learning (not based upon their assignment-doing).

We discussed the final paper.

We discussed a few current events. We talked about the final. I shows a few overheads concerning industrialism, robber barons, vertical integration, and horizontal integration.

American History final

I hope that all of you have learned a lot this semester. You’ve probably noticed that my style of teaching is fairly informal and the content of what we’ve learned can seem random. This is my design. I believe that most learning happens informally and randomly, so I’ve tried to create as many opportunities for true learning (inside and outside the classroom) to take place as possible. My most important goal for this semester has been that you begin to form a worldview concerning all things historically American. There are a lot of details to learn, and many forget them readily, but we can find them in our sources/readings/videos/etc. On the other hand the worldview never fades from memory; it evolves into more mature versions of itself. What you begin to learn in this class can become a framework of your future worldview about all things American.

My goals for you according to the syllabus are: think more critically and creatively; sense and feel historical underpinnings to life in 2003; recognize perspective and bias; evaluate events and movements based upon our values; and live life more fully. I think we’ve gotten a good start on these, but we have a fair distance to go. Feel free to prompt me back on track.

What I want from you in this final is proof that you have begun to form that worldview. Some of you already began to do this with your slavery papers. In light of what I’ve just written, here is your final, due on Tuesday, January 21nd:
________________________________________________________________________
Describe American history from 1600 to 1900. What significant movements occurred? What happened that matters today? State your opinions. Back them up with facts. Write fluently. I expect somewhere between 2 and 20 pages of writing. If you choose to demonstrate your understanding in another way (artistically, with a presentation, et cetera), be sure to provide some written documentation of what you are trying to do.

For those of you concerned about grades:
This final can contribute as much as 50% of your grade if you demonstrate to me that you have a clear understanding of what we’ve learned so far. For those of you who have already shown a clear understanding of what we’ve learned so far (with your assigned work), this final can be a smaller part of your grade. Let me restate: If you have been a slacker regarding assignments, this final is your chance to catch up by proving to me that you have learned a lot this quarter and done some synthesis (putting it together). However, if you are a diligent student, this final can be a less important part of your semester grade.

Some of the things we’ve covered inside and outside of class (in reverse order of study):
Lots and lots of current events
"registration" of visitors & immigrants from certain countries
US News & World Report (distort) which contains blatant lies in it's article about American empire/imperialism
John D. Rockefeller & the rise of the Standard Oil Company in PBS’s "The Prize"
economies of scale, competetive advantage, vertical integration
robber barons
industrialism and the Civil War many robber barons began to make their fortunes during the Civil War. (Many of them were in their 20s and hired substitutes to go to war for them when their were drafted)
Michael Moore reading about “Welfare Mamas” (corporate welfare recipients).
Kurds
"Social Darwinism"
The school walkout, school funding, sports funding
Trent Lott, southern racism, racism
Reconstruction
3 minute "Bowling for Columbine" segment concerning fear in America and the violence that comes from that.
Glory"
westward expansion
pre-Civil War political conflicts: unifying and disunifying events between north & south previous to the Civil War
"No Child Left Behind Act" which forces school districts to offer transfers to students in "failing" schools.
What is the importance of the Amistad case in US history?
How did race slavery develop in Virginia & why?
importance of Bacon's Rebellion by talking about how blacks & whites mingled more freely before it happened. Afterwards many laws were passed which revented blacks & whites from working together.
US alliance with Saudi Arabia
Homeland Security Act that passed Monday
Walmart court case
“Amistad”
“Amistad moral/practical question concerning ends and means. Tappan says, wouldn't they "have been more valuable in death than in life" by making the Amistad captives martyrs. Joadson disagrees, affirming the dignity of the individuals involved. This ends/means question is continually relevant.
modern indentured servitude of Asian refugees being imported to southern California illegally to work in sweatshops.
“Amistad”
-“Amistad” inaccuracies
-“Bowling for Columbine”
-SLAVERY: (an extremely important part of this nation's history)
-At first African and European indentured servants were treated as equals.
-three time periods in the development of race slavery
-Bacon's Rebellion (1676) was an important symbolic event
-Native American slave trade
-Slaves traded/smuggled illegally, especially after slavetrading banned in the US/Britain
-The proslave/antislave debate was not a clear South/North division
-Abolitionists were a minority
-British culture contained racist attitudes before race slavery developed

I presented some current events and read the December 24th Harper's Weekly Review. Then we talked about FISA.


This American Life had a show about FISA, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which is two decades old and authorizes wiretaps on suspected "spies". For the first time in their history, they refused a request for a wiretap warrant. The Ashcroft Justice Department has challenged their refusal. I read the
From www.thisamericanlife.com "Most people don't know there's a secret court in the United States. Perhaps even more surprising, it's been around for over two decades. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance court authorizes wiretaps on people the FBI and other intelligence agencies suspect of being spies. It meets in secret, and all its proceedings are sealed. Recently, a big battle you probably heard nothing about broke out between the court and the Ashcroft Justice Department. For what may have been the first time in its history, the court turned down a department surveillance application, and for what is certainly the first time in history, the department fought the court's decision. The document you see above, (note the filing number 02-001) is the first public document ever produced by the The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, the super-secret body convened to solve this super-secret dispute. This and other stories about government secrecy from what many people call the most secretive Presidential administration in history." from This American Life's website

We talked about social Darwinism and the place it occupies in our social consciousness, the power of that mythology. We hold on to stories about people working their way up the social class ladder, yet these stories are rare exceptions. This country has the least class mobility in its history now. When polled, 20% of Americans believe that they are in the top 1% of wealthy Americans. Another 19% believe they will be. This distortion (38% of Americans deluded about their wealth) is partly because of social Darwinism.

I read a bit from Ill Nature by Joy Williams, an amazing book subtitled Rants & Reflections on Humanity and Other Animals.