Hi Folks,

Just for the record, although next week is technically listed as a 'resource week', we will still be meeting up for our small group discussions on Tuesday afternoon. We will be discussing study skills amongst other topics, so be ready to discuss what you learned from the lecture/seminar task of marking the essay.

I would like to continue our blog for this week on the theme of the Amendments to the Bill of Rights; specifically that of the Freedom of Speech and how this might relate to censorship.

Olly, you will be our lead poster this week, so please search out TWO websites that discuss the idea of censorship; one pro and one anti. Then, as per normal, all of us must respond to your posting with intelligent, well-considered posts that show how well we have read not only the sites Olly has chosen, but also how we feel about them. Please do ensure your posts are actually engaging with the subject! Remember, you will be marked on your participation in the blog.I'll look forward to seeing all of you, then, on Tuesday as per normal at one o'clock.

Best
Devon

Thomas Jefferson counter argument

This is the first time i have been able to get on the blag as I now realise that your username is in fact your email.

For my task I had to find a webpage that didn't agree that Jefferson was the "model" that it was quite put forward he was known for. I found a page but it is in a pdf file so i hope it come out alright for everyone.
http://www.tjheritage.org/documents/TrialAnalysis.pdf

The website mainly takes apart claims that he owned slaves but also the he fatherd black children which at the time would not have been acceptable, They would have not been deemed acceptable under law by state of virginia. On page 14 his grandchild writes about him living in the misdt of these people and enjoying them, his intercourse is the feest and affectionate type, this tells me that he lives away from people with different wives and misstresses. The site is rather long and does go into great detail about whether or not he fartherd children from slaves, however i still think this website is helpful in understanding that perhaps Thomas jefferson isn't entirely innocent.

alice

Next sessions

Week 6
Next week's lecture will be a Study Skills session; the work it leads to for the small group (in Wk 7) will likewise deal with study skills.

For the small group for the week ahead: Print up and bring with you copies of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights to the Constitution of the USA. In preparation for the meeting, research the background to these two great founding documents of America, discover what the attitude toward them is today in the US (find evidence!) and be prepared to debate their wording and their meaning. For the Blog for the week ahead:Lead poster – locate TWO websites, one pro and one anti any of the liberties identified in the first eight amendments of the Bill of Rights. Comment on how they present their case for and against, and justify which viewpoint you agree with - for instance, the death penalty, freedom of religion, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, guns, trial by jury’ (150 -200 words)Others – comment on the websites and state why you agree or disagree with the lead poster (100-150w) Everyone MUST locate their viewpoint in issues and evidence. Don’t discuss abstractly or generally. Show knowledge!

Apology

Really sorry guys, I’m not going to be able to make it this week. I’m still feeling really ill.
I’m only doing it this way because I can’t access my emails to explain to Devon.
Sorry again everyone.

Howdy folks.
Great discussions this past week. I have very much enjoyed reading through your comments, esp on the Declaration of Independence site our poster introduced us to.

However, I am a bit concerned that not everyone is participating in our blogged discussions, so may I just point out a few things:

1) Please do read all of the instructions! Don't forget that by tomorrow, you will need to have printed out the relevant sections of the Notes on Virginia (as assigned last week), read them, and be prepared to give us a 5-minute presentation on your particular section. We'll be giving three presentations tomorrow and three the next week (or thereabouts); I intentionally did not tell you who would be presenting each week, lest any of you avoid early preparation!

2) Presentations: the big thing to remember is to always evidence your views, by drawing attention to things in the document (or text) itself, rather than just making unsubstantiated assertions or speculations that you can't back up. Also, do remember to pay attention to the issues you have been assigned to consider--in this case, what do you think explains TJ's views at the time and how do they relate to America today?

3) Our blogging is improving slowly, but I'd still like to see longer/more engaged comments from everyone. I have been impressed in general so far at the quality of the postings (although your spelling leaves something to be desired!), but I still haven't heard from everyone.

If anyone has any questions/concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me via email and I will always try to help. If you need me to consider a draft of your upcoming written assignment, I will be happy to do so. See you all tomorrow.

Life of Thomas Jefferson

http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/biog/

This site I found very educational, it is written by a man called B.L Rayner who from the introduction of the page sounds like he has devoted his life to researching accurate facts about Jefferson.
B.L Rayner has got primary and secondary information on this web page, the informations ranges from Jefferson's biographies to his writing on political principles.

This website is most informative to all who wants to know more about Jefferson, it has 39 chapters of Jefferson life clearly labeled and easy accessible. All the chapters where interesting, but the three i learnt the most from where: chapter 1, his early years because it showed me his roots before he came to the publics attention, chapter 3, beginning public life because it shows me how he felt at that point in his life and what sacrifices he had to go through to help him with his dream and chapter 31, Second Term as President because it shows how grown up he has become and where his interests lie, for example in education.

This website left me knowing alot more about Jefferson hope it helps you learn more to. enjoy.

For next time

In the group meetings and in the blog following the lecture/seminars on Wednesdays of Wk4 and Wk 5, we will study NOTES ON THE STATE OF VIRGINIA by Thomas Jefferson (1782)
Notes on the State of Virginia was written by Thomas Jefferson (a Founding Father and second President of the United States) in response to questions posed by Francois Barbes-Marbois, the French representative to the newly independent USA. There is an electronic version here (with page numbers): http://etext.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/JefVirg.html.
The queries made and Jefferson’s answers are revealing of what Europeans found curious about North America and what Americans knew of the new country after a century or so of settlement. Some of the answers are largely descriptive of climate or terrain, others are more interpretative about the inhabitants of America – settlers, natives and slaves – and their way of life. They give us a fascinating snapshot of the new nation.
For the small group:This week and next, each of you will make short non-assessed presentation (5-7mins) to the rest of the group about one of the following Queries from the Notes (page numbers refer to the online edition.) This will be the springboard to our general discussions.
Your presentation should briefly summarise the general points made by Jefferson, but the core of your presentation should be a critical evaluation of what Jefferson writes – how would you account for the views he holds, how do those views speak to the emerging identity of being an American, especially as the “new man” declared by De Crevecoeur? What comparisons can you see to America and Americans today?
1) Query VI (section on animals pp165-72)
2) Query VIII Population (section pp210-5)
3) Query XI Indians section (pp220-28)
4) Query XIII Constitution (section on rebellion and republics pp249-54)
5) Query XIII Laws (section on slaves pp 264-70)
6) Query XVII Religion
plus, if needed 7) Query XXII Public Revenue
PLEASE PRINT AND BRING THE RELEVANT SECTIONS FOR THAT WEEK’S SMALL GROUP.
For the Blog:First week on Notes: The lead poster will locate and post a website concerning some aspect of the life of Thomas Jefferson, analysing the source website, its opinions and how it presents its materials; other members of the group should comment both on the website and on the post, agreeing, disagreeing and elaborating on the original post. The post and the comments should be at least 150-200 words.
Second week on Notes: The lead poster will locate and post a website concerning [a topic to be decided]; other members of the group should comment both on the website and on the post, agreeing, disagreeing and elaborating on the original post. The post and the comments should be at least 150-200 words.

Pictures for this week

I believe my image to be quintessentially American, and also fits in with Watson's ideology (along with Crevecour's) on being an American - being one man. Although it shows a cartoon; the cartoon is typically an American image and by saluting shows once again how being an American is being patriotic, proud to be an American and proud to be one single nation.

Controversially, the a huge antithesis is apparent in Watson's essay in the way that he talks about the segration of America and how different races and creeds are still being sorted in cities by a horrendous "colour coding" system. For example, keeping whites in the suburbs, and the blacks/hispanics in the ghetto. This picture is from the film 'American History X'; a film that doesn't just touch on racism and the rise of the neo-nazi's in modern day America it destroys any sugar coated imagery anyone might have of America becoming one nation.

I placed these two pictures side by side because to me they both equally symbolise America from the point of view of Watson. With the patrioism right down to the terrifyingly open display of racism they seem to have.

This picture is of an indian man with his head leaning on the american flag. I chose this because Crevecoeur goes on about "He is an American" and "The American is.. a new man" i chose an indian man as they are very strong, wise and where the first people on the American land. they are strong worriors who have fought hard for their way of life and has made America what is it today with all the history it has today. The indian alos looks very strong person this is why i chose him as America is a strong, welthy country.








This picture is a birds eye view on the world many years ago to the world as it is now, i chose this pictures because J Wreford Watson quots many times that 'myths of the old world, and the comprarative mythlessness of the new world" i think that he is trying to say that the world becomes different every year and that you can see the effects that it has on the new world, this picture looks at both new and old, also i feel it symbolises the the "states of minds' as it also symbolises two new minds with different textures and areas which look like a map of the states in American. maybe it is only me that can see both sides of it, hope you all enjoy the picture and the indepth detail to them.

Watson's Concept

This is, for me the most significant picture representing Watson and Crevecoeur's vision. The terrible event of 11th September 2001, shocked and horrified much of the American population, not to mention the rest of the world. The country did, however; as Crevecoeur suggests, join to together in a period of unity against a common enemy, where every person was working for 'Man as a whole' (Crevecoeur's Letters from an American Farmer, 1782).
The most important thing in Watson's perspective is that this unity, and more importantly the 'mixing of peoples'; also mentioned in the letters, has never been fully realised.
The event of 9/11 shows evidence of both Crevecoeur and Watson's ideals. There had been extreme unity between most Americans, but as both the source and Watson suggests, violence and a lack of cultural fusion led to many American (Arab) minorities being the victims of hate crime.
This picture from the Arab community website shows their dedication to the country they love. America is home to them as to anyone else there. They attempt therefore to break the boundries of ethnic conflict, and bring America together, in Crevecoeur's image.
I found this site by going to Google Advanced Image Search, then clicking on the www.aaiusa.org/issues/2447/911-five-years-later link. It is very interesting to see what the Arab community has to say. I would recommend it as a quick read, to anyone.

My second image comes from an American film called 'Pleasantville' (Gary Ross, 1998). I used Google Advanced Image search again, and clicked onto www.uwm.edu/~wash/pleasantville.htm.
As many of you may know, the film is set in an old television program where two 1990s teenagers are transformed to a place of tradition and conformity.
Watson's idea of the 'Geography of newness' comes into context when these teenagers start to update the program and bring about the new age of living. As they do this, the old program starts to blossom into colour, while the town counsil attempts to delay the inevitable.
This sign (in the picture above) not only shows the resisting of change and 'mixing' of different social groups (Crevecoeur), but also the resisting of deplacement of the old with the new.
I feel this is an excellent example of the developement of 'newness', and the replacement of the old.
This isn't the clearest of pictures, I apologise. It is the front cover of a book entitled 'National Parks, The American Experience' (Alfred Runte), and it is a book written for the national park lover. It shows the commitment to nature that Watson identifies.
If anyone would want to have a look, I found it by using the Google Book search for American National Parks, and this is the first result. I would recommend reading several pages in, because the first few are not so useful.
The book makes many important points about the destruction of the environment, and the need to preserve the places under attack.
This book is ideal evidence of Watson's view on the American love of nature versus their destructed power.

Finally, my last picture comes from a website called http://teachingamericanhistory.net/000001 /000000/ 000129/html/t129.html and is entitled 'The Rise of Advertisement and American Consumer Culture'.
The first thing that caught my eye, was how old it looked in comparison to how much modern advertising was displayed. I think this helps to display the developement of the new over the old, also. It describes in the Article how the new industries were changing in such a rapid way.
This is not only similar in Watson's 'newness' explanation, but also an explanation for the entire construction of modern geographical thinking. By seeing the development of this space that was shaped in the mind of the American people, we can see how ideology and imagination control the changing of American geography.

I feel that all of these pictures help to give a visual example and clarification to Watson's study. I hope you do, too.

Picture - Rachel

To say that the Europeans had a fascination with why the Natives walked around in the nude is an understatement. Looking at these pictures it is quite clear that they definitely found in absurd and also intriguing as to why they didn't wear clothes.

I chose this pic purely for that fact.

Although its not a picture created by DeBry, it is in the same style and most certainly mimicking his ideals and also his very typical Point of View.

I think this picture sums up attitudes and reflections of the discovery of the America we know today.

Rachel's Website...take 2!

Hi everyone!

I've found this website http://www.americanjourneys.org/ which i hope all of you will find interesting.

Not only does this website give us an indepth view on Brittish settlement in 'The Americas' it also gives us eyewitness accounts of settlers right up from 1000AD.

Its a great help as everyone could use it as a primary source for essays and also gives us good scope to read around the subject.

I found this site by going onto google but using the advanced search settings to ensure i only got academic websites (eg. .ac.uk, .org, .edu) so what i came up with was pretty reasonable and accurate.

It might be a little difficult to understand but i hope everyone enjoys.
Rachel x

Tradition? Salvation? Or mere Exaggeration?

"Captain Smith is saved by Pocohontas"

Will we ever know the truth to this well known tale?

The most general belief is that Smith had been saved during the the tribes Execution ceremony.

However, many historians have doubted the strength of Smith's observations, and seen his accounts as merely boastful, possibly even exaggerated.

Unfortunately, we will only ever have a handful of evidence to go by.

The idea that this moment of salvation was in fact part of a traditional tribal performance, may never be fully examined by historians.

In this picture, De Bry leaves little to the imagination in his attempt to show us the answer to this question. If John Smith was the only person to have given evidence to this ceremony, we may never know the tribes real insentives. It does however show us the general image that many Europeans held. Whether arriving back from the New World, or just the popular picture of the Natives, that was created even before the settlement.

Reminder of the first task

In our meeting in Week 3 (our first proper meeting where you have a task to complete) we will discuss some of the early images of America produced by Theodore De Bry. This will build on William’s lecture on early settlement and our seminar on Jamestown in Week 2.

THE SMALL GROUP TASK FOR ALL GROUPS
1) Find out about Theodore De Bry, the images he copied, engraved and published. Read the short essays on De Bry’s engravings which you can find here:
http://www.vahistorical.org/cole/gallery.htm
Pay special attention to the section “Interpreting Historical Images” as this will guide you in how to understand and comment on the images in our small group meeting
2) Browse and select ONE image, either from the above site or from this site:
http://www.csulb.edu/~aisstudy/woodcuts/
and please post it to the blog, either as a link or as an image (latter is best.)
link: just copy the http address and paste it into the blog as a new post
image: click on the picture icon at the top of the new post option and follow the instructions for adding an image from the web
3) Make sure you visit the blog in advance of our wk3 meeting to check out the images. Come to the small group ready to discuss your selection as evidence of the European encounter with the New World – what can it tell us of the native inhabitants? What can it tell us of how the inhabitants were seen by the Europeans?
THE BLOG TASK:
The Poster: search for a website which deals with any aspect or detail of early American settlement. Post a link to it, and write an explanation of how you searched, why you selected the site you did, and what you found interesting, informative and useful about it.
Others: visit the website posted, and write your own comment on the site chosen, identifying aspects of it which you found informative and useful or conversely, aspects you did not.
Your small group tutor will identify who is the poster for each week. Guidance can be found in FAQ.

Welcome

This is our blog. Once you are signed in, we can start the regular process of blogging, in which each week one of you posts a link to a relevant website, offering an evaluation of why you think it is useful and interesting, and the others comment - including me. I hope we can also use the blog for general postings about America too.