Phily Trip Day 7 – Monmouth Battlefield and Washington’s Crossing of the Delaware

June 7, 2008

Hello everyone,

I began the day at the site where George Washington crossed the Delaware River Christmas night 1776 just before the Battle of Trenton in New Jersey.  

Here is the monument

and the Delaware River. The Delaware River is the longest fresh water river in the eastern U.S. It is 400 miles long and 800 feet wide at the widest part. On average, the water in the river moves at 11,000 cubic feet per second. I’ll come back to this number in a bit. The first two pictures of the river are all looking east into New Jersey right on the opposite shore.

 

 This one is looking down stream from the same location. New Jersey is on the left side of the picture.

These pictures are peaceful and calm. Very relaxing. But also deceiving. This river flooded three times in the past two years and the water reached the bottom of the bridge and where I was standing would have been underwater.

Back up on the picture of the monument, you read that the troops crossed the river on Christmas night 1776. Now you have to use your imagination to envision what it was like for the soldiers. There were 2,400 people with all their horses, supplies, cannon, guns, and everything else they needed trying to cross the river. You’d think crossing a river that looked like the ones in the pictures would be easy, but that night, they were crossing in a raging snowstorm; ice flowed thick and deadly in the river; the British and Hessians (German mercenaries) were on the other side. It took 11 hours to get all the men, supplies, cannon, guns, etc across the river via boat and ferry. 11 hours! It is estimated that the river that night was moving at 43,000 cubic feet per second. Have Grandpa compare the numbers for you. That’s a lot of water with a lot of power behind it.

This is the famous painting of Washington crossing the Delaware. I watched a video of the crossing and this was the backdrop on the stage.

There you see Washington standing, facing the onslaught of the snowstorm, leading his men onward through adversity… Our tour guide explained that he doesn’t believe Washington crossed the Delaware as depicted in the painting. His word were, “This painting was meant to be inspirational, not historical.” The guide said that Washington was a horseman. He was very fond of his horse, so he would have been on the ferry with the cannon and horses when he crossed, and not in the boat.

These are pictures of Durham boats. 

 

 

  

 

 

 

The next pictures show the buildings that are on the site of the crossing. The first is the information about it.

 Boat Barn     Blacksmith 

 McConkey Ferry Inn (tavern) – the small, rounded building low to the ground with the pointed top (on the left) was the ice house. Inside the tavern, I discovered a Puzzle Mug”. Look at the design for a moment. How would you drink beer from this mug? There are holes near the lip and some sort of protuberances on the lip which leads you to believe you could drink from them. Hmmm. But how without spilling your beer?

Answer: The handle is hollow. You plug two of the spouts with your fingers and drink out of the third like a straw.

Now here’s a bit of trivia for you. Look at this picture. It is the bartender’s area of the tavern. Without refrigeration, beer couldn’t be kept cold in the bar area itself, so it was kept underground in a cooler location. When the bartender ran out of beer, he/she might have to leave the bar unattended and wouldn’t be able to trust the patrons not to steal or drink the other alcohol. So, the bartender would lock up the area by pulling down the two panels you see in the pictures. The one on the right was the “bar” and the one on the left was the “grill”, thus evolved the “Bar and Grill” that many restaurants or bars nowadays have in their names.

It’s time to leave the Delaware Crossing and drive on to Monmouth Battlefield. It was around 95 degees with 85% humidity under a clear, sunny sky as I walked…and walked…and walked…the battlefield with a tour guide who moved us along with military commands. “Troops. Fall in!” “Front and Center!” “Forward. March!”

Monmouth Battlefield State Park on the left and a view of the overall field on the right (looking north). Notice the footbridge in the lower left. I went with the group that walked what the guide said was two-thirds of a mile, but it seemed longer in the heat. I’ll come back to the heat later.

        

The building below is the parsonage that was used as a meeting house and a field hospital during the battle. Surgeons were allowed to move back and forth between British and American lines under a white flag, often blindfolded so they couldn’t reveal the exact locations of each side, as they tended to the wounded. Whittney, I mentioned there was a book you and I would read together. This location is in the book and the tree was standing at the time of the battle. It’s a White Oak. This meeting house was at the center of a convergence of three roads that formed a triangular round-about so it was an important location. It’s called White Oak Hill. The British fired upon this location.

       

This plaque is on the church.

We moved on to the battlefield itself. Again, Whittney, we’ll read more about this in the book.

 

This information plaque was one of many on the battlefield. I know you can’t read it very well, but the second paragraph begins: The French welcomed the war between their British enemies and the Americans.” As you already know, France funded much of the Revolution for the Americans and the French were delighted to be fighting the British. One of our guides summed it up this way: “The French were worried that peace might break out.” So they did whatever they could to keep the war going.

The reason I mentioned the heat and humidity was our guide said on the actual day of the battle the temperature was comparable to what I experienced and the sight of this bridge just yards away from the visitor’s center was a welcomed relief. The soldiers suffered, and some died, from the temperature/humidity, lack of water, and exhaustion.

                         This is me with the statue commemorating Baron von Steuben.

My day ended at Hard Rock Cafe for supper and my favorite, the Subway. I’m a little out of focus in this picture, but I wanted to show you what it looks like at the “End of the Line”. I’d always wondered what it looked like to reach that point. Now I know.

I might use this information about crossing the Delaware and the details of the Monmouth battle with my middle school students. They have the basic information about Washington and the crossing, but I could go into more detail now that I know more myself. I’m also contemplating having the students read Yankee Doodle Boy. We’d read it together in class, use the pictures I’ve taken as illustrations in the story, and possibly watch the movie The Crossing as a culminating activity. The students would have enough information at that point to be more critical in their viewing and we could talk about Hollywood vs. history.

Next stop, The Philadelphia Museum of Art. Whittney, ask your mom and dad who ran up the steps of this building in a series of movies they like to watch. I know it’s not very historical, but it is interesting tourist trivia.

Until next time…

debra

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Phily Trip Day 6 – Franklin Institute

June 6, 2008

Greetings one and all,

First of all, I will post answers to the questions I’ve asked in my earliers blogs…just not yet. It’s a ploy to get readers to return because they feel they lack closure in their lives without the answers.   (just kidding).

I spent today at the Franklin Institute.

The picture below is looking east from the front steps. As an aside, Nicolas Cage in National Treasure probably stood on these same steps while filming and gazed out upon the city park across the way.

Here’s the Benjamin Franklin Memorial statue. Pretty impressive.

The Franklin Institute opened in 1934, but the statue wasn’t completed until 1938. It’s 22 feet high and the sculptor was James Earl Frasier. He also designed the buffalo on the buffalo head nickel. The room in which Ben sits is a replica of the Rome Parthenon as a symbolic reference to Benjamin Franklin as the world’s greatest enlightenment natural philosopher. Franklin was often referred to as a scientist, but he preferred the term “natural philosopher.”

This next one was really interesting. This plaque was on the stairway railing. I know it’s hard to read, but if you can get through it, it’s really interesting because…

…I looked over the railing and took a picture of the pendulum swinging. First to the north then as it swung back south. You can barely see where the pins have been knocked over. It was around 9:30 a.m.

 

From here, we went upstairs to the Trustees Board room where we spent a couple of wonderful hours actually touching and holding museum artifacts that belonged to Franklin. We wore the little white gloves like you see in the movies.

This first picture is his silver pitcher. The next two pictures are of the book that made him internationally famous. I actually held it in my hands and read several pages. This book was published in 1751. Imagine that, I held a book that is 257 years old.   

      

Around 1:30, with classmates, Liz and Del, lI eft the Institute for a leisurely stroll through the neighborhood toward the subway…

The three of us made it to the park across from the Institute and took pictures of the statues of Native Americans in the fountain in the beautiful city park. The statues symbolize the Three Rivers. Kids were playing in the water.

We continued on to the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul and crashed a wedding rehearsal. We did wait until they were finished before we took our pictures.

You may remember from reading previous blogs that I like pipe organs. The ones in this church were beautiful. 

 Continuing on our journey, we found City Hall with what looks to be a minute man as the spire.

It took us nearly two hours to wander five blocks from the Institute and we were apparently living right today because Del received a phone call summoning us back to the Institute to go through the exhibit: Real Pirates. I was in hog heaven there. I can’t begin to do justice to the information about pirates and slave ships in this exhibit. It began with a short movie to set the stage for the walk through of the exhibit. It was all about the ship The Whydah (wee-dah). I could go on for pages about this ship and what happened to it. Suffice it to say that I’ll be looking for books and more information about this one. Sorry, no pictures allowed inside the exhibit.

But, click on this link, Whydah documentary. It’s a six-minute National Geographic clip. Click here, for another Whydah documentary from National Geographic (four minutes). 

With kids so interested in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, this real, historic information might just catch their attention. I could use it in my classroom to prompt research and discussion into the history of pirates along the Atlantic coast and the impact on the shipping industry to the 13 colonies and later. I’ll definitely use it in discussing Hollywood vs. acurate history in film.

Click here, Real Pirates Education Guide, to read the educator’s guide to this exhibit, and here, Whydah at Institute homepage, to read more.

This exhibit made my day. I need to find out when it’s coming to Denver so I can see it again. Whittney, you’d really like it.

Well, no questions tonight. I know you’re sad about that. Tomorrow, I’m off to Monmouth Battle Field and Washington’s Crossing of the Delaware in Washington State Park. It’s supposed to be 100 degrees and high humidity and it’s mostly a walking day. Wish me luck because you know how much I love the heat.

Until the next time…

debra

 

 

 

 

 

Phily Trip Day 5 – The National Constitution Center

June 5, 2008

Greetings one and all,

I spent the day at The National Constitution Center.

Carol Berkin, the author of A Brilliant Solution, one of the books I read in preparation of going on this excursion, spoke to us most of the morning. She is a humorous and engaging speaker. I could have listened to her for many more hours. She discussed the men who worked to construct the Constitution as living, breathing brilliant men rather than the larger-than-life personas that we’ve always read about…

[We interupt this blog with an important emergency message...the emergency alarm went off and we had to evacuate the building for about thirty minutes. The fire department arrived and we waited outside in our Philly Excursionist huddle. I'm on the 11th floor of a 25+ floor dormitory building. It wasn't so bad going down, but the elevators here aren't terribly efficient on a good day, so you can only imagine the congestion when we were allowed back in the building. Several of us took the stairs. Funny how it seems longer going up than down.]

Back to the day…Ms. Berkin. I’m looking forward to her new books about Civil War women and I need to get a hold of “Revolutionary Mothers”. I hadn’t made the connection about nations having birth myths, so when she mentioned Romulus and Remus and the story of Rome then compared it to the American Revolution stories, it made perfect sense. It’s evident that she thinks highly of Alexander Hamilton and I agree with her. I purchased a book about him in the Constitution Center bookstore. I like his words that summed up the process of writing the Constitution: Nobody got everything they wanted; no one got nothing; but everyone got someting. Speaking of Alexander Hamilton, here’s a picture of us hanging out together…

 …and one of him solo.

   

I liked her comment about the measure of a man’s wealth was his library and wine cellar. I’m comfortably well off then.

I’d never heard that these men considered democracy to mean mob rule by a group who had nothing invested, so they had nothing to lose. By the time I’d finished reading A Brilliant Solution, I certainly understood how truly worried these men were about America dissolving. I also understood how obsessed they were with the danger of power and that absolute power corrupts even the best of men, as Benjamin Franklin said. It was interesting to me that they’d studied the world’s governments since the earliest civilizations and that they believed every republic had failed, from Caesar to oligarchies to democratic societies. They wanted a republic. Until about a year ago, I’d never contemplated the difference between a democracy and a republic.

It’s amazing to me that these men were able to craft a document that was dynamic and fluid and has weathered the years in fine form.

Here are pictures from the room at the Constitution Center that has bronze (?) replicas of the men who worked that summer of 1787 to write the Constitution. The first one is Benjamin Franklin (sitting) and Gubernor Morris standing.

  Notice Morris’ peg leg.

  Sorry, I don’t remember who these two are, but they’re certainly in deep discussion. These bronzes were very life-like.

After lunch, we had another interesting talk from Eli Lesser, education coordinator at the Center. He gave us teacher resources for teaching the Constitution and civic education. Eli had a great sense of humor and I liked his explanation that since the Constitution Center is a non-collecting museum, you have to tell students they’re going to a museum to see nothing.

We also watched an interesting theatrical production in a “theater in the round” environment. It was called Freedom Rising and it covered America from the Revolutionary times to the present then we toured the exhibits.

I had trouble with my camera today, so I don’t have as many pictures as I’d planned, but here’s a picture from the second floor of the Center looking directly toward Independence Hall in the distance. Independence Hall is in the center at the bottom of the picture.

Now, here are the questions for today.

1. List the six Constitutional delegates who also signed the Declaration of Independence (they’re called double signers).

2. Which of the states was not represented at the signing of the Constitution?

3. How many total delegates came worked on crafting the Constitution during the summer of 1787? (not from each state, but altogether)

4. Did Samuel Adams, John Adams, and/or Thomas Jefferson participate in crafting the Constitution?

We didn’t go on the Haunted house tour tonight. We hope to catch it another night. We’ll spend tomorrow at the Franklin Institute learning about Benjamin Franklin, science, and the enlightenment. We’ll also have free time to spend browsing the Franklin Institute or we can take a trip to the Wagner Free Institute of Science to look at late Nineteenth Century memorabilia and artifacts.

Here’s what it looks like out my window at night.

Until tomorrow…

debra

 

Phily Trip Day 4 – Battle of Princeton and Princeton

June 4, 2008

Greetings everyone,

Today was a rainy day in Philadelphia and New Jersey. Here’s a picture of Philadelphia looking east from my 11th floor dorm room at 7 am (5 am Colorado time).

I began my day with a trip to the Princeton Battlefield State Park where the I listened to an explanation of the battle and many of the events that led up to it and some of what happened afterwards. Briefly, Washington had just crossed the Delaware River on Christmas Day 1776 and the battle of Princeton occured Jan 3, 1777. Washington faced all sorts of challenges during these battles, not the least of which was the enlistments of many of his soldiers was running out. He used psychological strategies to get them to reenlist. For instance, once they crossed the treacherous and ice-flowing Delaware River and were facing the enemy, it was going to be very difficult for the soldiers who didn’t want to stay to get back across the river on their own. He also let peer pressure do its job by having the ones who wanted to leave have to face abandoning their buddies to fight on with reduced numbers. Washington was a shrewd commander. I also learned that just before battle, the soldiers were issued rum with gunpowder sprinkled in it. Apparently that was quite normal and was supposed to add to their discomfort so they’d be cranky and really ready to fight the enemy Red Coats.

Here are pictures of part of the battlefield (remember, these trees weren’t there at the time) and the Clarke House (built in 1772) which is on a hill overlooking the battle field and has a wealth of antiques from the time in it. This is the front of the house…

and it overlooks this view.

However, this view is from the other side of the house and it is of the main portion of the battlefield. This is the field where Washington rode right into the heat of the battle amid the cannon firing, shells exploding, and smoke surrounding the soldiers. One of his aides-de-camp wrote that he covered his eyes when he saw Washington in the heart of the battle because he couldn’t bear to see his commander-in-chief killed. But, as you know, Washington survived.

 

 

 

 

    

The next one is a plaque that summarizes 10 Crucial Days better than I can. 

 This is a picture of a picture of Washington in battle.

 To elaborate on this, in the heat of the battle, Washington rode right into battle, leading his men. His aide de camp put a cloth over his eyes when he saw what Washington was doing because he couldn’t bear the thought of seeing Washington die. Washington was literally a sitting duck, but he wasn’t harmed. It was interesting to me that Washington actually lost most of the battles he fought, but ultimately won the war. He did win at the Battle of Trenton and that victory bolstered morale for soldiers and civilians alike. The weather from the time Washington crossed the Delaware River clear through the battle at Princeton and Trenton was horrible. It was Christmas 1776 through the new year and it was cold and wet. On January 2, it warmed and the frozen ground turned to mud the consistency of cookie dough. It made moving troops a horribly slow undertaking and with the snow and ice melting, the rivers and creeks were flooding. I walked in some mud in the rain today on the battlefield and didn’t enjoy it much, so I know those soldiers were having a terrible horrible no good very bad day.

After leaving the battle grounds, we went into the town of Princeton and a tour of Princeton University and surrounding area. Here are some pictures with brief explanations.

University Chapel looking toward the front…

 

…and the back. If you squint and look carefully, you can see horizontal pipes for the organ. It was odd to see the pipes horizontal instead of vertical. They sort of look like long horns.

Next is Nassau Hall with the tiger mascots out front. It is the oldest building on campus and has been in continuous use since 1756. It is Georgian style architecture. If you recall, I told you in a previous post what that means. The Declaration of Independence was read here, the Battle of Princeton ended here, and Alexander Hamilton fired upon this building because the Britains held it. The story goes that Hamilton took a lot of pleasure firing on this building because he’d applied to college here and was denied admittance. This building was also the first capital of the new U.S. The new treaty between the U.S. and Britain was signed here. Congress also left this building in a hurry after a scuffle over not paying soldiers the wages they’d earned fighting during the war.

  

Now, off I went to Albert Einstein’s House. Einstein was a Princeton man. Robyne, these pictures were taken with you in mind since I know you admire Einstein.

Here I am in front of his house. It is a faculty house because Einstein didn’t want it turned into a museum. The man living in it just received a Nobel Peace Prize.

Here I am beside the only monument of Einstein in Princeton. It was dedicated in 2005.

This is Richard Stockton’s house. He was a revolutionary war hero and also a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was captured by the British, but was released and later ran for governor, but lost. He lived here for many years. The path was the King’s Highway.

I also visited the Princeton Cemetery. The first picture is President Grover Cleveland’s grave. The next one is Aaron Burr’s grave.

  

I saved the best for last. The next pictures are of the Princeton Battle Monument. It came about in 1876 during the Philadelphia Exhibition (like a World’s Fair) and people started thinking about the American heritage and they wanted to commemorate it with a monument. It was dedicated in 1922 and it was the last of the Italian Renaissance monuments. The sculptor was Frederick MacMonnnies with the assistance of an architect named Thomas Hastings. The inspiration for the front of the monument was a famous painting of “liberty enlightening the people”. The first two pictures are the back and a side. The front is the breathtaking one.

 

 

Looking at this monument gave me chills with its life-like depiction. Lady Liberty is in the center and she’s reaching to Washington or supporting him symbolically. The soldiers are both holding onto her and clutching her for dear life, as well as protecting her. She is the center, at the heart, of the battle, the suffering, the sacrifice around her. Washington is looking toward the future with Lady Liberty at his side. It is as if Lady Liberty is lifting him up, bolstering him on and he is marching on under her strength. This monument touched me deeply.

To incorporate some of today’s activities in my classroom, I’m contemplating having the students delve into the Princeton Battle Monument. It is such a powerful representation summing up the Revolutionary War that it deserves further investigation. We would research the sculptor, the reasons behind having it constructed, the cost, etc. This activity could springboard into individual student investigation into other Revolutionary War monuments or statues and they could prepare a project on the one they chose and present to the class.

Now, for questions.

1. I mentioned Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. They had a disagreement. How did they confront each other and what happened to them?

2. I also mentioned Grover Cleveland. Which number president was he? What candy bar was named for his daughter?

3. I made a brief comment about Richard Stockton and that he was captured by the British and he signed the Declaration of Independence. I will mention now that signing the Declaration was an act of treason against the ruling country of Britain. Acts of treason are punishable by death. See if you can find out what Richard Stockton did when he was captured that was related to his signing the Declaration.

4. What did Albert Einstein receive a Nobel Peace Prize for?

5. Look up “The King’s Highway” and tell me something about it.

Tomorrow, I’m off to the National Constitution Center and a lecture by Carol Berkin, author of one of the books I read for this class entitled A Brilliant Solution. I’ll see a live theatrical performance of Freedom Rising, and learn about educational resources to use in my classroom. 

Take care.

debra

Phily Trip Day 3 – Valley Forge

June 3, 2008

Greetings everyone,

I went to Valley Forge today. Whittney, I’m sure Mrs. Lusk told you all about George Washington and the winter at Valley Forge and how difficult it was for the soldiers. I watched a power point presentation overview of the 1777-1778 winter encampment. It was interesting to realize that the Valley Forge winter was the third winter of the campaign and it was not the worst winter the soldiers would experience before the end of the war. That would come later at the Morristown encampment. Did you realize that the Revolutionary War was fought for eight years?

Park Ranger Bill Troppman explained that there are four reasons social studies books spend so much time on the Valley Forge winter when there were other winter encampments that were worse.

1. It had the highest death toll, but not from battle-related casualties. The deaths were mostly from the extreme fluctuations of ice storms to barely above freezing and back. Nothing ever dried out. The soldiers’ clothes stayed wet or sometimes froze to their bodies, they had to burn green wood which created a lot of smoke that polluted the air, and in these damp, muddy conditions, diseases set in. Diseases like typhus and Swine Flu. Dysentery was a huge problem.

When the alliance with France came along, followed by the arrival of the French military officer, La Fayette, world attention turned in earnest to the revolution in America. When the Prussian mercenary Baron von Stueben came to America, George Washington put him in charge of the army and von Stueven’s military tactics  were studied until the war of 1812 when technology had evolved enough that new military tactics replaced his. It’s interesting to note that Von Stueben wasn’t interested in American independence, he was interested in making a name for himself as a military genius.

The discovery of really good iron deposits in the valley between Mount Misery and Joy (don’t you love the names) were discovered and instead of sending the iron to Britain (per an agreement that I won’t go into in this blog),  America crafted its own weapons and ammunition from the iron instead of depending upon Britain for them. This did not make the Brits happy.

Here are some pictures of Valley Forge.

  This is a typical soldier’s hut. Soldiers built them and 6 to 8 soldiers lived in them. Relatively speaking, the soldiers were comfortable in them.

   This is me outside the house that George Washington rented from Issac Potts to use as his headquarters.

  This is the kitchen in the Potts’ house.

  This is Baron von Stueben’s actual original military book (field manual) that he wrote. It was was printed and distributed as the definitive guide for military strategy. This book is a first edition of a 1798 printing (I think the year is right). Whittney, you know how much I love books and old “things”, you can only imagine what it was like to see a book this old. Von Stueben was originally from Prussia and had served under Frederick the Great. At one point, von Stueben wrote that he wasn’t going to return because he had become the “Apostle of American Liberty” under George Washington’s appointment as commander of the Continental Army.

 This is a hunting rifle with a 60 inch barrel. Whittney, show your dad, Uncle Cameron, and Grandpa Kink this picture. They’ll be impressed.

I have a book called “Private Yankee Doodle” that we’ll have to read together. The young man who wrote it served all through the war. It’s his journal of what it was like being there first hand.

I will use Private Yankee Doodle, a journal-narrative by Joesph Plumb Martin, and the alternate version, Yankee Doodle Boy, with my middle school and high school history students. As we read the books, the pictures I’ve taken will enhance the visualization of the Josep Plumb Martin’s experiences as a soldier in the Continental Army.

Well, enough for today. Here are a few questions.

1. I mentioned earlier that Baron von Stueben was a mercenary. What is a mercenary? Click here – mercenary – and decide which definition applies to this situation.

2. The American army at the time of the Revolutionary War was called the Continental Army. The Continental Congress was the governing body of the colonies. In order to finance the war, Congress issued its own paper money. The problem with this was each of the states also issued their own currency. There was a problem with the different kinds of currency not being of the same value or the paper simply having no value. As a result, this phrase went around, “Not worth a Continental”. What does this phrase mean? Click here - Continental - to read an explanation, then tell me what the phrase means.

Tomorrow I’m off to Princeton University in New Jersey. It’s a couple of hours away. We’ll take a walking tour of downtown Princeton including the Bainbridge House, Princeton University Campus, Albert Einstein’s house, Morven and Palmer Square, and the Princeton Cemetery.

debra 

 

 

 

Phily Trip Day 2 – Independence Hall and surrounding area

Hello Whittney and my history students,

I began Day 2 with my first subway ride. That was quite an experience. It’s noisy, crowded, and not my favorite mode of transportation, but it was functional. I went to Independence Hall, toured it and the adjoining buildings, and saw many sights in the surrounding area. Here are just a few of the places with pictures.

This is a picture of a public hand water pump on the north side of Independence Hall. If a person didn’t have a water well at their house, they could come to this one and get water.

I’ll bet you know what this one is, but did you know that the wide crack in the bell is not a crack?

The real crack that damaged the Liberty Bell is a tiny fracture that runs upwards in a vaguely horizontal fashion. The wide gash you see was actually part of the repair process. 

Here’s a picture of a pipe organ in the balcony area of the Christ Church. I’ll return to this church on Sunday and spend more time learning the history of it. There are grave markers (actually slabs) on the ground outside and inside the church. There are some that go right down the middle of the aisle between the pews and you are allowed to walk on them. Benjamin Franklin went to this church and I sat in his family’s pew and listened to a talk about the history of the church.

Many of the Founding Fathers attended service at Christ Church and the seeds of the Revolution began here.

Another out-of-the-ordinary sight was a short stretch of a cobblestone street. It’s also called pebblestone. The larger stones on the right are for horses and the smaller, more compact ones at the left are for carriages.

This is the building where the 1st Continental Congress met. The style of architecture is called “Georgian” after the first three kings of England. Remember, at the time the 1st Continental Congress was meeting, the American Revolution was afoot, so England was still involved with what was happening in the colonies. The brick laying was called a Flemish bond style. The building is symmetrical. Any side could be the front and the left and right sides are mirror images of each other. It was built by the Carpenter’s Company and this company is still in business today.  

I could certainly use the history I learned and pictures of Independence Hall in my classroom as supporting information when talking about any of the Founding Fathers and particularly Benjamin Franklin. Kids like the Liberty Bell and explaining the efforts to improve its tone and that it actually damaged it will be interesting to them.

Questions:

1. How much does the Liberty Bell weigh?

2. When was the last time it was rung?

3. What was the occasion for the last time it was rung?

Tomorrow, I’m off to Valley Forge. Now, who was at Valley Forge?

debra

 

 

Phily Trip Day 1 – Arrival in Philadelphia

Hello Whittney and hello to my history students,

Even though the date on this post is June 2, it’s really still June 1st about 8 pm Colorado time (10 pm Eastern). I arrived in Philadelphia around 4:30 Eastern time today. It was an uneventful flight until just before landing in Philly. We hit turbulence for about ten minutes that popped people up in their seats like being on a roller coaster ride.

I’ve only had time to explore, in cursory detail, a four-block area around the University of Pennsylvania where I’m staying in the Harnwell College House. The architecture in this area is beautiful and I’m curious if some of the residences are called “Brownstones”. I’ll ask and let you know. I’ll also take pictures tomorrow and see if I can’t get them up on the Flickr account.

Speaking of tomorrow, I’ll spend most of the day at Independence Hall. This is a stock photo of Independence Hall from the internet.

Now, look up Independence Hall and tell me a few interesting details about it when you reply to this post.

debra