Day Nine - What Made the Revolution Remarkable

Today's official topic was titled 18th Century Political Thought.  We discussed in lecture how many of the founding fathers blended ideas from three very distinct sources: classical republicanism as defined by ancient Greek and Roman writings, Judeo-Christian sources, and the British Enlightenment Liberalism by men such as Locke.  We traced how the major writings of those periods found their way into the rhetoric and ideology of the founders of the American system.  We discussed how taken these men where with Cicero, Locke, Aristotle, among others.  It was a quick overview (in the words of Dr. Morrison, "like riding a motorcycle through the Louvre"), but very instrumental in understanding how the American Revolution could have been so successful, yet the French Revolution flopped miserably.

But the buzz of the day came from the other discussions, particularly a question posed by Dr. Dreisbach.  It started with asking whether there was something unique about Virginia that men like Jefferson were able to write and inspire like they did.  Or as the question was reworded: Could Jefferson have been Jefferson if he lived in Georgia or South Carolina?  And then the question later became well, what made Jefferson and Madison such well-known and well-respected men from this time period?  After all, Roger Sherman was only surpassed by Madison and maybe James Wilson as far as contributions toward the Constitutional Convention (not to mention he signed both the Declaration and the Constitution) and John Dickinson contributed several important documents, even more than Jefferson at the time of the Declaration).  Yet history does not look as kindly upon these men as it does Jefferson and Madison, for better or for worse.

It is here where I find truth to the purpose of the Institute.  In my classroom, I trumpet Jefferson and Madison for their contribution.  I know that Sherman and Dickinson are important, but for what my students need to know in some curriculum written by some politician, Jefferson and Madison will suffice.  But I will walk away from here with a better appreciation of the background and importance of the time period, and an understanding of the men who risked everything for their (and our) country.

Now if I could only translate this blog post into my Essay #1, I would be set.

On non-class news, we got to meet an important figure on the Georgetown University campus:

J. J., the Hoyas mascot was on a walk, and we got a chance to see the little guy.  For a bulldog, that is a pretty good-looking dog.

MEET THE FELLOWS: Nancie Lindblom is an AP US History teacher from Arizona.  You can tell she loves her subject, as she wears it on her sleeve, or more specifically on her whole shirt.  She and I share a common bond: waaaaayyyyyy to many school t-shirts in our wardrobe.  Her AP US class shirts, especially those with memorable quotes (like "Lindblom and Prosper") have been a source of humor and distraction during the 1st week.  Maybe we should make a JM Summer Institute t-shirt?

TOMORROW: More class, more paper writing, and a 2nd pedagogy session, this one titled Teaching the Constitution Using Supreme Court Cases.