Category Archives: US History

The 1960s

The Revolution will not be televised. . .

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Yesterday was my day to cover “America’s Suicide Attempt” in my year four western civ class. That’s Paul Johnson’s title for the chapter from Modern Times in which he describes events in the USA during the 1960s. He starts with the election of Kennedy, discusses the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missle Crisis, the Berlin Wall, the Assassination, Johnson election in 1964, the escalation of the Vietnam War and the overblown Great Society and War on Poverty initiatives that nearly wrecked the US economy. He mentions the riots in Detroit and LA and the social uproar in the US from 1968 & 1969. My students were a bit puzzled trying to grasp the mood of the country.

I showed this video from 1970 which my students found both sobering and helpful in catching the mood of the country at the end of the 1960s.

Gil Scott Herron wrote and recorded this provocative and wry piece. It is an example of black beat poetry that foreshadowed the later development of rap.

Take 2 minutes and listen [language warning at 1:40 for a couple of seconds]:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BS3QOtbW4m0

Still resonates, I think.

Civil War

Evelyn, Part 5 of 5

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Evelyn: A Romance of The War between the States
by Henry Mazyck Clarkson, M.A., M.D.
Charleston, S.C.
Walker, Evans & Cogswell, Printers
Nos. 3 Broad and 109 East Bay Streets
1871

Dr. Henry Mazyck Clarkson of Charleston, SC was my great-grandfather. He served in the Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee as a surgeon. During the war, he married Jean Irvin Sayre of Alexandria VA. After the war, he settled in Haymarket, VA.

Previously, in Evelyn Parts 1 thru 4, we were introduced to Albert Ashleigh, “a goodly and gallant youth” of South Carolina, and to Evelyn, “beauteous child” of Virginia. They met  in Florence Italy, but a budding romance was cut short when Evelyn informed Albert that she was already betrothed by her father to another. Albert fled in despair.

Evelyn returned with her father to their home in Virginia, where she prays for Albert Ashleigh, though she knows not where he is. In the distance the rumbling of the coming war is heard.

When war breaks out, Albert enlists in the Confederate Army. He fights and is wounded at the battle of Fredericksburg. His men take him to a nearby house which turns out to be Glen Arvon, Evelyn’s home.

Albert recovers and woos Evelyn. He is suddenly summoned back to the army in May of 1863, to fight at Chancellorsville. While he is away, a party of union raiders, commanded by Andrew Hunter, Evelyn’s cousin, appear at Glen Arvon. When Evelyn and her father defy them, they burn Glen Arvon to the ground. Albert returns in the nick of time. Andrew Hunter flees, and Albert and Evelyn are married.

Part 5 opens in March of 1865. Evelyn has moved to Albert’s home in SC, but Sherman’s army is approaching.

Listen, to hear the rest of the story. . .

Evelyn, Part 5 of 5 from Rob Shearer on Vimeo.

Civil War

Evelyn, Part 4

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Evelyn: A Romance of The War between the States
by Henry Mazyck Clarkson, M.A., M.D.
Charleston, S.C.
Walker, Evans & Cogswell, Printers
Nos. 3 Broad and 109 East Bay Streets
1871

Dr. Henry Mazyck Clarkson of Charleston, SC was my great-grandfather. He served in the Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee as a surgeon. During the war, he married Jean Irvin Sayre of Alexandria VA. After the war, he settled in Haymarket, VA.

Previously, in Evelyn Parts 1, 2 & 3, we were introduced to Albert Ashleigh, “a goodly and gallant youth” of South Carolina, and to Evelyn, “beauteous child” of Virginia. They met  in Florence Italy, but a budding romance was cut short when Evelyn informed Albert that she was already betrothed by her father to another. Albert fled in despair.

Evelyn returned with her father to their home in Virginia, where she prays for Albert Ashleigh, though she knows not where he is. In the distance the rumbling of the coming war is heard.

Part 3 showed us three scenes. Scene one was the outbreak of the war as SC seceded in December, 1860. Scene two – the Battle of Fredericksburg in December, 1862. In scene three we saw Albert, wounded in the battle, carried to Glen Arvon, where he is cared for by Evelyn

Part 4 opens several months later, in the Spring of 1863. Albert has recovered and is wooing Evelyn. He is then suddenly recalled to his unit. And then the evil nemesis of them both, Andrew Hunter, traitor to Virginia, makes a sudden appearance. Listen, to hear what happens. . .

Evelyn, Part 4 from Rob Shearer on Vimeo.

Civil War

Evelyn, part 3

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Continuing with part 3 of Evelyn: A Romance of the War Between the States by Henry Mazyck Clarkson.

Dr. Clarkson was born in 1835 and enlisted in the SC militia in December of 1860 when he was 25 years old. He served in an artillery battery in Charleston, then in Boykin’s Mounted Rangers (aka the 2nd South Carolina Calvary Regiment). He wrote this lengthy poem just after the war. It was published in 1871.

Previously, in Evelyn, parts 1 & 2. . .

. . . we were introduced to Albert Ashleigh, “a goodly and gallant youth” of South Carolina, and to Evelyn, “beauteous child” of Virginia. They met  in Florence Italy, but a budding romance was cut short when Evelyn informed Albert that she was already betrothed by her father to another. Albert fled in despair.

Evelyn returned with her father to their home in Virginia, where she prays for Albert Ashleigh, though she knows not where he is. In the distance the rumbling of the coming war is heard.

Part 3 has three scenes. Scene one is the outbreak of the war as SC secedes in December, 1860. Scene two is the Battle of Fredericksburg in December, 1862. Scene three is at Glen Arvon, the home of Evelyn, not far from the battlefield of Fredericksburg.

Evelyn, Part 3 from Rob Shearer on Vimeo.

Civil War

Evelyn, part 2

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Previously, in Evelyn, part 1. . .

. . . we were introduced to Albert Ashleigh, “a goodly and gallant youth” of South Carolina, and to Evelyn, “beauteous child” of Virginia. They met, somewhat surprisingly in Florence Italy.

How do these two young people come to be in Italy (I hear you asking)? Evelyn’s mother was Lucia, from Florence, Italy. She had married Evelyn’s father and moved to Virginia. Left behind is her childhood friend, Leonardo Vecchio, a painter who had loved her. When she became ill with consumption, she returned to her native Italy, where she died.

Albert Ashleigh of South Carolina is in Florence as a pupil to the painter Leonardo. He had been dispatched by Leonardo to find Lucia when he heard that she had returned to Italy. Sadly, Albert brings news of Lucia’s death in Milan to Leonardo – but recognizes the face of Lucia in the portrait that Leonardo has painted.

The last scene in part 1 was the funeral of Lucia in Milan. Leonardo and Albert attend and Albert first sees and is captivated by Evelyn, mourning her mother and comforting her father.

Evelyn, Part 2 from Rob Shearer on Vimeo.

Evelyn: A Romance of The War between the States
by Henry Mazyck Clarkson, M.A., M.D.
Charleston, S.C.
Walker, Evans & Cogswell, Printers
Nos. 3 Broad and 109 East Bay Streets
1871

Dr. Henry Mazyck Clarkson of Charleston, SC was my great-grandfather. He served in the Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee as a surgeon. During the war, he married Jean Irvin Sayre of Alexandria VA. After the war, he settled in Haymarket, VA.

Civil War

Evelyn: A Romance of the War between the States

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Henry Mazyck Clarkson was my great-grandfather. He was born in 1835 in Charleston, SC; graduated from the University of SC in 1855 and from the medical school of the University of PA in 1859.

During the War between the States, he served as a surgeon with the Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee. During the war, he married Jean Irwin Sayre of Alexandria. After the war, they settled in Haymarket, VA where he practiced medicine – and wrote poetry.

Evelyn was published in 1871, when he was 36 years old.

In 1885, When he was 50, his tenth and last child, a son named Lee Massey Clarkson was born. Lee Massey was my grandfather. He married a bit later in life, at 34 in 1919. In 1920, my mother, Elizabeth Lee Clarkson, was born. She died in 2008.

One of her prize posessions was a small volume of her grandfather, Henry Mazyck Clarkson’s poems. I have my mother’s copy, but was surprised to discover that it was not the first volume my great-grandfather had written. Just this year, I acquired a reprint of his first published poetry, from 1871.

Below is a video of me reading Part I of Evelyn: A Romance of the War between the States.

Evelyn, Part 1 from Rob Shearer on Vimeo.

Ancient history, Bible, book reviews, children's books, Church History, Colonial Period, Homeschooling, Middle Ages, The Reformation, The Renaissance, US History

New 2010 Greenleaf Catalog

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It will be some time before we are able to get these printed, but in the meantime we wanted to make them available to anyone who is interested. You can browse online here or download a .pdf to your own computer. You can even print your own copy if you’d like.

Our history study packages are typically designed for use in one semester, so now’s the time to order for the new year. Break out of the textbook box. Give your children real stories about real people. Reclaim history for them and for yourself.
Greenleaf Press 2010 Retail Catalog

children's books, Colonial Period, Modern History

Sample Chapter – Famous Men of the 18th Century

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Peter the Great, born 1672, Tsar of Russia 1682-1725

Below, I have linked in a sample chapter from my current writing project, Famous Men of the 18th Century.

Like the previous Famous Men books, this one will include about 30 short biographies of key figures whose lives will collectively, tell the story of the period from 1700-1800. The target audience is students in the 6th-11th grades. In our scope and sequence, we’d recommend parents use this book with their sixth or seventh graders, and then again in the junior year of high school.

Comments and feedback will be most appreciated. This chapter began as part of the original series by Poland and Haaren, but if you compare their text with mine, you will see that I have made large alterations and added a great deal of additional material.

My target is to finish these chapters by the end of next summer. I’m looking forward to taking a crack at the American founders as well as key figures from Britain and France. Though I must confess that I’ve been pleasantly surprised with how interesting Peter and King Charles XII of Sweden have turned out to be.

– Rob Shearer

Famous Men-18th Peter the Great

book reviews, children's books, Colonial Period

Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving, Squanto’s Journey, and Pilgrim Cat

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There’s never been a shortage of children’s books on the Pilgrims and Thanksgiving, of course. But over time, fashion and political correctness have influenced how the story is told and what details are included, emphasized, or omitted. I’m happy to report that some of the recent titles are returning to a more straightforward account that recognizes the Pilgrim’s deep faith in God and their practice of setting aside a day of thanksgiving to thank and honor Him for His specific care and provision as they reaped a bountiful harvest before heading into their second winter in the new world. I’m pleased to highlight three such books.

Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving by Eric Metaxas goes the furthest of the three. Squanto is usually afforded a small but significant role in the traditional account. He arrives after the terrible dying-time of the first winter and moves in with the Pilgrim settlers and teaches them how to farm and fish. But Squanto’s story is itself a remarkable example of the providence of God. Squanto was kidnapped by European sailors in 1608, taken to Spain, and sold as a slave. But something remarkable happened at the slave auction. Squanto was purchased by a group of Spanish monks who devoted themselves to redeeming and freeing as many slaves as they could. The monks taught Squanto Spanish, and told him about God. They encouraged him to trust God. After five years in Spain, the monks arranged for Squanto to travel to London where they had made an arrangement with an English merchant who promised to help Squanto find his way back to Massachusetts. In 1618, Squanto, now aged 22 sailed back across the ocean to his home. When he reached the site of his village, it was deserted. A neighboring tribe told him the sad news that his entire village had perished in an outbreak of sickness. For two years, Squanto lived with the neighboring tribe. Then came word from one of the braves that a group of European families had arrived and built a small settlement where Squanto’s tribe used to live. Squanto went to visit them and greeted them in English. He told them his story of kidnapping and slavery, his redemption in Spain, and his return with the English fishing fleet. The Pilgrims told Squanto their story – leaving England seeking a place where they could worship God and serve Him. Squanto told the Pilgrims he would come and live with them and teach them how the Indians farmed and fished. Governor Bradford told Squanto that his story was like the story of Joseph – taken from his home and sold into slavery. And then Joseph was used by God to save a whole nation from starvation. The final third of the book tells (and shows) the story of Squanto helping the Pilgrims culminating in the celebration and Thanksgiving given to God by the Pilgrims and by Squanto in the fall of 1621.

Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving
is a hardback, 32 pages. It is available for $9.99 directly from Greenleaf Press.

Squanto’s Journey by Joseph Bruchac tells Squanto’s story in his own voice. Bruchac is a Native American and his text is clear and sparse – tinged with understandable sadness, but not bitterness. Squanto has endured kidnapping, slavery, long absence and the loss of his entire tribe to sickness. And yet he remains friendly towards the Pilgrims and seeks earnestly for peace. The illustrations are beautiful, with the bright orange, yellow, and brown shades of a New England fall.

Squanto’s Journey is a paperback, 32 pages. It is available for $6.00 directly from Greenleaf Press.


110609_2004_Squantoandt4.jpgPilgrim Cat by Carol Peacock is a delightful take on the Pilgrim story inspired by an encounter the author’s daughters had with a present-day cat at Plimoth Plantation, the living history museum in Massachusetts. There were eleven girls on the Mayflower, and there were cats. From these tidbits, Peacock weaves a story that certainly might have happened. If my daughters are any guide, the cat will certainly capture children’s attention and imagination and provide an opportunity to study the story of the Pilgrims with an intriguing twist. The cat, named “Pounce” is both a companion and a comfort through the “dying time” of the first winter. With a litter of kittens, Pounce is quite happy sampling tidbits under the table at the first Thanksgiving.

Pilgrim Cat is a paperback, 32 pages. It is available for $6.95 directly from Greenleaf Press.

Don’t forget our classic Thanksgiving titles: the Landmark Landing of the Pilgrims, N.C. Wyeth’s Pilgrims, and Samuel Eaton’s Day .

– Rob Shearer, Publisher

book reviews, children's books, Colonial Period

1776: A New Look at Revolutionary Williamsburg

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Just published last month! National Geographic has added another title to their outstanding series of photo-books which use re-enactors to depict early American history. 1776: A New Look at Revolutionary Williamsburg
joins earlier titles 1607: Jamestown; 1620: Mayflower; and 1621: Thanksgiving. I hope they will do a companion book on 1775: Lexington & Concord, but perhaps it’s just as well that this volume was published first. Most Americans are unaware of the large role that Williamsburg and Virginia played in the American Revolution. Williamsburg was the capital of the Virginia Colony, of course. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry all spent considerable time there. All three were members of the colonial legislature which met there. Henry and Jefferson were both governors, elected after the colony declared its independence.

This large-format picture-book is divided into five major sections, with an introduction and an afterword. Part one is a section describing the founding and growth of Williamsburg as the capital of the colony of Virginia. Part two recounts “A New Spirit” and describes the opposition to British rule which grew in the 1760s and had its dramatic high point in Patrick Henry’s speech denouncing the Stamp Act in 1765. Part three is titled “Revolution” and begins with the attempt by the Royal Governor Dunmore to seize the powder reserves of the militia from its storehouse in Williamsburg. It concludes with the passage of the “Declaration of Rights” (written by George Mason) by the Virginia Convention in June of 1776.

Part four describes “The City at War.” Patrick Henry, the first popularly elected governor, replaced Lord Dunmore. The militia assembled and remained camped on the green lawns of Williamsburg, protecting the colonial government from attack by British troops. In 1779, Thomas Jefferson was elected governor and the capital was moved from Williamsburg to Richmond. Part five, “A Hard-Won Victory” describes the arrival of British troops under Benedict Arnold, who sailed by Williamsburg up the James River and sacked Richmond in January of 1781. Arnold retreated through Williamsburg and was then joined by General Cornwallis and his larger body of troops in June. By the end of the summer, Cornwallis had moved his army to Yorktown, about ten miles away from Williamsburg and was soon besieged there by American and French forces under Washington and Lafayette. In October, Cornwallis surrendered.

This volume, like the previous three from National Geographic, makes excellent use of historical settings and dedicated re-enactors who take great pains to get all of the details of their clothes and possessions correct. Colonial Williamsburg is a 300 acre park where the foundation has very carefully restored original buildings from the colonial era. There is something about these stunning color photographs which makes the events much more real. The faces of individuals in the crowd forces us to realize that these were ordinary real people – and that the iconic events of the American Revolution were felt by individuals from all stations of life.

There is a great deal of attention paid in the text and photographs to the ways in which colonial life and the events of the Revolution were experienced differently by the slave community in colonial Virginia. Rightfully so. Without lapsing in a predictable political correctness, there is a refreshing honesty in reporting the reality of the institution of slavery. The tension between the ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Declaration of Rights is also noted.

Along with the other titles in this series, National Geographic is doing a fantastic job of making early American history accessible to younger readers. The publisher lists the target age group for this book as “8-12.” The text seems to me to be pitched a little bit older. I’d estimate more like 10-15, but the pictures will certainly grab the attention of younger readers. The content is far more engaging than the accounts in the standard textbooks. I’d certainly recommend this for students up through grades 8 or 9.

1776: A New Look at Revolutionary Williamsburg is a hardback, 48 pages. It is available for $17.95 directly from Greenleaf Press by clicking on any of the links in this review.

– Rob Shearer, Publisher