A. J. LangguthProfessor Emeritus, School of Journalism, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California
Reviews:
Union 1812: The Americans Who Fought the Second War of Independence
"Never again after this masterly work will 1812 be a forgotten war. Langguth brilliantly restores the war to its rightful place in American history while at the same time giving us a rousing good story that holds our attention from beginning to end."--Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of "Team of Rivals""A. J. Langguth is incapable of writing a dull sentence. Here he brings rousingly to life the perilous, fascinating years between America's first and second wars of independence. With an artist's flair, a scholar's rigor, and the narrative genius of a born storyteller, he gives us presidents and their wives, Redcoats and frontier Caesars, heroes and scalawags--an unforgettable portrait gallery of young America."--Richard Norton Smith, author of "Patriarch: George Washington and the New American Nation"
Directions: Listen, take notes and post at least 2 comments considering the following questions.
1. What are the roots to this war and why is this often a misunderstood war?
2. The War of 1812 is often called the Second War for Independence. To what extent is this statement valid?
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Aliens and Sedition: National Security, Individual Rights & the Law
The war on terror has sparked a vigorous debate over how many of our civil liberties, if any, should be sacrificed to keep the public safe from terrorist attack. The conflict between civil liberties and national security has come up before in American history — most notably in the Alien and Sedition Acts at the end of the eighteenth century, President Abraham Lincoln’s suspension of habeas corpus in the Civil War, and the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. Join moderator Richard Menaker (Menaker & Herrmann LLP) as he discusses this issue with panelists Alan Brinkley (Columbia University), Joanne Freeman (Yale University), Thomas Kean (Chairman of the 9/11 Commission and former Governor of New Jersey), and Mark Neely (Pennsylvania State University).
Directions: Post at least 2 responses to the podcast considering the following questions. How was the conflict between civil liberties and national security resolved in past events? What perspective do those events add to the current debate over the war on terror?
Directions: Post at least 2 responses to the podcast considering the following questions. How was the conflict between civil liberties and national security resolved in past events? What perspective do those events add to the current debate over the war on terror?
Gordon Wood“The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin”October 18, 2004 at the New-York Historical SocietyRunning Time: 1:06:3
Benjamin Franklin is one of America’s best known Founding Fathers, yet he spent fewer years of his life in the country he helped to found than Washington or Jefferson. A self-made man who made a fortune as a printer, he became a cosmopolitan anglophile, scientist, and consummate eighteenth-century gentleman. After his death in 1790, Franklin became a standard bearer for the values of hard work and temperance. Gordon Wood is Alva O. Way University Professor and Professor of History at Brown University and the author of The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin.
Benjamin Franklin is one of America’s best known Founding Fathers, yet he spent fewer years of his life in the country he helped to found than Washington or Jefferson. A self-made man who made a fortune as a printer, he became a cosmopolitan anglophile, scientist, and consummate eighteenth-century gentleman. After his death in 1790, Franklin became a standard bearer for the values of hard work and temperance. Gordon Wood is Alva O. Way University Professor and Professor of History at Brown University and the author of The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin.
Historians on the Record: Podcasts from the Guilder Lerhman Institute
Directions: Listen to the podcast and then submit your well thought out comments.Consider the following questions: What is Benjamin Franklin's legacy? Does the historical record match up with the idea of Franklin in our popular consciousness?
American Experience PBS Alexander Hamilton
Introduction to Hamilton's character.
Directions: Post at least 2 responses to the podcast considering the following question. How did the events of Hamilton @13yrs. old influence the rest of his life for better or worse?
Directions: Post at least 2 responses to the podcast considering the following question. How did the events of Hamilton @13yrs. old influence the rest of his life for better or worse?
Joseph J. Ellis “American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson”
Running Time: 23:14
As inscrutable as he was influential, Thomas Jefferson casts a mighty shadow on American history. In this lecture, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Joseph J. Ellis explores Jefferson’s political ideology — his preference for an agrarian nation and a weak national government, his feelings about democracy, his insistence on the separation of church and state, and belief in individual rights — and suggests that as the United States emerges from the twentieth century, it may be moving toward a more Jeffersonian ideal of limited government and the primacy of the individual.
Directions: Post at least 2 responses to the podcast considering the following questions. Does Jefferson's ambivalence toward democracy resonate in twenty-first century America? Is Jefferson's ideology still relevant in an increasingly urban nation?
As inscrutable as he was influential, Thomas Jefferson casts a mighty shadow on American history. In this lecture, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Joseph J. Ellis explores Jefferson’s political ideology — his preference for an agrarian nation and a weak national government, his feelings about democracy, his insistence on the separation of church and state, and belief in individual rights — and suggests that as the United States emerges from the twentieth century, it may be moving toward a more Jeffersonian ideal of limited government and the primacy of the individual.
Directions: Post at least 2 responses to the podcast considering the following questions. Does Jefferson's ambivalence toward democracy resonate in twenty-first century America? Is Jefferson's ideology still relevant in an increasingly urban nation?
Hamilton vs Jefferson
Directions: Post at least 2 responses to the podcast considering the following questions. The two brilliant minds of Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson were crucial to the essence of the new constitution. Compare and contrast the views of Hamilton & Jefferson while in Washinton's cabinet.
An Evening with Thomas Jefferson, James Madison & Alexander Hamilton
Directions: Watch the video clip carefully and post at least 2 responses sharing the insights did you gain?
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