American Tales: Stories of America’S Past for the Young People of Today

By David Turnoy

American history can be confusingand theres so much of it to learn! What if you had a guide to show you the important points firsthand? A small group of intermediate students is lucky enough to have the chance to travel back in time with their history teacher to see where America started and how it developed. In each new set of experiences, they meet a child their own age who guides them through key events.

The students begin in the time of Columbus and then witness the American Revolution and the founding of the nation. They travel through the tumultuous times of the Civil War and through the turmoil of Reconstruction. They see history on a grand scale but also through the eyes of those experiencing the expansion of American power, sometimes with unfortunate consequences.

In order to understand where we are now, the students come face-to-face with the horrors of racism and the sad story of Native Americans who lost their land. They also learn how a number of myths and legends about the American Revolution are not always exactly accurate but that the real facts may actually be more inspiring. As you travel with these students and learn from the past, you can use the knowledge you gain to help in creating a better future.

EXPERIENCE HISTORY AS NEVER BEFORE!

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Mar 28, 2014
• ISBN: 9781491727799

David Turnoy

David Turnoy is a retired elementary school teacher with a longtime interest in history. He graduated from UCLA with a degree in history and received his MAT from Lewis and Clark College. Turnoy has two grown children in the Portland area; he currently lives with his wife on Orcas Island in northwestern Washington.

Book preview

AMERICAN TALES

Stories of America’s Past for the Young People of Today

Copyright © 2014 David Turnoy.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Certain characters in this work are historical figures, and certain events portrayed did take place. However, this is a work of fiction. All of the other characters, names, and events as well as all places, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

iUniverse LLC

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.iuniverse.com

1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4917-2781-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-2780-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-2779-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014904545

iUniverse rev. date: 03/20/2014

41395.png

"To my wife Geri,

who has been of invaluable help

on this project."

41397.png

Contents

Introduction for Teachers and Parents

Chapter 1   Exploring American History: Our First Time Travel Trip

Chapter 2   Explorers and Native Americans: Columbus and His Victims

Chapter 3   Colonial America: Racism and Prejudice

Chapter 4   The American Revolution: Was It Worth the Cost?

Chapter 5   The Writing of the Constitution: Liberty and Justice For All?

Chapter 6   Women in Early America: Equal Rights?

Chapter 7   Indian Removal: The Trail of Tears

Chapter 8   The Mexican War: Manifest Destiny

Chapter 9   Approaching the Civil War: Slavery, Abolition, and the Underground Railroad

Chapter 10   The Civil War: America is Torn Apart

Chapter 11   Reconstruction: What Did the Civil War Accomplish?

Afterward: Final Thoughts

Bibliography

Introduction for Teachers and Parents

Christopher Columbus was a daring, skilled, courageous sailor whose exploration led to the founding of the United States of America. Christopher Columbus was a cruel, greedy, blood-thirsty invader whose encountering of the Americas led to the killing of millions of Native Americans. Which one of these statements is true? Is it possible that both are true?

History is generally written from the point of view of the winners. In the case of the United States, the winners have tended to be wealthy white males. But is there another point of view from which to look at our history? What happens if we look at our history from the perspective of a Native American, an African American, a woman, etc.? We might notice some events or portions of events that are often left out of the mainstream history books. That is not to say that the traditional accounts are necessarily false; rather, they generally lack events or portions of events that might reflect poorly on the traditional white male heroes, or they surround possibly negative actions with so many positive statements that one hardly notices the negative, and they tend to sanitize controversial events with bland language so that the reader fails to question issues that really merit questioning.

Our history has generally been told as the epoch of a unique experiment, the proverbial city on a hill, where our heroes have right on their side and only the best of intentions for everyone. In the current era where the general populace is beginning to realize that our business and governmental leaders don’t always have our best interests at heart, it would help us to understand that this same scenario has frequently occurred throughout the history of our country. By looking at important events in our history through different eyes, we can get a more honest accounting of what really happened.

One reaction that some adults have to such an approach is that they are afraid of poisoning the minds of our students with such perceived blasphemy, both from a patriotic jingoistic point of view and/or from a perspective of not wanting to upset our children by presenting the warts from our history. To the former objection, it is time that we realized that we are but one country in the world among many, certainly with high ideals but in practice no better or worse than many other countries. As to the latter, it is important that we stress that these things of which we speak happened in the past when our children were able to have no impact on such events, hence they should not feel guilty. However, it is important that we learn a more complete, accurate picture of our history so that we can make more rational decisions today in regard to issues that may have been caused by past injustice. And some day, the children that we are now instructing will be making the important decisions of tomorrow, and with a more accurate idea of how we got to where we are, they can make fairer and more rational decisions about the future.

For teachers, you may want to read each chapter in conjunction with a traditional textbook. After reading the traditional version of the particular event and the treatment in this book, ask your students what is different and why. Ask who stands to benefit from the traditional version and who does not. This lesson goes a long way toward making our students responsible consumers of media today. When watching a TV broadcast or reading an Internet article, we need to ask the same questions as far as who stands to benefit and why the difference in reportage. For parents at home, you can engage in similar discussions with your children, helping the next generation to become better informed, less easily led astray from the truth, and more responsible citizens. And if you are an adult who perhaps didn’t get much out of your history instruction at school but are now interested in the subject, you will enjoy reading this book for yourself.

As an elementary public school teacher myself for twenty years, I know how important it is to give our students good information. While most elementary teachers do a fabulous job of teaching children to read and write and to feel valued, my experience was that most teachers at this level aren’t that familiar with teaching history and rely greatly on textbooks. But if the textbooks are incomplete, we are perpetuating the same misunderstandings about our history that have existed since the beginning. Rather than shy away from teaching history at all, I would encourage teachers to use this book either in conjunction with textbooks, as I mentioned earlier, or on its own; each chapter has a summary of the history needed to understand each era, so a textbook isn’t really necessary. Any teacher who is a little less than confident in his/her mastery of US history can use this book to keep a step ahead of the students by simply reading it before they do. Especially at the elementary age, when children are still quite idealistic and impressionable and not yet as interested in spending every waking moment paying attention to their friends instead of academic learning, it is crucial for the future of our democracy that students are presented an opportunity for a more complete understanding of American history.

It seems that almost every generation witnesses some crisis on a national scale. With the reaction of the Occupy Movement to the current concentration of wealth in this country and the ongoing furor over economic inequality, we have our own defining moment. Democracy is fragile, and without active, informed participation from the general population, special interests can undermine democracy for their own benefit. One of the points I hope will be clear by the end of this book is that only by remaining informed, vigilant citizens can we safeguard our democracy. This book is an attempt to inform and to provide examples of how previous generations have safeguarded or even improved our democracy.

Another lesson that I hope will be apparent is that historical change has not been brought about by just one or two major figures in a political or social movement, rather, it is the mass action by everyday people that has brought about significant change for the better. Traditional textbooks have focused on individual leaders more than mass movements, and in a way, that discourages us common folks from getting involved in our democracy, because we are supposed to just wait for those great leaders to come along and make everything better. But in reality, if we want change for the better, it is up to all of us to become involved to pressure the powers that be to do the right thing. Franklin Roosevelt famously said, I agree with you, I want to do it, now make me do it. I hope that many of the various events portrayed in this book demonstrate that history is made by everyday people acting together for the greater good.

Chapter 1

Exploring American History: Our First Time Travel Trip

Does anyone know what Social Studies we learn about in this year’s class? asked Mr. B, more formally known as Mr. Bernstein. So far it had been a pretty good first day of school. Mr. B seemed pretty cool, and our class had done a number of fun activities.

Logan raised his hand. I know, he answered eagerly. My sister was in your class two years ago, and I remember she studied US history.

That’s right, replied Mr. B.

Another hand shot up. But Mr. B, complained Emma, that means we have to learn about old dead people and things that happened way before we were born. I want to learn about stuff today.

A good point, responded Mr. B, showing he was open to complaints without getting all bent out of shape about it. Can anyone respond to Emma’s statement?

A few seconds passed. Then Angela raised her hand. Well, I think that the way things are today didn’t just happen by itself. I mean, didn’t events in the past cause our world today?

I think you’re on to something, Angela, replied Mr. B with just the hint of a smile. Can you or anyone else give us an example of how some event in the past might have caused something today?

A longer silence this time; many of the kids seemed to be thinking hard. Surprisingly, I saw myself raising my hand. Yes, Nathan, called Mr. B.

I think this might be what you are talking about, I started. "My grandfather fought in the Vietnam War. He told me that thousands of young men were being drafted into the army to fight in that war."

"What is drafted?" asked Melanie, a puzzled look on her face.

Nathan, do you know what that means? prompted Mr. B.

I think it means that the government forced them to join the army.

Right, replied Mr. B. Go on.

So anyway, my grandfather was one of the people drafted into the army. He didn’t get killed, but he did get shot, and he has a limp today because of his wound. He told me that some of the other guys he knew did get killed over there.

All right, OK, so your grandfather fought in Vietnam, interrupted Zach. So did mine. So what?

Well, what I was about to say, if I hadn’t been interrupted, I replied, was that up until that war, you could only vote if you were 21 years old or older. But a whole bunch of the guys being drafted were as young as 18, and lots of them were getting killed. People started saying that if you were old enough to die for your country, you should be old enough to vote. So the age to vote was lowered from 21 to 18.

Excellent example, complimented Mr. B. Nathan is right, the reason the voting age today is 18 is because 18-year-olds were being killed in Vietnam. So just think of that, in several years every one of you will be old enough to vote.

A bunch of the kids started shouting Woohoo! and Yay! Zach yelled, Yeah, we’ll vote to have recess all day at school!

Once the noise died down, Mr. B said, The point is that something in the past took place that affects the way things are today. So if we study the past, we can actually learn about our world today. He glanced at the clock. Oh, look at the time. Time to line up for recess!

39908.png

When I got home that afternoon, I handed all my school papers to my mom. She started glancing at them, especially the flyer about enrichment classes. I got myself a snack and sat down across from her.

So, Nathan, what do you think about your first day of school? asked my mom.

It was pretty good. A lot of my friends are in my class, I replied.

And what about your new teacher? she followed up.

Oh, he’s all right, I answered. He actually got me to participate in a history discussion. I talked about Grandpa Joe and his time in Vietnam.

Interesting. Listen, it says here in the enrichment flyer that Mr. Bernstein is teaching an after-school class on American history. It says he has a surprise way to help students really understand and experience US history. Would you be interested?

What day is it on? I asked hesitantly. I was willing to consider the enrichment class, but not if I had to miss soccer practice.

It’s on Thursday, so you don’t have to worry about missing soccer practice, Mr. Beckham, my mom kidded me with a big smile on her face. It’ll start next week.

OK, sounds good, I answered.

39911.png

For the next week and a half, things started to settle into the usual school routine. I took the bus to school with my friends, and we got to sit in the back seat because we were now the oldest kids in the school. Class with Mr. B was going fine, my soccer team won its first game, and I’d even made a few new friends. But what would happen that Thursday after school in Mr. B’s first enrichment class was anything but routine.

Mr. B read the names of the students in the after-school class: Angela, Emma, Logan, Melanie, Nathan, Zach. Looks like everybody’s here.

Wow, pretty small class, right Mr. B? questioned Melanie.

Yes, it had to be a small number because our special vehicle doesn’t hold more than seven people.

"What do you mean by special vehicle?" Angela spoke up.

There’s no vehicle, grumbled Zach. We’re not going anywhere; I don’t even want to be here as it is. I’m only here because my parents made me.

I raised my hand. Mr. B, the enrichment flyer said something about a surprise way to help students really understand and experience US history. Does the vehicle you just mentioned have something to do with this?

Nathan, you’re on the right track, as usual, replied Mr. B. Have you noticed how many of the students fight over who gets to sit on the couch for reading? Well, it turns out this couch is even more special; it has the ability to travel back in time.

No way! exclaimed Zach.

Then Mr. B, how do we get back to the present? asked Emma, a bit of a worried look on her face.

Each of you will carry a piece of the couch’s fabric in your pocket, replied Mr. B as he started to pass out pieces of cloth to us that were the same color as the couch. When it is time to return, simply pull this piece out of your pocket while sitting on the couch, and we will land right back here in the classroom.

I have a question, began Logan. Will time work the same way in the past as it does here? What I mean is, will we only spend one hour in the past each time because our class here in the present lasts only one hour?

Excellent question, Logan, responded Mr. B. Actually, each class will only last one hour in the present, as you say. But we can stay in the past as long as we want, and it will still last only an hour in the present. We can even move from one day to the next, or one year to the next, or even one place to another, simply by getting on the couch, at which point I will announce when and where we are headed next. Pretty amazing, right?

Ooh, wow, sweet! came the kids’ reactions.

So are we going to get going already? demanded Zach.

We’re almost ready to go, announced Mr. B. But first I want to talk about one more item. You may have noticed that each of you looks different from each other; perhaps you’ve never really thought about this before. When you look around at the other kids, do you see different colors, or do you just see other kids?

I just see other kids, answered Melanie. But now that you mention it, we do each look a bit different from each other.

That’s because your ancestors all come from different parts of the world, responded Mr. B. "In each area of the world, people’s features adapted to their environment. For instance, in East Asian areas, people developed an eye covering to protect them from strong winds. As a result, while it looks like they have what some people call slanted eyes, actually they have a little more skin covering their eyes."

And my ancestors developed dark skin to protect them from the hot conditions of Africa, I added.

That’s right, agreed Mr. B. You all come from different backgrounds, and as a result your families all have different histories. Do you think that any of that history will affect the way you respond to the history we see in our travels?

Well, sure, stated Angela. "For instance, my ancestors lived in California hundreds of years ago. At one point that was part of Spain, later part of Mexico, and finally part of the United States. The United States got California in 1848 at the end of what most Americans call the Mexican War. When members of my family talk about this event, they don’t call it the Mexican War; their ancestors were Mexican, so they look at it more as an attack by America. Much of their land was taken away, and they went from being Mexican citizens to being foreigners in America, even though they still lived in the same place. So instead of thinking that this was a great victory for America, my relatives consider it an invasion."

But if the United States didn’t fight Mexico, then California would still be part of Mexico and not part of our country, observed Logan. Would you want that?

That’s not the point, Logan, responded Emma. I am part Native American, and the same thing happened to my ancestors. White people from the United States invaded our lands and put us on reservations.

"I think the point Mr. B was trying to make is that we are going to think and act differently depending on