Living History
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What does this mean? It can mean a number of different things to different people. To me, it means that I am trying to gain an understanding of the past, specifically the latter part of the 18th century, by dressing and acting as those people would have done. To actually "live history" gives me an insight to how the men and women of the Colonial Period lived at the same time it provides me with a greater appreciation of what we have here in the 21st century. The very fact that everything that a person owned had to be made by hand makes me appreciate even the smallest, most trivial item I have, such as a t-shirt. That is what I want to impress upon our students: That to "live history is to learn history" and, by extension, to develop a greater appreciation for what we have today.
To "live history" also gives me a better understanding of the sacrifices made by that generation to create our nation. Take, for example, the fact these people (not just men!!) had to endure the most unpleasant conditions on the march or in camp and then go meet the enemy on the field of battle. And the fact that they marched out to meet the professional soldiers of England wearing the most tattered of garments,carrying all manner of weapons (without bayonets) and didn't surrender and forget the whole thing fills me with a sense of pride and awe.
The first time I marched out to to meet the enemy was at Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York. In spite of the fact that I knew we were only going to be firing powder (no musket balls as the authorities frown on such activities) and I knew no one was going to get hurt, I was filled with a rush of adrenaline. I was also, to be honest, a little scared because it seemed so real to me. I then thought about those men and boys who marched out to face the British between 1775 and 1781 and who did not have the luxury of knowing that all would turn out right. I thought about how frightened they must have been and how much they must have wanted to run for home and hearth. But they didn't and that was when I realized that to "live history" is to really learn history and to develop an understanding of persons and events in a way that goes so far beyond the superficial. While I cannot ever say that I know what it was like to have faced down the British on Lexington Green, on Bunker (Breed's) Hill or at Front Montgomery, I can say, with a degree of certainty how difficult and frightening that must have been for those people. And that is something I could not have learned in a textbook.
Finally, as a wise man once said, "it is not enough to hit your students with a 2x4 everyday." Of course he meant, it is not enough to hit them with the 2 covers of textbook and the 4 walls of a classroom. Students, of all ages and abilities, need to live the history we are trying to teach lest we run the risk of boring them to death with, in their minds, useless information that has no real meaning for them. Unless they do it, unless they get their hands dirty, unless they get smoke in their eyes, blisters on their feet and calluses on their hands, they are not living the history and are not learning the history.
For those interested in learning our history, I have some links below for sources on some Hudson Valley History. This is a developing project and I will add more links and information as time goes by. I do not claim to know it all, or even most of it, but together we can all learn more about our history by living it. So, in that spirit, if you have a contribution to make with regard to living history,please email me at pkruppenbacher@lakelandschools.org
Some Links:
Selected merchants who deal in 18th century goods in case you are a teacher who wants to purchase materials for a living history program:
Druid's Oak
G. Gedney Godwin
Hauley Music
Jas. Townsend & Son
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Montgomery
This is a basic, no-frills, quick read on the battle of Fort Montgomery.
http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/dunderberg/trails.html
Hiking trails along which the British marched to attack the Twin Forts of
the Popolopen (Montgomery and Clinton). Be sure to read all safety
advisories be in good physical shape before hiking any trail. Also, be
sure
to have food and water with you as well as any necessary maps. Before leaving
on any hike, let someone know where you are going and when. Your
best bet is to pick up a copy of the Harriman map available for $4 at
the
Administration Building at Bear mountain State Park.
5thny.org The Re-enactment Regiment, the
5th NY. You may want to turn the speakers down a touch.
George Clinton's brief
biography
Sir Henry
Clinton's Biography
Israel Putnam's Biography
brief
Background on the Saratoga Campaign
Saratoga
Campaign A more detailed read
More on Saratoga
Stony Point Bttlefield link
Stony
Point Site from the NPS
Anthony Wayne
Biography
Baron
von Steuben Biography
Portrait
of von Steuben
The On-Line Institute
for Advanced Loyalist Studies If you really need to do a little
research on the Loyalist side, you can begin here.
The Great Chain
King's Ferry
Suggested Reading:
This is just the start. I will add more to it as we get deeper into
this.
Lancaster, Bruce,The American Revolution
Mariner Books, 2001.
Wahlke, John C., The Causes of the American Revolution
D.C. Heath and Co., 1973 (new edition possible)
Schecter, Barnet, The Battle for New York, Penguin Books,
2002.
Otten, William L, Colonel Hamtramck: His life and Times,
Volume I Published by William Otten, Jr., 1997. Part 2 of Volume 1 is
especially interesting for our purposes here.
Ketchum, Richard, Saratoga: Turning Point of America's
Revolutionary War Owl Books, 1997.
Ketchum, Richard, Decisive Day: The Battle for Bunker
Hill Owl Books (May 15, 1999) Not necessarily related to our focus here,
but a great book and quick read nonetheless.
Fleming, Thomas, Liberty!: The American Revolution,
Viking, 1997. Lots of pictures and some good maps. Good source on the whole
for the general reader.
Fisher, C, The Most Advantageous Situation in the Highlands:
An Archaeological Study of Fort Montgomery State Historic Site. Cultural Resources
Survey Program Series No. 2. New York State Museum, (2004).
Conley, Jan Sheldon, The Battle of Fort Montgomery: A
Short History Purple Mountain Press, 2002.
Martin, Joseph Plumb, Edited by George F.Scheer, Private
Yankee Doodle: Being a Narrative of the Some of the Adventures, Dangers and
Sufferings of a Revolutionary Soldier Little Brown & Co., 1962. There
may be new editions, but this is the edition I have. Very good annotated journal
of a Rev War soldier in his own words.
Cumming, W.P., & Hugh Rankin, The Fate of a Nation: The American
Revolution Through Contemporary Eyes Phaidon Press LTD, 1975.
Hamilton, Edward P, Fort Ticonderoga: Key to a Continent. Massachusetts
Historical Society, 1964.
Heller, Charles, & William A. Stofft, America's First Battles, 1776-1965.
University Press of Kansas, 1986. The first chapter on the Battle of Long
Island (27 August 1776), the second chapter on the Battle of Queenston Heights
(13 October 1812) and the fourth chapter on the First Battle of Bull Run
(19 July 1861) would be the most helpful for a Living History program.