Compromise of 1833 II December 9, 2019PermalinkNancy WaldoToday's AMITAmerican History, Civil War, Slavery Lead: In late 1832 the state of South Carolina declared that it had the right to nullify or ignore Federal law within its boundaries. Intro: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts. Content: At its heart, the U.S. Constitution was a compromise, more precisely, it was a series of compromises, between rural and urban areas, between small states and large ones, between those living on the frontier and maritime interests on the coast, between slaveholders and those opposed to this institution and embarrassed by its glaring violation of the nation's ideals. Read more →
Compromise of 1833 I December 8, 2019PermalinkNancy WaldoToday's AMITAmerican History, Civil War, Slavery Lead: There are several themes of conflict or faultlines that run through United States History. One of the most important is the tension between Federal and local government. Intro: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts. Content: After the failure of the first post-revolutionary experiment in government, the Articles of Confederation, it became clear to the founders that if the United States was to grow and prosper, the individual states must surrender a significant portion of their power to the national government. The Constitution and its first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, gave certain responsibilities to the central regime among which were foreign policy, the declaration of war, and the federal judiciary. However, the Constitution specifically retained significant power in the hands of the states and also left many other questions to be decided in the future. Read more →
Problem with Charles Lindbergh II December 7, 2019PermalinkNancy WaldoToday's AMITAmerican History, Transportation, WWII Lead: Charles Augustus Lindbergh, the Lone Eagle, inspired the world with his solo Atlantic flight in 1927. In the years leading up to World War II, he became a figure of great controversy. Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts. Content: Lindbergh was the son of a U.S. Congressman. He dropped out of college to pursue his love of the airplane. After his stunning flight he was nearly everyone's hero. An intensely shy man, after his marriage to Anne Morrow, he moved his family to rural New Jersey. Their son was kidnapped and murdered in the early 1930s. After the trial and execution of the killer, they tried again to escape the public eye, this time in Europe. Download [5.58 KB]
Problem with Charles Lindbergh I December 6, 2019PermalinkNancy WaldoToday's AMITAmerican History, Transportation, WWII Lead: After his solo flight in 1927, Charles Augustus Lindbergh was arguably the most famous man in the world. Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts. Content: Lindbergh spent his youth in Little Falls, Minnesota and in Washington where his father, for five terms, represented the sixth district of Minnesota in Congress. He tried college, but dropped out of Wisconsin after his sophomore year to pursue a growing fascination with aviation. Stunt flying in a World War I Curtiss Jenny through the south and Midwest was followed by army flying school and a service as airmail pilot between St. Louis and Chicago. During this period he convinced a group of St. Louis businessmen to back him in the competition for the $25,000 prize offered by French-American hotel owner Raymond Orteig for the first nonstop New York to Paris flight. Download [5.38 KB]
American Revolution: March to Massacre II December 5, 2019PermalinkNancy WaldoToday's AMITAmerican History, Revolutionary War Lead: In the 1700s the United States broke from England. No colony in history had done that before. This series examines America’s Revolution. Intro: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts Content: In late February 1770, the situation in Boston reached critical mass. The poisonous relationship between British soldiers and the townspeople was amplified by the death of 11-year old Christopher Seider, killed by a supporter of the Crown. His death illustrated the deteriorating circumstances in a town animated by hatred of Parliamentary import taxes, colonial attempts to strike at those taxes through non-importation of British goods, and the presence of an occupying standing army, something hated by Brits on both sides of the dispute, which led to fatal conflict and massacre. Download [81.44 KB]
American Revolution: March to Massacre I December 4, 2019PermalinkNancy WaldoToday's AMITAmerican History, Revolutionary War Lead: In the 1700s the United States broke from England. No colony in history had done that before. This series examines America’s Revolution. Intro: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts Content: Throughout the fall and winter of 1769-1770 the tension mounted to poisonous levels in Boston between the townspeople and the troops sent to garrison the city. Two issues continued to arouse the passions of unrest: non-importation and the irritating presence of British troops sent by the London government to help collect the infamous import taxes imposed by Parliament and to keep order in a municipality that was increasingly unresponsive to royal authority. These two issues led ultimately to one of the important events in the run up to Revolution and war, the so-called Boston Massacre. Download [80.84 KB]
Trial of Henry Ward Beecher II November 28, 2019PermalinkNancy WaldoToday's AMITAmerican History, Religious History Lead: Part of a famous family of educators, clergymen and activists, Henry Ward Beecher was charged with adultery in 1875. Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts. Content: Henry Ward Beecher was perhaps the most famous American clergyman of his generation. After pastorates in the Midwest, he served as minister of the Plymouth Church in Brooklyn, New York for twenty-five years. Employing a casual, yet animated preaching style that drew large crowds to the church week after week, Beecher built a reputation as a powerful advocate of liberal causes such as opposition to liquor and slavery and the advocacy of women's rights. Read more →
Trial of Henry Ward Beecher I November 27, 2019PermalinkNancy WaldoToday's AMITAmerican History, Religious History Lead: Religion was important in nineteenth-century America. Its influence was in no way better demonstrated than in the prominence of the Beecher family. Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts. Content: Religion has played a vital role in the shaping of the American experience. While the Founders created a secular state, it was in many ways the only choice they had. So prevalent was religion in its various forms that only a government that was neutral could possibly deal fairly with all the churches and sects that had established themselves in America even by the 1780s. The Founders were determined that no state church would encumber the tender consciences or drain the pocketbooks of those of the unwilling. The Founders were also painfully aware of the scars that remained on the European landscape after three centuries of religious warfare and intolerance. However, this official secular bias or lack of bias did not mean Americans were irreligious. In fact, the history of the United States is replete with examples of the powerful influence of religion over political, social, and economic life. Even in the late twentieth century church attendance and participation in America outstripped that of any other developed country. Read more →
