10/23 Santa Fe

Home at last.

10/21 St. Louis

We saw Camp Dubois (Wood River), Missouri. This is where the Lewis and Clark expedition started. It is also where the Corps of Discovery wintered.

Jefferson brought the Louisiana territory from Napoleon, because his army needed money for supplies. Jefferson decided that we should explore the new lands. The expedition need leaders so Jefferson appointed his personal secretary, Meriwether Lewis, to lead the expedition. Then Lewis thought that the expedition needed a second officer in case he fell sick. Lewis invited his old officer William Clark. 1803 Jefferson told Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to take the expedition to go up the Missouri River in search of a water route to the Pacific. Lewis and Clark named the expedition Corps of Discovery.

Jefferson told the pair to find a water route to the Pacific, document the territory and make contact with the native tribes living there. Jefferson told the Corps to meet the tribes, because Jefferson was curious about the number and their cultures. In 1803, European thought the northwest was a prize. Jefferson told Lewis and Clark to stake the northwest as ours and find a northwest passage. He also wanted them to map the western lands and describe all the plant and animals.There was a 55 foot boat called a keelboat. This boat could go up the Missouri. There were four ways it could go up the river; they could sail it, tow it, row it and push it with a pole. They had to have two more boats of supplies for the trip. This boat was durable, sleek, narrow and fast looking.
In the end, the trip took 2 years 4 months and 10 days to finish the trip, including 6 months to return to St. Louis. This was like going to the moon in that day.

We also saw the Gateway Arch, St. Louis, Missouri. This was a memorial to the expedition that Lewis and Clark led.

The Gateway Arch is the largest man made arch in the world at 630 feet tall and wide. The shape of the blocks is a triangle. The triangles get smaller as they go up, so the arch looks taller than it really is. No other buildings in St. Louis are as tall as it. The people who worked on it had no safety nets to build and nobody died during building it. The arch is faced with stainless steel. The inside is strengthened by concrete. The Gateway Arch was finished in 1965.

10/20 Cahokia

Monks Mound and Dwellings

We went to Cahokia, St. Louis, Illinois. This was a place that ancient mound builders lived and worked.

Before the Mississippian culture came about its ancestors, the Paleo-Indians, came from Asia and migrated here with the big-game  As the Paleo-Indians food died out, a new culture arose, the Archaic Indians. They started to hunt smaller animals such as deer and other game. The Archaic Indians started to settle the area, trade and cultivate and became the Early Woodland peoples. The people started to make mounds and became the Middle Woodlands peoples. Then they came up with the bow and stated to cultivate corn. These were the Late Woodland people. These people became the Mississippians, the people that made the mounds that we see today.  These people traded all the way to the Rockies to the Pacific Ocean and from Wisconsin to the Gulf of Mexico. They traded for mica, flint, galena, shells, quartz and granite.

Woodhenge Equinox and Solstice Sundial

The Mississippian culture was an agricultural based culture. The culture grew mostly corn . There culture went from Wisconsin to Florida. In Cahokia, there were 4 lines of settlement. The largest was the first line settlement. The only first line settlement was Cahokia. The first line community had many mounds, lots of houses and a grand plaza. The second line of community was like a town. It had some mounds, a plaza and many houses. The third line of community was like a village and had one mound, a small plaza and some houses. The fourth line of community was like a hamlet it had 3-5 houses. All the communities had a central pole where  the people met.

The Mississippians, here, made three different kinds of great structures. The first kind was the mounds. There were three different kinds of mounds. One was the conical mounds which were made for burying leaders, flat topped mounds which was where temples were built and was were the chiefs live and the ridge top mounds were where sub-chiefs were buried. They also made stockades out of wood and put clay on them. Then the made the Woodhenge. It was a calendar for planting and harvesting depending on the seasons and the sun.

The Mississippians made many things. They made things mainly out of wood, stone, animals, clay and fibers. They traded these for the things they needed.

The death of the culture is unknown to us but scientists think that the culture died out because of disease, not enough protein or by over throwing their chief.  The Woodhenge was first discovered in 1960s and the early 1970s. Today there is a museum that is awesome and informative.

10/18 Philadelphia

We were in Philadelphia, Penn. This was first capital of America. This is were the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed.

The Founding Fathers sign three important documents in Philadelphia. The Declaration of Independence was read in front of people on July 4, 1776. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. On August 10, 1776 the final copy of the Declaration of Independence was signed. The Articles of Confederation was the first Constitution. In 1787 the Continental Congress decided that the Central Government needed more control of the states so it made a Constitution. During the meeting for the Constitution Benjamin Franklin commented on the sun on the back of the Presidents chair and said, “I have always pondered if the sun was rising or setting. Now, I have the pleasure to know that it is a rising sun not a setting sun.“ Also during the making of the Constitution Benjamin Franklin came up with a compromise for the states that were arguing about their rights. After the Constitution, these United States became the United State because Before the Constitution, the states had there own currency, didn’t have to pay taxes to support the government and could make a standing army. Benjamin Franklin also said, “You have a republic if you can keep it.” Philadelphia has a mix of older building and newer but most are reproductions of older buildings.

Benjamin Franklin was an inventer, scholar, printer, a post-master before the war, and diplomat. He invented the electrical battery, lightening-rod, flippers, bi-focals for glasses, use kites to discover properties of lightening, and was the first use positive and negative (plus and minus) to describe electricity. He made the first lottery tickets in the new world. He made it money as a printer. He went to France and helped convince the French King, Louis XVI, to support the Americans in the Revolutionary War. He did this with only two years of school.

Philadelphia is a house to many important events. The Liberty Bell is one of the nation's most important relic. It represent the fight for liberty and justice for America. The bell was first named the State House Bell At first the bell was cast in London and arrived in America 1753 and as soon as they got here it cracked, so some metalworkers decided that they would remake the bell with a mold. The bell we see today is the one the metalworkers made. The abolitionists named the bell the Liberty Bell to represent the Liberty of slaves. We ate at City Tavern, where some important people ate. This was the meeting place of the Continental Congress until it moved to a meetinghouse and Paul Revere ate here for dinner. This is also the place that the Congress celebrated the signing of the Constitution. This are some of the few places that have a history in Philadelphia

10/17 Hopewell Furnace, Battle of Brandywine, and Valley Forge

We saw Hopewell Furnace, Penn. Mark Bird, the founder, came to this area t make a mill.

Mark Bird knew of the brewing Revolutionary War. That in mind he thought that his could help the colonists by providing them cannons for the war. At first they made fine Hopewell stoves. In the end they made about 4000 stoves. The stoves were made by professional molders. At first the hand craved wood forms then boxes were put around them to keep the sand they put to form molds. The hand craved wood forms were dusted with charcoal. Then the mold was filled with compacted sand that could be used for molds. Then another side is made the same way but with a gate to pour the metal into the mold Then the mold was taken to the Blast Furnace and metal was poured in to the mold. At the peak of it’s period it was supplying 15% of the world iron products. The British destroyed most of the furnaces, because they could supply the Continental Army with weapons, but they didn’t destroy Hopewell furnace. Then they started to make something they had never made before, munitions. The iron industry did this “learning by doing” to make cannon, shot and much more. At Hopewell 115 larger guns were made. More important they, supplied shot and shell for the US Navy and Army all though War.

We also saw Brandywine Battlefield, Penn. This was the place that Howe attacked George Washington’s force of men.

English was trying to cut the Rebels in half by taking the Hudson River. General Burgoyne went to capture the city of Albany, but was stopped at Saratoga. Desperate for troops he waited there but never got the troops because they were trying to get the new nations capital, Philadelphia instead of reinforcing Burgoyne. Then they attacked Washington army. Washington covered most of the near by fords and didn’t know about some of the fords up north. Howe knew of the two fords that Washington didn’t know of. Washington put the most of his forces at Chadd’s. Then Howe sent the Hessians to attack Washington’s main line. Then he took most of his troops and snuck around to attack the flank of George Washington’s line the Patriots fell back. They tried to hold there place but were unable to do that they started a orderly retreat. Then the British captured Philadelphia, but they had lost at Saratoga helping us gain the help of the French letting us win the war with Britain. They went to Valley Forge for winter quarters.

The last thing we saw was Valley Forge. This was the place of a Forge before the British burned it down two months earlier than the Americans came to Valley Forge.

In the Fall 1777 Washington’s army goes to the winter quarters in Valley Forge. On December 19^th they arrive at Valley Forge. In January the poorly supplied army got cloths, supplies and food in January from a captured British ship. Then in February Howe resigns his post and remains in America until he can be replaced also Baron von Steuben comes. In March, von Steuben starts to train a model company of soldiers and Clinton replaces Howe. The alliance with France is confirmed. In April, a major general is taken out of a British prison and the model troop trains the other troop. In May, May Day is celebrated and the religious ceremonies. A group of Indians join the cause of the Americans. On June 19^th the army moves back to Philadelphia, after the British went a way from it. The killer of most of the soldiers was disease. The types diseases were influenza, typhoid, typhus and dysentery. For 1 soldier dying of battle 10 died of disease. Wood huts took 80 trees to make a hut and 1000 huts were made along a ridge line in view of Philadelphia but far enough to not have a surprise attack. There were guard post and trenches to guard the encampment. When von Steuben trained the troops he said, “You say [to a soldier in Europe] “Do this” and he doeth it; but I am obliged to say “This is the reason why you have to do this.” At the end the number of men grew to 20,000. The reason why this recognized is because it had the highest death total of all the winter encampments.

10/13 Cape Cod and Plymouth

We went to Cape Cod, Mass. This is where the U.S. Coast Guard was started.

Cape Cod is a end moraine for a continental ice sheet that existed 15,000 year ago. It was formed by the constant melting and regrowing of a glacier’s lobe. Constant currents are moving the sand northward into a hook. When whaling was important for getting oil lamps, it was very dangerous to go out and go whaling. The local residents decided that the coasts should be watched for shipwrecks on the rocks so the US Life Saving Service was formed. The people who run this job were volunteers. The job was passed from father to son. The job needed tools to help saving people. The most important was the boat and there was cannons that shot rope across the ocean to create a zip line although this happened once they had to know how to do it.

We also went to Plylmouth, Mass. This is were the colonists made their village.

The Plymouth Rock is the legendary place that they thought that they landed, but actually they landed on the tip of Cape Cod in 1620. Then some people went to present day Plymouth. This the place of the first substantial village in the New England. To get there the Pilgrims had to sail 66 days to get there on the Mayflower there were 126 people including the crew. Of the 126, 102 decided to stay in the new world. The reason being that the people who went to the new world were protestants and used a different Bible than Church of England. After the first winter only 45 remanded then they the gained the trust of the Wampanoags. They helped make the colony successful. The Wampanoags showed them how to plant the corn they stole. Then one of the Wampanoag leaders brought his warriors and stayed for three days feasting and celebrating. T Plimoth Village, we saw to the recreation of the 1627 English Village. The houses were small and fires in every room to keep it warm. The house had tops of cattails and were insulated by mud and stone. Thanksgiving was a holiday to celebrate the first year that the Pilgrims survived because of the native peoples help. Then the first official Thanksgiving was the established by Abraham Lincoln. Right after the Battle of Gettysburg he thought that this is a day of blessings.

10/12 Saugus Iron Works

We went to Saugus Iron Works in Hammersmith, Mass. This was the start of the metal working in the United States.


Furnace and foundry

The Puritans wanted to be self sufficient community. So, the puritans decided that they would make a Iron Works. They asked so puritans supporters in England help or money and to help them. The puritans got a work force of Scottish prisoners of war and a non-puritan commander to lead them he chose the place of the Iron Works. The place of the Iron Works was along the Saugus River which gave it the name for the Saugus Iron Works.

The Iron Works is powered by only charcoal and water. It has bellows that are powered by water wheels that turn the cogs that power the bellows. The water comes from channels or sluiceways then . In the Iron Works there are 3 stages the iron could go thought. The first was the blast furnace, where the iron is heated to it’s melting point and is pored into a mold to cool down. Then some of the iron is taken to the forge, where the iron is warned up and pounded into flats or other things. Then the flats are taken to the slitting and rolling mill where the flat are flattened more and cut into nail rod. Then Nailery and Blacksmith shops get the metal coming out of the mills. There was a Blacksmith shop on the campus for making the things the mill needed.

After two decades, the Iron Works stopped making the metal products because of the Iron Works terms of work and the expenses of doing this effected the puritan colony. The business of Iron Working sprend all over the United States In the 1940 some preservationists dug up the Iron Works and rebuilt them to the best calculations.