On July 4, 1971, President Nixon proclaimed the official Bicentennial Era (1972-1976) as a period for all Americans to review and reaffirm the basic principles upon which this nation was founded. Bicentennial committees have already been established in many fraternal, educational, social and civic organizations in communities across the country. Young people must also be involved in reviewing and reaffirming the founding principles of our Republic. Familiarizing young people with the American young people with the American Revolution, and the values it was fought for is one of the purposes of public school education. However, American history and culture are often taught in a way that makes the past seem separate from the present. Information learned in the classroom is often irrelevant or inapplicable once students move back into the community. The schism between what is taught in school and the realities of life need not exist. To avoid this, part of the educational experience should take place outside the school walls. This is the purpose of the oral/visual learning project. An oral/visual learning project provides a sorely needed opportunity for students to make contact with the beliefs and issues of his/her community. It may also serve as the nexus between the ideals that are taught in the classroom and the values practiced in the community. By forging a link between textbook and neighborhood, the democratic tradition can be made more real, more alive and more relevant. By seeing democratic principles at work in the attitudes and hopes of people in the community, or by seeing these values shunted aside by individuals and institutions, the students will understand more fully what America is and what it can be. CLASSWORK ON THE AMERICAN The Oral/Visual project should only be undertaken after a reasonable period of study of the American Revolution. Traditionally American history has been studied by using the assigned textbooks. This approach often reduces American history to a few prefabricated constructs that provide students with only a superficial and distorted understanding of the subject. In depth information about the Revolutionary period does exist. This information is available in original documents essays, pamphlets, dialogues, and novels— from the revolutionary period and in the biographies of ideological leaders of the time, such as Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson. A list of books, essays, films and other materials for us in the classroom is now being compiled and will be ready in September, 1972. Accurate printed materials used in the classroom can be invaluable in laying a base for an understanding of the American Revolution. But class work alone does not give students a chance to understand the living nature of the principles which were fought for in the Revolution of 1776. GATHERING INFORMATION FROM THE The American Revolution should be studied, not as an event fixed in time, but as a continuing tradition which makes itself felt in the lives of Americans today. When Thomas Jefferson was accused of having put no new thoughts into the Declaration of Independence, he readily concurred, saying that his purpose was not to invent new wisdom but to "speak the American mind." Because the message of the Revolution was so closely bound up with the beliefs of the majority of Americans, it has continued to resound through our history. Thus, the study of the Revolution is incomplete without studying the living Revolutionary tradition as it affects, moves, and transforms America. This is the reason for doing the oral/visual project; to study the living legacy of 1776 in the students' world today; the neighborhood, the institutions with which they must deal, and the workplaces where they may expect to be employed in the future. The overall questions that students will be trying to answer are: What do the people in their community know about the ideals of the American Revolution? What do they think of those ideals? What influence have these ideals had on contemporary Americans? And do the institutions that affect students and the community operate in accordance with those ideals? The first step in doing the oral/visual project is for students to become aware of their own attitudes about the principles of the American Revolution. The following are sample questions which can be used by students in their own classroom discussion and later, as questions that can be asked of people living and working in the community. SAMPLE QUESTIONS FOR A BICENTENNIAL ORAL/VISUAL RESEARCH PROJECT The Russians have the Communist Manifesto, the Chinese have the Quotations of Chairman Mao. Do Americans have a political document to lean on for guidance? When the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, they pledged their lives and their fortunes; many of them lost everything; their possessions were confiscated and they became hunted fugitives. Do you think modern politicians are that dedicated to the people they represent? Do they measure up to the standards set by the Founding Fathers? • The Declaration says that people have "inherent, inalienable rights"-that we acquire these rights automatically, just because we're people, that we have these rights at birth and they are not given to us by governments. Do you think that is old-fashioned? The rights the Declaration speaks of include Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. And it says the government is formed only to secure these rights. How well do you think the government is fulfilling this pur pose? Is it securing your right to Liberty? To Life? To the Pursuit of Happiness? • The Declaration says that whenever any form of government turns against our rights and tries to destroy them, it is our duty to change or abolish that form of government. Do you agree with that? • What kind of people do you suppose would write and sign a document like this? • What did you learn, as a child, about the American Revolution of 1776? What ideas or principles did you pick up as you learned about it? Do you feel we can still use those ideas? How seriously do you take them? How seriously do you think our leaders take them? • Do you ever think of 1776 and the things America stood for then and compare that to America as it is now? • The colonists complained that they had no voice in the making of decisions. Do you feel that you have a voice in local decisions? In state decisions? In national decisions? • Many of the Founding Fathers believed that practically the entire population was qualified to make the most important decisions-war and peace, economic questions, and so forth. Do you feel that you are able to make or contribute to such decisions, or do you feel that you need someone to make decisions for you? • The soldiers at Valley Forge had little food, only a few rags to wear, and no shoes in the middle of winter; there was no money. Why do you think they went through that? Is there anything you would do that for? • Thomas Jefferson and others believed America should be a country of small farmers; they hoped that every family would have a small farm, enough for a decent living, and that there would be neither extremely rich nor extremely poor. Do you think that was a good idea? Of course we can't all have small farms anymore. But do you think the basic idea is still sound? In an industrial society, could we still use those principles? • The Revolutionaries of 1776 angrily denounced George the III. What comes to your mind when you hear that name, George the III? • When the Founding Fathers called for revolution, they made a list of accusations against King George things they considered sufficient cause for open rebellion against the government. Here is one of the accusations: "He has refused his assent to laws, (i.e. he vetoed the laws enacted by the Colonial legislatures) the most wholesome and necessary for the public good." Do you think they were right to be furious about this? How about this one: "He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance." A lot of people today also complain that swarms of office holders-bureaucrats, we call them now-are harassing the people and eating out their substance. How do you feel about that? • Here's another one: "He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to the civil power." The Founding Fathers tried to organize the government so that the military would serve and not rule the people. George Washington, even though he had commanded a victorious army and was a great hero, came before the Congress after the last battle and humbly removed his hat to tell the representatives he was resigning his commission, because he took it for granted that the military was not even close to being equal to civilian authority. What kind of danger do you think the Founding Fathers saw in a big military establishment? Do you think we have followed their advice about making the military our servant rather than our master? Can you envision a time when the military would become "independent of and superior to the civil power," as it says in the Declaration? •Here is another complaint from the Declaration: "He (the King) has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws." When the government ignores the laws, what is the duty of the citizen? Were the Americans justified in rebelling against the government after repeated pleas were ignored? All these abuses were considered typical of kings, so the American Revolutionaries tried to see to it that we would never again have a king to do these things to us. Did they succeed in forever putting an end to these abuses and injustices? If not, how would they explain it to themselves if they could see modern America? How would they react to hearing people complain about so many of the things they fought to stop? Would they think King George III was back in charge? • The Constitution guarantees freedom of the press. How important is that right to you? How important is freedom of religion? The Constitution also guarantees the right to speak freely on all topics. How important is that right to you? How do you use it? The Constitution guarantees the right to assemble and demonstrate over grievances. How important is that right to you? Have you ever used it? • Ben Franklin said that those who are willing to give up a little liberty in order to get a little security deserve neither liberty nor security, and that eventually they will lose both. Yet polls show that most Americans are ready to give up their Constitutional liberties. Are you willing to surrender some of your rights? • What do you think about students learning American ideals? • America will soon be celebrating the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Indepen dence. What kind of celebration do you think would be appropriate? THESE QUESTIONS PROVIDE AN OUTLINE OF THE TYPES OF QUESTIONS THAT CAN BE USED IN INTERVIEWING COMMUNITY PEOPLE INTERVIEWING PEOPLE IN THE Most information will be gathered by interviewing community members-housewives, old labor organizers, people on welfare, teachers, elementary school kids, other high school students, people in professional jobs, and representatives of local corporations, government, and schools. Students will need to develop skills in interviewing. The problems of interviewing people will not be too difficult because the people being interviewed are the neighbors and parents of the students. The first step in interviewing is to identify the persons the students would like to interview and why. Next, the students should set up appointments where necessary. Most of the time, information can be gathered casually, by going door to door in the neighborhood and by dropping in on local merchants, etc. Researchers might begin their interview by explaining that the President has proclaimed the Bicentennial Era (1972-1976) as a time for recalling and reviving the spirit of 1776. It should then be explained that the students' class is involved in research to determine what the community thinks the Revolution stands for, and whether or not the community operates on the principles expressed by the Founding Fathers. Finally students might ask for suggestions on what kind of celebration the community would regard as appropriate. Researchers may encounter interviewees with authoritarian biases, cynical attitudes toward American ideals or plain unconcern about those ideals; it will usually be counter-productive to debate with the interviewee. On the other hand, post-interview discussion between the student and interviewee may result in mutual learning. Students should not rely solely on tape recorded interviews for materials. Pictures can be taken; old photos, scrapbooks, and newspapers can be examined to gain an understanding of how values and attitudes have or have not changed in the community. Most students probably do not have tape recorders of their own. However, many schools do have tape recorders, and other audio and visual equipment which are often hidden away in closets because teachers have not been able to utilize them. Where equipment to make films, radio spots and newspapers is not available from students or the school, local businesses and churches might be asked to lend their audio/visual equipment to the project. Even with borrowed equipment there will probably not be enough to go around to all students. Students should take turns using the equipment and when possible, they should be able to choose among different mediums in pursuing the oral/visual projects. One student may want to take pictures; another may prefer taking notes in interviews rather than taping them; still others may want to research old documents from the local community, rather than do personal interviews. Some students might use information that others have gathered to produce their own readings or short dramatic pieces on tape around the American Revolutionary themes. COMPILING INFORMATION FOR A major part of the oral/visual project is compiling the information that has been collected. Each student, a few students working together, or even the whole class could work to compile the massive amounts of information they have collected to turn it into an oral/ visual presentation. The presentation could include a newspaper account of the interviews to be distributed to the community. Students may try holding an old fashioned town meeting with people discussing their concerns about the community. Students could produce small radio spots for the local radio station. They could write a play or make a film on the attitudes of their community on the American Revolutionary tradition. common To compile the information each student should present his/her collected material to the class and discuss what s/he found interesting, surprising, disappointing, etc. The students should then select the tapes, photos, newspaper articles or other materials s/he found most worthwhile. All of the materials should then be edited and assembled for oral/visual presentations. The material should be reviewed in light of the original questions. 1. What do Americans know about the ideals of the American Revolution? 2. What do Americans think of the ideals of the American Revolution? 3. What influences do the ideals have on contemporary Americans, directly and indirectly? 4. Do the members of the community and institutions affecting the community live up to the ideals? 5. Do they try to live up to them? In what way? The oral/visual presentation or exhibits can then be taken to elementary school, community meetings, local organization meetings such as the PTA, fraternal organizations, church groups, the school board, and to the elected officials that were interviewed. The student presentations or exhibits can be a very important first step in opening up dialogue in the community around the meaning of our founding principles as a nation and their applicability today. The final question that students should explore is: now that they have a greater understanding of the attitudes of community people on the ideals of the American Revolution, do they think the principles are still sound? If they do, what more needs to be done to implement them? EXCHANGING ORAL/VISUAL LEARNING EXPERIENCES BETWEEN NEIGHBORHOOD AND COMMUNITIES We can hardly understand our own communities. without knowledge of other communities. Many high school and even college students have little or no experience outside their neighborhoods, districts, parishes, or towns. These areas may be homogeneous in terms of class or ethnos, and inter-community communications may be severely limited. In this situation the student cannot be expected to have a realistic conception of his/her community and its relationship to other communities. Thus isolated, the student can forge no clear view of the strengths or shortcomings of her/his community, its unique qualities, its peculiar problems, and its special privileges or lack of privileges. An important facet of learning about one's community, then has to do with learning about other communities in order to gain points of reference from which to survey one's own environment. A natural outgrowth of research in the student's own community is contact with groups and individuals pursuing similar goals in oral/visual projects in other neighborhoods. This might be facilitated through: 1. Symposia in which researchers from several communities present their work to student and/or public audiences and discuss their findings. 2. Students might begin with condensed version of oral/visual projects conducted elsewhere, and approach their own communities with the idea of finding likenesses and discrepancies between their neighborhood and the sample study. This would provide a frame of reference for research. In April, 1973, the People's Bicentennial Commission and the Student Information Center will sponsor a national seminar-exposition in Washington, DC. Those who have participated in the oral/visual project or other programs relating to the exploration of American ideals will be invited to come and demonstrate their findings in the discussions and other activities. Students will share perspectives and ideas on the state of American humanist values and the possibilities of strengthening those values in the future. Leaders in the political, social and academic fields will speak. There will also be musical and theatrical presentations as well as ample time to enjoy the Cherry Blossom Festival. The Student Information Center is interested in all oral/visual projects, and variations on the project. So if you can't come to Washington, please send us the essays, pictures, slides, tapes, and films for us to reproduce to send to other teachers and high school students. Some of the materials will be published in national magazines and newspapers and be utilized on TV and radio shows. PROGRAM AND MATERIALS The American war is over, but this is far from the case with the American Revolution. On the contrary, nothing but the first act of the great drama is closed. Benjamin Rush (1787) The country has continued struggling, and is working still to implement democratic principles expressed in our own Declaration of Independence. The HSSIC, in coordination with the People's Bicentennial Commission, plans to follow the oral/visual curriculum project with a new approach to curriculum materials on the American experience. In this approach, curriculum will examine the characteristic patterns of values forged in the conflict between the promise and reality of America. While inequities, hypocrises and other negative aspects of the American legacy will not be avoided, they will not be the major theme. The theme, rather, will be the ideals which motivated people to seek justice and those which they themselves created in the struggle for justice. The theme will be presented in a series of booklets, each booklet presenting an epoch in the development and course of the American spirit. ONE-The American Revolution Background: English and Colonial Society The Steps of Escalation: Mayhew's Discourse, The Federalist System, Hamiltonian Politics The Reaction, the Alien and Sedition Laws The Earth Belongs to the Living, the Repeal of THREE-The Jacksonian Revolution The Chartering of the Corporations, the Dartmouth Decision The Democrats Resist, the Workingmen's Party and the Equal Rights Party Insist that the Earth Belongs to the People Social Theorists and Communalism: Emerson, The Jacksonian Movement, the Bank Struggle, All Power Is the Natural and Necessary Right of |