Where the American Revolution Ended

Today we had a chance to visit the battlefields of Yorktown. The historian knew we were teachers from Boston said you folks started it and we here finished it! We had a chance to go out to the actual battlefields and hear the historian recreate the battle for us. The French had a lot to with our victory and some French soldiers and generals, Marquis de Lafayette, Generals DeGrasse and Rochumbeau. What I learned from the historian was that out on the battlefield it was hard to know who was on what side because German or Hessian soldiers fought on both sides and both wore the same color blue. I also learned what a redoubt was. It's a fortification made with sharpened logs and earth that helped provide a barrier. Much of the fighting took place at Redoubt 9+10 where the British General Cornwallis was trying to hold a defensive position by the river. We finished at Surrender Field where the British surrendered to George Washington.

My conversation with Thomas Jefferson

Yesterday we visited the home of Thomas Jefferson, Monticello. TJ's home contains several plantations and his house sits way upon a mountain top. I had many questions for TJ. My first was why was it raining so hard? Others I had was why was a man so famous for fighting for freedom and liberty own 607 slaves? He replied that he inherited some of his slaves from his father and he grew up himself on a plantation and slaves are a necessary part of plantation life. He also said it was something he struggled with his whole life. He felt it was an unthinkable horrible endeavor but he felt the problem do large that future generations would need to solve it. My last question for TJ was about all his inventions! He was very much on the very cutting edge of technology for his day. He invented many contraptions from clocks, sliding and spinning doors, a pulley system located on the side of the fireplace to bring up the wine from the cellar. He used a polygraph and changed it so he could make 2 copies of his handwritten letters at once! I told him he was the Steve Jobs of his day.
He bid me good day and he is a very busy fellow.

Monticello and Montpelier

Today we visited Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. We went on a tour of his home and saw some interesting items in the museum. We also walked through the "dependencies," which is where the slaves lived. It was appropriate to see this after hearing Harold's presentation at Great Hope Plantation.
http://www.monticello.org/

We then went on to see James Madison's home. This is called Montpelier. Both homes are extremely impressive. We were able to go to thr archaeology lab to see where archaeologists work to discover more about Montpelier. It was a great day!
http://montpelier.org/

Great Hope Plantation

Yesterday we had a very moving presentation by a man named Harold. He brought us through the grueling and painful daily lives of slaves. They worked from "no see to no see" which means from before the sun came up until after it went down. These slaves endured many painful experiences and relied on friends and family to get them through. Harold's message was that of these people could've gone through these terrible experiences, we can get through anything. It's important to put things into perspective and remember the good fortunes that we have, including our freedom.

Posted by Ms. Conceison

Our First Day!

Mrs. Burns and Ms. C along with Mrs. Gonzalez and Mrs. Olshaw have arrived in Baltimore, Maryland! We are now on a motor coach bus driving the 3 hours to Williamsburg, Virginia. We are reading our history books and getting familiar with our IPads and apps.