Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening depending on when you are reading this.  I hope that you are doing well and planning is going well.  I cannot believe we are in March and for some the school year is winding down.  For some schools, there are planning days to help with curriculum development too.  I remember this was the time I always was floating around the school subbing because of that time of year.  Anyway, now that we have that piece of business out of the way I am doing a documentary about the Florida Keys.  The run time for this documentary is 56:46.  It is called The Florida Keys: 200 Years of Paradise.

The early pioneers of the Florida Keys would have faced managed challenges.  However, these pioneers would rise to the challenge.  The early pioneers would arrive to have encountered breathtaking scenes.  However, the scenes would have provided their challenges. Reefs would wreck ships by the dozens.  There were also fierce hurricanes.  At times their exotic world would feel scary.  For over 200 people thousands of people would call the Florida Keys would call home.  This is the history of the Florida Keys.

The story of the Florida Keys began in 1822 when the first pioneers planted the first American flag.  It had been a paradise that had often caused shipwrecks.  The United States Navy worked to carefully map the Keys.  Wreckers would navigate through the islands either rescuing the ships or rescuing the crews of the ships.  Four lighthouses were established, however, the ships would still be wrecked and the wreckers would continue to make money.

The early pioneers would face shipwrecks but also pirates.  Eventually, the United States Navy would work to combat the pirates.  The pioneers would also face mosquitos and yellow fever.  There was a short little quip about the female lighthouse keepers.  The civilization on the Keys would have been wild and the presence of Women was supposed to have a settling effect on the growing community.

Then there was the transition into the discussion on slavery and the African American Community.  Particularly there was a discussion on Sandy Cornish who ran a successful farm in Key West.  He came up with a clever way to make soil using dung and seaweed.  You could almost hear the sarcasm because he made a farm on unfarmable land.  Then there was a quick hit-and-run discussion on the Flagger Railroad.  Then there was a discussion on the shipwreck, particularly looking for a slave ship that had sunk in the Florida Keys.

The story then transitions to the other people who settled in the Florida Keys: the Cubans and the Jewish people.  This led to a discussion on how the Florida Keys was a multicultural place.  Suddenly there was a discussion on the economy and what jobs were created in the Florida Keys.  Wrecking would eventually go into decline and so there needed to be alternative jobs.  Cigars would become a big business in the Florida Keys and Key West would become the chief economic engine in the Florida Keys.  The discussion continues on the impact of the Cubans on the Florida Keys.
Eventually the documentary shifts to learning about how a railroad was built connecting the Florida Keys to the Florida Mainland.  Who would build the railroad?  Why would they build it?  To learn more about this railroad continue to watch the rest of the documentary.

The information sometimes felt like it was coming at you fast and you almost regretted that the documentary could not have been longer that way the pace could have slowed down.  I felt like there were times when I had whiplash because of the speed and it was also hard to follow along.  It also could have been divided into chapters to help pull out information and to help follow along with the documentary.  At times it felt like the documentary did not follow an ordered timeline.  I think it would have been better if there was a yearly order for the documentary.

It really was an eye-opening documentary on the Florida Keys.  Despite my complaints about this documentary, it does have the potential to be an excellent primer on the Florida Keys.  It was a good overview of the history of the Keys.  This documentary would deserve a place on a potential list to show to a history class.

Hello, April continues to press on.  For some schools, we are in the final days of school and for others, we are in the final weeks of schools.  Just an early reminder for June, July, and August I do three blogs a week instead of blogging every day, just a little bit of a break from blogging.  Typically during these months, I try to keep things fun for summer.  Anyway, I am going to continue avoiding the documentaries at the top of my review list.  I am doing a Drain the Oceans documentary, this time the secrets of the American Civil War are being explored.  It is called Secrets of the Civil War and it has a run time of 47:22.

It was one of the first wars where technology had an impact.  The sea was where the majority of the Civil War was shaped.  The war was fought on both the sea and the rivers.  There are 2000 Civil War wrecks on the sea floor.  The USS Cumberland was the first naval casualty of the Civil War and took part in one of the first naval battles of the Civil War.  The second ship participated in the battle and was revolutionary in its design.  Another ship reveals a new type of weapon that could sink ships.  What does draining the ocean reveal about the American Civil War.

For four years, a nation tore itself apart.  The Civil War was fought on both land and sea.  The first wreck was a leap forward in naval technology and it would have made wooden ships obsolete.  Its wreck lies off the coast of Virginia.  It took part in a battle that sent shockwaves around the world and was where the first great naval encounter took place.  In March 1862, the Hampton Roads area was one of the most dangerous areas in America and was fought over. 

The first wreck revealed is the USS Cumberland and it shockingly went down in minutes.  A strange vessel overcame her and sent her to the bottom.  The reports of the Cumberland’s sinking would have sent shockwaves through the Union Navy.  Even more shocking was learning about the ship that sunk the Cumberland.  The ship was covered in iron and was equipped with the latest weapons.  The ship was called the CSS Virginia.  The Cumberland sailors recalled hearing the laughter of the Confederate soldiers.

However, the laughter would have been short-lived when another ship arrived on the scene.  It was an iron ship as well but its design was revolutionary.  It was practically underwater with a turret that sat on its deck.  This ship was called the Monitor and it was the second American ironclad ship.  Together the Virginia and the Monitor would end the era of wooden warships.  Both ships would not survive the war and the Monitor lies off of Cape Hatteras.  Conservation efforts are trying to bring pieces of the Monitor up to learn more about the Monitor.  The grandfather of modern turrets was brought up.  To learn more about the turret continue to watch the rest of the episode.  I believe there was a Secrets of the Dead episode about the Monitor and the recovery effort of the propeller.  I will have to search for that documentary.

Another technology development would attempt to have an impact on the war.  This was a secret weapon that could hide underneath the waves.  This weapon had terrifying implications.  To learn more about this weapon continue to watch the rest of the documentary.

I have another complaint about the National Geographic Channel.  I wish they would put longer summaries in their descriptions.  Since the series focuses on 4-5 topics or wrecks, I would think mentioning those wrecks would be nice to add to the description.  I cannot tell you how many times I have had to rewind the documentary to come up with a decent summary.  Now that I have that bit of information out of the way, this series continues to provide good information and the episode is very well done.  This is a good introduction to how the Civil War took place on the sea, something that is barely touched on in American History classes.  l.  So I would show this to a history and a science class.

Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening depending on when you are reading this.  I am going to shift gears again and I am very nervous about doing this documentary.  This is my reminder that I am doing these documentaries so your teachers do not have to spend time watching them do your prep work.  This is a documentary on the Civil War and it is an older documentary.  The run time for this documentary is 55:40 and it looks like it is called The American Civil War.

There is a quick discussion on the lead-up to the Civil War.  Over the years there were many brutal incidents over the issue of slavery.  There were more and more conflicts and these conflicts lead up to the 1860 Presidential Election.  Which way would this election go?  The Democratic party was divided reflecting the mood of the country.  There were three candidates It would go in the direction of a new political party, the Republican Party and Abraham Lincoln.  He was careful about mentions of slavery and believed that the Union should be preserved.  In the South, his name did not appear on the ballot.  Despite this, he would win the election.   This election would finally set off the Civil War.

Then there is a discussion on what the South had and how ill-prepared the South was for war.  There was very little industry.  There was no navy.  Cotton was king and they even refused to send Cotton to Europe to force European leaders to come to their side.  However, this would prevent them from raising funds in the future to support the war effort.  When the blockade was set, the South was unable to ship cotton overseas to raise money for the war.  The South did have a strong military tradition and many men went to these military academies.  The north in contrast had a great deal of industry and a large population.

At the start of the war, many men enthusiastically signed up to fight, believing that the war would end quickly.  Fort Sumter had been attacked and eventually, the North would surrender the fort.  There were no casualties, which would be a stark comparison to how many soldiers would be lost in the Civil War.  Both Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln would issue calls for arms.  The soldiers were farmers, professionals, and actors, and had come from a variety of backgrounds.  They expected the war to get over quickly, however, they could not foresee the bloodbath that was to happen.

War had changed in the years since the Mexican-American War a mere twelve years before the Civil War.  Weapons had changed.  Rifles could fire a greater distance.  Technology had changed.  Tactics would have to change because of technology.  Even with all the changes, the men were thrilled to get to experience the battle for the first time.  They were afraid that the war would end before they arrived on the battlefield.

Then there was an interesting section on how confusion reigned over the first battles of the Civil War.  Southern Soldiers could be found in blue uniforms instead of grey.  The flags of both sides looked very similar to each other in the smoke of battle.  After the Battle of Bull Run, these things would have to change and be standardized.  It was at this battle that both sides realized that the war was going to be longer than people would think.  So what would happen in the Civil War?   To learn more about the Civil War watch the rest of this documentary.

Yeah, this documentary really shows its age and I can picture popping in a VCR tape with this documentary on it.  It even says at the start that this was disk one.  I had low expectations for this documentary because of the look of it.  It actually was not a bad documentary, it kept moving along, the narration was good, and it followed a definite outline.  I went into this documentary thinking I would not recommend it.  However, I have changed my mind and would recommend this documentary for a history class because it was an excellent primer on the Civil War.  It would also be good for research purposes.

For July Fifth, I am going to share a classic Time Team episode: Maryland, USA.  The team explores St. Mary’s City, Maryland.  It is one of the earliest colonial sites in America.  A park grew up around the area with reconstructed buildings.  Time Team will work with the American archeologists to continue to excavate the site.

They plan to look at the cemetery, which could be the biggest colonial cemetery that they know of.  Then they look at St. Peter’s a brick manor house.  It was the biggest home in the colony.  Finally, they will look for the original fort.  There are two possible spots where the fort could be.  The geophysics team had gotten a start on the site.  It was the first time that geophysics was used on the St. Mary’s site.

1694 the St. Peter’s home was destroyed by gun powder, so they are using a magnetometer to determine where the house was.  The funny piece about this is that all electronics needed American adapters.  They found a clear building in the results.  The St. Peter’s site had been dug before to determine where the house was, unfortunately, the person did not leave any records as to the location of the building.  The archeologists begin digging.  They find the walls of the house based on geophysics.

In the 1630s the chapel was built and the Time Team looks to see how big the cemetery was.  The site manager shows the Time Team a burial that happened.

The team moves to the fort and may have found the site of the original fort.  The site manager is cautious about it because the site was used as part of the 300th Anniversary of Maryland.  Tony Robinson mentions that it is typical Time Team: staring off with two sites, wanting to narrow it down to three but then ending up with three sites.

Tony comments that American Archeologists are different from British Archeologists in that the Americans work slower than their British counterparts.  The site manager points out that American history is not as deep in the ground as British history and so they do take their time to find out what they can about a site.  Tony asks Phil if he is coming to an understanding in regards to the work speed.  Phil is saying he is adapting.  Tony comments that the American way does not miss a thing and that they found a musket ball as a result of the approach.

Stewart that he found the correct site for the original fort.  The site manager is not sure about that assertion.  He found more air photos of the site that show faint walls and towers.  From the available evidence, the St. Mary’s fort had four sides.  Stewart has been finding additional effort for the location of the fort.  The landscape is helping firm his assertions as to the true location of the fort.  Did Stewart find the true location of the fort?  Continue to watch to find out.

You can access the YouTube video here. 

I am glad to finally be able to share a blog about Time Team.  It is a fantastic show with a variety of topics teachers can choose from.

Time Team Maryland Questions

1. What three sites did the Time Team look at?
   
2. What year was St. Peter’s house destroyed? 
3. How big were the exploratory trenches that were dug? 
4. What industry was big in St. Mary’s? 
5. List Three Things You’ve Learned From This Episode:

           A)
           B)
           C)

Time Team Maryland Answers

1. What three sites did the Time Team look at? – Cemetery, St. Peter’s house, Fort
2. What year was the St. Peter’s house destroyed?  - 1694
3. How big was the exploratory trenches that were dug?  5 by 5
4. What industry was big in St. Mary’s?  - Tobacco
5. List Three Things You’ve Learned From This Episode:
   

              A)
              B)
              C)