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)