Evening APUSHers,
Ok, I'll admit that I am a little unmotivated to work much this year so I can only imagine how you feel. I have really tried to steer away from history this summer. I'm a little burned out from AP last year.
I'm also sorry for those of you who showed up to our first meeting today. I sent an e-mail yesterday, but it doesn't seem like some of you got it, so I am sorry you showed up and I wasn't here. We have to reschedule it in July.
OK, I'll be honest. Its tough writing these things. I sometimes open my blog and stare at the screen. So today I am going to talk about what I have been doing this summer:
Last week my family traveled to St. Louis. My brother is living there and I it was a good opportunity to visit without having to pay for a hotel room. I also wanted an opportunity to take my family to the west, since it was the first time Livy and Logan was West of the Mississippi.
The Mississippi Rivers is the largest river in North America and for many years represented the boundary of our nation. Even after the Louisiana Purchase ( what was it and when was it signed? E-mail for 2 extra credit points) most of the development of the country took place east of the Mississippi. It was until the mid 1800s did many American actually started to move west of the Mississippi. Many of those settlers started from St. Louis ( and even then, many Americans sailed to the west coast. It was easier and quicker to sail around South America then to travel by land). So St. Louis received the title as Gateway to the West. In fact St. Louis most famous landmark, the arch, is actually a monument to western expansion. In fact, under the arch, underground is a museum dedicated to this theme. (To be honest, I didn't get to spend as
much time checking out the museum as I wanted to. Both my wife and brother really don't like history and they kinda sped through it.)
Keep in mind that the history of the United States is a history of movement westward (starting from the English colonies on the east coast to the closing of the frontier in 1890). Or so I have always been taught.... More tomorrow.
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