primary sources – Blue Cereal Education

The Docs Heard ‘Round The World

Blue Cereal — Sun, 12 Jul 2020 23:54:44 +0000

The first shots were fired at Lexington, but the first documented occasion on which colonial minutemen were ordered to fire upon British soldiers (and did) was on the North Bridge at Concord. That was what many would point to as the first official act of outright treason committed by the colonists and marked the beginning of open, violent rebellion in Massachusetts.

Roe v. Wade (1973) – Written Opinions {Excerpts}

Blue Cereal — Sun, 21 Jul 2019 18:31:18 +0000

I’ve recently been working on something I’m hoping other teachers might find useful for their own reference or for use in the classroom. It’s a compilation of a dozen or so of the most “Have To” Supreme Court cases in U.S. History – case summaries, excerpts from the majority opinions and periodically from dissents as … Continue reading

Authors vs. Ideas

Blue Cereal — Sat, 25 May 2019 13:59:09 +0000

In November of 2017, Tyler Seguin’s name started popping up in hockey news headlines. That in and of itself is not so unusual; he’s a marquee player for the Dallas Stars and a damned pretty man. These headlines, however, were not about his on-ice skill or make-your-gate-swing-the-other-way smile… They weren’t all quite that blunt…. … Continue reading

“While You Wait” (A Play from The Smart Set, June 1900)

Blue Cereal — Tue, 26 Mar 2019 14:24:12 +0000

MRS. VAN CLEEF—Now, in this divorce business, there seems to be a great rivalry between South Dakota and Oklahoma, but the Oklahoma firm’s circular is a good deal the more enticing. Listen. It says (she reads from a circular which she takes from her pocket): “Our newer States, in compiling their laws, have seen fit to show more liberality in the matter of obtaining divorces than may be found among the older states, whose laws on this subject were enacted at a time when ideas were less in accord with the advanced liberal thought of the present.

“As the Mohammedan devotee confidingly turns his eyes toward the tomb of his beloved leader, so has Dakota been regarded as the Mecca of hope to weary companions in matrimony.”

Isn’t that nice? We’ll be the weary companions.

We Think You Already Know This (A Letter from Kublai Khan)

Blue Cereal — Sat, 09 Dec 2017 16:43:08 +0000

One of the minor downsides to teaching ancient history for nearly half the year is that there simply aren’t the multitude of cool documents – letters, speeches, diaries, newspaper articles, and the like – which make U.S. or European History so naturally freakin’ awesome. Sure, there are primary sources – statues, ceramics, broken bits of … Continue reading

Rabbit Trails: Criminal Intimacy & Pernicious Polygamy

Blue Cereal — Sun, 28 May 2017 13:40:10 +0000

I’ve been trying to follow up on a previous post about the “divorce industry” in Oklahoma Territory (1889 – 1907), but I keep getting sidetracked by odd search results and unexpectedly engaging-but-off-topic tangents. I’m finally admitting that my ADHD (Abstemiously Distracted History Dysfunction) has won, and figure I might as well share some of the results.

Rabbit Trails: Mary Sallade & The One-Eyed Pickpocket

Blue Cereal — Sun, 28 May 2017 00:15:11 +0000

I’ve been looking into the “divorce industry” in Oklahoma Territory (1889 – 1907), and I spend more time than seems reasonable searching online newspaper archives for terms like “divorce” or “Oklahoma.” I’m not sure this makes me a crack researcher, but it has certainly led me down some weird paths.

Pick any topic – ANY topic – and start scratching at it. Something fascinating will almost always unfold… and yet leave you with a congress of unknowns, smirking and smug like Alice’s cat.

Humble Magniloquence (Purdy Words in Primary Sources)

Blue Cereal — Fri, 03 Mar 2017 13:43:50 +0000

There are folks you expect to write all fancy. Poets, for example. Certain flavors of novelists. Artsy musician types. George Will. Education bloggers, not so much. That’s just as well. Rhetorical flourish is a tricky business. Like cilantro, it can add unexpectedly welcome flavor and complexity, or make an entire passage taste like old soap. … Continue reading

John Wilkes Booth – Reader of Novels

Blue Cereal — Mon, 27 Feb 2017 12:26:41 +0000

The great profusion of children’s books protracts the imbecility of childhood. They arrest the understanding, instead of advancing it. They give forwardness without strength. They hinder the mind from making vigorous shoots, teach it to stoop when it should soar, and contract when it should expand… Youth almost habitually seek amusement. The youthful intellect requires … Continue reading

Forever Unfit To Be A Slave (A Little Knowledge Is A Dangerous Thing, Part Two)

Blue Cereal — Wed, 16 Nov 2016 12:09:25 +0000

Here’s the number one reason governments and religions and parents and schools ban whatever they ban: it’s nearly impossible to maintain the illusion you’re doing someone a huge favor by keeping them locked under the staircase once they’ve visited Hogwarts – even by proxy. The power to question is the power to overcome.