Alphabet Soup

"The Only Thing We Have to Fear is Fear Itself"

Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1933 inauguration came at a somber moment in American History. The U.S. economy had hit rock bottom. Many Americans wondered if they would ever find work again. How did FDR try to reassure the American people?

When FDR pledged a 'New Deal' he had only a vague idea how he intended to combat the Depression.  The New Deal had countless programs, labeled an “alphabet soup” by its critics. Most of these New Deal acts were passed within the first 100 days of Roosevelt’s Administration and were intended to provide Relief, Recovery, and Reform. 

How many of these agencies can you identify?

How was the label ‘Alphabet Soup’ meant to criticize FDR’s New Deal?

Confused?  Why do you think FDR tried so many different programs?

You Can't Make a Monkey Out of Me

In 1925, a biology teacher named John Scopes was arrested for teaching evolution in defiance of Tennessee state law. His trial became an epic event of the twentieth century, a debate over free speech that spiraled into an all-out duel between science and religion. Featuring two of the century's greatest orators, attorneys Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan, the Scopes trial was America's first major media event, with hundreds of reporters and live nationwide radio coverage dispersing the sensational news. Outside the courthouse, a circus atmosphere prevailed as a chimpanzee in a suit and hat vied with fire-and-brimstone preachers for the crowd's attention. Monkey Trial explores the dramatic moment when a new fault line opened in society as scientific discoveries began to challenge the literal truth of the Bible. Often humorous and at times frightening, the story of two value systems colliding resonates today.

What is the Separation of Church and State?

What was Scope's true motivation?

The Gilded Age

While the 'White City' of the Colombian Exposition 1893 showed the world the wonder and grandeur of the America Spirit it also covered up many deep rooted social and political issues of the Gilded Age.

The Statue of the Republic welcomed fair goers with its outstretched gilded arms. (Its actually made from bronze). The name 'White City' referred to the architecture and gleaming 'white wash' of many of the buildings; but it could also be used as a metaphor for the perceived superiority of Western or 'White' culture at this time. As fair goers walked the grounds they couldn't help but to compare and contrast the exhibits of seemingly 'backwords' World Cultures with the progress and technology of America.

If you were visiting the Exposition and had never been to America before, what would you think?

Was the America's view of the rest of the world discriminatory? Hypocritical?

How permanent was the fair? What happened to the buildings after the fair ended?

How was the Fair perhaps 'deceptively' pleasing?

What does it mean if something is 'Gilded?'

How did the White City compare to actual Chicago or other American cities? Was it reality?

What were some of the issues facing Americans during the 'Gilded Age?'

Seize the Vote!

Do you know your voting rights?  Use your knowledge to give your characters the right to vote?

H.H. Holmes

Sadly, there have been plenty of serial killers who have made names for themselves in America, from Jeffrey Dahmer to Charles Manson to Ted Bundy. But one of the earliest well-known American serial killers attained fame in his own horribly unique way.

 In 1893, the World's Fair was held in Chicago, and a man named H.H. Holmes built a hotel in the suburb of Englewood to accommodate some of the many expected visitors. Unfortunately, the hapless guests were in for an unwelcome surprise, and many didn't come out alive. Holmes (born Herman Mudgett) already had a record as a fraud artist, and he was known for being cruel to children and animals. His hotel, which was later dubbed "The Murder Castle," was in fact the worst kind of fraud: a bizarre prison where guests were held captive, tortured and murdered [source: Taylor]. Some guests were gassed in their rooms, and others were burned with blow torches. Holmes slid their bodies down chutes to the basement where he had set up his own crematorium, as well as acid vats and lime pits. A blood-spattered surgical table, along with containers of poisons and bones, completed the evil array.

 The murders were discovered when Holmes was arrested for insurance fraud and police searched the hotel. Holmes admitted to 28 counts of murder, but he was likely responsible for more deaths. He was hanged for his crimes in 1896, and the hotel was burned to the ground. Holmes has also been linked to many other crimes, including murders throughout the United States and Canada. Some believe he killed as many as 200 during his lifetime [source: A&E].

 It is estimated that the United States accounts for 85% of the World's serial killers; more than the rest of the world combined! How do we explain this?

What do these killers have in common? Why are almost all of them men?

Where are you more at risk for serial killers: in the country or in the city?

Green Acres...

...Is where we'd rather be!

Or is it?

What was one cause of the pattern of economic activity shown in the graph above?

Where would you rather live? In the City or in the Country? Why?

What were the problems with city life?

Sound of Silence

How long can you go without talking?

Chief Marie, 89, of the Eyak tribe in Alaska, learned her native tongue from her parents, but the spread of English and competition from the Tlingit, another aboriginal tribe, meant that she was the last 'traditional' speaker. A survey backed by the US National Geographic Society found that Native American languages are some of the world's most endangered.

Every year more and more languages are gone forever as their last speakers pass away. I'm reminded of the gloomy prediction that half of all languages will disappear this century.

Some linguists argue that the birth and death of languages is a natural phenomenon that we shouldn't worry too much about. The global success of English, for example, has changed it forever. But it's hard not to mourn the loss of a language and all that it stands for.

Imagine not being able to speak ever again.  What difficulties would you have?

What happens to a culture when their language is lost? 

Why is preserving these languages important to all of us?

This problem isn't unique to just Alaska.

Click here to learn about the efforts of the Miami Tribe to preserve their language.