Tag Archives: united states history

Robert Oppenheimer

Moving along on this run I’m on this morning, here is a reading on Robert Oppenheimer along with its attendant vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. He’s always been a figure who interested me–mostly for the crisis of conscience he suffered for what he unleashed on the world.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

John Humphrey Noyes

“John Humphrey Noyes: (1811-1886) U.S. social reformer. Born in Brattleboro, Vermont, he studied for the ministry at Yale and declared his belief in ‘perfectionism,’ announcing that he had achieved a state of sinlessness. In 1836 He organized a community of ‘Bible communists’ in Putney, Vermont, where he advocated free love and ‘complex’ marriage as opposed to ‘simple’ or monogamous marriage. Arrested for adultery in 1846, he fled to Oneida, New York, where he established the Oneida Community, which he led until 1879, when he fled to Canada to avoid legal action. He wrote several books on perfectionism and a history of U.S. utopian communities.”

Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

Book of Answers: Poor Richard’s Almanack

“How long was Poor Richard’s Almanack published? Benjamin Franklin published it in Philadelphia from 1733 to 1758. After 1748, the almanac was called Poor Richard Improved. Franklin sold it in 1758, but it continued to be published until 1796.”

Excerpted from: Corey, Melinda, and George Ochoa. Literature: The New York Public Library Book of Answers. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1993.

Benjamin Franklin

Here, on the Fourth of July 2022, is a reading on Benjamin Franklin along with its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. And that’s about it: a couple of Microsoft Word documents you can adapt to the needs of your students.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Cultural Literacy: Republic

It’s Independence Day in the United States, so I can think of no better time to post this Cultural Literacy worksheet on the republic as a form of government. This is a full-page worksheet with a reading of four sentences–all of them compounds–and six comprehension questions. The reading, incidentally, does a nice job of differentiating republics and democracies.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Queen Anne Style

“Queen Anne Style: An American architectural style of the late 19th century which exuberantly combined many unlike textures, materials, and forms into an asymmetrical, composite building. Towers, turrets, elaborate chimney pots, bays, projecting porches, and verandas are all hallmarks of a Queen Anne structure.”

Excerpted from: Diamond, David G. The Bulfinch Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms. Boston: Little Brown, 1992.

Cultural Literacy: Separation of Church and State

Given the zeitgeist, particularly as defined by the current Supreme Court of the United States, now seems like a good time to post this Cultural Literacy worksheet on the concept of the separation of church and state. This is a full-page document with a reading of five sentences, two of them longish compounds, and seven comprehension questions. The reading does a nice job of explaining the ambiguity of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment (which I, like other First Amendment absolutists, I expect, wish weren’t there) without ever mentioning the term.

So there might be a way of turning this document into something of a treasure hunt for the term “Establishment Clause.” Or something else entirely.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Arthur Tappan

Arthur Tappan: (1786-1865) U.S. merchant and philanthropist. Born in Northampton, Massachusetts, he operated various mercantile businesses, including a silk-importing firm in New York (1826-1837) with his brother Lewis Tappan (1788-1873); they also founded the first commercial credit-rating service (1841). He used his wealth to support missionary societies and the abolitionist crusade, helping found the American Anti-Slavery Society and serving as its first president (1833-40). After breaking with William Lloyd Garrison, he created the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society (1840). The brothers later supported the Underground Railroad.”

Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

The Algonquin Wits: Robert Benchley on Office Sharing

Benchley and Dorothy Parker shared a tiny $30-a-month office for a time in the Metropolitan Opera House studios. As Benchley described it, ‘One cubic foot of space less and it would have constituted adultery.’”

Excerpted from: Drennan, Robert E., ed. The Algonquin Wits. New York: Kensington, 1985.

Ben Franklin on Wise Investments

“If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.”

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

Excerpted from: Howe, Randy, ed. The Quotable Teacher. Guilford, CT: The Lyons Press, 2003.