June 2011

People's History of the United States: Part 6

Chapter 5: A Kind of Revolution

    

One of the most pervasive misconceptions about our early history revolves around the folklore of the Revolutionary War. In primary grades we learn about our folk heroes and founding fathers, from George Washington and Benjamin Franklin to Paul Revere. Later, in the secondary grades we learn more about the various battles and personalities that came to the fore, but always with the implicit understanding that almost everyone in the colonies wanted the Revolution. In fact, in a number of textbooks the message isn't implicit at all, stating that "from all corners of the American colonies men came to pledge their loyalty to Independence." (American History, Pearson Hall). The truth is somewhat more discouraging.

Archeologists in City of Acre Uncover a Historic Crossroads

A Hellenistic pier, an entire medieval Crusader city, and remnants of a Napoleanic siege beneath modern-day Acre.

    

The city of Acre is written about primarily as the main port of the Christian Crusaders in the Holy Land from 1104, when it was taken by King Baldwin of Jerusalem in the First Crusade, to 1229 when it fell to Egyptian Mameluks during a bloody siege. Today Acre is still a thriving port of 56,000 individuals, and although it was named as UNESCO's first  World Heritage Site in 2001, it remains an out-of-the-way landmark compared to more popular sites like Jerusalem and Masada.

     The Israel Antiquities Authority approved archeological work in the mid-1990's, and in the subsequent 15 years or so an entire subterranean Crusader city has materialized. Hidden beneath the ruins of Acre when it was burnt to the ground by invading Egyptian Muslims, the structures are nearly perfectly preserved. Head Israeli Archeologist at the Acre site, Eliezer Stern, says "It's like Pompeii of Roman times — it's a complete city...one of the most exciting sites in the world of archaeology."

The World's Columbian Exposition set a precedent that America was not enough

The World’s Columbian Exposition, otherwise dubbed The Chicago World’s Fair, held in 1893 was nothing if not spectacular.  It was filled with huge buildings built to look like ancient Rome in white plaster surrounding a lagoon in the Parisian style.  Thousands of foreign dignitaries flocked to the fair and Chicago outshone Paris’ Eiffel tower with a glittering Ferris wheel.