Fall Line
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In Podcast #56 the Virginia Trekkers return to Fredericksburg to show you a different side of the city than we did in Podcast #22. This time, instead of focusing on the Civil War period, we will explore the colonial period. We start out at Rocky Run Elementary before heading to Fredericksburg. Visit Chatham Manor, an important plantation house in both the 1700s and the 1800s; discover Ferry Farm where George Washington grew up; see the home of the famous Revolutionary naval hero, John Paul Jones; find out what happened at Hugh Mercer’s Apothecary; visit George Washington’s mother’s home, and see why Frank had a difficult time remembering her name; finally, take a break with us at the famous Rising Sun Tavern. Come on, let's go trekkin'
George Washington was a very strong man. He was 6 foot 2 inches tall and weighed over 200 pounds. He wore a size 13 shoe (source). One story that is told about his strength was that he threw a silver dollar-sized rock across the Rappahannock River when he lived at Ferry Farm. Since the river is 250 feet wide (and may have been wider when Washington lived), that is quite a feat! Other people have tried to do the same thing since then. On Washington’s Birthday, February 22, 1936, the town of Fredericksburg challenged Walter “The Big Train” Johnson, a famous baseball player of the time, to try to repeat Washington’s feat of strength. To the thrill of the thousands of onlookers, he did it! Now, each year, Ferry Farm hosts a contest to see who can throw a rock across the Rappahanock. Maybe you’ll try it someday?
SOL Correlation:
K.1 The student will recognize that history describes events and people of other times and places by a) identifying examples of past events in legends, stories, and historical accounts of Powhatan, Pocahontas, George Washington, Betsy Ross, and Abraham Lincoln;
K.2 The student will describe everyday life in the present and in the past and begin to recognize that things change over time.
1.2 The student will describe the stories of American leaders and their contributions to our country, with emphasis on George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington Carver, and Eleanor Roosevelt.
1.3 The student will discuss the lives of people associated with Presidents’ Day, Columbus Day, and the events of Independence Day (Fourth of July)
2.11 The student will identify George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Susan B. Anthony, Helen Keller, Jackie Robinson, and Martin Luther King, Jr. as Americans whose contributions improved the lives of other Americans.
3.11 The student will explain the importance of the basic principles that form the foundation of a republican form of government by b) identifying the contributions of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Rosa Parks, Thurgood Marshall, and Martin Luther King, Jr., and César Chávez;
VS.2 The student will demonstrate knowledge of the geography and early inhabitants of Virginia by
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c)locating and identifying water features important to the early history of Virginia (Atlantic Ocean, Chesapeake Bay, James River, York River, Potomac River, and Rappanhannock River);
VS.4b The student will demonstrate knowledge of life in the Virginia colony by describing how the culture of colonial Virginia reflected the origins of European (English, Scots-Irish, German) immigrants, Africans, and American Indians.
VS.4e The student will demonstrate knowledge of life in the Virginia colony by describing everyday life in colonial Virginia.
VS.5b The student will demonstrate knowledge of the role of Virginia in the American Revolution by identifying the various roles played by whites, enslaved African Americans, free African Americans, and American Indians in the Revolutionary War era, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and James Lafayette.
VS.7 The student will demonstrate knowledge of the issues that divided our nation and led to the Civil War by
b) describing Virginia’s role in the war, including identifying major battles that took place in Virginia.
