Porcelain was a luxury item and when the colonial patriots boycotted tea, there obviously was no need for expensive tea cups. When talking about the boycotting of luxury items (imported items) the colonists began wearing plain homemade clothes which helped American businesses and showed their protest of "taxation without representation" which according to the authors gave them a sense of well being. Perhaps the pictured tea cup and saucer was a symbol of the British "tyranny" and helped bring on the Revolution.

I would want to know about the Royal Governors and how they dealt with ordinary citizens. I would like to know how much the tea destroyed in the Boston Tea Party actually cost in today's dollars. I have heard several estimates and could the British Government take these losses over a long period of time considering the costs of the French and Indian War. I would like to know whether Washington, Jefferson, Adams and Franklin actually participated in the boycotts of imported goods. Finally, I would like to hear about the one third (estimated) group of people who remained neutral during the conflict and why they remained neutral.

Obviously, I was on the right track about instant coffee but I never really thought about the preparation of food for the soldiers who were sent to Europe and Asia. The film showing soldiers sweating was shown to see how the army studied their nutrition needs in hot climates and conversely in cold climates. This can could also show how canned foods became a staple after World War II because the war ended so quickly by the dropping of the Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. During WWII, the government urged women to grow their own food as patriotic and then can it. Boom! The bombs dropped and corporations needed for consumers mostly women to accept processed foods. The story of the cake mix is the perfect example. Women did not accept it until it required an egg added.

We are often taught that after World War II, Rosie the Riveter and working women in war production went home and produced the Baby Boom generation. That is partially true but that theory is limited because the number of women who went into the workplace increased over time. By the 60's and the birth of the women's movement, the ideal woman changed. "The Total Woman" stopped being the norm and the working woman became the "new normal". Advertising changed to appeal to the new working class woman and foods mirror that change. Campbell's Soup, boxed or frozen dinners, and fast food (such as McDonalds) became acceptable and the norm. That we have Grub Hub in Wise, VA shows the ever evolving role of women

Obviously, I was on the wrong track when I saw the first picture. This is about how the U.S. won World War II after Pearl Harbor in 1941. Roosevelt had pledged not to send our boys over there. We became the arsenal of democracy arming our troops. The nation had to deal with shortages. The articles said the U.S. did not develop synthetic rubber until late in the War. Rationing had to take place. No cars were produced during the war so car plants could make tanks, jeeps etc. It became patriotic to follow the "rules" by not using cars for vacations etc. Rationing effected all Americans. Rubber and gasoline were very limited. Women were also encouraged to enter the work force to take the jobs of 16 million soldiers. Later this would help lead to the women's movement. In 4 years, the war was won and both Germany and Japan were defeated. The U.S. went into a new boom while England and other countries were far behind. There was still rationing in England during the 1950's. What the country did in World War II would lead to the growth of a big military industrial economy which helped lead us into the Cold War.

Although propaganda posters were with us in World War I, it became more prominent in World War II. I would first ask students to define propaganda and then show various examples of it. In this module there are classic examples such as the woman carrying her groceries rather than driving with soldiers in the background and the pretty blonde lady taking the pledge not to use the black market but to use her ration book. These posters could lead to discussions on the role of women in the war and how they were made to feel important. You could ask the question, "Is propaganda still with us today" and give examples of anti-smoking campaigns which end with "You can quit....we can help" and of course the covid 19 campaigns designed to make people get vaccinated. Since posters are not used very much today, this could lead to a discussion on how the government does influence/control advertising. The Classic example is cigarette/Joe Camel ads which are no longer shown on TV. Finally, you could contrast the posters used in World War I with those used in World War II.

One thing the musket ball did was determine the way armies fought battles. I always thought that the minutemen who fought in the Battles of Lexington and Concord were so much smarter than the soldiers that stood in lines shoulder to shoulder. Now I find out that our best army was the Continental Army which was trained essentially the same way as the Red Coat Army. Repeating rifles do not come into play until late in the Civil War and Lee turned them down because of the expense. Washington brought in Von Steuben to train his armies in the European method and in the various sources I read, the best soldiers were disciplined automatons who were very fearful of their own commanders. Washington in his farewell address warned of entangling alliances and also standing armies. The new Americans took to heart these warnings. They remembered the Boston Massacre where British troops opened fire on patriots and they did not trust big armies for years to come.

Since the Revolutionary War was over in 1783, there were only seventeen years until the 19th Century began. This would be the era of the Articles of Confederation and the writing of the Constitution plus George Washington's presidency. Obviously, the Articles of Confederation and its government were too weak and they feared another George III with the big army at his command. It would be interesting to read documents with accounts of Shays' Rebellion and conversely to accounts of the Whiskey Rebellion. In one, troops from Massachusetts had to put it down and in the other, troops led by Washington had to lead a large army to put down the rebellion. In both cases, there was no large standing army so a force had to be called together. Although Washington was an iconic war hero, even he was against big armies in peace time. This general feeling lasted into the 20th Century and World War II>