Constitution Convention Absentees

I always like to show my students a copy of the Constitution and ask them who is missing from the signature list.  They spot right away that Thomas Jefferson and John Adams are absent and ask how can this be when they are considered founding fathers.  My reply is that we were not yet considered a nation that would definitely last.  For a nation to have firm stability and a future it must have international recognition and connections such as the US recognizing the state of Israel, which was a major turning point in the 20th Century.  The need for a new form of government showed the vulnerability of the US, and the fact that America was also once a developing nation.  During this time Jefferson was minister to France and Adams to Britain.  Sam Adams, John Hancock, and Patrick Henry were also absent.  Jefferson called the convention an "assembly of demigods." 

Teddy in Asia

President Teddy has always represented to me a larger than life figure whose actions mirror the rise of America to world power status.  His extroverted personality is also that of America spreading its ideals and melting pot culture.  He did not sit back and wait for the world to come to him, but grabbed it for himself.  Much is known of his international endeavors such as leading the Rough Riders in the Spanish-American War or sailing the Great White fleet around the world, and he firmly planted the US in Latin America with the building of the Panama Canal.  One of his most surprising actions to my students his how he put an American presence in an Asia affair.  Over the past 100 years America has often played the mediator in world conflict, and in my opinion the foundation was laid by Teddy.  On Sept. 5, 1905, Teddy earned his Nobel Peace prize when his efforts paid off with the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth that ended the Russo-Japanese War.  The political cartoons depicting his involvement are particularly interesting and show the new role the United States would play internationally in the future.