Clara Barton settled in Danville, N.Y., where for several years she was a semi-invalid. In 1877 she wrote a founder of the International Red Cross, offering to lead an American branch of the organization. Thus, at 56 she began a new career.

In 1881 Barton incorporated the American Red Cross, with herself as president. A year later her extraordinary efforts brought about United States ratification of the Geneva Convention. She herself attended conferences of the International Red Cross as the American representative. She was, however, far from bureaucratic in interests. Although wholly individualistic and unlike reformers who worked on programs for social change, she did a great social service as activist and propagandist.

Question: According to the information, Clara Barton was most interested in:

1. founding organizations.
2. having an important position.
3. attending conferences.
4. ratifying conventions.
5. social activism.

What did you answer? If you look at answer 1, founding organizations, it sounds like it kinda might be right. She did found the American Red Cross. But I don’t think she was interested in founding organizations just to make more organizations, you know? It says she was “far from bureaucratic in interests.” In other words, she wasn’t all about the paperwork and making organizations!

Answer 2 says “having an important position.” She was president of the American Red Cross. That’s pretty important. But was she really interested in being an important person? It sounds to me like she was more interested in helping other people.

Answer 3 says “attending conferences.” There’s another thing that the she did. But I don’t think her real goal was just to attend conferences! That can’t be the most important thing to her.

Answer 4 says “ratifying conventions.” She helped ratify the Geneva Convention, it says. There’s a word I had to struggle with–it basically means to sign and approve. See how all these answers are things in the reading that she did? So you might think they’re the right answer. But really the question is asking you what was important to her… why she did all those things.

I go with answer 5. “Social activism.” That means, being active to make changes in society. All the things Clara Barton did, she did to help people. So, which answer says it was important to her to help people? The closest one is “social activism,” helping people by making social change. Did you get that? Part of it is interpreting the words, and figuring out which one shows the main idea.

How did you do? Let me know if you have any questions.

And maybe there’ll be stuff about Spain three hundred years ago or something, but the most important thing is figuring out how to think about what you’re reading. That’s why I say, read about anything that interests you! Because you’re learning to read about stuff, learning to learn new information. That’s the most important thing for the GED social science test.

It’s like how I was interested to read about Clara Barton. As I said, you can read about her at: http://www.civilwar.com/content/view/257/53/
Here’s part of what it says about her:

Clara Barton settled in Danville, N.Y., where for several years she was a semi-invalid. In 1877 she wrote a founder of the International Red Cross, offering to lead an American branch of the organization. Thus, at 56 she began a new career.
In 1881 Barton incorporated the American Red Cross, with herself as president. A year later her extraordinary efforts brought about United States ratification of the Geneva Convention. She herself attended conferences of the International Red Cross as the American representative. She was, however, far from bureaucratic in interests. Although wholly individualistic and unlike reformers who worked on programs for social change, she did a great social service as activist and propagandist.

The social studies test might have a reading like that, and probably it’s something you’ve never read about before! Then, there’s a question, and you can probably answer it just by reading the passage carefully. Try it!

Question: According to the information, Clara Barton was most interested in:

1. founding organizations.
2. having an important position.
3. attending conferences.
4. ratifying conventions.
5. social activism.

What do you think?

One guy I met while I was truckin’ did civil war reenactments, where they go out and dress up and replay battles from the civil war. Not somethin’ I’d want to do, but it’s pretty cool to watch and talk to the people. Maybe there’s a group like that where you live. You can talk to them about what they do and see the costumes… and it’s a lot better than learning about the civil war from books! And you can go and watch and actually see battles from the war.

Every year around the 4th of July, there’s a civil war reenactment at Gettysburg, that’s where there’s a real famous civil war battle. Here’s a web link to some information: http://www.gettysburgreenactment.com

But there are civil war reenactments all over the country. If you get interested in a topic and just start finding out about it, you find all sorts of interesting things. For example, did you know that a civil war nurse named Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross? Think about that… back in 1881, over a hundred years ago, before women could even vote, a woman started this important relief organization that helped people during Hurricane Katrina and all kinds of disasters. Here’s a good place that you can read about her: http://www.civilwar.com/content/view/257/53/

So, what interests you about the civil war? How did it change the place you live or affect your family?

How do you think local Indians felt about the California missions?

One of the links I posted last time said the missions wanted to “train them for life in a European colonial society.” It also said, “Conversion was seldom an entirely voluntary process.” That sounds like the Spanish came and started pushing the California Indians around, right? If I lived somewhere and people from a different country came and started building mission towns, I might be kind of mad. I mean, the Spanish were taking the land where the Native Americans lived. And they already had their own religion. I mean, I don’t want someone coming to my door and trying to change my religion. I learned that Native Americans helped build the missions. Then the Mission Indians had to live at the missions and learn to be Catholic. I bet they didn’t like that too much. I know I wouldn’t!

Why was it important for Spain to build missions on the coast?

It seems like Spain wanted a few things. Everyone who came to California came by boat. That means having missions on the coast was important. It showed that Spain already owned the land, and it gave them towns to trade with ships. Then, it gave them a way to control the local native Californians by making them “Mission Indians,” who lived in the missions and learned to be Catholics. All this sounds like it’s about control. Spain wanted to control California, and the best way was to make missions all along the coast.

That’s what I think. What do you think? And let me know about any interesting places and people nearby you!

I know, I know, someone says “history” and you just turn it off. I hated social studies in school. All that memorizing stuff and dates and names. But it really is about people, how they act, and what they do. And the GED social studies isn’t really about memorizing things, that’s what’s good about it.

One of the things I like most in life is meeting people, talking to people. It’s all learning about people! So, I thought I’d work on social studies in my blog… learning about people.

Here’s a great idea for social studies. Find a local place near you with some history about where you are, and go visit it. Take your kids. Maybe you’ll learn something new about where you live.

I’ve been all over the U.S. driving my truck, and I like to find out about different places. When I’m in California, one thing I always look for is missions. I’ve been to a few of them.

California missions go all the way back to 1769, and they were started by Catholic priests from Spain. Did you know Spain used to own California? It’s true. And it explains all those Spanish names, right? “Los Angeles” means “the angels,” and “San Francisco” means “Saint Francis.” Of course, back then, the Spanish didn’t care that there were already Indians on the land. King Charles of Spain wanted the land for Spain. So, he had missions put on the coast to create towns and to convert Indians to be Roman Catholics. Each mission was a day’s walk from the next one, so it covered the whole coast. Each mission has a central square, a church, and a bell tower–tall enough so you could see it from all around back then.

The important thing is to think about what information about missions means, to ask questions. So, I’m going to ask some questions, and I’ll go back and give my best answers to them in my next post. You can let me know what you think by adding comments.

• How do you think local Indians felt about the California missions?
• Why was it important for Spain to build missions on the coast?

The best way to find out more about a California mission is to visit one, if you ask me! But, not everyone is in California. Here’s some more information about California missions on the web.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/cbhtml/cbmissio.html

http://www.calgold.com/missions/

http://www.ca-missions.org/links.html

So, what interesting places are near you? What can you find out about where you live? Let me know what you find out by posting a comment, and maybe I’ll write some about the interesting places where you live.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to doing a real oral history…try it yourself, with a friend, neighbor, or family member. You might be surprised what you learn!

http://dohistory.org/on_your_own/toolkit/oralHistory.html

Another good thing to do is visit historic locations in your area. You can learn about where you actually live. Here’s a link to the National Historic Landmarks page of the U.S. National Parks Service. You can search for historic landmarks near your home, anywhere in the United States. Then, pay them a visit… find out the history that’s right under your nose. And if you’re traveling around the U.S., you can find lots of great places to stop and learn something new.

http://www.nps.gov/history/nhl/designations/listsofNHLs.htm

Find some history… and don’t do all your studying in front of a computer. Because learning by doing is more fun and helps you learn better!

Have some fun with your GED studying…

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit The GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.

The First Amendment:

• The U.S. government can’t have a religion or make laws to force people to follow a religion or stop people from following their religion.
• The U.S. government can’t stop freedom of speech or of the press…people can say what they want!
• The U.S. government can’t stop people from getting together to protest.

The Second Amendment:

• To be secure, people need a militia, or an armed force, so people have the right to keep and carry guns.

The Third Amendment:

• Here’s a good one! The army can’t make people house soldiers in their homes, except under appropriate laws during a war. Bet you didn’t know that!

The Fourth Amendment:

• People have a right to the security of their homes, themselves, and their possessions, so the government can’t search you or your property without a warrant based on good reasons for the search that describes where they’re searching and what they’re looking for.

The Fifth Amendment:

• No one can be held for a crime unless they’ve been indicted by a grand jury, unless they’re in the army or serving in a war.
• No one can be tried for a crime again after they’ve already been found not guilty.
• No one can be forced to testify against themselves or punished without a trial or hearing.
• The government can’t take your property from you for public use without paying you for it.

The Sixth Amendment:

• Anyone accused of a crime has a right to a quick and public trial with a jury. You have the right to know what you’re being tried for and what the evidence is against you, and you have a right to confront the witnesses against you. You must be given a lawyer and have a way to force people to testify, if they’re witnesses for your defense.

The Seventh Amendment:

• In civil lawsuits of more than $20.00 (that was a lot more back then!) the trial must have a jury.
• Jury’s decisions can’t be overthrown by other courts, except as allowed by law.

The Eighth Amendment:

• You can’t be charged “excessive” bail or fines.
• You can’t be punished with “cruel and unusual” punishments.

The Ninth Amendment:

• Just because these amendments list some rights doesn’t mean that’s the only rights the people should have or that the people’s other rights are less important.

The Tenth Amendment:

• Any power not given to the government by the Constitution, or not disallowed to state governments by the Constitution, is a power that belongs to the state governments or to the people. In other words, the U.S. government does not have any power that’s not in the Constitution.

So, what did you think of those? Did any of them surprise you? People fight over what they mean…like the right to have guns. Does it mean there shouldn’t be any laws for gun registration or things like that? What do you think? And what about the ninth and tenth amendments? Why are they there? Does the government really follow these amendments?

Next time I’ll have a practice question for your GED studying.

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit The GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.

The Declaration of Independence was written in 1775 by the people who wanted to form the United States. It basically listed the reasons why they thought that the English government, and the English king, were mistreating the American colonies (that’s the states before they were states). And it said why they believed they had the right to form their own government. Basically, the Declaration of Independence is a letter to the King of England saying that the colonies are going to kick out England and form their own country, and why. Think of it like a break-up letter. Hey, King George III! You can’t keep treating us this way! We’re out of here! But, hopefully, your ex-boyfriend doesn’t send his army after you to keep you from leaving.

Last time, I explained some of the language of the Declaration of Independence in simple English. The Declaration of Independence talks about some of the American founding fathers’ ideas about government, but it doesn’t say what the U.S. government will be like. That’s the job of the Constitution…a completely different document. The Constitution says what the U.S. government is. Basically, it lays out all the rules of how the government works. So, it’s like a rule book.

The Constitution has different parts, and it’s important to know what they are.

1. Preamble. The preamble is just a fancy word for the beginning…the preamble introduces the constitution.
2. Article I. Instead of parts or chapters, the Constitution has “Articles.” Don’t let it confuse you…it’s just a fancy word for parts. And they’re numbered with Roman numerals. The first article tells all the powers of Congress. That’s the Senate and the House of Representative…they’re called “Legislative” because they’re the ones that make the laws.
3. Article II. The second article tells all about the powers of the President. The President is called the “Executive” branch because he “executes” the laws, or makes sure they’re enforced. He’s basically in charge of running the government according to the laws, but the President is pretty powerful because he can veto, or say no to, a law passed by Congress.
4. Article III. The third article is about the courts. It sets up the Supreme Court. The courts are called the “Judicial” branch, because they judge things. The judicial branch settles questions about what the law means, and whether a law breaks a higher law. The Constitution is the highest law, and so Congress can’t make laws that are against the Constitution.
5. Article IV. The fourth article is about the states, and what the states’ role is in the United States. How do the states get along with each other? How does the federal government affect the states?
6. Article V. The fifth article describes how the Constitution can be changed. So, if the Constitution isn’t working right, or if the world changes, and new laws are needed, the Constitution can be changed, or amended. It’s hard to change the constitution. Most of the people in congress and most of the states all have to agree in order to change the constitution.
7. Article VI. The sixth article declares the Constitution the highest law of the land.
8. Article VII. The seventh article describes how the Constitution was ratified, or approved. Nine of the thirteen initial states had to agree on the Constitution.
9. Signatures. After the articles, there are signatures from the people who made and approved the Constitution.
10. Amendments. At the end of the Constitution, there are twenty-seven amendments, or changes that have been made to the Constitution over time. The amendments that you’ll need to know most are the first ten. These amendments are called the “Bill of Rights,” and they were added to the Constitution in 1791, to make sure people’s rights were honored by the government.

Well, that’s a lot of information! I think I’ll write some more next time, since the Constitution is pretty important in GED social studies…. good luck with your GED studying!

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit The GED Academy at www.passGED.com.

The Declaration of Independence isn’t part of the U.S. laws, like the Constitution, but it’s important because it gives the ideas of the people that started our country. Maybe this sounds familiar: “We hold these Truths to be self evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these rights are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” That’s a really famous quote from the Declaration of Independence.  And you might have a GED test question like this:

From the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these Truths to be self evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these rights are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Which of the following ideas in the U.S. Constitution stems from the “unalienable Rights” mentioned in the Declaration of Independence?

A)    All legislative powers are given to Congress

B)    The President delivers to Congress a State of the Union

C)    Levying war against the United States is an act of treason

D)    Congress can make no law against the freedom of speech or the press.

Which thing in the constitution goes back to the “unalienable Rights”? What’s unalienable mean, anyway, and what is all this stuff in the constitution? To really understand this question, I figure the first thing I need to understand is the passage from the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these Truths to be self evident,

That means, “The things we’re about to say are true, and they’re obvious.” They’re talking about basic, fundamental truths that can’t change.

that all Men are created equal,

Well, okay…so the first truth is that all people are “equal.” That doesn’t mean the same…we’re not all the same. So what does it mean to be equal? It means, we have equal rights to be heard, to say what we think, to vote, all that good stuff.

that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,

The second truth is that everyone has rights…like, what people talk about as human rights. “unalienable…” that’s a mouthful. But it just means, rights no one can take away.

that among these rights are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

And here’s what the rights are…not all of them, because it says “among these rights.” That means there’s more than what’s listed here. The right to life, freedom, and the right to go after what will make you happy. In other words, the right to do what you want.

So, okay, I get what it’s saying. People all should be treated the same, and they shouldn’t be denied life, freedom, the ability to do what will make them happy. Most of the answers don’t have anything to do with those things. The only one that seems to is the freedom of speech and of the press…the ability to say what you want, and the ability to write what you want in the paper.

Do you see how that connects? The “unalienable Right to Liberty” includes freedom of speech. Answer D.

I’ll have more about important documents that are on the GED in the future! Good GED studying! Oh, and here’s some links to learn more about the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

http://www.ushistory.org/Declaration/document/index.htm 

http://www.usconstitution.net/choose.html

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit The GED Academy at http://www.passged.com.

It reads: Woman Devotes Her Time to Gossip and Clothes Because She Has Nothing Else to Talk About. Give Her Broader Interests and She Will Cease to Be Vain and Frivolous.

Now the question:

The cartoonist’s point of view is that:

1) women shouldn’t vote because they’re too frivolous.

2) women will gossip about voting if they’re allowed to vote.

3) giving women more rights will stop gossip and being frivolous.

4) women don’t have time for anything but gossip and clothes.

5) none of the above.

What’d you make of this question? It asks about point of view…that’s one of the things the GED test really wants you to know. How do different people think differently? What’s the person saying when they write or draw something? So, what’s this cartoon say about the cartoonist’s point of view? In other words, what does the writer mean?

The first answer says that women shouldn’t vote because they’re frivolous… that means kind of like silly and not interested in important things. Just interested in gossip and things that aren’t important. The cartoon text says the word “frivolous” and the picture shows the woman gossiping… but the text says “give her broader interests and she’ll cease to be vain and frivolous.” And in the picture, the woman is peaking over the fence, outside her “sphere.” The writer is saying to give women better things to think about, and women will stop being so silly. Well, I don’t know that women were only thinking about clothes and things, but that’s not the point. The point is, that answer 1 doesn’t seem right… the writer seems to want to give women other things to think about, not stop women from voting. See what I mean?

Answer 2 seems wrong, too. The cartoon mentions gossiping, but it seems to really be saying that women only gossip because they’ve got nothing better to do. That’s what answer 3 says…. women need something else to do, so they don’t spend their time gossiping and buying clothes. Well, that’s sort of a backhanded reason to give women the vote! But I guess that was lots of people’s ideas about how women were back then.

I’m sure answer 3 is right. What do you think?

Get going with that GED studying! And remember to think about different people’s points of view.

For more information about the GED test and GED preparation, visit The GED Academy.