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I am a Virginian over 60 years old, with a wide ranging interest in U.S. history and politics and a personal library of over 500 volumes in the field of U.S., Southern and Virginia history. It is periodically updated based on book reviews published in the Washington Post the New York Times, and C-SPANs Book TV. My wife will not let me accumulate more books, so I rely more and more on e-books for the classics like the Federalist Papers and Democracy in America as I replace them on my shelves with newer volumes such as Eric Foner's Reconstruction (2005 ed), always maintaining below the agreed-upon 500 limit.
Schooling. I have had a career in public education. Besides teaching public and private high school in several regions of Virginia, I once taught five years as an adjunct assistant professor of U.S. history in a state community college. As a part of my continuing education over forty years, I have received at G.I. Bill or employer expense, graduate credit in U.S. history courses wherever I have attended university: The College of William and Mary for a masters, James Madison University for a masters, Old Dominion University, and George Mason University. My employer-compensated graduate work at the University of Virginia was in Special Education courses relating to learning disabilities and emotional disabilities for certification in the Virginia post-graduate teaching license.
Professional Development. I have earned recertification credits for state teaching licensure for research seminars at employer expense at the Library of Congress, the Library of Virginia, the Teaching American History (TAH) grant at George Mason University in a year-long cohort, weekend history seminars at the Virginia Historical Society and Mount Vernon, the week-long George Marshall Foundation at Dodona and the Virginia Military Institute campus, and independent research at the Society of the Cincinnati's Anderson House in Washington, D.C.
History of the United States Constitution, United States Constitution
History of Virginia, United States, Territories of the United States
Confederate States of America, American Civil War
Virginia Conventions (promoted to Good Article), Virginia Ratifying Convention, Virginia in the American Civil War
United States presidential election, 1860 at the onset of the Civil War
37th United States Congress elected at the onset of the Civil War
Battle of Fort Pulaski 120 day joint operation to close Savannah GA
Bombardment of Cherbourg post-D-day joint Normandy campaign
Pauline Maier, professor at MIT, U.S. history - Revolution, Constitution
Morton Deyo, "destroyer sailor", WWII Admiral at Normandy and Okinawa
Robert E. Lee, Virginian, commander, president of Washington College at Lexington VA
Delegates to Virginia Conventions
Commemoration of the American Civil War on postage stamps
Territories of the United States on stamps
History through television:
popularizing great American stories |
Political values. (1) Evaluating candidates and their "issues" across American history based on how each campaigned to address elements of the Preamble of the Constitution. They seek an office where they will publicly swear to uphold the Constitution, as required of all elected Federal and state officers of Government: their platform must address, at each and every election, how they will
I recommend: (1) Backward planning from explicit objectives. (2) Comprehensive survey of curriculum as in "Interactive Notebook", with formats and prompts supplied in inclusive classrooms (3) Democracy in Action curriculum that fosters group collaboration to consensus with a written outcome and "minority reports", (4) Kagan curriculum asking big picture questions with diverse learning groups of four, pairing AC and BD skill levels, then four-person summaries. (5) teaching across the curriculum, especially history-English using (a) paragraphs, (b) short answer identify and significance and (c) 5-paragraph essays, and history-Algebra I (d) charts, (e) graphs, ((f) pictographs, (6) "watering up" the curriculum using mnemonics and graphic organizers. (7) summary activities of "foldables" and tri-fold brochures with class presentation. (8) Scaffolding essay writing, using repeated themes found in the Declaration of Independence: security and liberty.
One-stop Civil War store. The single volume to read on understanding the Civil War is Michael Shaara's "The Killer Angels", and see the movie based on it, Gettysburg.
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Ken Burns called Killer Angels the "life-changing inspiration" for his PBS Civil War series, which is, in its turn, the best one-DVD set survey of the defining moment in American history. But for transitions, music is contemporary to 1860-1865, played on instruments then extant. Narrative scenes are filmed in their seasons in those places, songbirds are indigenous to the area in each season. David McCullough narrates, historians offer interpretation, supporting cast read primary documents. Scholarly inclusive history at its empathetic best.
Chamberlain and Oates. One of my favorite pairings in history comes from the fight at Little Round Top, Gettysburg.
With apologies to Plutarch, one day I would like to see a "parallel lives" biography for them, akin to Brian Dirck's "Lincoln & Davis: imagining America 1809-1865". The point would be to survey American history forward fifty years, 1863-1912. It would be a difficult project for whoever might undertake it, addressing a violent time of men raised in violence, robber barons, industrial unions, racism and populists.
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The Original Barnstar | ||
TVH is a major contributor to the excellence of the United States Constitution article. Through a series of carefully crafted tweaks and major edits, the article is moving forward to (once again) receive a well-deserved WP:FA designation thanks to TheVirginiaHistorian's efforts. Thank you. S. Rich (talk) 02:43, 1 November 2011 (UTC) |
For your excellent work on the Constitution of the United States. Well done. ArtifexMayhem (talk) 18:44, 15 November 2011 (UTC) |
The Barnstar of Liberty | ||
For excellent contributions on United States Constitution and related articles. Tomwsulcer (talk) 03:07, 3 January 2012 (UTC) |
The Tireless Contributor Barnstar | ||
For your great effort of creating and building the Commemoration of the American Civil War on postage stamps article. Gwillhickers (talk) 12:08, 28 February 2014 (UTC) |
The USA Barnstar of National Merit | ||
For your enduring efforts in creating, building and composing the Territories of the United States on stamps article. -- Gwillhickers (talk) 16:03, 13 April 2014 (UTC) |
The Barnstar of Diligence | ||
You have a long record of diligent scholarship, editing, writing and patient contributions to sometimes trying discussions. Thank you. Donner60 (talk) 21:23, 26 July 2014 (UTC) |
The Defender of the Wiki Barnstar | |
For fighting for the truth on American Civil War articles. Greetings! I saw your talk page discussions on various ACW articles and can say that I was very much quite pleased with the way you carried yourself and your steadfast determination in the fight for the truth and objectivity. Oorah, sir. I salute you! Illegitimate Barrister 09:56, 29 January 2015 (UTC) |
The Barnstar of Diligence | ||
Thank you for your contribution to a successful mediation. [Wikipedia talk:Requests for mediation/United States, Dec 2014-Aug 2015, "the United States ... is a federal republic[16][17] composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major territories and various possessions.[fn 1][fn 2]."] Sunray (talk) 06:37, 8 August 2015 (UTC) |
The Epic Barnstar | ||
for excellent work on the Virginia Conventions |
STEP 1. Read the article through. Don't add to section-one something that is in section-three. Of course your idea is important. So have others before you. STEP 2. Read the Talk page on the Discussion tab. STEP 3. Read a couple of the linked WP articles and their Talk pages. Now you have some idea of who you are dealing with when you start into a discussion.
The idea of Wikipedia is to build a collaborative encyclopedia. Some of my first lessons in editing came from senior editors who reverted my contribution then boxed my ears with a curt directive where to go to learn more Wikipedia (WP). Some editors were simply summarily dismissive. They had no patience with the oldie-Newbie who would presume to stick a toe in their Wiki-waters. It took a good online fight or two for me to figure out most editors are honorably committed to the cause that the Wikimedia Foundation has in mind. Yes, you can donate $5 to the 501 public charity. Do so. Editors may be gruff, but most read what you say and respond directly, intelligently, helpfully. They are also, gasp, persuadable. While deferential sycophants will be scoffed at ("Get a room."), democratically show respect and patience.
An introduction is found at WP:STUDENT. From my personal observations:
An online encyclopedia must be accessible or it cannot achieve its reason for existence. One which aspires to be accessible internationally adopts a style to accommodate a wide variety of browsers and pipelines.
One easily accessible Wikipedia style manual for an article is the Philosophy style. Editors should contribute in article edits and Talk so as to advance an article from C-class or B-class article to Good Article GA-class.
nationalist floor leaders from biggest states
most speeches, they seconded one another's motions |
> publishing history (biography)
> structure and arguments (philosophy)
> rhetoric and style (list of works)
> reception and legacy (criticism)
To do
Quotes may be rendered by quotes, quotes in italics, green italics, blockquote and quotation box.
Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, ...
“Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent,...”
Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.
Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.
Underlining may be made by <u>...</u>, useful for highlighting the change in language among competing proposals on an article Talk page.
Strike-through of text is made with <s>...</s>, useful for indicating a change of position on a Talk page or at an RfC.
Link to other WP articles. These appear in blue inline text. A direct link is double bracketed, thus: [[U.S. Constitution]]. If enthusiasm creates a sea of blue, limit the links to one, two maximum per sentence, say, three per paragraph.
Link to a relevant section so that the click takes the reader to the spot. Use ARTICLE#SECTION to take them there. Both article and section must be precise: copy-paste if need be. Click "Show preview", and on the link in the preview, click to see where it takes you. Back-arrow to the previous screen to return to the preview page before you click "Save page". Remember to note what you are doing in the "Edit summary" box behind the / * SUBSECTION TITLE * / for future reference by your self and other editors.
Generally, link back from the linked article in its "See also" section. If there is none there, add one using a ==See also== level header, just above the Footnotes/References section.
Definitions once in Wikipedia are migrating to a sister project, Wiktionary. A link to a definition at Wikipedia may simply be redirected to a technical term without notice, leaving the interested reader awash in technical argot, when what they needed was a definition for a word of arcane vocabulary. The Articles Congress called for a proposal to issue from a Convention of state delegates for the sole purpose of meeting the "exigencies" of government and preserving the federal Union. The link in Wiktionary is coded thus: [[wiktionary:exigency|exigencies]] to produce exigencies.
To compare terms frequency in various languages over time, see [|Ngram Viewer] out of Harvard University. Webpage guidelines suggest after 1800 for English due to the limited number of published books. Basically you can play with the parameters to get interesting insights. It is as addictive as advertised. For example, comparing “American Civil War”, set smoothing to 0, from 1860 in 50 year increments, from the corpus of English. The article title "American Civil War" was challenged.
“The Great Rebellion” is more frequent in 1866, then behind 7:1. It closes in the 1940’s to within 2:1 behind, then falls off again. “The War of Northern Aggression” overtakes in 1866, peaks below in 1870, 1873, then falls to near zero permanently. “War Between the States” has a 1938 spike, overtakes in 1944, 1950, then spikes at 7:5 behind in 1952, 1956 before leveling of at 7:1 or less. Comparing “The Great Rebellion” and “War Between the States” shows lots of seesaw years, but the five-year trend line shows the North’s expression steadily dropping from 6:1 advantage, even in 1883, to a 3:1 disadvantage. Its greatest popularity was most popular, 5 times more than today 1930-1960.
Editing citations and notes is best done using the global "Edit" tab at the top of the article. This allows clicking on the "Show preview" button, and then clicking on the blue numbered and lettered inline marker. Broken links and omitted names will then be readable as you scroll down. Search on the last two words adjacent to the note, including the period. The highlighted box will show first the "Show preview" screen, then the code window at the bottom of the article.
The section for references is labeled “Citations” coded thus: ==Citations== to distinguish them from “Notes”. They appear inline text as numbers. They are placed inside of carets thus: <ref>AUTHOR, SOURCE, YEAR ISBN xxx-x-xxx-xxxxx-x PAGE</ref>. The ISBN shows as a link, for example: ISBN 978-0-521-88188-3. If the citation was taken from online, reference the date of your accessing the page, thus: Viewed December 24, 2011.
Notes for background which would interrupt the flow of the text, or explanations that are too detailed for encyclopedic narrative can be placed inside brakets thus: ((refn| group = lower-alpha |TEXT OF THE NOTE.)) They appear inline text as letters. They are aggregated in a section for “Notes” coded thus: ==Notes== placed just above “Citations”.
[2]
.After a period or comma, use the code
This leaves a record for future editors if you are not taking the time to immediately supply the needed citation.
((Citation needed|reason=needs a reliable source for this assertion. It is inconsistent with public statements cited elsewhere.))
If you are critically reading an article of interest, but you bring no depth of knowledge to it, use
.
((Citation needed|date=August 2024))
This template places the article into Category:Articles with unsourced statements. Read into the field until you find an applicable source, return to the article, and provide it. Please remove the template when you add a citation in response to your tag or another's.
Image guide - add, subtract, substitute. These article guidelines have been taken from WP style sheets, WP:ACCESS and WP essays. They should be followed until an editor consensus substitutes other WP manual elements. “Generally” denotes my contribution. TheVirginiaHistorian (talk) 22:19, 24 November 2011 (UTC)
Add an image
Collapsed passage
Code entered | Output produced | ||
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{| role="presentation" class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" | <strong>Title Showing</strong> |- | this is the collapsed text . . . |} |
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Galleries
Overall view
Substitution
Removal
Collegiality
To make an image into an article illustration,
[[File:United States Capitol - west front.jpg |thumb|205px|right|((center|[[U.S. Capitol]], <small>Washington DC</small><br>seat of the [[U.S. Congress]]<ref>Congress and Capitol footnote</ref><br>Senate <small>North Wing</small>, and House <small>at right</small>))]]
TITLE
while writing on the WP edit page. Usually it is significant enough to have its own stand-alone article in WP, which is why it qualifies for illustration. Ta-dah, your judgment of its importance is confirmed by previous WP editors. If the subject is within an article, the coding is </nowiki>your title</nowiki>, where # marks the section with an [edit] tag in the referenced article.<small>
and stop </small>
.Double image templage.
Triple image template.
Table row template.
Alternate coding template
No image template.
A gallery section illustrates aspects of a topic that cannot be easily described by text or individual images. Collectively they must have encyclopedic value, adding to topic understanding.
Sample of the template can be seen nearby in "political philosophers" for an hypothetical article on "the social contract".
political philosophers
towards an understanding of the social contract |
There is no free image for John Rawls available for Wikipedia use. The Widener Library is across a yard from Emerson Hall, home of Harvard University's Philosophy, so it serves as a placeholder.
Use this gallery template. The coding here shows two images at "File:". Lines of code are without breaks for each picture, a title line and two lines of description, one with a link and one with a footnote. The "File" line code is continuous. see the code as elsewhere on WP, by clicking on [edit]. Then you can copy-paste syntax code onto your work document. Leave the original User-page unchanged by clicking on the "Cancel" link found under the "review of edit summary".
{|align=right
|((center|1='''gallery title'''<br>title description ))
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|< gallery perrow=2>
File:image1.jpg |<center>'''[[image title.1]]''' <small>tag.1 i.d.<br>description.1a [[link.1]]<br>description.1b
<ref>note.1</ref></small> </center>
File:image2.jpg |<center>'''[[image title.2]]'''<small>tag.2 i.d.<br>description.2a [[link.2]]<br>description.2b
<ref>note.2</ref></small></center>
</gallery>
|}
On a talk page, to ping an editor you are addressing such as @TheVirginiaHistorian, use @((Ping|TheVirginianHistorian))
When the talk page is looking a bit long and that most of the traffic was recent. If you desired, you could set the |age=720 (30 days) and let CB3 run once. You could then set it back to |age=2160 which would return it to the 90 days you currently have set. Doing this would clean a bunch of the older stuff off of your page. Most of it looks like stuff you probably have already dealt with. — Makyen (talk) at BotIII with the archive function Talk.
When you edit, do you see a bar above the edit window with a set of buttons including "Cite"? If so, move your cursor to the point where you want to add the reference, and then click "Cite". If you then see a dropdown menu on the next bar, labelled "Templates", use that to choose between web, news, book, and journal (ie journal article). Then fill in the boxes which apply to your reference. If you might want to use the ref another time, give it a name in the "Ref name" field. There's a "More fields" option at the bottom if you want to add further fields. You can check the reference by hitting "Preview" and then "Show parsed preview". To re-use an existing reference, go to "Named references", and choose between the refs you have named. If you don't see this, go to "Preferences" and look under the "Editing" tag, "Editing" section. Tick the boxes for "Show edit toolbar (requires JavaScript)", "Enable enhanced editing toolbar" and "Enable wizards for inserting links ...". As far as I know that will make the system work for you. I hope that helps. It makes it much easier to add references elegantly. PamD