What Happens When A Language's Last Monolingual Speaker Dies? : Code Switch : NPR
In January of 2014, the last native speaker of the Chickasaw language died. When we teach the Trail of Tears, we should include mention of this and perhaps explore the issues raised by this article.
January 30: President Andrew Jackson Beats Richard Lawrence with a Cane After Lawrence Attempted to Assassinate Jackson
Article describing the unsuccessful assassination attempt of Andrew Jackson. Perhaps the conspiracy theories which look behind the insanity defense of the would-be assassin and suggest that Senator George Poindexter or John C Calhoun were behind the attempt could be used as a lesson plan. Students could try to prove the conspiracy and in the process investigate the major political fights of the day.
Letter threatening Jackson's life determined to be written by father of man who killed Lincoln » Knoxville News Sentinel Mobile
To prove that truth is stranger than fiction, John Wilkes Booth's father, Julius Booth, wrote a letter to Andrew Jackson, threatening his life. This story shows that the letter that has been sitting in the Andrew Jackson Papers Project at the University of Tennessee for 175 years is authentic. The next story to look for in this vein is the one in which John Wilkes Booth's brother (Edwin), once saved the life of Lincoln's son (Robert).