While searching for living history ideas to teach my children, I stumbled upon Poplar Forest.  This gorgeous home was designed by Thomas Jefferson and was his retreat.   Each year Poplar Forest tapes a "Conversations on Democracy" with Thomas Jefferson (played by the Colonial Williamsburg's Thomas Jefferson)

and another historical person of his era. These are taped before an audience of junior high students who get to ask questions. There are also lesson plans and a bibliography and puzzles available for each conversation at the web site.  I have been able to e-mail Poplar Forest and borrow 2 conversations each month. 

     In October, we got to meet Aaron Burr and John Adams.  We had studied Aaron Burr earlier this school year.  We learned about the contested election of 1800.  Burr ran as Jefferson's vice president, yet tied with him for the presidency.  The House of Representatives was deadlocked for quite some time in resolving the tie, until Alexander Hamilton wielded his influence. We learned about the duel between Burr and Hamilton (Hamilton died) and Burr's apparent attempt to establish himself monarch of the west.  The conversation between Jefferson and Burr at times became a bit gnarly.  My children booed Burr and cheered Jefferson.  I think they were still under the influence of Revolutionary City , where we got to engage with characters of the past in Colonial Williamsburg last summer.  It was interesting to hear Jefferson and Burr each describe how they homeschooled their daughters.  As I recall, the word "homeschool" was used in the conversation.  There are details on that in the lesson plans at Poplar Forest.   

     We also spent some time studying the friendship between Jefferson and Adams.  We watched the PBS special on John and Abigail Adams   and Jefferson and Adams: A Stageplay.  These prepared the kids for the Poplar Forest conversation.  Jefferson and Adams were great friends until politcal differences divided them during their presidencies.  After they retired to private life, they resumed communication through letters and renewed their friendship.  Interestingly, they died hours apart on the same day, the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1826.  During the conversation, we got to see their respect for each other, their differences, and their attempt to reconcile their disagreements.  We distinctly saw their differences in personality.  Jefferson, ever the gentleman, patiently listened.  Adams, however, well known for his choleric temperament, dared to interrupt Jefferson more than once!  The kids loved the reality!  

     In November, we got to see Meriweather Lewis.  This was a lot of fun.  The actor who portrayed Lewis is a former school teacher and that showed.  He was extremely interesting and engaging. He made Jefferson smile a lot! He had tons of show and tell, of course, since Lewis shipped to Jefferson many artifacts from his journey west.  Whenever the kids asked questions, Lewis usually had some object to show them. Since I sew a lot of costumes, and my son is always challenging me with the historical characters he wants to portray, I especially liked it when Lewis stood up to explain his uniform.     

     We also got to see Lafayette.  We met this actor last summer in Colonial Williamsburg, as he portrayed Lafayette there. 

However in CW, the time frame is September 1781, right before the Battle of Yorktown.  Therefore, we can only ask him questions up to that time. During the Poplar Forest conversation, it is much later and the kids were able to ask questions about the Declaration of the Rights of Man, the French Revolution and his grand tour of America in 1824.  Since we are huge Lafayette fans, this was fun to learn more information.  It was a lot of fun to watch Jefferson heap praise on Lafayette, because that was precisely the kind of guy Lafayette was.  He did so much for our country, and attempted so much for his own country of France.  One girl asked what they considered to be their greatest contributions.  I thought I knew what Jefferson would say, because they are written on his tombstone (at his request).  However, to my surprise, he said marrying his wife was the greatest achievement of his life!  What a great example to kids.  And of course, how can the Marquis follow up but to say the same thing?  lol 

     I had previewed the tape after everyone went to bed one night, because I was preparing lessons for the various revolutions in Europe in 1830.  I was wondering if any of this would be discussed in the conversations. My kids were upset to discover that I had already previewed the tape without them.  They asked me tons of questions but I didn't want to give anything away.  This was the one tape they were especially looking forward to.  But I did tell them hints, such as there is a really funny moment in there, a particular comment from Lafayette to Jefferson. Sure enough, when we all watched the tape, everyone was laughing when it came!

     At the end they were asked to sum things up, and one thing I found interesting was that Lafayette talked about never giving up and always striving for your goals.  His country of France never did achieve the type of freedom America had, despite all his efforts. After all, France's background of history was vastly different from America's.  Lafayette was a moderate seeking reform for the peasants in the French Revolution and when the Reign of Terror took over, he had to flee for his life.  He was put in an Austrian prison.  His wife was also imprisoned in Paris and was destined for the guillotine. Through the efforts of George Washington, Lafayette and his wife survived that awful time, although other family members were sadly guillotined.  When he was eventually released, he did not support Napoleon.  When Napoleon was eventually conquered, the Congress of Vienna put Louis XVIII on the throne.  He was a moderate who gave up.  His brother Charles X took over and was an absolute monarch. Everything the Republic of France fought for was lost.  Eventually, Lafayette supported the July Revolution of 1830 where Charles X was overthrown.  Lafayette was so respected by the people of France, he could have become president.  He thought long and hard about this.  After having experienced the Reign of Terror, he had to admit the people of France might need a bit more control.  As a result he supported a limited monarchy and helped to put Louis Philippe, the Duke of Orleans, on the throne. He was called the people's king, because he was to rule in favor of the people.  However, in time, he became more controlling.  When one of the kids asked Lafayette about these things, he said France has always strived for independence.  My daughter, who does high school work, has been studying the Romantic Era in the early 19th century.  Striving was a theme in Romantic works.  We've read portions of Goethe's Faust where Faust was always striving to achieve good.  We are finishing Les Miserables this week and Jean Valjean is always striving to become a better person.  Striving does seem to accurately reflect the actions of the people of France as their government constantly changed in this era. 

     We did some of the Lafayette activities on the web site.  Some are quotes from critics of Lafayette.  They angered my kids!  My kids rebutted each critic.  Interestingly, I felt that the critics did more to praise the integrity of Lafayette than discredit him.  Another activity was to pretend that Jefferson and Lafayette were going to interview with you for different jobs.  Which would you hire for each job?  I thought the kids made excellent choices, based on the details they had learned about each man.  We also discovered that one of the ships on which Lafayette sailed is currently being recreated in France, using 18th century building methods. The link is at the Poplar Forest lesson plans. 

     We have really enjoyed learning more history through first person interpretations at Poplar Forest.  It brings the pages of the books we read to life and makes history more real and applicable!  Thank you to all at Poplar Forest who have worked on these projects, contributing to a fun learning experience!