EMAIL DETAILS

Dear Parents: The purpose of this note is two-fold: First, I wanted to let you know where we are going in our way-too-rapid review of American history and, second, to advise you of my intention to show a film to your children. 1. Between now and minimester we will complete our journey up through the causes of the civil war by looking at Federalist vs. Jeffersonian philosophies of governing (after the Bill of Rights test on Wednesday), the War of 1812, western expansion and manifest destiny, <em>Marbury v. Madison</em> and judicial review, <em>Dred Scott,</em> an Age of Reform project, and the seventh grade Research Project (an independent project where the students will be focusing on the Civil War). This is a lot, I know, but that is the essence of the "survey" class. 2. In the middle of this, I would like to show the powerful film, <em>Amistad. </em>I wanted to tell you about this because the film is rated <em>R. </em>It is a film about slavery and the abolitionist movement in the 1830s, and since slavery was inhumane, to say the least, the film is graphic in its depiction of the "middle passage" from Africa to the Americas. Since the slaves were transported naked, there are a few flashback scenes with naked slaves. The depictions are very quick but very powerful as well. The film is the first by Steven Spielberg and stars Morgan Freeman, Anthony Hopkins and Matthew McConaughey. I have shown this film for the past couple of years without issue, but I wanted to let you know in case you had any concerns for your child. If so, I can always have your child leave during the brief scenes noted above and then return for the rest of the film. I will assume that is okay for your child to watch the film unless I hear from you otherwise. Of course, if you have any questions, please let me know.<br />
Burt Nadler