George W. Carver High School students from Birmingham participate in musket drill training.
“Make ready!” “Aim!” “Fire!” “BANG!”
What does it mean to be an American citizen?
It’s not the sound of real gunfire, but the shouting of 30 or so high school students who fumble with their musket standins – broomsticks – as they learn to drill and fire as part of the First Rhode Island Regiment. The students are participating in a school program at the American Village Citizenship Trust. Established in 1999, the American Village is the brainchild of its founder and CEO Tom Walker. In the late 1980s, he developed the idea of a place where young people, as well as the general public, could cultivate a sense of ownership of their government by learning about citizenship and patriotism. Walker, a self-described “history and political junkie,” says, “We have a great blessing of liberty in our country, but it’s difficult to maintain a sense of ownership of the civic system.” He thought that people needed reminding of “who we are and the things we believe in, of our shared values, and our shared experiences. “We’re in an era in which we do a great job defining how we’re different from one another,” says Walker, “But it’s the idea of liberty that has always united us. When the national soul is contested as after 9/11, you see Americans coming together and reminding ourselves how valuable liberty is and remembering our kinship with one another.” For young Americans, history need not be dry, dusty facts. “Young people respond to authentic stories,” he says. The American Village campus sits on 183 acres in the gently rolling green hills of central Alabama, just outside Montevallo. The atmosphere has a colonial feel. In fact, many of the buildings are replicas of actual historical buildings. The administrative offices are located in a replica of the house in Philadelphia used by Presidents Washington and Adams before the capital moved to Washington, D.C. The Lucille Ryals Thompson Chapel, where a community Thanksgiving service is held every year, was inspired by the Bruton Parish Church of Williamsburg, Reenactor Al a church attended by Thomas Jefferson, Schaeffer strikes George Washington and Patrick Henry. a pose as George
Between 30,000 and 35,000 students come here each year, from Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and Florida. It’s not meant to be a museum, but living history, a place of ideas where visitors are made to think about “What does it mean to be an American citizen?” The Village answers this question with dozens of different programs suitable for students of all ages. The programs consist of a collection of “vignettes” – episodes acted out by the costumed re-enactors called historical interpreters in which visitors often take part. “Presidents’ Days” is designed for kindergarten through third grade. Kids play “Choose Your George,” a game show hosted by Martha Washington and Queen Charlotte of England in which participants cast their vote for who they’d rather have rule them: George Washington or King George III. Thankfully for the Republic, Washington usually wins. The popular Thanksgiving program features Massasoit, or Yellow Feather, the chief of the Wampanoag who befriended the Pilgrims in Massachusetts. In the Colonial Christmas, children learn about how past presidents celebrated Christmas in the White House.
Teaching through hands-on participation
The centerpiece of the American Village’s educational programs is “Liberty,” which tells the story of how Americans gained their freedom from Great Britain. Participants get to stage a Stamp Act Rally, debate serious issues at a Constitutional Convention, enlist in the Continental Army, and take lessons in musket drill. Today’s program is special. “Freedom Quest” was designed to honor Black History Month. The students are from George W. Carver High School in Birmingham, and are predominantly African-American. Their experience begins when they are transformed into a group of escaped slaves led by a rifletoting Harriet Tubman, played by Lesli Johnson. In an encounter with a slavecatcher, one of their numbers must read from the Bible to trick him into believing they are free blacks; it was illegal to teach a slave to read. When they successfully arrive “up North,” Johnson stays in character to address the group: “Slavery must collapse. Thus, the action you have taken to make yourself free is
Washington.
Alabama Living
JULY 2014 13