CHD Topic Tuesday

Welcome to  #CHDTopicTuesday!
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Follow along throughout the fall while we highlight topics related to National History Day's annual theme
Debate & Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures, Consequences.

 Hiram Bingham III and Machu Picchu - Return of Artifacts to Peru

For many years, Yale University held in it's collection artifacts from Hiram Bingham III's expeditions to Machu Picchu, however after almost 100 years, the collection returned to Peru.

Learn about this moment in history and how it relates to National History Day's annual theme Debate & Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures, Consequences from Connecticut Public.

Connecticut's Black Governors

For approximately one hundred years, from the middle of the 18th century to the middle of the 19th century, there was a Black governor in Connecticut. Selection of a leader was an African tradition brought by black slaves to the British colonies and the practice became formally established in Connecticut in the 1750s.
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Learn more about Black Governors and how they impacted politics in Connecticut from ConnecticutHistory.org and how it connects to National History Day's theme Debate & Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures, Consequences.

Connecticut and the Suffrage Movement 

During the Women's Suffrage Movement, not all women supported women’s right to vote. In 1910 the Connecticut Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage was formed to preserve women’s non-political role in society. Led by Grace G. Markham of Hartford, these anti-suffragists, known as "Antis", also appeared before legislative committees, distributed leaflets and pamphlets, and hosted meetings and debates.

Learn about the Antis and the Suffrage Movement and the debate and diplomacy that took place between the two groups and how it relates to National History Day's theme Debate & Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures, Consequences from Connecticut Explored.

The Battle for Cockenoe Island 

In the middle of the 17th century, a Native American known as Cockenoe or Checkanoe, signed a deed giving an island (now known as Cockenoe Island) to the fledgling town of Norwalk. Just over 180 years later, in 1835, the island became a part of Westport, when that municipality emerged from parts of Norwalk, Fairfield, and Weston.

Then, in the mid-1960s, the Bridgeport-based power company United Illuminating (UI) acquired the island. In August of 1967, the company announced plans to build a nuclear power plant on the island. On March 10, 1969, hundreds of Westport residents traveled to the Connecticut State Capitol in Hartford to support a bill giving Connecticut towns priority over utility companies in cases of eminent domain.

Learn more about Cockenoe Island and how it relates to National History Day's theme of Debate & Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures, Consequences from ConnecticutHistory.org. 

The Rise and Fall of Silas Deane, American Patriot

Silas Deane was an American patriot and prominent member of the Continental Congress at the dawn of the American Revolution. On a diplomatic mission to France, Deane played a key role in obtaining the military supplies that made possible the victory at Saratoga in October 1777, leading to an alliance with the French the following year. His early achievements lost their luster, however, after Deane was recalled to face a protracted, rancorous battle with Congress over his financial dealings.

Learn more about Silas Deane and how his diplomatic duties relate to National History Day's annual theme Debate & Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures, Consequences from ConnecticutHistory.org.

The Supreme Court Case New London Won, and Everybody Lost

In 2000, the New London Development Corporation (NLDC), acting under the city’s authority, moved to seize over 100 privately held residential properties in the city’s Fort Trumbull neighborhood in order to lay the groundwork for a massive expansion of Pfizer Pharmaceutical’s New London campus. Susette Kelo, who owned a now-iconic little pink house in the Fort Trumbull neighborhood, was one of 14 “holdouts” who refused to relinquish their properties and took the NLDC to court.

Learn more about the U.S. Supreme Court case Kelo v. City of New London and how it relates to National History Day's annual theme Debate & Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures, Consequences from Connecticut State Historian Walt Woodward.

Blacksmith Isaac Glasko Challenges the State Constitution 

Isaac Glasko was an African American/Native American blacksmith from Griswold who petitioned the CT General Assembly to change the state constitution: in 1823 he argued that since black men and women were not allowed to vote, African American businesses should not have to pay state taxes.
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Learn more about Isaac Glasko and how his petition relates to National History Day's theme Debate & Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures, Consequences from ConnecticutHistory.org.

The Southwick Jog

From the time of Connecticut’s charter in 1662 to the present, the state’s boundaries have posed many challenges for those who survey them. Two visible irregularities help define Connecticut’s northern line; the more prominent is known as the “Southwick Jog.” Southwick was a section of the older Massachusetts town of Westfield, though its limits fell south of the true colony line. Westfield had been settled long before Connecticut’s charter, and boundaries in this lightly settled western region of Massachusetts remained poorly defined. In 1801 Connecticut and Massachusetts came to an agreement: The portion of Southwick east of the Congamond Lakes went to Connecticut and became part of Suffield, and the western portion, still known as Southwick, went to Massachusetts.
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Learn more about Connecticut's boundaries and why settling these lines makes a perfect topic for National History Day's theme "Debate & Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures, Consequences" from ConnecticutHistory.org.