APUSH students learning in new ways

Hamburg Area High Schools Advanced Placement United States History class had a mock “Meet the Press”. This simulation discussed The abolitionist movement, the role of women in society, the Compromise of 1850, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the Transcontinental Railroad, Bleeding Kansas, the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision, and the John Brown’s Raid at Harper’s Ferry. All these issues precursors to the Civil War, students were able to learn by doing. “This was a new and interactive way of learning,” says Junior Kyle Reppert, who played the role of John C Breckenridge, an 1860 presidential candidate.

Mr. Kline, Hamburg APUSH teacher, gives insight on his reaction to the event saying, “I am hoping the students had fun while learning about the historical events and figures that ultimately led up to the American Civil War. The election of 1860 was chosen because the election of Lincoln in that year caused 11 southern states to ultimately secede from the Union over the issue of the spread of slavery.”

This event was open to the whole school to come and watch and learn more about the causes of the Civil War from their own peers. With the success of the event, it will encourage many more active learning experiences in the future, helping students grow and learn in different environments than just a classroom. This is not only breaking down the the walls of a normal classroom but testing the students’ knowledge of the subject in a different way.