Class, First of all, I want to thank the mock trial participants for working extra hard this past week to learn their positions and for developing the questions they needed for interrogation. I think this went pretty well, and I hope you all learned a little more about Andrew Jackson and the complicated history and legacy surrounding him. Complicated history can pretty much sum up the theme for a lot of our studies this year. American history is full of some of the most heroic figures, incredible events, bravery, and ingenuity the world has ever seen. It is also full of atrocities, great harm to millions of individuals, greed, and corruption. We have much to celebrate; we have much to grieve and learn from. I try to balance both of these themes in our class, lest we proceed blindly forward without recognizing our roots. I'm not a fan of those texts that blot out the complicated realities. And I'm not a fan of the texts that denigrate and overlook our accomplishments. Instead,