Henry Ward Beecher was America's most prominent 19th century liberal preacher and a major spokesperson for New England Transcendentalism. His philosophy integrated four fundamental themes: the creation of a moral code based on the internalization of values and peer group pressures, the establishment of the reform ideal of the impartial nonpartisan…

James Madison's thoughts on various interpretations of the Constitution maintain that public opinion is the ultimate method of legitimizing the document. The Constitution must prevail against mere public opinion, but public opinion may be used to establish the meaning of the Constitution when conflicting interpretations exist. The public good and…

The Farmers' Alliance was organized in Texas in 1877, and soon spread through the South and Midwest. Farmers formed cooperatives to combat the crop-lien system that bound them to furnishing merchants and to oppose differential railroad rates that hampered the shipment of their crops. As it grew, the alliance began to demand other land,…

E.W. Scripps's penny newspapers brought a new style of public service journalism to the Pacific Northwest's four largest cities--Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma, and Portland--in the turbulent years of the Progressive movement from 1899 to 1912. Minimal investment, tight cost controls, and the idea that a small, condensed newspaper could be more popular…

In 1919 the "Jewish Daily Forward" published in New York City was the leading Yiddish language newspaper in the world. This analysis explores how the themes of socialism, feminism, and Americanization were defined and developed on the women's pages, and what advice and information the page transmitted to its immigrant readers about each…

The document provides United States history teachers with suggested teaching techniques from a variety of popular culture genre used during the thirties to help secondary students examine various social, cultural, economic, and political events, that encompass the Great Depression era. The popular culture forms described and discussed as…

To affirm Sojourner Truth as a powerful rhetor who advanced the equality and empowerment of women, a study examined several of her speeches on women's suffrage. Although the value of using such role models as Sojourner Truth has been demonstrated in various grade levels, and in the study of history and English, the approach is too seldom employed…

Describes changes in historical research and historiography during the past 25 years. Contends that the inclusion of women, minority groups, and average citizens into U.S. history has enriched the concept of the United States. Concludes that multiculturalism has always existed in the United States; it was just not recognized. (CFR)

Project aims were to learn what college freshmen knew of the late 19th and 20th century presidents and to determine the students' writing level. During the first class of each of five semesters, students enrolled in an American History Since 1865 course were asked to write one paragraph about any president in the time period 1865-1981. Due to time…

The paper analyzes seven widely-used fifth grade social studies textbooks with the hypothesis that texts are unnecessarily loaded with poorly conceived instructional design features that often do not relate to content or skills and tend to minimize the primary function of the texts. Using present and future challenges facing the United States as a…

The founding fathers of the United States were products of a classical education, and they used the Greek and Roman classics as republican models and classical virtues. In their writings, the founders frequently associated liberty and republicanism with the ancient commonwealths. John Adams spoke on three separate occasions of the need to reflect…

A research study was undertaken to determine how U.S. history is taught and what is learned in Indiana public high schools. The objectives of the study included: (1) to ascertain the status of U.S. history in Indiana public schools; (2) to compare results of data with national literature; (3) to identify what is actually taught; (4) to ascertain…

The absence of fathers during World War II had differing effects on the development of identity in boys and girls. Articles and research of the era discussed boys' separation from their fathers but largely failed to address daughters' loss of paternal influence. Evidence suggests that for both boys and girls, the problem was not primarily the…

To explore how news sources are used by media to create a social image of women during key suffrage events of 1858, 1920, and 1970, the front page stories of the "New York Times" were reviewed for 1 week prior to and 1 week following each of these events: May 14, 1858, the Eighth National Women's Rights Convention in New York City;…

The paper traces the life of the 18th century North Carolinian planter Willie Jones and his transformed political stance from traditional commitment to the Crown to a new constitutional faith in republicanism. Jones' political career and struggles are noted through the Revolutionary era and the controversy of centralized versus decentralized…