Describes the Northwest Ordinance as a vision for self-government and discusses the conflict between William Henry Harrison and Jonathan Jennings in the newly formed Indiana Territory. Elaborates on how statehood in Indiana was achieved and what status slavery assumed in Indiana. (BSR)

Profiles four Iowans who became agricultural leaders and committed themselves to addressing farmers' needs: Henry Wallace, James R. Howard, Milo Reno, and Ruth Buxton Sayre. Identifies farm organizations with which each was affiliated, such as the Farm Bureau and the Farmers' Union. Summarizes each leader's major accomplishments and political…

Presents a lesson plan designed to make students empathize with early twentieth-century native Americans as they draft a provisional statement of goals for the nation's first secular inter-tribal native organization, the Society of American Indians, founded in 1911. (Author/AEM)

Provides background information on the presidio, a frontier palace or garrison. Offers a lesson to help students understand the chronological context of events in presidial California in relation to developments in the English colonies and Europe. Includes four handouts. (CMK)

Addresses whether or not the Spaniards were cruel by discussing such issues as the Spanish conquistadors of the 16th century, the presence of the Spaniards in New Mexico and California, the missionaries, and the Spanish naturalists of the late 18th century. Explains that some people protected and helped the Native Americans. (CMK)

Discusses the founding of San Antonio, originally San Antonio de Bexar, which, in 1718, came into being as a military settlement involved in Spanish imperial defensive measures. Focuses on the development and continued growth of San Antonio, Texas's most populous city in the 19th century. (CMK)

Provides a lesson centered on excerpts from a 1675 letter from the bishop of Cuba, Gabriel Diaz Vara Calderon, to Queen Mariana of Spain that describes life in Spanish Florida missions. Includes a list of questions and excerpts from the letter. (CMK)

Maintains the enduring public fascination with the Civil War provides opportunities and dangers for history teachers. Reviews changes in historical interpretations of the Civil War. Asserts that recent scholarship suggests that both the South and North fought to preserve doomed social systems. (CFR)

Describes life in Philadelphia from 1790-1800 while the city was the temporary capital of the United States. Discusses the city's attempts to keep the federal government there and outlines specific issues the Continental Congress dealt with while meeting there. (BSR)

Relates the story of the evolution of Congressional abilities to conduct investigations of governmental figures and agencies. Uses a series of famous investigations including Teapot Dome, the Pecora Wall Street Investigation, Senator Harry Truman's war-profiteering investigations, Senator Joseph McCarthy's anticommunist investigations, and…

Presents a lesson plan that invites students to view 19th-century Hawaii through the eyes of Isabella Bird. Bird left Victorian England hoping that traveling would improve her ill health. In the process she became a celebrated writer and explorer. Includes excerpts from her letters and books. (MJP)

Provides an annotated list of Web sites that include, but not limited to, the American Family Immigration History Center, Harry S. Truman Presidential Museum and Library, National Council for Public History, National Park Service, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the Women of the West Virtual Museum. (CMK)

Describes the Northwest Ordinance as the nation's first bill of rights and discusses the similarities between the Ordinance and state constitutions. States that neither the Ordinance nor the state constitutions mentioned freedom of speech. Contends that the Ordinance was one of the "foundation stones" in the structure of U.S. liberty.…

Describes the evolution of the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives from being barely mentioned in the Constitution to being one of the most powerful political positions in the United States. Argues that individual speakers have greatly affected the role due to the lack of formal job description. (DSK)

Presents a look at the local culture of Tampa, Florida at the turn of the century and how it responded to a massive influx of troops waiting for action during the Spanish-American War. At that time, Tampa was a multiethnic city that included many Cuban-, Spanish-, and African-Americans. (MJP)