During the first half of the 19th century, the United States grew from a nation confined to the Atlantic seaboard to a country on the verge of becoming a global power. One factor prompting this growth was the United States' growing intellectual, economic, and strategic interests in the Pacific Ocean. These growing interests were fueled by the…

For much of the nineteenth century, the U.S. did not allocate many resources to intelligence gathering. Many Americans were wary of espionage, partly because of the disreputable association of espionage with the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, the nation's first private detective and police agency. In the realm of twentieth-century…

Slavery and slave trading have been part of human history since ancient times. All peoples, races, regions, and religions have at one time or another participated in human slavery. Historian Sheldon M. Stern has found, however, that state U.S. history standards, curricula, and the media often promote the divisive misconception that slavery was…

History education lends itself to considering historical problems from the perspective of people of that time and exploring their thinking or "predictions" about the problems' possible effects. Building lessons around the use of prediction-making humanizes history because it allows students to investigate historical events and understand…

Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) were created to provide educational opportunities for African Americans when other higher education venues restricted their participation. HBCUs are credited with nurturing and producing leaders who embraced W. E. B. Du Bois's concept of the "Talented Tenth," and exhibiting fortitude in…

Building on scholarship in African American rhetorics and African American language, an analysis of Walter Dean Myers's (2000) "The Blues of Flats Brown" is presented as a methodology for (re)imagining educational issues and research related to voice, agency, reading, and literacy in the face of racial oppression and subjugation. In the…

This book records the history of schools attended by Americans of Japanese ancestry, focusing on efforts by the Japanese community in California to maintain its linguistic and cultural heritage. The main focus of the book is on the period from the early 20th century to World War II. The book examines conditions during the War and in the postwar…

Intermediate and junior high school students learn about the social history of Vermont by studying events and trends during a 30-year period of the life of a famous Vermont native, Calvin Coolidge. Although designed for students in Vermont, materials can easily be adapted for use in other states, particularly those in the New England area. In…

An eighth grade social studies unit on Maryland studies contains three sections of material. In the first section, a two-column chart matches grade-level objectives to specific activities presented in the next section. A content outline is divided into sections of presettlement history, the early and late colonial periods, pre-Civil War…

This guide for eighth grade teachers was the product of a Title IX ethnic studies project. The guide was designed to supplement the regular South Carolina state history textbooks and place in a more positive frame of reference the ethnic contributions that specific ethnic groups have made to South Carolina history. Written by teachers, the guide…

This student book encourages an understanding of U.S. history through song, and of American song through history. The book is organized in two main parts, the first focuses on the nature of popular music. It examines "What is Popular Music?" and looks at pop themes, lyrics, melodies, rhythm, the composer, performer, and publisher. The…

This curriculum resource guide allows students to interpret key historical events and trends from the perspectives of a variety of cultural, linguistic, and ethnic groups. The 30 learning activities represent suggested approaches for teaching Units 9 and 10 of the New York State Grades 7 and 8 syllabus. Each unit is comprehensive, divided into…

Maintains that, except from treatments of slavery as a legal condition, there was little coverage of African Americans in the first half-century of the "American Historical Review." Asserts, however, that coverage of black issues was even less in other scholarly journals. Reviews recent historiography related to African Americans. (CFR)

Discusses the need to revise New York State's social studies curriculum to reflect the nation's diversity in a fair way, presenting a less biased, more realistic view of history. The curriculum should cultivate multiple perspectives, teach about common traditions, include examples of many peoples, and tell the whole story. (SM)

Presents a complete lesson plan examining the 1908 race riot in Springfield, Illinois. Background material covers the African American community in Springfield, as well as the incident. Handouts include a map showing the black neighborhoods in Springfield and a questionnaire concerning moral decision making. (MJP)