This research guide is designed to help teachers and students organize their thoughts as they begin to plan and carry out a research assignment where they review and use the resources of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum (Hyde Park, New York) or other resources for specific projects. The guide is divided into five sections: (1) the…

Realizing that the Cold War is a topic that often is neglected as time runs short at the end of a school year, a group of University of Kansas (Lawrence) educators sought to create effective classroom materials for secondary/community college instructors to teach about the Cold War. The group's main goal was to create a flexible model that…

The cases of Henry Garnett and Moses Honner bookend the 1850s, a decade of intensifying political crisis that was deeply connected to the institution of slavery. In both court actions, which were tried in the Third Circuit Court, Eastern District, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the defendants were charged with being "fugitives from labor."…

On May 17, 1954, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimous ruling in the landmark civil rights case "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas." State-sanctioned segregation of public schools was declared a violation of the 14th Amendment and was unconstitutional. This historic decision marked the end of the…

This lesson focuses on the power of the U.S. Congress to pass laws related to issuing patents. Using Eli Whitney's 1812 Congressional petition to extend the patent on his cotton gin as an example, the lesson correlates to the National History Standards and the National Standards for Civics and Government. It contains two primary source documents,…

In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson guided a piece of foreign diplomacy through the U.S. Senate, the purchase of Louisiana territory from France. Jefferson chose Meriwether Lewis, his personal secretary, who possessed frontiersman skills to explore the territory. Lewis, in turn, solicited the help of William Clark, whose abilities as a draftsman…

This learning packet provides background information about Hoover Dam (Nevada) and the surrounding area. Since the dam was built at the height of the Depression in 1931, people came from all over the country to work on it. Because of Hoover Dam, the Colorado River was controlled for the first time in history and farmers in Nevada, California, and…

On December 10, 1998, the world celebrated the 50th anniversary of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The U.S. Constitution possesses many of the political and civil rights articulated in the UDHR. The UDHR, however, goes further than the U.S. Constitution, including many social and economic rights as well. This book…

The last 30 years of U.S. political history have seen dramatic strides in the impact that minorities play in U.S. politics. This first volume of a two-volume set addresses the historical and contemporary impact of two of the largest minority groups in the United States. Divided into two sections, the encyclopedia addresses the political struggles…

This unit uses a case study of the Kingdom of the Kongo (Congo) to answer questions about the trans-Atlantic slave trade from an African perspective. The unit is appropriate for use in any study of the history of sub-Saharan Africa. Because it focuses on the African perspective of events surrounding the slave trade, it supports in-depth studies of…

This teaching unit, "Creek Indian War," is the first of a series of 10 units about Alabama state history, part of a project designed to help teachers integrate the use of primary source materials into their classrooms. Although the units are designed to augment the study of Alabama, they are useful in the study of U.S. history, world…

This teaching unit, "Reconstruction Unit," which deals with the post-Civil War period, is the fifth of a series of 10 units about Alabama state history, part of a project designed to help teachers integrate the use of primary source materials into their classrooms. Although the units are designed to augment the study of Alabama, they are…

"Animal Farm" is a political allegory of the USSR written in the form of a fable. Its stinging moral warning against the abuse of power is demonstrated in this casebook through a wide variety of historical, political, and literary documents that are directly applicable to George Orwell's novel. Included in the casebook are passages from…

Charles Dickens' novel, "A Tale of Two Cities," does not waste a word in telling a touching, suspenseful tale set against the background of one of the bloodiest events in history, the French Revolution. This casebook's collection of historical documents, collateral readings, and commentary will promote interdisciplinary study of the…

Intended for use in elementary and high school education, this Web site includes a teacher's guide and three lesson plans. The site contains images of museum specimens, scientific drawings, and field photos of the plant and animal species observed by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, along with journal excerpts, historical notes, and references…