This 10-minute documentary tells the story of Marie Wilcox, the last fluent speaker of the Wukchumni language and the dictionary she created in an effort to keep her language alive.
Material Type: Lecture Notes, Lesson
Ready to fight at a moment's notice, minutemen began fighting early in the American Revolution. Their efforts at Lexington and Concord inspired many patriots to take up arms against Britain.
Material Type: Diagram/Illustration, Reading
Just as developing a coherent foreign policy is problematic in these post-Cold War days, so is the question of defending the country against possible danger from outside its borders. The avoidance of war, as indicated by the 1947 name change from "Department of War" to "Department of Defense" today holds the highest priority, and the hope that the United States can play a role in limiting violent upheavals around the world is reflected in both its foreign and military policies.
Material Type: Diagram/Illustration, Reading
Public policy is a goal-oriented course of action that the government follows in dealing with a problem or issue in the country. Public policies are based on law, but many people other than legislators set them. Individuals, groups, and even government agencies that do not comply with policies can be penalized. This complicated process goes through a predictable series of steps:
Material Type: Diagram/Illustration, Reading
Until the 20th century the country abided by the laissez-faire policy, which required a free market with little intervention from government. With the Great Depression came Keynesian economics, or the opposite belief that the government should manage the economy. Today, United States economic policy lies somewhere in between åÑ government should regulate and sometimes manage, but should allow a free market whenever possible. Political and business leaders disagree on how much control is enough.
Material Type: Diagram/Illustration, Reading
United States foreign policy has changed dramatically from George Washington's day. Although Americans always pay attention to the advice of their revered founder, the world is of course not the same. The many people that shape American foreign policy today accept the fact that the United States is a member of a world community that cannot afford to ignore the importance of getting along.
Material Type: Diagram/Illustration, Reading
It is impossible to know the exact number of American colonists who favored or opposed independence. This section discusses attitudes toward the American Revolution in the colonies
Material Type: Diagram/Illustration, Reading
In the wake of Columbus' historic voyage in 1492, expeditions, especially from Imperial Spain, swarmed into Aztec territory. They came in search of gold and souls gold to enrich the coffers of the Spanish king (and their own), and heathen souls to rescue for Christianity. Within a generation, America's ancient civilizations were crushed. Both the Aztec and Inca Empires collapsed after campaigns lasting just a couple of years. How did they fall so fast? Historians suggest many causes.
Material Type: Diagram/Illustration, Reading
Nowhere was the victory at Saratoga more noted than in France, which had been tentative in its efforts to assist the Americans. France's interest in the American fight for independence stemmed from France's humiliating defeat during the Seven Years War at the hands of its ancient enemy, England.
Material Type: Diagram/Illustration, Reading
The Battle of Saratoga was the turning point of the Revolutionary War. The scope of the victory is made clear by a few key facts: On October 17, 1777, 5,895 British and Hessian troops surrendered their arms. General John Burgoyne had lost 86 percent of his expeditionary force that had triumphantly marched into New York from Canada in the early summer of 1777.
Material Type: Diagram/Illustration, Reading
On the night of June 16, 1775, a detail of American troops acting under orders from Artemas Ward moved out of their camp, carrying picks, shovels, and guns. They entrenched themselves on a rise located on Charleston Peninsula overlooking Boston. Their destination: Bunker Hill.
Material Type: Diagram/Illustration, Reading
Although the American military was still enduring losses in 1780, the French were making a difference. The French navy was disrupting the British blockade. French commanders such as Lafayette and Rochambeau earned the respect and admiration of the American troops.
Material Type: Diagram/Illustration, Reading
The Maya were a collection of people clustered in city-states. What united them was an idea. For the Maya the world of ordinary living and the Otherworld populated by gods, ancestors, and monstrous things, were equally real. There existed three regions, intricately bound together: the heavens, the earth, and the waters of the Underworld.
Material Type: Diagram/Illustration, Reading
This unit, designed for a freshman Civics course, focuses on the basics of American citizenship. The unit introduces the requirements of being an American citizen, how one can become an American citizen, and how American citizenship has been molded over the course of our nation's history. This unit is introduced after students have had an introduction to American Government and have taken an American history course. Civics HSCEs: C.5: Citizenship in the United States of America
Material Type: Unit of Study
After more than 30 years in prison and an historic election that for the first time in the nation's history included all citizens regardless of race, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela became President of the Republic of South Africa on May 10, 1994. This Teacher's Guide includes resources for teaching about the brutality of apartheid, the resilience of the nation's people, the leadership of Nelson Mandela, and primary source materials that will inform discussion about the country's emergence in the world.
Material Type: Teaching/Learning Strategy
Today many Americans take pride in their status as "independent voters," partly because they see parties as lacking vision for the country. Since many Americans have become disenchanted by partisan politics, they avoid identification as a "loyal Democrat" or a "staunch Republican." These negative attitudes toward parties are rooted in the roles that they play in American politics.
Material Type: Diagram/Illustration, Reading
This feature outlines the context of The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 which produced the "Declaration of Sentiments," a MI exemplar for grades 11 CCR. This document made a bold argument, modeled on the language and logic of the Declaration of Independence that American women should be given civil and political rights equal to those of American men, including the right to vote.
Material Type: Reading
What is the difference between a liberty and a right? Both words appear in the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. The distinction between the two has always been blurred, and today the concepts are often used interchangeably. However, they do refer to different kinds of guaranteed protections.
Material Type: Diagram/Illustration, Reading
Democracies are based on "rule of law." The ancient Greeks (particularly Aristotle) valued natural law, the notion that human societies should be governed by ethical principles found in nature.
Material Type: Diagram/Illustration, Reading
Created through a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress, Chronicling America offers visitors the ability to search and view newspaper pages from 1690-1963 and to find information about American newspapers published between 1690"“present using the National Digital Newspaper Program.
Material Type: Teaching/Learning Strategy
