The PBS WIDE ANGLE documentary series analyzes a number of significant and current global issues. In 'Ladies First' (2004), WIDE ANGLE delivers a riveting report on the political and socio-economic success of the Rwandan women after the genocide of 1994 that divided the country's major ethnic groups, the Tutsi and the Hutu. The purpose of this lesson is to use 'Ladies First' to show not only that women working together can and did create a dialogue and a basis for trust among ethnic groups, but also to show how these same women are challenging their traditional role in Rwandan society and assuming unprecedented leadership. Although the basis of the lesson is the success of women in Rwanda post-genocide, the lesson begins with a clip from the movie HOTEL RWANDA, which establishes the devastating brutality of 1994 that left the country in utter ruin. As a Culminating Activity, students will use various Web sites to hone skills needed for the Global Studies Regents Exam, including: analyzing statistical, economic, and demographic information; a map exercise; and the interpretation of a primary document.

Former slave Sojourner Truth's "Ain't I a Woman?" speech was given at an Ohio Women's Convention in 1851. The powerful performance is still used today as a call for equal treatment of women. This video provides background on the famous speech.

In this lesson, students will identify the origins of Third Wave Feminism and explore the diversity of the movement's demands, attitudes, and tactics by immersing themselves in three musical cultures from the 1990s: the Riot Grrrl punk rock scene exemplified by the band Bikini Kill, the female-fronted hip hop scene exemplified by Salt-N-Pepa, and the Tejano music sphere exemplified by Selena.

Teaching and Learning Iowa History represents a unique way for community members, teachers, and university students to join in the same learning experience with similar goals and curiosities. Whoever you are, we're glad you're here! 

A somewhat puzzling commentary on two issues: slavery and economic protectionism. The date of the print is uncertain, but it may have appeared as part of the reaction against the Walker Tariff of 1846. A Northern bias is expressed on both issues. The text is abolitionist on the one hand and laments the absence of federal protection for American industry on the other. The author of the piece (which is less a cartoon than an arrangement of didactic tableaux) presents through his characters a number of reasoned arguments on the respective economics of slave and free industry and suggests a parallel between the hardships posed by the lack of protection for American manufacturers and the plight of the slaves. The irony of the piece rests on the fact that only the Southern slaveholder, whose interests were best served by the 1846 tariff, enjoys the shade of the symbolic Liberty Tree, which looms up in the foreground. Slave owner, fanned by a Negro slave: "Surrounded by Slaves & basking at ease by their labor we can have a clearer conception of the value of Liberty." Man borne in a litter by slaves: "Rather than submit to be a slave I would make our State a cemetery of Freemen." Slaves working under the whip of an overseer at right: "I had as lief work as not. If I had my own time to do it in." and "Who likes to be bound down to a Massa." Another: "Give me my own Country before Slavery." Further right a group of slaves converse: "Poor Sampson is dead!" "Is there nothing we can do?" "How many poor fellows heads have been stuck upon poles!" "The American People will come to a sense of Justice." "If they won't liberate "us," let our Children be free." "Our rejoicing on Bobalition days shew we are not the savages the white people take us to be." "And should our children be free when they are born they might learn the habits of industry & for hire do more work than any of our brethren are now willing to do." "We must be away Massa will see us." In the right background is a steam sawmill whose proprietor frets over his slaves, who run off saying, "Let's have a play spell" and "I'll be off." The owner laments, "What shall I do with my Slaves, they cost me more than their income, and they are more plague than profit, & if I could devise any means to get rid of them, what a triumph it would be--how can it be done without being a serious evil." The left half of the composition represents the North. Near the Liberty Tree two farmers converse: "I would not have a Slave to till my soil, to carry me, to fan me, to tremble when I wake for all the wealth that sinews bought & sold have earnt." "No! dear as freedom is, & in my heart's just estimation prized above all price I'd rather be myself the slave & wear the bonds than fasten them on him." Nearby a group of gentlemen speak: "O America! vast--wide--extended; a population increasing almost past calculation, embracing within thy limits some of almost every nation a refuge for the weary & distressed a home for the free; But O Slavery!! where will be thy bounds?" "Slaves cannot breathe in England, if their lungs receive 'its air' that moment they are free-- they touch 'that Country & their Shackles fall." In the background is a textile mill. Outside are several groups of mill girls. Their conversations concern the tariff and its effects: "What a noise the Southerners have been making about the Tariff." "I hope it is all over now." Second group: "I think if they will protect us Girls from the operation of foreign legislation as well as seamen against Pirates, we can make cloth as cheap as any body." "I dont believe English Girls can do more than we can." "The machinery went well to day." "I wove seventy yards." "I have got so as to tend three Looms." A third group: "I wonder what effect the taking the duty off Linen will have?" "Well in proportion as linen is used there will be less Cotton." "I Guess it will set the poor Irishmen to raising Flax." In the center, beyond the tree, a man on horseback leads a black woman carrying a bundle toward the right or Southern side of the print.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1846-13.

 U.S. History is designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of most introductory courses. The text provides a balanced approach to U.S. history, considering the people, events, and ideas that have shaped the United States from both the top down (politics, economics, diplomacy) and bottom up (eyewitness accounts, lived experience). U.S. History covers key forces that form the American experience, with particular attention to issues of race, class, and gender.Senior Contributing AuthorsP. Scott Corbett, Ventura CollegeVolker Janssen, California State University, FullertonJohn M. Lund, Keene State CollegeTodd Pfannestiel, Clarion UniversityPaul Vickery, Oral Roberts UniversitySylvie Waskiewicz

U.S. History is designed for a two-semester American history sequence. It is traditional in coverage, following a roughly chronological outline, and using a balanced approach that includes political, economic, social, and cultural developments. At the same time, the book includes a number of innovative and interactive features designed to enhance student learning. Instructors can also customize the book, adapting it to the approach that works best in their classroom.

Worldwide, women are influencing businesses and economies on an unprecedented scale. WIDE ANGLE's '1-800-INDIA' (2005) and 'Pickles, Inc.' (2005) give us insight into two instances of economic and social shifts being wrought by the entry of women into local and international economies. In this lesson, students will begin by examining historic photographs to determine how economic roles for women have changed in the United States. They will then look at contemporary examples of women entering the workforce for the first time: in India's outsourcing sector; and in small business in Israel. They will explore how these women's entry into the economic sphere often involves negotiation and the overcoming of obstacles, but can bring about larger social and behavioral changes as well. As a Culminating Activity, students will apply the knowledge gained in this lesson toward a response to a Document-Based Question.

The heritage of women represents one-half of the history of the United States; for that reason alone it is worthy of closer scrutiny than it has received in standard history courses. The movement of women for social, political, and economic equality represents the longest and most far-reaching civil rights movement in U.S. history, yet it is a movement that has received minimal space and attention in standard history courses. This class is an attempt to bring to the foreground a history that we all share but perhaps have until now lacked the opportunity or information to focus on. It is a history that I find both maddening and inspiring, and one whose study is challenging, difficult, and ultimately so rewarding that it is worth every bit of effort, and then some.