EDSITEment offers free resources for teachers, students, and parents searching for high-quality K-12 humanities education materials in the subject areas of history and social studies, literature and language arts, foreign languages, arts, and culture. EDSITEment is a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Trust for the Humanities.
Abraham Lincoln felt that the attempt of seven states to leave the …
Abraham Lincoln felt that the attempt of seven states to leave the American union peacefully was, in fact, a total violation of law and order. This lesson will examine Lincoln's First Inaugural Address to understand why he thought his duty as president required him to treat secession as an act of rebellion and not a legitimate legal or constitutional action by disgruntled states.
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, relations between the United States …
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, relations between the United States and the Soviet Union had deteriorated to the point of "cold war," while domestically the revelation that Soviet spies had infiltrated the U.S. government created a general sense of uneasiness. This lesson will examine the operations of House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in the late 1940s.
How did conditions in Europe relate to the independence movements in South …
How did conditions in Europe relate to the independence movements in South America? What reasons did President Monroe give for recognizing the independence movements in South America?
When the delegates to the Philadelphia Convention convened in May of 1787 …
When the delegates to the Philadelphia Convention convened in May of 1787 to recommend amendments to the Articles of Confederation, one of the first issues they addressed was the plan for representation in Congress. This lesson will focus on the various plans for representation debated during the Constitutional Convention of 1787.
In this triumph of magical realism, One Hundred Years of Solitude chronicles …
In this triumph of magical realism, One Hundred Years of Solitude chronicles a century of the remarkable BuendÃa family's history in the fictional Colombian town of Macondo. The three lessons presented here explore the fantastic elements of this imaginary world, the real history that lies behind them, and GarcÃa Márquez's own philosophical musings on writing about Latin America.
On April 11, 1898, two months after the battleship U.S.S. Maine was …
On April 11, 1898, two months after the battleship U.S.S. Maine was destroyed by an explosion in Havana harbor, President McKinley sent a message to Congress requesting authority to use the U.S. armed forces to end a brutal civil war in the Spanish colony of Cuba. This lesson plan, through the use of primary sources and a WebQuest Interactive, will focus on the causes of the war and the political debate in the United States over the advisability of intervening militarily in the affairs of countries.
The unwillingness of the Soviet Union to allow the creation of independent …
The unwillingness of the Soviet Union to allow the creation of independent and democratic states in Eastern Europe, and the failure of East and West to reach a compromise on Germany, left many Americans puzzled. Why were the Soviets acting as they did? Moreover, how should the United States respond? This lesson will consider containment through the use of original documents, mostly from the Truman Presidential Library. They will study what it meant in theory, and then examine the first two major instances of its application"”the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan.
How was the role of "President" defined in the Articles of Confederation? …
How was the role of "President" defined in the Articles of Confederation? What were the weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation regarding the role of the President?
The failure to restore royal authority in the northern colonies, along with …
The failure to restore royal authority in the northern colonies, along with the signing of an alliance between the American rebels and the French monarchy, led the British to try an entirely new strategy in the southern colonies. This lesson will examine military operations during the second, or southern, phase of the American Revolution.
This lesson prompts students to think about a poem's speaker within the …
This lesson prompts students to think about a poem's speaker within the larger context of modernist poetry. First, students will review the role of the speaker in two poems of the Romanticism period before focusing on the differences in Wallace Stevens' modernist"Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.
Although it was the Japanese who attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, U.S. …
Although it was the Japanese who attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, U.S. military planners decided that Germany, not Japan, was to be the primary target of operations. This lesson plan will focus on the overall strategies pursued by the Americans and their British allies in the initial months of World War II in Europe.
What is the most compelling evidence explaining why the U.S. entered World …
What is the most compelling evidence explaining why the U.S. entered World War I? After completing the lessons in this unit, students will be able to: Take a stand on a hypothesis for U.S. entry into World War I, supported by specific evidence.
Over half of all English surnames used today are derived from the …
Over half of all English surnames used today are derived from the names of places where people lived. This type is known as a locative surname. For example, a man called John who lived near the marsh, might be known as John Marsh. John who lived in the dell was called John Dell. Other examples are John Brook, John Lake, and John Rivers.
Sometimes, people will fight to keep someone else from being treated poorly. …
Sometimes, people will fight to keep someone else from being treated poorly. Disagreement over slavery was central to the conflict between the North and the South. The nation was deeply divided.
Whether it be called the Civil War, the War between the States, …
Whether it be called the Civil War, the War between the States, the War of the Rebellion, or the War for Southern Independence, the events of the years 1861-1865 were the most traumatic in the nation's history. This lesson plan will introduce students to wartime politics.
The Civilian Conservation Corps, a New Deal recovery and relief program provided …
The Civilian Conservation Corps, a New Deal recovery and relief program provided more than a quarter of a million young black men with jobs during the Depression. By examining primary source documents students analyze the impact of this program on race relations in America and assess the role played by the New Deal in changing them.
Another common type of medieval byname derived from how a man spent …
Another common type of medieval byname derived from how a man spent his time. Every farming village had a blacksmith to forge iron tools, a miller to grind wheat, a carpenter to craft furniture, and many other specialists.
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