Welcome to History Content

Spotlight on Elementary Education

History has been shaped and influenced by the out come of ancient trials—such as the Trial of Socrates in 399B.C.—to Rosenberg Trial in the 1950s. This site offers a comprehensive look at 50 prominent court trials throughout history and its resources can be used to give young learners an introduction to the history of the modern judicial system.

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Website Reviews

Find quality websites & primary sources
History Now: American History Online
Illustration, Bank note from the Bank of the US, Dec. 13, 1840, U.S. Mint.

Read this quarterly journal which focuses on a different topic in American [...] »

Red Scare (1918-1921)

Could the Bolsheviks and radicalism destroy the American way of life?

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Voices from the Days of Slavery: Former Slaves Tell Their Stories

Hear the recollections of ex-slaves and freedmen in their own voices.

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History Quiz

Test your history knowledge
Who Won the War (of 1812)?

How do textbooks from different countries treat the War of 1812?

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American Myths: Popular Music

Each song has a story. What inspired it? When was it made? By whom?

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First Impressions: The U.S. and Japan

In 1854, Japan signed a treaty with the U.S. How did the U.S. and Japan see [...] »

Beyond the Textbook

Question textbook narratives
Slavery
Photo, "An ex-slave," 1897, New York Public Library Digital Gallery

What was it like to be a slave in 19th-century America? Accounts contrast. [...] »

Coal and the Industrial Revolution
Photo, At the close of the day, January 1911, Lewis Hine, Library of Congress

How can the story of coal help students understand the nature of today's [...] »

Causing the Civil War
Postcard, Train Load of Cotton for Export, South, 1902-1903, NYPL

Did King Cotton cause the Civil War? Or should you look further?

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National Resources

Federal teaching resources
U.S. Secret Service

How did the Secret Service begin protecting our leaders and solving crimes [...] »

Federal Reserve Board

The economy's on everyone's mind. Take advantage of that fact to teach a bit [...] »

National Park Service
Screencapture, FDR Memorial, National Park Service homepage

Lesson plans, essays, multimedia, activities, and artifacts of U.S. heritage [...] »

Ask a Historian

American Resistance to a Standing Army
Print, 1904, Uniforms of the 86th Regt.,& 19th Regt, from Social England, NYPL

Americans of the 18th century took a much dimmer view of the institution of [...] »