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
Freedom Trail Foundation
Photo, Follow the Red Line, January 2, 2006, latca, Flickr

Studying the American Revolution? How about walking Boston's Freedom Trail? [...] »

Democratic Vistas: The William Clyde DeVane Lecture Series

Look to the past to consider the prospects of democracy in the U.S.

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Nixon Tapes
Photo, President Nixon (right) meets with staff, 1970, Nixon Library, NARA.

What was the nature of Nixon and Echeverria's political relationship?

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History Quiz

Test your history knowledge
A Hoax Provokes Folks: Why Lie?

Peruse the news, but beware hot air? Examine famous U.S. hoaxes.

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Give Me (Nuclear) Shelter

How much do you know about these iconic emblems of Cold War fears?

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Probing Probate

How do we know what people in the past owned and valued?

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Beyond the Textbook

Question textbook narratives
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 [...] »

Labor and Trade in Colonial America
Photo, Weavers at Colonial Williamsburg, May 29, 2010, animalvegetable, Flickr

Was colonial trade really triangular? What kinds of work did colonists do, [...] »

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
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Photo, Kids watching rockets at the Summer Adventure, LANL site

Follow the development of Weapons of Mass Destruction through the protection [...] »

Federal Judiciary

Can’t tell an affadavit from an acquittal? Learn the legal lingo.

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National Endowment for the Arts

Watch videos on jazz and opera history, courtesy of the National Endowment [...] »

Ask a Historian

The Era of Reform
Brook Farm, 1845 painting by Josiah Wolcutt, Massachusetts Historical Society

Was the antebellum period the height of reform movements in U.S. history? [...] »