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
Hope for America

Do you want to use humor to your advantage in the classroom? Hope for [...] »

History and Politics Out Loud

Captures significant events and personalities of the 20th century through [...] »

California Heritage Collection

View the early history of California through this collection of over 30,000 [...] »

History Quiz

Test your history knowledge
Europe Encounters the Western Hemisphere

Can you answer these questions about the "exploration race" that brought [...] »

Reading a Cartoon: Massive Resistance

What do the objects in this 1954 editorial cartoon stand for?

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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
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, [...] »

The Atomic Bomb: Hiroshima and Nagasaki
photographic print, Second atomic bombing of Nagasaki, 1945 August, LOC

Controversial issues are often simplified in textbooks. Discover the facts [...] »

National Resources

Federal teaching resources
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Photo, Barking Frog, Mark A. Musselman, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

The government acts for fauna as well as society. When did this start? Why [...] »

Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Photo, Jason Tully, a CDC laboratorian. . . , ID# 7294, 2004, James Gathany, CDC

For when those historical figures suffered conditions you don't recognize. [...] »

U.S. Geological Survey
Photo, Brown Bat, June 20, 2008, Al Hicks, U.S. Geological Survey

How has land use altered over time, and what did the explorers encounter? [...] »

Ask a Historian

Quebec City Fire
Detail of lithograph copy of John Murray, View of Quebec City, 1845

Were the great fires of 1845 the result of arson or accident?

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