History

Links verified on 4/4/2024

African-American History | American History | Jewish History | World & Ancient History | World War II

site for teachers | PowerPoint show | Acrobat document | Word document | whiteboard resource | sound | video format | interactive lesson | a quiz | lesson plan | to print

Growth of a Nation - This 10 minute presentation of the growth of our nation from 1789 to 1959. Click on a decade number at the bottom to see an expanded timeline of that decade. This is a fantastic overview.

 

African-American History

An index of Black History Links for use in your classrooms

1. AFRICA: One Continent. Many Worlds - designed to provide an educator with the knowledge and tools to bring a rich experience to the classroom.
2. African Flags - posted by the university of Pennsylvania African Studies department
3. Africans In America presented by PBS - America's journey through slavery is presented in four parts. For each era, you'll find a historical Narrative, a Resource Bank of images, documents, stories, biographies, and commentaries, and a Teacher's Guide for using the content of the Web site and television series in US history courses.
4. Kwanzaa Resources - Sites to give further information regarding this celebration
5. Marian Anderson: A Life in Song - This exhibition celebrates the artistic development and musical career of Marian Anderson. Renowned throughout the world for her extraordinary contralto voice, she is also remembered for her dignity and grace under pressure.
6. Martin Luther King Resources - Lessons, units, worksheets, clip art and more.

American History

1. 20th & 21st Century America - multiple links on this topic
2. Audio History - from NPR , treasures from our archives that you can listen to whenever you wish.
3. 17th Century New England - with special emphasis on the Salem Witchcraft Trials
4. 100 milestone documents of American history - These documents help us think, talk and teach about the rights and responsibilities of citizens in our democracy, and reflect our diversity and our unity, our past and our future.
5. American History Through Architectural Masterpieces - American history and culture learned through the study of selected American architectural works of art.
6. Battle of the Battlefields - a WebQuest on the War of Independence, the Revolutionary War.
7. Best History Sites - Portal created for history teachers.
8. Boundaries of the contiguous United States - Watch an animation of the changing boundaries of the United States from 1650 to 1907. See also an animation from 1650 to 1983 showing individual county boundaries in the states
9. Civil War - from MrNussbaum.com
10. The Civil War Timeline - Primary resources and information in timeline format ; Original Articles and Documentation
11. The Cold War - many links on this topic
12. Colonial America 1600-1775 - 
13. Colonial Times - Discovery, Exploration, Colonies, & Revolution - multiple links on this topic
14. The Constitution and Constitution Day - Long list of visual resources about the United States Constitution and activities for Constitution Day.
15. The Decades - Presents a series of web guides on the decades of the twentieth century. 
16. Digital History - using new technologies to enhance teaching and research
17. Early American Maps
18. Editorial Cartoons - Use this outline to analyze editorial cartoons. 
19. The Gold Rush
    1. Gold Rush Quiz - online quiz about the Gold Rush.
    2. Gold Rush Scenes - drawings depicting the life of a gold miner
    3. Natives and Immigrants - natives and Immigrants view of the Gold Rush
20. Economics of the Great Depression - Where did all the money go? As detectives, you will gather clues using the Internet to investigate the mystery through a series of clue sheets. An interactive lesson with an interactive group project as culmination. 
21. Eyewitness to History - History through the eyes of those who lived it.
22. Famous Moments In Early American History ( Short Films of Noteworthy Events) - films highlighting a true story of historical significance, providing 'students' of early America with a better understanding of the people, places and events of this important era.
23. Folk Songs of War - Songs from French and Indian, Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Civil War,
24. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History - a growing variety of resources to assist teachers and students
25. The Great Chicago Fire - a commemorative exhibition created by the Chicago Historical Society and Northwestern University [This expired link is available through the Wayback Machine Internet Archive.]
26. Google - Google has digitized 50 historic films from the National Archives and made them available, at no charge, on the Web
27. The History Channel - Speeches; Video; be aware of ads.
28. The History Net - where history lives on the web
29. The History Place - the past into the future
30. History and Politics Out Loud - Searchable archives of audio clips of speeches and other politically significant events.
31. Homeland Security and Emergencies - Be prepared! Lessons, activities, games
32. The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson - from Harper's weekly. There are several interesting links here, even an impeachment simulation game .
33. Jamestown - Virtual Jamestown - Interactive Maps, Primary Sources, Public Records, Personal letters, Runaway Slave Ads and more.
34. Korean War Project - includes a searchable database of casualties
35. Liberty: The American Revolution - from PBS
36. Medicine in the Civil War - some graphic pictures
37. Medicine in the Civil War - Caring for the Men; The History of Civil War Medicine
38. Memory Gallery - Permanent exhibition of the rarest, most interesting or significant items relating to America's past, drawn from every corner of the world's largest library.
39. National Museum of the American Indian - posted by the Smithsonian Institution.
40. Native American Star Knowledge - Information about the Bighorn Medicine Wheel and much more
41. Our Documents - Explore 100 milestone documents of American history. These documents reflect our diversity and our unity, our past and our future, and mostly our commitment as a nation to continue to strive to "form a more perfect union."
42. Presidents of the United States:
    1. The Living Room Candidate - This online exhibition presents 284 historical presidential campaign commercials from every election year, beginning with 1952, when the first campaign ads aired.
    2. Presidents of the United States
    3. President's Hall presented by Whitehouse.gov
43. Presidential Libraries
    1. Thomas Jefferson Papers at the Library of Congress
    2. Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
    3. The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museums
    4. McKinley Memorial Library & Museum
    5. Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library and Museum
    6. Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum
    7. Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum
    8. Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum
    9. Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home
    10. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
    11. Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library
    12. Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
    13. Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum
    14. Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum
    15. Ronald Reagan Library and Museum
    16. George H Bush Presidential Library Center
    17. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum
    18. George W Bush Presidential Library
    19. Barack Obama Presidential Library
    20. Donald J Trump Presidential Library
44. Primary Source Documents
    1. American Treasures of the Library of Congress - Thomas Jefferson, whose personal library became the core of the Library of Congress, arranged his books into three types of knowledge, corresponding to three faculties of the mind: Memory (History), Reason (Philosophy), and Imagination (Fine Arts).
    2. Calisphere: A World of Primary Source Documents - explore thousands of primary source images and documents
    3. A Chronology of US Historical Documents - From Pre-Colonial to the present 
    4. The Civil War - The Valley of the Shadow - The Valley of the Shadow Project takes two communities, one Northern and one Southern, through the experience of the American Civil War. The project is a hypermedia archive of thousands of sources for the period before, during, and after the Civil War. [unavailable on 6/11/2010]
    5. Declaration of Independence - from the National Archives Experience
    6. Eyewitness to History - arranged by date
    7. Finding World History - reviews describe online primary source archives, evaluate resources, and provide classroom suggestions
    8. Hammurabi's Code - this Babylonian document is an extremely useful source for discussions of Mesopotamian government and society - One of the most influential codifications of law in ancient history
    9. Historical Documents of the United States - from the Mayflower Compact to Viet Nam era documents
    10. Inaugural Addresses - from George Washington's first on April 30, 1789 to George Bush's on January 20, 1989. 
    11. Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States - George Washington to Barack Obama
    12. Major Document Collections - from the Avalon Project at the Yale Law School - Look through The Federalist papers, check out the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial, or many other collections of documents.
    13. Primary Sources on the web - includes American History and World History
    14. Teaching with Documents - reproducible copies of primary documents from the holdings of the National Archives of the United States, teaching activities correlated to the National History Standards and National Standards for Civics and Government, and cross-curricular connections
        1. Document Analysis Worksheets - designed and developed by the Education Staff of the National Archives and Records Administration to help your students evaluate a variety of types of primary documents
    15. Timeline and Chronicles of the American Revolution - Interactive site with primary resources.
    16. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration Home Page - "The tie that binds the lives of our people in one indissoluble union are perpetuated in the archives of our government."
    17. Women in World History - primary sources by region
45. Propaganda
    1. Propaganda postcards from the Great War
    2. Propaganda Posters - First World War
    3. Propaganda Techniques - from Mr. Donn
    4. World War II Propaganda - cartoon, film, music and art

1. Revolutionary War
   1. From Revolution to Reconstruction - A Hypertext on American History from the colonial period until Modern Time.
   2. Revolutionary War - Prelude to Revolution 1763 to 1775
   3. Revolutionary War - Timeline of the Revolution; PBS
   4. Revolutionary War - Definitions of the Revolutionary War 
   5. Revolutionary War - Many links from the pre- war years to the war; primary sources and more 
   6. Revolutionary War - The Boston Massacre - essay
   7. The Road to Revolution - An interactive game about events leading up to the Revolutionary War.
   8. Women in the Revolution - scroll past the ads at the top to the bottom of the page for a list of women 
   9. Women in the Revolution - Learn how women helped in the war 
   10. The American Revolution - from MrNussbaum.com
   11. American Revolutionary War Timeline - A chronicle of the Revolution.
2. State and Local Government information on the Internet.
3. Talking History - Talking History, based at the University at Albany, State University of New York, is a radio and aural history production, distribution, and instructional center. An outstanding collection of audio documentaries, speeches, debates, oral histories, conference sessions, commentaries, archival audio sources, and other aural history resources.
4. Tennessee History
   1. Tennessee Blue Book - graphs and charts on State Government; contains information on the makeup of Tennessee state government. It also contains an expansive history section, the constitutions of the United States and Tennessee, the state's symbols and honors, the most recent election returns, and census information.
   2. Tennessee History - lots of links ( 12 pages if printed ) 
   3. Tennessee History Classroom - three pages of links to Tennessee history resources 
   4. Tennessee History for Kids - Learn about Tennessee; people, virtual field trips, history, cultures, economics and more.
5. Then and Now - A Science Odyssey takes you on a journey through the most spectacular 100 years in the history of science and technology. Here's an overview of how our understanding has grown from 1900 to today. Click each topic for greater detail and links that trace our journey from then to now!
   1. Matters of Life and Death; Medicine and Health
   2. Mysteries of the Universe; Physics and Astronomy
   3. In Search of Ourselves; Human Behavior
   4. Bigger, Better, Faster; Technology
   5. Origins; Earth and Life Sciences
6. This Day in History - presented by The History Channel.
7. The Thirties in Print - Ads, documents, people, news, comics and more!
8. The Twentieth Century - See what happened many years ago. 
   1. Do You Remember ? - the 70's, 80's and 90's
9. United States of America - geography and history from MrNussbaum.com
10. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall Page is dedicated to providing the most up to date and accurate information regarding the Names on The Wall in Washington DC.
11. The Valley of the Shadow Project takes two communities, one Northern and one Southern, through the experience of the American Civil War. The project is a hypermedia archive of thousands of sources for the period before, during, and after the Civil War for Augusta County, Virginia, and Franklin County, Pennsylvania
12. Yesterday Toys - See what American children played with throughout the decades. 
13. You Be the Historian - See if you can figure out what life was like 200 years ago for Thomas and Elizabeth Springer's family in New Castle, Delaware. At the same time discover what historians in the next century could learn about you if they found your house exactly the way it is today.
14. We Didn't Start the Fire - an excellent education tool for teachers and students!
15. World War I - multiple links on this topic.
16. World War II - multiple links on this topic
17. World War II Tanks - brief information about many tanks from WW II 

Jewish History

 

1. Anne Frank and children of the Holocaust - Webquest 
2. The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority -Israel's national Holocaust memorial
3. Jews in the Civil War - Jewish-American History on the Web 
4. The Jewish Nature Quiz will test your knowledge of Judaism and awareness of nature. Every month, you can find another nature riddle, mystery or Torah question. 
5. Jewish Pioneers of the west - Jewish Pioneer Women 1850 - 1910 
6. The Jewish Calendar
7. Life in the Shadows: Hidden Children and the Holocaust
8. Project Genesis: "The best site for serious Jewish education on the Internet "
9. Jewish Virtual Library - educational materials on Jewish history and culture
10. Survivors of the Shoah - established in 1994 to collect and preserve the testimonies of Holocaust survivors and other witnesses
11. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum - List of topics related to the Holocaust. Strong Caution: Before using this with any age class, preview thoroughly. Be sure you know what educational objectives you plan to accomplish. There is some really rough stuff here.
12. Voices of the Holocaust - Interviews with survivors communicate more clearly than accounts in textbooks.

World & Ancient History

 

1. Age of Exploration - an online curriculum posted by the Mariner's Museum
2. Akbar's Dilemma - a lesson plan helping students to identify the role religion played in the everyday lives of ordinary Mesopotamians
3. Ancient China - almost two dozen links from Mr. Donn
4. Ancient History -Games to Play
5. General Ancient History & Archaeology - multiple links on this topic
6. Ancient Rome - multiple links on this topic
7. Counting in Babylon
8. Development of Cuneiform -
9. Egypt - Color Me Egypt - "Learn about Egypt's ancient past, as well as some of the most important rulers and other people that made Egypt one of the world's most powerful countries thousands of years ago."
10. Egypt - Links to many resources 
11. Eyewitness to History - Your ringside seat to history - from the Ancient World to the present. History through the eyes of those who lived it.
12. Battle of Hastings 1066 - 300 graphics and photographs, also many maps 
13. General Ancient History & Archaeology
14. Hard Times - Students interact with the different effects of the Industrial Revolution while classifying them as to the historical theme for which they are best suited. They are also asked to make a judgment as to whether the effects are positive or negative.
15. The History and Religion of Ancient Mesopotamia - from 3000 BC until the time of Abraham (~2000 BC)
16. History Journals On-Line - a compilation of links posted by Tennessee Tech 
17. History of Babylonia - from the Quartz Hill School of Theology
18. HyperHistory Online provides an interactive timeline of the last 3000 years of human history.
19. Kidipede - History for kids and homework help for middle school Social Studies
20. Medieval Times
    
    1. Castle Learning Center - Some of the text has quite complex sentence structure and may be challenging for students but the number of topics and the details provided are very good.
    2. Feudal, Medieval and Castle Terms - a glossary
    3. Heraldry Game - Learn about Shields, Knights and Heraldry. Role-play as a young aristocrat, recognizing friends and enemies. Challenging reading for grade 4
    4. Medieval Music - midi music files from the Internet Renaissance Band
    5. Medieval Siege - In the Middle Ages, those who attacked castles used trebuchets, military engines capable of firing missiles with frightening force. At this NOVA web site, view an actual trebuchet and construct and fire one of your own online. Also, find out what other weapons were used and what daily life was like in a medieval castle.
    6. The Middle Ages, Chivalry and Knighthood - multiple links on this subject
21. Mesopotamia
22. Mesopotamia - presented by the British Museum
23. Mesopotamia - many links on this topic; from KidsKonnect
24. Odyssey Online - "an interactive journey through ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, and the Near East; the ancient Americas; and sub-Saharan Africa of the 19th and 20th centuries"
25. The Face of Russia traces the general chronology of Russian culture. This remarkable journey through ten centuries of art, architecture, music, dance and cinema reveals the major events that shaped Russian culture. An excellent time line is provided.
26. The History of Plumbing - Babylonia - from the plumber.com
27. Life in Ancient Egypt - an introduction to The Walton Hall of Ancient Egypt at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. 
28. Life in the Middle Ages - step back in time to the days of imposing castles high on the bluffs, knights in armor defending the kingdom, and noblemen ruling over the serfs - life in the Middle Ages 
29. Magna Carta - read a Translation
30. Middle Ages and Knighthood - a long list of links
31. Military History Encyclopedia on the Web - At the moment, their main strengths are the middle ages, the First World War, the Seven Years War and the Thirty Years War, but they are expanding their coverage every week, especially in the Napoleonic Wars and the Crimean War.
32. The Odyssey of Alexander the Great - animation from birth to death (also see the Odyssey in the form of a large map )
33. The Renaissance - multiple links on this subject.
34. The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World - 
35. Western Civilization - multiple links on this subject
36. World History Archives - documents to support the study of world history from a working-class and non-Eurocentric perspective
37. World History
    1. The Ancient World
    2. 6th - 15th Centuries
    3. 16th - 19th Centuries
    4. 1901 - World War II
    5. 1945 - 21st Century
    6. Maps
38. World History Sources - classroom teachers discuss teaching with primary sources
39. You Wouldn't Want to be...
    1. an Egyptian Mummy! - You are a wealthy ancient Egyptian on the point of death and you want to make yourself immortal. To achieve this, you will have to go through the expensive and complicated process of becoming a mummy. Get ready, as you are about to...drop dead.
    2. a Polar Explorer! - Get ready...as a brave young sailor looking for adventure, you are about to join Ernest Shackleton's expedition to icy Antarctica as a polar explorer.
    3. a Roman Gladiator! - Will you live or die after your first fight as a Roman gladiator? Find out what fate awaits you on your journey to the arena
    4. on the Whaling Ship Essex - As a 14-year old cabin boy, you are about to begin your first voyage aboard the whaling ship Essex. What you don't know is that the ship is heading for a disastrous encounter with a giant sperm whale.

World War II

1. American Aircraft of World War II - This is a reference site with photos, data, and info on all American aircraft designed or used in World War II.
2. The History Place has a timeline with photos and text of World War II in Europe
3. U S Troops in Action - selected battle photos, 1942-1945
4. Ultimate Guide to World War 2 Records
5. World War II Commemoration from Grolier Online - World War II ended on September 2, 1945 with the formal surrender of Japan aboard the US battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the war, Grolier has put together what they believe to be the definitive collection of World War II historical materials on the Web. 
6. World War II Resources - Primary source materials on the Web, original documents regarding all aspects of the war