Digital History
Digital History: United States Timeline
Explores U.S. history starting in 1590 showing the events that occurred in the country over someone's life span. Move the meter at the bottom to get information about each time period.
Digital History
Digital History: The Emergence of New Ideas About Personal Liberties
American colonists expected to have "English rights" as supported by the Magna Carta and the English Bill of Rights. See how these rights were applied in the trial of John Peter Zenger, whose acquittal reflected the right of freedom of...
Digital History
Digital History: The Growth of the American Economy
A brief look at why the American economy boomed across the country after the War of 1812. Read about the industrialization, expansion of transportation, and improved farming techniques.
Digital History
Digital History: Early Industrialization
Advances in technology affected manufacturing in the North and farming in the South. Read about how America turned from a country where most products were made in the home to an economic power that used factory production.
Digital History
Digital History: Prosperity: Fact or Myth [Pdf]
Find the reasons for the booming economy in the United States in the 1920s. Can the seeds for the Great Depression be seen in the fruit of the economy? [pdf]
Digital History
Digital History: Paper Money and Shays' Rebellion [Pdf]
A very good explantion of the frustration and desperation felt by farmers not only in Massachusttetts but throughout the new United States as states attempted to collect taxes in order to pay off war debts. Daniel Shays and his men were...
Digital History
Digital History: Vietnamization [Pdf]
Richard Nixon claimed to have a secret plan to end the Vietnam War when he was campaigning for president in 1968. See what that secret plan was and read about how it extended the war by another four years and galvanized anti-war...
Digital History
Digital History: The Tet Offensive [Pdf]
Read about the Tet Offensive in the Vietnam War and the resulting escalation of American troops committed to the war. This led to increased American protest against the war, and President Johnson's decision not to run for re-election....
Digital History
Digital History: Conservative Policies and Presidents [Pdf]
Starting in 1920 the United States had three presidents who followed conservative policies. Read about their policies, and determine whether they made the U.S. a more economically sound country. [pdf]
Digital History
Digital History: New Deal Programs [Pdf]
Here's an exercise in which students use data provided about possible New Deal programs and lets them decide which are economically feasible and helpful as a way to address the Great Depression. Use the provided chart to keep track of...
Digital History
Digital History: The Farmer and the Depression [Pdf]
One of the first laws passed in Franklin Roosevelt's first hundred days was the Agricultural Adjustment Act. Read about how it helped farmers in crisis. and how it was the forerunner of the federal farm program in existence today. [pdf]
Digital History
Digital History: The African American as Sharecropper [Pdf]
After reading about the system of sharecropping or tenant farming for the African American in the South, look at poverty statistics for African Americans vs. whites between 1960 and 1990. Is there a corelation between the sharecropping...
Digital History
Digital History: Rockefeller's Millions [Pdf]
With the discovery of oil in Pennsylvania in the mid 1800s brought a boom to the economy. Read about the beginning of the oil industry, and particularly, John D. Rockefeller's role in it. See how his control of many parts of the...
Digital History
Digital History: The Transformation of the Rural Countryside
Read about the household industries that provided work and hard currency for farm families in the early 1800s. Find out why these industries declined within 30 years.
Digital History
Digital History: American Transcendentalism
A detailed look at the philosophy behind American Transcendalism, and a discussion of many of those who practiced it.
Digital History
Digital History: What Caused the Depression [Pdf]
Look at the factors that led to the Great Depression.The site begins with a narrative about a toy company that went bankrupt which highlights some causes of the Depression, and discusses the flow of goods and services through an economy....
Digital History
Digital History: Popular Culture During the Great Depression
A great description of the tension in popular culture during the Great Depression with a focus on tradition abutting modernism in the arts and architecture. Read about the new comic book and radio superheroes, and commonality in American...
Digital History
Digital History: Jobs Programs
The major aspect of the Great Depression was the rampant unemployment. Read about the many jobs programs that were part of the New Deal that provided employment for millions of needy Americans.
Digital History
Digital History: Why It Happened
How did a country with such a booming economy in the 1920s sink into economic disaster in the 1930s? Prosperity was just an illusion. See the many causes of the Great Depression, and find out how all the signs were missed or disregarded.
Digital History
Digital History: Articles of Confederation
A good look at the government under the Articles of Confederation. See what powers the central government had, the powers of the state governments, and discover the problems that ensued.
Digital History
Digital History: Amending the Constitution
The Constitution can be amended, but it is tough to do. Read about the routes that can be taken to add amendments and look at some of the amendments that have succeeded.
Digital History
Digital History: Why Has the Constitution Survived?
Has the U.S. Constitution survived partly because it is so brief? See how the Constitution has changed through judicial interpretation, but stays remarkably the same.
Digital History
Digital History: Defining the Presidency
George Washington, as the first president, molded the office in a way that served as a model for later leaders. Read about the precedents he set forth
Digital History
Digital History: Alexander Hamilton's Financial Program
Young Alexander Hamilton was the first Secretary of the Treasury. Read about his ideas for reducing the huge national debt, and see how his views of the nation and national government were so different from Thomas Jefferson's.