General US History Resources
  • Library of Congress Exhibits ...interactive multimedia learning experiences; current and past exhibits, such as "Women Come to the Front" and the "African American Mosaic" to name a few. Great site!
  • History Buff ...US events in history with extensive searchable database; history crossword puzzles, historic voices library, etc.
  • Creating Online Materials for Teaching US History ...includes a series of posters, documents, photographs, and political cartoons arranged chronologically through US History. Great source for multimedia!
  • History Matters ...The American Social History Project has created this awesome site that includes instructional materials, primary documents, discussion groups, and the digital classroom which has ready to use web lessons. Lastly, it has an extensive links page which is sorted by US history topics.
  • History Channel ...companion to TV network that "features historical documentaries, movies, and miniseries;" also includes hotlist of history links
  • Biography ..."searchable online database puts 15,000 of the greatest names, past and present, at your fingertips"
  • Thomas ..."searches Early Congressional Documents (including the Declaration of Independence), the Federalist Papers, the Constitution including the Bill of Rights and other Amendments"
  • History Catalog ..."consists of a single large file offering over 1900 connections arranged alphabetically and by subject name"
  • US History Links ...a great list of links to US History sites including the Civil War, Native American, etc.
  • President ... a megasite on Presidents..."bringing Presidential Libraries' materials to the internet for improved public access."
  • The Constitution Community ..."a partnership between classroom teachers and education specialists from the NARA. We are developing lessons and activities that address constitutional issues, correlate to national academic standards, and encourage the analysis of primary source documents. The lessons that have been developed are arranged according to historical era."
  • Primary Sources and Activities ..."This page contains 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."
  • Using Primary Sources in the Classroom ..."Suggestions for using primary sources were compiled from the National Digital Library's Educators' Forum."

Unit 1: Initiatory Experiences

 BCPS Indicators:

  • analyze historical events in order to propose major recurring themes for the study of United States History
  • analyze the Declaration of Independence in order to form generalizations regarding issues confronting the new national government
Thomas ..."searches Early Congressional Documents (including the Declaration of Independence), the Federalist Papers, the Constitution including the Bill of Rights and other Amendments"

Unit 2: Early National Period

BCPS Indicators:

  • analyze constitutional questions in order to evaluate the role of government during the early national period
  • analyze the United States economy in order to determine causal relationships regarding economic stability and growth
  • analyze conditions for selected groups in order to evaluate the degree to which protections of rights were extended
  • analyze international events and foreign policy in order to propose an appropriate world role for the United States
  • Archiving Early America ...."main focus is primary source material from 18th Century America"
  • A Roadmap to the U.S. Constitution ...a Web Quest (sponsored by Think Quest) about the Constitution; directs students to the origins, creation, controversial issues, and cases involving the Constitution
  • Monticello ...This national historic landmark home of President Jefferson provides a wealth of information on one of our nation's greatest presidents.

Unit 3: Jacksonian Democracy

BCPS Indicators:

  • analyze political developments in order to determine changing expectations of government's role
  • investigate the impacts of technology and expanding economic opportunity in order to assess their effects on sectional differences
  • analyze attitudes toward social concerns and issues in order to determine their impacts on a multicultural, multiracial society
  • analyze Manifest Destiny in order to evaluate its impact on relationships with other nations

Unit 4: Civil War and Reconstruction

BCPS Indicators:

  • analyze policies regarding the Civil War and Reconstruction in order to evaluate political actions and institutions during times of crises
  • analyze economic conditions during the Civil War in order to determine interrelationships between war and the economy
  • investigate conditions for African Americans following the Civil War in order to evaluate governmental and societal commitments to issues of equality

The Story of Africa ...a superb site from the BBC; an interactive multimedia learning site on all aspects of African history, such as, Islam, West African Kingdoms, Slavery, and Imperialism. A must see!

Africans in America ...an interactive multimedia learning site from PBS.

The African American Mosaic ...a megasite on African Americans from the Library of Congress; great navigation, excellent images, primary resources, subdivided by topic. Includes ex slave narratives.

What was the Middle Passage? ...a quick synopsis of the journey from Africa to the new world.

Middle Passage History ...a wonderful chronology of the Middle Passage with excellent images.

Been Here So Long ...interviews with more than 2000 former slaves; great primary source material!

The Gettysburg Address ...an exhibit from the Library of Congress; great interactive site with images

Civil War Photographs ...a Library of Congress exhibit with tons of images!

American Civil War Home Page ..."The American Civil War Home Page gathers together in one place hypertext links to the most useful identified electronic files about the American Civil War."

Dakota State University-The Civil War ...This is the best site to access academic links to sub topics on the Civil War. Information that is hard to find through a normal search engine can be found here. The topics are balanced between the Union and Confederacy.

Reconstruction ...Are you looking for the other viewpoint of Reconstruction? Southerners for Southerners wrote this information shortly after the end of the Civil War. This site expresses Southern opinion about the reflections of war, the reconstruction plans of the government, the racial question, and reunification.

The Making of America ...This is a digitized library collection of journals, books, and images of the antebellum South through Reconstruction in the United States. The home page directs you to search or browse for the journal or articles of your choice from the time period in our nation where division among neighbors was rampant.

Impeachment of Andrew Johnson ...This site allows the user through the trial proceedings of Andrew Johnson. Harper's Weekly a leading media of the time chronicles the issues, arguments, and player's in the impeachment trial.

A Quest for Freedom ...a great site from the Smithsonian Institute and Herbert Ruffin that provides a plethora of links on topics ranging from "Black Cowboys" to "Reconstruction and its Aftermath"


Unit 5: Response to Industrialism

BCPS Indicators:

  • analyze industrialization in order to evaluate its effects on the economy
  • investigate conditions for immigrants and minorities in order to determine the degree to which they could participate in opportunities presented by industrialization
  • examine government responses to industrialization in order to evaluate its responsiveness to economic and social issues
  • Encyclopedia.com ...articles related to the Industrial Revolution
  • Encarta.com ....synopsis of the Industrial Revolution, great photos in the media gallery.
  • The Richest Man in the World- Andrew Carnegie ..Life in the Gilded Age was gilded by non-other than Andrew Carnegie. This web page explores that era in America's heritage. The time period emphasizes the impact of Carnegie and the Steel Company on the lifestyle of many Americans. The site is supplemented by a PBS series on the time period.
  • The History Place- Child Labor In America ...This site is a photo gallery to life for children in 1908-1912. The photos illustrate the child labor conditions that many have suffered through a variety of jobs. The site also includes a glimpse into the family life and pastimes of these and other children at the turn of the century.

Unit 6: Imperialism, World War I, and the Aftermath

BCPS Indicators:

  • analyze United States' foreign policy from 1890 - 1919 in order to evaluate consequences of global power
  • investigate the role of government during World War I in order to evaluate its expansion of powers during times of crisis
  • analyze the experiences of minorities and women during World War I in order to evaluate its impact on their economic, social, and political conditions
  • White Man's Burden ...the famous Kipling poem, the many responses to it, as well as many images; great primary sources
  • Encyclopedia of the First World War ....a great Spartacus site with lots of information. Ignore the ad banners and scroll to the bottom of the page.
  • The Great War ...a MPT site that offers interactive time lines, interviews, maps and locations, etc.
  • HistoryWiz.com - The Great War ...an interactive multimedia learning site about World War I; featured in MacWorld as one of the five best sites on the Internet
  • Trenches on the Web ...a site on WWI; difficult to navigate but contains great photos. Be sure to all the way down on the home page.
  • The Great War ...an interactive multimedia learning site from the UK; fascinating section on the trenches
  • Zimmerman Telegram ...Scroll down and check out the images of the coded and decoded telegram. Neat!
  • The Treaty of Versailles ..."Excellent information relating to Versailles from BBC History. Questions are posed at the beginning of the page that are clearly and plainly answered in useful detail." They also have another Treaty of Versailles site, with the same information, that is similar to Power Point. The second one is more linear. Both have quizzes at the end.
  • Paris Peace Conference ...a problem-based WebQuest that would be great for advanced classes
  • "The Age of Imperialism" ...The purpose of this tie is to explore the United States expansion in the late 19th and early 20th century. This site provides detailed, readable information for students on Pacific expansion, the Spanish American War, the "Maine," the Boxer Rebellion, and the Panama Canal.
  • Anti-Imperialism in the United States 1898-1935 ...Domestic concerns kept many people from wishing to broaden the U.S. borders in the imperialistic era. The web page allows the exploration of primary and secondary sources of the time that illustrate the anti-imperialistic sentiment held by many Americans.
  • The Great War and Shaping American History ...The Great War provides a comprehensive site to America's first engagement in W.W.I. Encompassed in this site are maps, interviews, and an interactive time line.
  • W.W.I- Document Archive ...This is a collection of primary source documents from W.W.I. It presents a global perspective to the war from the volunteers of the W.W.I Military History List.

Unit 7: The 1920s and 1930s

BCPS Indicators:

  • analyze the expanding economy of the 1920s in order to evaluate the government's economic policies
  • analyze government's response to the Great Depression in order to evaluate the subsequent redefinition of government
  • examine the status of minorities and levels of tolerance between the world wars in order to determine the period's prevailing attitudes towards a diverse society
  • examine foreign relations during the 1920s and 1930s in order to evaluate motives behind global interrelationships
  • New Deal Network ..."In October, 1996, the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute (FERI) launched The New Deal Network (NDN), a research and teaching resource on the World Wide Web devoted to the public works and arts projects of the New Deal...NDN seeks to make the most of the interactive, communications and publication capacities of the Internet."
  • New York Times Headlines ...headlines from the crash of 1929
  • The 1929 Stock Market Crash ...an interactive guide to the crash of 1929
  • Tales from the Rails ...an interactive multimedia learning site from PBS. Focuses on 1929 crash, railroads, homelessness, and economics
  • The Great Depression ...an overview of the Great Depression from World Book Online
  • Red Hot Jazz: Music Literature and Culture ...a fabulous WebQuest on the Jazz Age
  • A Quest for Freedom ...a great site from the Smithsonian Institute and Herbert Ruffin that provides a plethora of links on topics ranging from "Black Cowboys" to "Reconstruction and its Aftermath"
  • The American Immigration Page ...The Statue of Liberty extends her waiting arms welcoming people to America shores, however their were times in our nation's history were actual Americans were not so welcoming. This site explores the immigration of people to the United States by reason, ethnic groups, method, destination, and time period in history.
  • The 1920s ...Were the 1920s the roaring twenties or the boring twenties? This web site of the time includes contrasting views over the decade in which America rose to new heights of prosperity only to be sunk into bitter despair. Essential features of the site are the time line, the people, and trend descriptions.
  • Temperance & Prohibition ...provides insight into a turbulent time in American history
  • FDR Library and Museum ...This is the nation's first presidential library, maintained by the National Archives. It contains many documents of FDR's political career.
  • The Great Depression and the 1990s ...web lessons that examine the Great Depression and connect it with current government policies; from the Library of Congress

Unit 8: World War II and the Cold War

BCPS Indicators:

  • analyze the United States' roles in World War II in order to determine its impact on our system of government, conditions for minorities, our economic conditions, and our role in the world
  • analyze the Cold War in order to determine its impact on domestic and foreign policy
  • World War II Webquests ...Great WebQuests on Pearl Harbor, D-Day, Atomic Bomb,etc.; in addition, great resources throughout, including interactive biographies from WWII veterans
  • World War II Links...links to web resources on WW II
  • World War II time line ...a fabulous site that is can be viewed by date or topic. Be sure to scroll down to view great photographs and find further links and resources. A must see!
  • The Home Front: 1939 - 1945 ...an interactive multimedia learning site from the UK; offers video clips, images, primary sources, concise summaries, activities, etc.
  • Germany: 1900 - 1945 ...contains information about Germany sorted by topic. Ignore the ad banners and be sure to scroll all the way down.
  • Pearl Harbor Remembered ...information on the attack, the USS Arizona, maps, time lines, and links to World War II archives
  • Women Come to the Front ...an interactive multimedia learning site from the Library of Congress exhibits
  • Truman's Decision to Drop the Bomb ...an inquiry-based WebQuest from the UK
  • Fiftieth Anniversary of the Marshall Plan ...a self-guided look back at the Marshall Plan; primarily text based
  • Cold War Webquest...a fabulous WebQuest created by the Smithsonian; great for advanced classes. Even if you skip the WebQuest, check out the resources page which has great links about the Cold War.
  • HistoryWiz.com - The Cold War...an interactive multimedia learning site about the Cold War; featured in MacWorld as one of the five best sites on the Internet
  • Lesson Plan ...a sample lesson on the Cold War, specifically Eisenhower's personal diplomacy with Khrushchev
  • Red Files ...an interactive multimedia learning site created by PBS
  • The Cold War Museum ...a Cold War MEGASITE. One-stop shopping on the Cold War. Interactive, great multimedia, great navigation. Images are wonderful!
  • Atomic Bomb: Decision --Hiroshima and Nagasaki ..."documents on the decision to use the atomic bomb reproduced in full-text form"
  • Korean War ...a great site all about the Korean War
  • The History Place- WWII ...This site analyzes a tumultuous time in world history. The user can examine a time line, information, and photos of W.W.II.
  • The Tuskegee Airmen ...This site demonstrates the realities of racial segregation in the armed forces. The Tuskegee Airmen were established for blacks to prove their commitment and ability to support the Allied forces during the war.
  • Japanese Interment ...offers information to help us understand the causes and impact of the Japanese Interment in the U.S.; links to additional references are readily available
  • CourtTV online: A Look Back at Nuremberg ...provides a look at the Nuremberg war crime trial
  • The Cold War ...links to a variety of sources and information on the the Cold War and the National Security State
  • Fourteen Days in October: The Cuban Missile Crisis ...This site you must see! Fourteen Days in October covers the the causes, buildup, discovery, secrecy, and conclusion of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Elements included are maps, photos, an operation center, briefing room, debriefing room, and a situation room.
  • Blacklisted ...a great site that has resources and essays on McCarthyism
  • Holocaust Memorial Museum ..."America's national institution for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust history, and serves as this country's memorial to the millions of people murdered during the Holocaust."
    • Students can visit both of their learning sites, Holocaust Learning Center and A Learning Site for Students, which are organized by theme; both sites use text, historical photographs, maps, images of artifacts, and audio clips to provide an overview of the Holocaust.
    • Or they can complete Online Activities that are ready to go (these would be great homework assignments.)
    • Teachers can receive view support materials, etc. on the teacher page. Or you can order a FREE print materials from the museum by completing this form.
    • Save some time and plan a field trip via the web!

Unit 9: Recent America

BCPS Indicators:

  • analyze the civil rights and civil liberties movements in order to evaluate the United States' responses to the challenges and opportunities of a pluralistic society
  • investigate economic conditions in order to analyze economic issues and challenges
  • analyze policy and political issues in order to form generalizations regarding current roles of government
  • analyze recent foreign policy decisions in order to determine an appropriate role for the United States in the world
  • tergate and the Constitution..."A 1974 memorandum from the Watergate Special Prosecution Force weighs the pros and cons of seeking an indictment against former President Richard Nixon. These materials are from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) website."
  • Teach Vietnam ...This site was created by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund; it offers materials for students and teachers and a virtual look at the wall.
  • JFK Online ...extensive links to information, text, photos on John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
  • A Quest for Freedom ...a great site from the Smithsonian Institute and Herbert Ruffin that provides a plethora of links on topics ranging from "Black Cowboys" to "Reconstruction and its Aftermath"
  • National Civil Rights Museum ...This online museum contains descriptions of events and history of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. There is also a virtual tour available.