Was the United States significantly more democratic in their governing structures and laws after the overthrow of British authorities? Compare and contrast summaries of the country's constitutions under British rule and after...

Should Americans provide compensation to those whose ancestors suffered from slavery? Read and analyze the arguments of two modern-day journalists on the topic. Then, have a discussion on both the merits of the arguments as well as what...

When studying the slave trade in early American and world history, use this document to expose your learners to the abhorrent conditions that existed on slave ships. Read through two first-person accounts of the enslavement process,...

There were two methods of protesting discrimination of African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement: follow Martin Luther King, Jr. or Malcolm X. Find out about the Black Panther Party, Black Nationalism, and Black Power.

In March 1953, Joseph Stalin, who had ruled the Soviet Union since 1928, died at the age of 73. His feared minister of internal affairs, Lavrenti Pavlovich Beria, was subsequently shot for treason. Nikita Khrushchev then became first...

In Europe, there was less violence in the half century following World War II then in almost any previous period of modern European history. Yet outside of Europe and North America, violent conflict became commonplace. In the decades...

Beginning with George Washington, presidents have used their farewell address to look back on their experience in office and to offer the public practical advice. In his farewell address, President Dwight D. Eisenhower said that a high...

In 1959, rebel leader Fidel Castro toppled Cuban dictator Fugencio Batista. In Washington, Castro told U.S. officials that "The [Cuban] movement is not a Communist movement. We have no intention of expropriating U.S. property, and any...

In October 1962, the Soviet Union and the United States went eyeball-to-eyeball and were on the brink of nuclear war. Surveillance photographs taken by a U-2 spy plane over Cuba revealed that the Soviet Union was installing...

Senator Joseph McCarthy did not create the national obsession with communist subversion. It had arisen in the late 1930s, years before McCarthy had come to public notice. Angry that they had been barred from the corridors of power for 20...

Secondary source information on the Trial of Alger Hiss.

In February 1950, Senator Joseph R. McCarthy had charged that the Department of State knowingly harbored Communists. Hearings on McCarthy's accusations were held under the chairmanship of Senator Millard Tydings of Maryland. The...

In the 1930s, the Communist Party and associated organizations attracted the support of a glittering array of novelists, screenwriters, critics, and artists. Within the Communist Party, these individuals had found comradeship,...

Margaret Chase Smith was the first woman elected to both houses of Congress. She was the first woman to enter the Senate without being appointed to the position. During World War II, she was the only civilian woman to go to sea in a Navy...

In May 1950, at the very moment that Senator Joseph McCarthy was beginning his crusade against communist subversion, the U.S. Senate created a special committee to investigate another "enemy within": organized crim

Some 150,000 Americans have served in the Peace Corps since it was formed in 1961. Peace Corps volunteers live and work for two years in communities in the developing world. They must learn the languages of the people they serve. They...

In October 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the world's first artificial satellite. The 184-pound, 22.5-inch sphere orbited the earth once every 96 minutes. Sputnik transmitted radio signals for 21 days and later burned up in...

On the morning of March 7, 1949, builder William J. Levitt opened a sales office for a new development of inexpensive single-family homes in a potato field in the center of Long Island's Nassau County. In bitter-cold weather, more than a...

In 1956, President Dwight Eisenhower authorized the largest public works project in the history of the world. The president had been impressed by Hitler's autobahns and believed that a national system of highways was necessary to move...

The Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I set the stage for increased world conflict because of the crushing reparations required of Germany. See how Adolf Hitler, over a series of years, used opposition to the terms of the treaty...

This is a very extensive look at the Yalta Conference. Find the problems addressed at the conference, the enumerated possible solutions, the positions each of the Big Three leaders held, and the actual results of the conference. Included...

A charismatic demagogue, Joe McCarthy grew up on a Wisconsin farm and attended a one-room schoolhouse. While still a teenager, he established a thriving business as a chicken farmer. He dropped out of school after eighth grade, but...

This lesson plan is from a unit on events leading to the American revolution. It highlights the Stamp Act, and the British concept of 'virtual representation' where a member of government was believed to represent every citizen, not just...

The impostition of the Stamp Act hit a nerve with the English colonists. Read about the many forms of protest against the act from the primary sources provided. Think about whether the repeal of the Stamp Act was a Pyrrhic victory in...