General
Great link for the whole year!
Wonderful huge site: Atlas of the 20th Century.
Another massive site with Primary Source materials: teacher’s use, probably, initially, although you’ll use it to find sites for your children. If they want to read the originals, here they are!
All ages will love this site on US Government. This site transcends unit boundaries. It’s GREAT!
The Story of Mankind by Hendrik Van Loon is now online: read from the screen or print to your heart’s content.
Eyewitness History is GREAT! It has first-hand accounts, graphics, and a wonderfully user-friendly interface. Bookmark today and use it all four years! I recommend that you start by clicking on “index” and then scroll through, noting upcoming topics in your Year-Plan! Enjoy!
Have you chosen the Spielvogel books as a spine? If so, click here to find more teaching helps! To navigate through this site, you’ll want to click on the picture of your text, or one similar, to find interactive quizzes, internet activities, and more!
Use this site for great pictures when making lapbooks.
Have Fun with History: Excellent resource of videos, people and event timelines, and activities!
Timelines
- Timeline Book Instructions
- Timeline Maker
- All the time line links you could ever need for this year.
- Timeline (and much more!) of Presidents of the 20th Century. Check it out!
- Interactive Technology Timeline from PBS. GREAT!
Presidents:
- Do you want pictures only? Click here for a picture gallery.
- Another excellent site for studying the Presidents: POTUS (Presidents of the United States)
- Coloring pages of every president for your Lower Grammar kids.
- Site for inaugural addresses of the presidents.
- Presidential Powers
Unit 1 – Casting Off the Moorings
General Resources for this Unit
- You might want to start by having your oldest students read this selection on “How to Read a History Assignment”.
- A site on fashions from 1900-1910.
Week 1: Dawn of the Twentieth Century
- For review, you might want to look over this excellent site on the Spanish-American War.
- This link is from The Henry Ford museum site.
- Another wonderful PBS site with ideas you could use if you wanted to study this century through the eyes of the history of aviation. Here are the Wright Brothers!
- Beautiful, detailed site from PBS on Teddy Roosevelt. Includes: link to video you can buy (its script is posted on the site) and free video clips you can click to and view on your computer. Plus: excerpts from key speeches, texts of several important letters, the 1912 Progressive Party platform, a link to a full, free copy of The Rough Riders, and more links to other sites connected with TR!
- Booker T. & W.E.B. An interesting comparison of strategy for black social and economic progress. Look for a bias.
- Helen Keller biography. Scroll down to find another link to lots of pictures of Miss Keller.
- Theodore Roosevelt
- Queen Victoria
- Edward VII
- Mother Jones
- J.P. Morgan
- Booker T. Washington
- George Eastman
- Max Planck
- Guglielmo Marconi
- Willis Carrier
- Wilbur Wright
- Orville Wright
- Henry Ford
- For your mini-report project:
A Nation Rises (1700s-1840)
- The Louisiana Purchase: great info, video clips, and additional links. Includes Lewis and Clark and westward expansion links too.
- Early technological developments and a timeline of events.
- The Erie Canal
The Century of Iron (1844-1859)
- Invention of the telegraph
- The U.S. – Mexican War and its aftermath.
- The age of Victoria
- Political turmoil in 1848
- Darwinism and Social Darwinism
- A Nation Torn and Reborn (1860-1869)
- The Civil War: summary of the war
- Homesteaders and sodbusters
- The age of the cowboy: click here and here
- Completion of the Atlantic Cable and Union Pacific
Through the Golden Door (1870-1899)
- Inventing: the age of electricity .
- Freud explores the unconscious
- Booker T. Washington and black progress.
- American literature
- The Indian Wars
- The immigrant experience
- War with Spain
Significant Milestones (1900-1902)
- Technology: George Eastman
- The Boxer Rebellion
- Physics: Max Planck
- Invention of the radio.
- End of Victorian age: Victoria’s death and rise of King Edward VII.
- The Second Boer War (Anglo-Boer War): click here and here.
- Building urban America: Andrew Carnegie, Willis Carrier
Week 2: The Progressive Era
- Hawaiian history
- Link to many aspects of Hawaiian culture.
- Beautiful, detailed site from PBS on Teddy Roosevelt. Includes: link to video you can buy (its script is posted on the site) and free video clips you can click to and view on your computer. Plus: excerpts from key speeches, texts of several important letters, the 1912 Progressive Party platform, a link to a full, free copy of The Rough Riders, and more links to other sites connected with TR!
- PBS site on Harry Houdini.
- After reading about Father Damien, listed under Church History, read about the disease of leprosy, and the ongoing missionary work among those stricken with leprosy.
- Panama Canal history, books, and pictures!
- Wonderful site for all ages on the Panama Canal. Keep following links to history and photos!
- Live camera on the Miraflores Locks of the Panama Canal!
- A meaty, simple site with some pictures and much information on the Panama Canal.
- Halley’s Comet
- Theodore Roosevelt
- William Taft
- Henry Ford
- W.E.B. Du Bois
- Wilbur Wright
- Orville Wright
- Sigmund Freud
- Albert Einstein
- John Arthur “Jack” Johnson: biography and documentary
- Sun Yat-sen
- William D’Arcy: his company Anglo-Persian Oil Company [[the william D’arcy link is for Haley’s Comet?]]
- Jane Addams
- WWI: general sites for the 4-week study, all levels:
- PBS on the Great War
- firstworldwar.com has articles and multimedia resources
Week 3: Wilson’s Reforms & Europe’s War
- Actual pictures of a U-boat sinking a merchant marine vessel.
- General purpose site with much wonderful information on WWI.
- U-boats of WWI
- Interactive web site featuring an overview of the history and organization of the Federal Reserve, the monetary policy and regulatory functions, and the services provided to depository institutions. Site also includes interactive simulations with ways to test knowledge, such as quizzes and a virtual Bank examination
- Visit the mystical world of the Fed and talk about terms like monetary policy, discount rates, and open market operation. We’ll find out just what kinds of tasks fill Alan Greenspan’s day, and see how his and the Federal Reserve Board’s decisions affect our everyday lives
- Woodrow Wilson
- Victoriano Huerta
- Venustiano Carranza: click here and here
- Pancho Villa
- Franz Ferdinand
- Wilhelm II
- Nicholas II
- Alfred von Schlieffen
- Helmuth von Moltke
- Joseph Joffre
- Paul Von Hindenburg
- Erich Ludendorff
- Margaret Sanger
- Edward VII
Week 4: Deadlock and Death
- Charles Lindbergh
- Posters from the Great War
- Erich von Falkenhayn
- Joseph Joffre
- Douglas Haig
- Alexei Brusilov
- Nicholas II
- Alexandra Feodorovna
- Rasputin
- Vladimir Lenin
- Ferdinand von Zeppelin
- Manfred von Richthofen
- Edith Cavell
- Alexei Brusilov
- Marxist Socialism
Week 5: America Mobilizes & Russia Revolts
- Review Russian history up to the Russian Revolution. This page is especially good for those who are new to Tapestry in Year 4.
- Large site devoted to organizing links connected with the Russian Revolution. Primary source documents, maps, biographies–it’s all here! Parental screening advised, since I’m sure there must be some pro-Marxist sites included.
- Direct link to helpful time line on the above site.
- Joe DiMaggio
- Woodrow Wilson
- Manfred von Richthofen
- Robert Nivelle
- Vladimir Lenin
- Alexander Kerensky
- John Pershing
- William Sims
- Sir Douglas Haig
- Nicholas II
Week 6: Winning the War & Losing the Peace
- Read about the Influenza epidemic during WWI that claimed more lives at home than the war did overseas
- Woodrow Wilson
- David Lloyd George
- Georges Clemenceau
- Vittorio Orlando
- Erich Ludendorff
- Ferdinand Foch
- John Pershing
- Wilhelm II
- Rupert Brooke
- Siegfried Sassoon
- Wilfred Owen
Week 7: Postwar America
- Spirit of St. Louis
- Alexander Mitchell Palmer
- Sigmund Freud
- Elizabeth Cady Stanton
- Lucretia Mott
- Susan B. Anthony
- Lucy Stone
- Carrie Chapman Catt
- Harriot Stanton Blatch
- Alice Paul
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Week 8: America’s Roaring 20’s & Russia’s Stalin
- Joseph Stalin
- Vladimir Lenin
- Leon Trotsky
- Warren Harding
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Warren G. Harding
- Eleanor Roosevelt
- Louis Armstrong
- Duke Ellington
- George Gershwin
- Langston Hughes
Week 9: American Ballyhoo & Hitler’s Early Career
- Great Depression: Riding the Rails
- Great Depression: Questions for an interview with a Senior adult
- Great web site with tons of resources on Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.
- The Dust Bowl of the 1930s
- Babe Ruth
- Calvin Coolidge
- Adolf Hitler
- Heinrich Himmler
- Hermann Goering
- Julius Streicher
- Ernst Roehm
- Charles Lindbergh
- William Jennings Bryan
- Clarence Darrow
- Benito Mussolini
- Robert Goddard
- Edwin Hubble
- Charlie Chaplin
- Jack Dempsey
- John Scopes
- For the dialectic study of Mussolini: Benito Mussolini
- For the dialectic study of Mussolini: Encyclopedia Britannica on Benito Mussolini (Italian dictator)
Unit 2 – Depression and Destruction
General Resources for this Unit
- Detailed site on WWII
- WWII timeline
- Outstanding index of sites dealing with WWII. Heavily hyper linked text and a joy to use.
Week 10: Bull Market and Black Market
- Excellent online biography of Adolph Hitler. Detailed and interesting!
- Outstanding site on the Hitler Youth.
- Scopes Trial
- Great web site with tons of resources on Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony
- The Hoover Dam
- Walt Disney, the man behind the mouse.
- Herbert Hoover
Week 11: Crash! The Great Depression in America
- The Dust Bowl
- Great Depression: Riding the Rails
- Time’s Man of the Year: Stalin! In 1942!
- Life of Joseph Stalin
- Facism (* website artwork features modern art statues that may be nudes) and How Facism Works
- Radio broadcast of the Hindenburg disaster.
- Herbert Hoover
Week 12: FDR and the New Deal
- Beautiful, detailed site from PBS on FDR. Includes: link to video you can buy (its script is posted on the site) and free video clips you can click to and view on your computer. Plus: excerpts from key speeches, texts of several important letters, and more links to other sites connected with FDR
- Eleanor Roosevelt
- Wonderful, detailed biography of FDR, with MANY MANY hyper links to subtopics associated with FDR’s life and presidency. Dialectic and up! Great if you want to follow subtopics you get interested in this week.
- Great links to further reading on FDR
- Fireside chat transcripts
- Listen to people talking about their experiences during the Depression
- For your dialectic assignment: John Maynard Keynes
- For your dialectic assignment: Learn about the Keynesian Theory
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
- Social Security Board (SSB)
- Federal Housing (Authority) Administration (FHA)
- Federal Communications Commission
Week 13: Aggression and Appeasement
- Excellent online biography of Adolph Hitler. Detailed and interesting! Read Part 2: The Triumph of Hitler this week.
- Listen to Bing Crosby’s Little Drummer Boy.
- Outstanding highly hyper linked page on Neville Chamberlain. This page will give you MUCH valuable information that is not available in enrichment books recommended for this week. Please take some time to follow hyper links that interest you, or are terms/events about which you know very little. This site is highly recommended.
- This link on the policy of appeasement from the above page is HIGHLY recommended reading this week, especially the primary source quotes at the bottom. In reading them you will gain valuable insight into WHY this policy was followed.
- Outline of Hitler’s maneuvers Leading up to the Munich Crisis. Wonderful original audio clips from various world leaders including the leaders of Britain (Chamberlain), Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Germany (Hitler).
- Neville Chamberlain is often quoted (and belittled) for his famous statement that his appeasement of Hitler over Czechoslovakia at the Munich Conference had earned Europe “peace in our time.” To read the text of his ironic statement, click here
- Official Amelia Earhart site, or read about her last flight here.
- Corrie ten Boom
- For the dialectic study of Mussolini: Benito Mussolini
- For the dialectic study of Mussolini: Encyclopedia Britannica on Benito Mussolini (Italian dictator)
Week 14: Blitzkrieg!
- Neville Chamberlain declares war on Germany after the Nazis invade Poland. Audio clip and text.
- More on Blitzkreig strategies and weaponry.
- Many details on the Panzer Tanks used in WWII, especially in the Blitzkreig phase of the war.
- Wonderful page detailing the Nazi-Soviet pact that took the world by surprise on the eve of Hitler’s invasion of Poland.
- Good overview of Churchill’s life, with many hyper links to key events and concepts in understanding this great man’s times and actions.
- Winston Churchill
- Battle of Britain home page.
- Compilation of original WWII documents, including the Atlantic Charter.
- Corrie ten Boom
- For the dialectic study of Mussolini: New World Encyclopedia on Benito Mussolini
- For the dialectic study of Mussolini: Encyclopedia Britannica on Benito Mussolini (Italian dictator)
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
Week 15: World-Wide War
- Holocaust timeline. Many pictures. Many linked histories. Pulls no punches; parental supervision suggested.
- Memory of the Camps: this documentary on the liberation of the German concentration camps in 1945 was assembled in London that year, but never shown until FRONTLINE first broadcast it – 40 years later – in May of 1985.
- Three women who refused to remain passive in the face of the Holocaust. PBS.
- Learn about the role of the Swiss during WWII as the Nazi’s bankers. PBS site called Nazi Gold.
- Fascinating site about race relations between Jews and Blacks: From Swastika to Jim Crow.
- Corrie ten Boom
- World War II Propaganda Posters
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
Week 16: Unconditional Surrender
- Rosie the Riveter
- The Lend-Lease Act: details and primary source documents, if you scroll down.
- The National Geographic for December 2001 posted a website on the 60th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. There is an interactive battle map, a memory book, a collection of stories from survivors and families. Another link on the attack on Pearl Harbor here.
- The United States and the Holocaust
- PBS site on treatment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. For another great site on this subject, also by PBS, click here.
- Detailed NOVA site on Albert Einstein. Outstanding!
- Copy of Albert Einstein’s letter to President Roosevelt recommending the development of the atomic bomb.
- For the dialectic study of Mussolini: Benito Mussolini
- For the dialectic study of Mussolini: Encyclopedia Britannica Benito Mussolini
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Harry S. Truman
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
Week 17: Hot War to Cold War
- Cold War
- Another Cold War site
- Learn about the little-known powerbroker of the 1900’s — Jesse H. Jones.
- Harry S. Truman
Week 18: A Jewish Homeland
- History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
- Outstanding web site: Maps to use in Geography assignments this week.
- Selection of documents relevant to all sides of the Middle East conflict. They go back before our time period, and forward well beyond it.
- Another great site for your Grammar level students to aide in learning more about Israel.
- Downloadable Unit 2 Study Guide and Review
Unit 3 – Conformity to Counterculture
Week 19: India’s Independence
- India site for kids
- Indian Recipes
- In case you can’t get recommended books this week, learn all about Gandhi from this site. Has text, pictures, hyperlinks for in-depth research.
- This site claims to be the “official” Gandhi site, and is notable for its many quotes from him, and fine pictures. Probably better for Dialectic and up.
- Gandhi and salt. Here’s an article on the effects of the British salt taxation policies.
- Excellent explanation of why Gandhi is seen in so many pictures spinning thread.
- Another time line of Gandhi’s life.
Week 20: China’s Revolution
- China for Kids – you have to scroll a little to get to the information.
- Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung.
- Mao-Tse-tung
- A good Mao-Tse-tung site.
Week 21: Truman: Korea & the Red Scare
- Korea – The Forgotten War – This site has LOTS of information, pictures, video, etc…
- In depth summary of the Korean War.
- Harry S. Truman
- Harry S. Truman – Library and Museum
- How the Atomic Bomb was built and how it works.
Week 22: Eisenhower’s Oasis
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Timeline of Martin Luther King’s life.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Chart to fill in on Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Early Years of MLK excerpted from “The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.”
- Origins of the Vietnam War: links here.
- A YouTube video summary: China’s “Great Leap Forward” under the leadership of Mao Tse-tung.
- Timeline of events and interesting information from each year in the 1950s.
- History of McDonalds
Week 23: Conformity and Change
- To answer questions in your Student Activity Pages: Wikipedia on the Pan-African Congress, Gamal Abdel Nasser.
- PBS on the history of the Black Press.
- Text of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail.
- Martin Luther King, Jr site for kids. It has information, quizzes and resources.
- Wonderful site on Nelson Mandela: black hero of South Africa.
- Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
- Space Race site from the Smithsonian.
- Timeline of events and interesting information from each year in the 1950s.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
Week 24: Kennedy’s New Frontiers
- PBS site on Vietnam: many links. Outstanding.
- Almost everything you could want on JFK: the JFK Library and Museum. His biography, his speeches, lot’s on Jacqueline, etc.
- John F. Kennedy
- Freedom Rides
- Timeline of events in the 1960s
- Yuri Gagarin: First man in space.
- Alan Shepard:First American in space.
- Alan Shepard and Yuri Gagarin
Week 25: Camelot and Crisis
- To answer questions in your Student Activity Pages: Organization of African Unity
- Civil Rights Events
- Video: James Meredith’s attempt to register at the University of Mississippi in Oxford.
- Governor Wallace: Stands in the School House Door, University of Alabama.
- Website: Montgomery, AL Civil Rights Marches
- Photo: Montgomery, AL Civil Rights Marches
- Photo: Montgomery, AL Civil Rights Marches
- Photo: Montgomery, AL Civil Rights Marches
- Letter from a Birmingham Jail, by Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Webpage: March on Washington
- Video: March on Washington
- Audio and Text: Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech
- Video and Photos: John Glenn – First American to Orbit Earth
- Cuban Missile Crisis
- Civil Rights Speech
- Speech before the Berlin Wall
- Video: Kennedy’s assassination
- Newspaper: Kennedy’s assassination
- Photo: Kennedy’s assassination
- Photo Gallery: Kennedy’s assassination and the aftermath.
- The Space Race: Lots of information, a timeline, and American and international space programs.
- Studying the space race? Check out this great site all about the moon.
Week 26: Johnson’s Great Society
- The “Great Society Speech”, by Lyndon B. Johnson, 1964 (written)
- The “Great Society Speech” (You Tube video)
- The Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a nutshell.
- PBS site on Vietnam: many links. Outstanding.
- The Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Wall Page
- Sparknotes History Guide on Vietnam
- Lyndon B. Johnson
- Malcolm X
Week 27: A Nation in Distress
- PBS site on Vietnam: many links. Outstanding.
- Sparknotes History Guide on Vietnam
- Women’s Rights Movement
- Cold War
- Lyndon B. Johnson
Unit 4 – The Postmodern World
Week 28: Nixon: Détente and Watergate
- Watergate Scandal
- The Vietnam War
- The Story of Agent Orange
- Man takes first steps on the moon
- Neil Armstrong
- Buzz Aldrin
- The Yom Kippur War
- Read about the overthrow of President Salvador Allende of Chile.
- Read more about Mao Zedong.
- Table Tennis and Ping Pong Diplomacy
- Yasir Arafat
- 1972 Olympics in Munich
- Read here or here about Israel.
- Read here or here about Lebanon.
- Richard M. Nixon
Week 29: Ford’s Integrity
- Gerald Ford
- Stagflation in the 1970’s
- History of the computer
- Overview of the Persian Gulf War
- “Cold War” between Saudi Arabia and Iran
- Great link on the Persian Gulf War
- Steve Jobs
- Steve Wozniak
- White Revolution
- Death of Mao
- The Fall of Saigon
- Civil War in Lebanon
- Shah of Iran
- Read here or here about Jordan.
- Read here or here about Syria.
Week 30: Carter’s Malaise
- Jimmy Carter
- Jimmy Carter for KIDS!
- Overview of the Persian Gulf War
- “Cold War” between Saudi Arabia and Iran
- SALT II
- Camp David Peace Accords
- Karen Ann Quinlan
- Short biography about Jack Kevorkian
- James Warren Jones
- Nelson Mandela
- Anwar al-Sadat
- Menachem Begin
- Saddam Hussein
- Ayatollah Khomeini
- Shah of Iran
- Deng Xiaoping
- Chinese History: Four Modernizations
- Ruhollah Khomeini
- The Iranian Revolution
- Iranian Revolution in pictures
- Read here or here about Egypt.
- Read here or here about Iran.
Week 31: Reagan’s Revolution
- Ronald Reagan
- Time line of Personal Computer
- Nancy Reagan
- Reaganomics
- “The Long Ordeal of James Brady”
- History of HIV and AIDS: parents you may want to preview this site! There is tons of good information here on the disease, but also information on sex and sexuality.
- Bill Gates
- Steve Jobs
- Steven Wozniak
- Sally Ride
- Read about the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster here.
- Watch the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster on YouTube. Parents may want to preview before students see this.
- Mikhail Gorbachev: biography and video
- Saddam Hussein
- The Iran-Iraq War
- Read here or here about Iraq.
- Read here or here about Oman.
- The Reagan Era
Week 32: G.H.W. Bush’s New World Order
- George H.W. Bush
- The Persian Gulf War
- History of the World Wide Web
- Read some interesting facts about Operation Desert Storm.
- General Norman Schwarzkopf
- General Colin Powell
- Freedom for Nelson Mandela: be sure and play the video to watch the celebration of his release.
- Manuel Noriega
- Mikhail Gorbachev
- Boris Yeltsin
- Saddam Hussein
- Read here or here about Saudi Arabia.
- Read here or here about Kuwait.
Week 33: Clinton’s Lost Opportunity
- Frontline presentation on The Gulf War.
- To answer questions in your Student Activity Pages: Scroll down at to “Post-colonial politics 1960-1990” and “Types of African governments 1960-1990” while you explore Africa
- Bill Clinton
- Outstanding PBS-linked site on The Clinton Years.
- Hillary Rodham Clinton
- Read about the 2000 election.
- Bill Gates
- The trial of O.J. Simpson
- Princess Diana
- Civil War in Rwanda
- Yugoslav Wars
- Read a “Dissident Voice,” which tells about the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo.
- Slobodan Milosevic
- Yasser Arafat
- Yitzhak Rabin
- Read here or here about Bahrain.
- Read here or here about Cyprus.
Week 34: George W. Bush: War on Terror
- Rwanda Genocide: click here or here.
- George W. Bush
- Laura Bush
- Bush Doctrine
- Read about alternative energy.
- Learn about steroids at kidshealth.org.
- What is social networking?
- Watch an interactive graphic about Hurricane Katrina. (It is slow to load, but is worth the wait!)
- Department of Homeland Security
- Read the chronology of events that took place on 9/11.
- Watch the tragic events of September 11, 2001 on YouTube.
- Forbes has a chart that tells about corporate scandals that you may find helpful.
- Alberto Gonzales
- Highlights of the Patriot Act
- Osama bin Laden
- Saddam Hussein
- Read here or here about Qatar.
- Read here or here about Turkey.
Week 35: Obama: Hope and Change?
- To answer questions in your Student Activity Pages: African Union
- Barack Obama
- The legacy of Mao Zedong
- Read here or here about United Arab Emirates.
- Read here or here about Yemen.
Week 36: Reflections and Revelation