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USA
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Slavery in the United States: A comprehensive encyclopaedia of slavery. Each entry contains a narrative, illustrations and primary sources. The text within each entry is hypertexted to other relevant pages in the encyclopedia. In this way it is possible to research individual people and events in great detail. The sources are also hypertexted so the student is able to find out about the writer, artist, newspaper, organization, etc., that produced the material. So far there are sections on: The Slave System, Slave Life, Slave Narratives, Anti-Slavery Movement, Events and Issues and Political Organisations.
American Slave Narratives: From 1936 to 1938, over 2,300 former slaves from across the American South were interviewed by writers and journalists under the aegis of the Works Progress Administration. Their narratives are a splendid resource for understanding the lives of America's four million slaves. This website provides an opportunity to read a sample of these narratives and to see some of the photographs taken at the time of the interviews.
From Slavery to Freedom: This excellent website produced by the Library of Congress presents 397 pamphlets from the Rare Book and Special Collections Division, published from 1824 through 1909, by African-American authors and others who wrote about slavery, African colonization, Emancipation, Reconstruction, and related topics. The materials range from personal accounts and public orations to organizational reports and legislative speeches. Among the authors represented are Frederick Douglass, Kelly Miller, Charles Sumner, Mary Church Terrell, and Booker T. Washington.
American Civil War Encyclopaedia A comprehensive encyclopaedia of the American Civil War. Each entry contains a narrative, illustrations and primary sources. The text within each entry is hypertexted to other relevant pages in the encyclopedia. In this way it is possible to research individual people and events in great detail. The sources are also hypertexted so the student is able to find out about the writer, artist, newspaper, organization, etc., that produced the material. So far there are sections on: Civil War Chronology, Famous Battles, Political Figures, Military Leaders. Organizations, Events and Issues, Soldiers, Women & the Civil War, Writers, Artists and Photographers:, Assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
American Civil War: Dr. George H. Hoemann, assistant director for distance education and independent study at the University of Tennessee, has gathered together in one place hypertext links to the most useful identified electronic files about the American Civil War. The page opens a gateway to the Internet's multi-formatted resources about what is arguably the seminal event in American history. Not only was the War the occasion for the abolition of slavery, but by conflict's end the re-United States had emerged as a modern, industrialized power. The material is organised under the following headings: General Resources, Secession Crisis, Images of Wartime, Biographical Information, Histories and Bibliographies, Documentary Records, Local Studies, Battles & Campaigns, Rosters & Regimental Histories, Civil War Reenactors and Civil War Round Tables.
Abraham Lincoln's Assassination This excellent website provides a detailed account of Lincoln's assassination. Sections include Lincoln's Assassin, Eyewitness to History, Conspiracy Theories, The Military Commission and Picture Gallery. Produced by Roger Norton, a teacher of American history for 28 years, the website also includes a generous collection of links to other sources of information on this important event.
Civil War Photographs: The Civil War Photographs Collection contains 1,118 photographs. The photographs are by people such as Mathew Brady, Alexander Gardner, Timothy O'Sullivan, James Gardner, William Pywell, and George Barnard and include scenes of military personnel, preparations for battle and battle after-effects. The collection also includes portraits of both Confederate and Union officers, and a selection of enlisted men.
US Civil War Factbook: This website produced by Marcus Wendel includes a chronology of the US Civil War, as well as information on casualties, generals killed in battle, alternate names of the war, Confederate States of America, reviews of books on the topic and a message forum for discussions on the war.
Abraham Lincoln Online: This website contains everything you will ever want to know about Abraham Lincoln. Sections include News, Speeches, Books, Places, Resources, Students, Discussion and Frequently Asked Questions. An interesting feature is This Week in History that provides information about Lincoln's life in the week you view the website. There is also a Lincoln Quote of the Week.
American Experience: Ulysses S. Grant: The greatest hero of the Civil War, Grant was an ineffective president whose two terms in office were rocked by racial conflict and corruption scandals. Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Ulysses S. Grant website features activities for children of all ages. You can use maps, video clips, and text to determine your moves in "You're the General," an interactive game. You can also take a video tour of the Shiloh battlefield with a National Park Service ranger and a group of eighth graders from Michie, Tennessee.
American Civil War: This comprehensive account of the American Civil War is produced by Premier Internet. Sections include Timeline (9th February, 1861 to 4th May, 1865), Battles (chronological list), Documents (government papers, diaries, letters) Places (battlefields, cemeteries, forts, historic parks, monuments, museums), Music (recordings of civil war music), Discussion Forum and Links.
Trade Unions in the USA: An encyclopedia of the Trade Union movement in USA between 1800 and 1960. The website includes entries on important events and issues (12) union journals and newspapers (8), union organizations (6) and biographies of trade union leaders (52). The text within each entry is linked to other relevant pages in the encyclopedia. In this way it is possible to research individual people and events in great detail. The sources are also hyper-linked so the student is able to find out about the writer, artist, newspaper and organization that produced the material.
Haymarket Martyrs: On 4th May, 1886, a meeting was called by trade union leaders in Haymarket Square, Chicago, in protest against the shooting of several strikers in a recent industrial dispute over demands for an eight hour day. The police chief ordered the crowd to leave the area and soon afterwards a bomb was thrown by an unknown person in the crowd, resulting in the deaths of seven people. Eight men involved in organizing the meeting were arrested and in 1887 four of them were hanged. This website provides a brief description the Haymarket Affair and a list of links to other websites on the subject.
Andrew Carnegie: Faced with poverty in Scotland, Andrew Carnegie's family emigrated to America. Carnegie went on to become the richest man in the world. After amassing a fortune by crushing his competitors and exploiting his workers, Carnegie, in a move that underscored his inner conflicts, systematically gave away millions. One of the most difficult episodes Andrew Carnegie's life - and one that revealed the steel magnate's conflicting beliefs regarding the rights of trade unions - was the bitter conflict in 1892 at his steel plant in Homestead, Pennsylvania. Carnegie's involvement in the union-breaking action left many men dead or wounded and forever tarnished Carnegie's reputation as a benevolent employer and a champion of working people. As well as the Homestead Strike this website takes a detailed look at the life and times of Andrew Carnegie.
Gold Fever: The 1890s in America were desperate times. Economic depression caused bank and business failures and forced millions of men and women from their jobs. When gold was discovered in the frozen unsettled territory between Canada and Alaska, 100,000 people made the treacherous journey in search of riches. This website, based on the television documentary of the same name, tells the personal stories of a handful of city dwellers who, in January 1898, traveled to the Klondike determined to strike gold.
North American Indian History: This site lists thousands of historical events (on a day-by-day basis) which happened to or affected the indigenous peoples of North America. It also has Tribal name meanings and alternative tribal names, Indian "moon" names (calendar information), almost 1,000 photos of ancient ruins, and links to over 8,000 other related sites.
Spanish-American War Centennial Website: The Spanish-American War launched the United States into the arena of world politics as a major power. Attacked as an imperialist war by Mark Twain and other members of the Anti-Imperialist League, it was ended by the Treaty of Paris in December, 1898. This website includes a chronology, personal profiles, weapons profiles, action reports and first hand accounts of the war.
Settlement Houses: The University Settlement in New York City was established by Stanton Coit and Charles B. Stover in 1886. Others followed soon afterwards in large cities in the United States. These included Hull House in Chicago, founded in 1889 by Jane Addams and the Henry Street Settlement, founded in 1893 by Lillian Ward. Settlement Houses were established to help the poor and to develop friendly relations between the educated and the uneducated. This research guide website includes sections on Biographical Sources & Encyclopedias, Primary Sources and Bibliographies.
American Memory is a project of the National Digital Library Program of the Library of Congress. More than 5 million items relating to American history are available from the unparalleled collections of the Library. American Memory's collections include materials ranging from the papers of Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln, to Civil War photographs and early films of Thomas Edison, to panoramic maps and sound recordings, and to documents relating to the women's suffrage and civil rights movements.
The Progressive Era: At the end of the 19th Century there was a concerted attempt in the United States to establish basic reforms in political, economic and social affairs. Reformers campaigned against the employment of child workers, slum housing, sweat shops, limited suffrage, unequal distribution of wealth, business monopolies, racial discrimination, unfair tax laws and political corruption. This website includes a collection of articles on this period of American history (1890-1913).
Labor Hall of Fame: Elevation to the American Labor Hall of Fame is arrived at by a selection panel composed of distinguished historians, academicians, trade union officials and government leaders, past and present. A single honoree is chosen each year, and so far the website includes biographies of Samuel Gompers, Eugene V. Debs, James P. Mitchell, Terence V. Powerly, A. Philip Randolph, Francis Perkins, Sidney Hillman, Mother Jones, John L. Lewis, Walter P. Reuther, Robert F. Wagner, William Green, David Dubinsky and Cesar E. Chavez.
Samuel Gompers Papers Project: In 1974, Stuart B. Kaufman, the author of Samuel Gompers and the Origins of the American Federation of Labor and the founding editor of Labor's Heritage, established the Samuel Gompers Papers Project at the University of Maryland. Under Kraufman's direction, a crew of historians and graduate students plowed through Gompers' letterbooks, located and microfilmed union records, and searched for evidence of Gompers' family, friends, and associates in newspaper reports, government documents, and vital records. This material is now available from this website sponsored by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the AFL-CIO.
Around the World in 72 Days: At the age of nineteen, Nellie Bly talked her way into an improbable job on a newspaper, then went on to become known as "the best reporter in America." The daring Bly continually risked her life to grab headlines. To expose abuse of the mentally ill, she had herself committed. When she traveled around the world in just 72 days, beating Jules Verne's fictional escapade, she turned herself into a world celebrity. This PBS website allows you to follow Nellie Bly's record-breaking journey.
American Civil War Women: Ginny Daley has produced a directory website on the lives and experiences of women during the American Civil War. This includes diaries, letters, documents, photographs and prints and features the writings of Alice Williamson, Rose O'Neal Greenhow, Rachael Cormany, Carrie Berry, Catharine Hunsecker, Alansa Rounds Sterrett and Nancy Emerson.
Victoria Woodhull: In 1872 was nominated as the presidential candidate of the Equal Rights Party. Although laws prohibited women from voting, there was nothing stopping women from running for office. During the campaign Woodhull called for the "reform of political and social abuses; the emancipation of labor, and the enfranchisement of women". Woodhull also argued in favour of improved civil rights and the abolition of capital punishment. The supporters of President Ulysses Grant decided to attack Victoria Woodhull's character and she was accused of having affairs with married men. It was also alleged that Victoria's previous husband was an alcoholic and her her sister, Utica Claflin, took drugs. Woodhull became convinced that Henry Ward Beecher was behind these stories and decided to fight back. She now published a story that Beecher was having an affair with a married woman. Woodhull was arrested and charged under the Comstock Act for sending obscene literature through the mail and was in prison on election day. Over the next seven months Woodhull was arrested eight times and had to endure several trials for obscenity and libel. She was eventually acquitted of all charges but the legal bills forced her into bankruptcy. This website provides an account of Victoria Woodhull's life and extracts from her speeches and articles.
Peter Cooper: In 1830 Peter Cooper's Canton Iron Works in Baltimore built America's first steam locomotive. His business flourished and he established the largest blast furnace in America at Philippsburg, New Jersey. Cooper was also involved in laying the first Atlantic cable, and was president of the New York, Newfoundland & London Telegraph Company. Cooper had a social conscience and in 1875 he established the radical Greenback Party. However, his attempts to get himself elected president of the United States ended in failure. This website provides a brief overview of this amazing man.
Revolution to Reconstruction: This website, produced by the Department of Humanities Computing at the University of Groningen, covers American history from the colonial period until the 20th century. The main body of this hypertext project, which was started in 1994, comes from four books: An Outline of American History, An Outline of the American Economy, An Outline of American Government, and An Outline of American Literature. The text of these books have not been changed, but they have been enriched with hypertext-links to relevant documents, original essays and other Internet sites.
Connecticut Historical Society: On this Connecticut Historical Society website there is a series of online exhibits dealing with a variety of different topics. This includes Costumes & Textiles, Connecticut in 1836, Hartford in the 1850s, Civil War Treasures, Connecticut in the Jazz Age, Hartford Heroes, Early American Tavern & Inn Signs, and Augustus Washington. The website also contains sections dealing with the Connecticut Historical Society's resources on African Americans and the Civil War.
Discovering Lewis and Clark: The centerpiece of Discovering Lewis and Clark is a 19-part synopsis of the expedition by Harry Fritz, Professor of History at the University of Montana, illustrated with selections from the journals of the expedition, photographs, maps, animated graphics, moving pictures, and sound files. Clicking on any still image or highlighted word will lead you to another branch, or level of insight, into the significance of the Lewis and Clark expedition in American history, and in contemporary life. You can also navigate through Discovering Lewis and Clark by using the "Discovery Paths" or the "Journal Excerpts" menus. The word-search utility can be used to find references anywhere in the text.
Thomas Jefferson: This website provides a wide range of information about the interests and passions of Thomas Jefferson. This includes the house he designed. The site allows the visitor to tour almost every room in the house, complete with narrative information about each room's dimensions, its original purpose, furnishing, and specific architectural features. The website also contains a brief biography, a timeline of his life, quotations, and physical descriptions of him from his contemporaries.
Letters Home: These letters are part of a collection written by Newton Robert Scott of the 36th Infantry, Iowa Volunteers. Most of the letters were written to Scott's neighbourhood friend Hannah Cone, in their home town of Albia, Monroe County, Iowa, over the three year period that he served as Company A's clerk. Scott's letters to Hannah are filled with rich details of the war and the living conditions in the Union camps in Mississippi, Missouri, Iowa and Arkansas.
Abraham Lincoln Papers: The complete Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress consists of approximately 20,000 documents. The collection is organized into three "General Correspondence" series which include incoming and outgoing correspondence and enclosures, drafts of speeches, and notes and printed material. Most of the 20,000 items are from the 1850s through Lincoln's presidential years, 1860-65. Treasures include Lincoln's draft of the Emancipation Proclamation, his March 4, 1865, draft of his second Inaugural Address, and his August 23, 1864, memorandum expressing his expectation of being defeated for re-election in the upcoming presidential contest. The Lincoln Papers are characterized by a large number of correspondents, including friends and associates from Lincoln's Springfield days, well-known political figures and reformers, and local people and organizations writing to their president.
History Matters: Designed for high school and college teachers of U.S. History courses. This site serves as a gateway to web resources and offers useful materials for teaching US history. The website includes Many Pasts (primary documents): Making Sense of Evidence (guides for analyzing primary sources); Past Meets Present (articles and resources that link the past with current ideas and events); Reference Desk (links to resources); Digital Blackboard (teaching assignments using web resources): Students as Historians (examples of student work on the web) and Secrets of Great Historians (distinguished teachers share their strategies and techniques).
Digital History: This website was designed and developed to support the teaching of American History in schools and colleges and is supported by the Department of History and the College of Education at the University of Houston. The materials on this website include a US history textbook; over 400 annotated documents from the Gilder Lehrman Collection on deposit at the Pierpont Morgan Library, supplemented by primary sources on slavery, Mexican American and Native American history, and US political, social, and legal history; succinct essays on the history of film, ethnicity, private life, and technology; multimedia exhibitions; and reference resources that include a searchable database of 1,500 annotated links, classroom handouts, chronologies, glossaries, an audio archive including speeches and book talks by historians, and a visual archive with hundreds of historical maps and images. The site's Ask the HyperHistorian feature allows users to pose questions to professional historians.
Virtual
American Biographies: Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, edited
by James Grant Wilson and John Fiske was published in six volumes between 1887
and 1889. This was the "most-quoted" biographical source for 19th
and early 20th America. The 35,000 biographies have now been placed online.
Appleton's, due to its age, reflects the bias and prejudice of late 19th Century
America and relies on volunteers to edit and update these historic biographies
on a continual basis.
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Educational Websites
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