Lesson Plan Native American Cultures and the Impact of the Boarding Schools 3, 4, 5 Click to download this four-lesson unit.
Essay Imperial Rivalries Peter C. Mancall World History K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ When Christopher Columbus made his plans to sail westward across the Atlantic, he first set off across Europe to find sponsors. His brother Bartholomew went to the court of the English King Henry VII (who turned him down, much to the...
Essay America the Newcomer: Claiming the Louisiana Purchase Elliott West Geography The Lewis and Clark expedition is rightly considered one of the great American stories. In May of 1804 Meriwether Lewis and William Clark set off by keelboat up the Missouri River with thirty-one men, the "Corps of Discovery," on an...
Essay American Indians Elliott West Economics, World History 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ If history is the story of what people have done, then American history began thousands of years ago, and by far most of it is that of Indian peoples and their ancestors before Europeans arrived. Historians, however, disagree over...
Essay The Americas to 1620 Christopher L. Miller Geography, World History 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ At the end of the first millennium, most people in the Eastern Hemisphere had a firm sense of how the world was arranged, who occupied it, and how they had come to be where they were. Various sacred texts as well as long-standing folk...
Essay The Discovery of the Americas and the Transatlantic Slave Trade Ira Berlin In the middle of the fifteenth century, Europe, Africa, and the Americas came together, creating—among other things—a new economy. At the center of that economy was the plantation, an enterprise dedicated to the production of exotic...
Lesson Plan The Conquest of Mexico: Past and Present Views World History 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Introduction The conquest of Tenochtitlan by Hernán Cortez in 1519 is one of the most well-known examples of encounters between Europeans and Americans prior to 1600. Some primary sources that document the event still exist, though...
Lesson Plan Native American Housing Geography 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 Historical Background American Indians (First Nations in Canada) constructed homes to conform to their needs and environment. Housing for some tribal groups was permanent, while other residences reflected the need to relocate, often...
Lesson Plan Letter from Christopher Columbus on Returning from His First Voyage to the Americas, 1493 Geography, World History 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Click here to download this five-lesson unit.
Lesson Plan The Treaty of Tordesillas: Resolving "a Certain Controversy" over Land in the Americas Foreign Languages, Geography, World History 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Background Imperial rivalries have often been resolved through war; however, the Treaty of Tordesillas is an important example of a rivalry that was resolved without hostilities through the demarcation of areas of influence by the...